~1200 CE to present

Migration & Diaspora

Summer Institute for Community College Teachers

May 31 - June 2, 2018

The 2018 Summer Institute for Community College instructors will consider migration and diaspora from the standpoints of wide-ranging disciplines, including history, anthropology, sociology, journalism, and international law. Join your teaching colleagues in this exploration of human migrations of the distant past, causes of migration, the subjective experiences of both new migrants and those living in long-established diasporas, and current issues in global migration....

The Global Rise of National Populism

Summer Institute for Community College Instructors

May 31 - June 1, 2019

News of the past few years has increasingly featured accounts of rising national populism in the form of public demonstrations, rhetoric, political leadership, public rhetoric, and more. To examine this global phenomenon, the 2019 Summer Institute for Community College Instructors pivots away from a World History focus toward Global Studies. This program will first consider what Global Studies is and how Global Studies programs differ around the world. Then, participants...

The View from the Sea: Oceans in World History

Summer Institute for k-12 Educators

June 26 – 28, 2017

World History courses often begin with a survey of river-basin societies, exploring the connection between agricultural surplus, irrigation projects, and centralizing power. Oceans and seas are conceived of as places in between - natural regional boundaries traversed only by merchants and military forces.

But what are the contours of a different World History – one with a view from the sea?

A focus on the ocean suggests new ways of thinking about everything from geography and...

Propaganda

Summer Institute for k-12 Teachers

June 22 - 26, 2020

5 online sessions, see schedule below

Each session will include a presentation by a scholar-expert, participant discussion, and a Q & A period.

What are the features, uses, and histories of propaganda? What techniques have governments and political movements used to construct and convey messages? How is propaganda related to the construction of national (or other) identities? Is propaganda...

Pop Culture in World History: Additional Resources

Pop Culture

Books:

Popular Culture, Geopolitics, & Identity, by Jason Dittmer – clear, concise summary of theoretical background for pop culture analysis, plus five very helpful case studies. Downside: contains very little about social media.

Popular Culture: Global Intercultural Perspectives, by Ann Brooks – explores the connection between pop culture and identity, including a lot of conversation about intercultural objects, lots of short case studies,...

Featured: The Travels of Ibn Battuta

October 5, 2016

The Travels of Ibn Battuta: a Virtual Tour has been one of ORIAS' most successful, most widely used projects. The Travels of Ibn Battuta: A Virtual Tour began as a Web resource written in 1999 by Nick Bartel for his students at Horace Mann Middle School, San Francisco, California. It was one of...

Sundiata Plot Summary

This plot summary of the Sundiata epic organizes the tale using the Monomyth structure.


Call to Adventure

The young prince Sunjata has grown so popular in Niani that Queen Sassouma is jealous and fears that the people will prefer him as king to her own son, Dankaran Touman. Determined to rid herself of the young prince, Sassouma orders the nine great witches of Mali to deceive and murder him. However, when they actually encounter Sunjata, they are so impressed with his kindness and generosity that they...

The Shahnameh

Close-up image from Mongol-era version of the Shahnameh showing Alexander and a talking horse.

Read a summary of the epic. Learn about its history and its author. Compare dozens of versions of the same scene in an extensive database. Plus, recommendations for English-language versions of the epic for children.