1. Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
E. Napp
Aldous Huxley

2. Why do historians use periodization?
What is periodization?
Periodization is the dividing or categorizing of time into separate sections
Why do historians use periodization?
To distinguish one cluster of interrelated historical events from another in order to discover a pattern for change
E. Napp

3. To identify significant shifts in those patterns in terms of discontinuities or turning points, which serve as the start and end of periods
E. Napp

4. To highlight trends or events that appear dominant or important during a particular span of time
E. Napp

5. All systems of periodization are more or less arbitrary
But problems emerge:
All systems of periodization are more or less arbitrary
Labels are continually challenged and redefined
E. Napp

6. E. Napp
How can periodization help explain the J-curve of explosive population growth on the planet?

7. Definition of Periodization:
A conceptual tool that makes change over time manageable by identifying big changes
Implied Watersheds:
Developments or events that occurred in world history affecting the most people
E. Napp

8. Three Overlapping Shifts:
Three overlapping shifts across societies must occur for a new period of world history to be identified
The world map must change significantly
(Cultural, political, or economic boundaries; migrations)
New kinds of contacts must be established among civilizational areas
(New trade patterns, outreach of religions)
New parallelisms must arise in patterns displayed by major civilizations
(Example: “The fall of the great empires meets the requirements. Cultural and political boundaries shifted in India and the Mediterranean world. Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam spread widely. The Islamic world replaced India as the most expansive civilization.”)
E. Napp

9. E. Napp

10. E. Napp

11. E. Napp

12. Periodization in World History 8000 BCE-600 CE (Foundations)
Neolithic Revolution, Urban Revolution, Rise of Civilizations, River Valley Civilizations and expansionist civilizations (classical world)
E. Napp

13. 600 CE-1450CE (Post-classical)
Significant for the spread of the “world religions” even though some like Christianity and Buddhism began to spread before this period while Islam spread during this period, the political systems which followed the classical empires - the Han, Roman, and Gupta Empires - fell at different times but by the 7th century, post- classical political systems were emerging
E. Napp

14. 1450-1750 (The Early Modern Period)
The Portuguese began exploring the coast of Africa in the 15th century and by the end of century, Europeans had reached both the Americas and the East Indies. The intellectual (Renaissance, Scientific Revolution), social (Protestant Reformation), economic (Commercial Revolution), and political (absolutism) changes in European impacted other regions. However, changes were occurring elsewhere in the world that also had global significance (Ottomans, Safavids, Mughals, Mings, the cessation of Zheng He’s explorations, primacy of Moscow over Kiev, and the end stage of feudalism in Japan).
E. Napp

15. (The Modern Era)
The Enlightenment, revolutions in the Americas, the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and a second round of European imperialism led to a shift in Europe and the West’s relationship to other regions
E. Napp

16. 1914-Present (Contemporary)
The beginning of many “modern” changes in technology and accelerated global interactions, the World Wars, the collapse of European imperialism, the Cold War and its impact on former colonial regions, American hegemony
E. Napp

17. Themes of World History Interaction between humans and the environment
Demography and disease
Migration
Patterns of settlement
Technology
E. Napp

18. Development and interaction of cultures Religions
Belief systems, philosophies, and ideologies
Science and technology
The arts and architecture
E. Napp

19. State-building, expansion, and conflict
Political structures and forms of governance
Empires
Nations and nationalism
Revolts and revolutions
Regional, transregional, and global structures and organizations
E. Napp

20. Creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems
Agricultural and pastoral production
Trade and commerce
Labor systems
Industrialization
Capitalism and socialism
E. Napp

21. Development and transformation of social structures
Gender roles and relations
Family and kinship
Racial and ethnic constructions
Social and economic classes
E. Napp

22. Explain the quote: “Strictly speaking, there are no periods in history, only in historians’ analyses.”
Why is the debate on historical dating (BC versus BCE…AD versus CE) a source of concern for world historians?
What criteria can historians use to make distinctions among sections of time?
List the top ten technological developments prior to the Industrial Revolution.
E. Napp

23. Consider the question posed by Joan Kelly: “Did women have a Renaissance?” Why is this question significant for world historians and how does this question present a challenge to the notion of periodization?
World historians are very interested in social class structures. How can social class structures alter the telling of history?
E. Napp

24. Consider this: The three Cs of World History: Change, Connections, and Comparison allow for a framework for analysis for exploring the themes of World History.