HIST103: World History (1600–Present)

Welcome to HIST103: World History (1600–Present)

Specific information about this course and its requirements can be found below. For more general information about taking Saylor Academy courses, including information about Community and Academic Codes of Conduct, please read the Student Handbook.

Course Description

Learn about the political, economic, social, and technological transformations in world history, with a special emphasis on global interactions.

Course Introduction

This course presents a comparative overview of world history from the 17th century to the present. We examine the origins of major economic, political, social, cultural, and technological trends of the past 400 years and explore the impact of these trends on world societies. This material is structured chronologically and thematically, with each unit focusing on a significant historical subject. The units include primary-source documents and images that illustrate important overarching themes, such as the emergence of modern nation-states, the economic and technological interactions between Western and non-Western peoples, the changing social and cultural perceptions about religion and the state, and the development of physical and virtual networks of information exchange.

This course includes the following units:

• Unit 1: What is History?
• Unit 2: Trade in East Asia and the Indian Ocean
• Unit 3: Early Modern Africa and the Wider World
• Unit 4: The Islamic World
• Unit 5: Foundations of the Atlantic World
• Unit 6: Colonization and Economic Expansion
• Unit 7: Revolutions in Europe and North America
• Unit 8: Expansion in the Industrial Age
• Unit 9: Life and Labor in the Industrial World
• Unit 10: World War I
• Unit 11: The Interwar Period
• Unit 12: The Causes and Consequences of World War II
• Unit 13: Cold War Conflicts
• Unit 14: The Contemporary World and Ongoing Challenges

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• assess how global trade networks shaped the economic development of Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas during the 17th and 18th centuries;
• identify the origins of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in Europe and assess the social and political consequences of these movements for the peoples of Europe;
• identify the origins of the Enlightenment and assess how its ideas led to political and social revolutions in Europe and the Americas;
• identify the origins of the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions and assess how they altered social, political, and economic life across the globe during the 18th and 19th centuries;
• compare how European imperialism affected the states and peoples of Asia, Africa, and the Americas in the 19th century;
• identify the origins of World War I and analyze how the war's outcome altered economic and political balances of power throughout the world;
• identify the origins of totalitarian political movements across the globe in the 1920s and 1930s and assess how these movements led to World War II;
• analyze how World War II reshaped power balances throughout the world and led to the emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as global superpowers;
• assess how decolonization movements in the 1950s and 1960s altered political, economic, and social relationships between the United States, the nations of Europe, and developing countries throughout the world; and
• assess how the Cold War led to political and economic realignments throughout the world and how the growth of new global markets and systems of trade and information exchange shaped the 21st century.

Throughout this course, you will also see learning outcomes in each unit. You can use those learning outcomes to help organize your studies and gauge your progress.

Course Materials

This course's primary learning materials are articles, lectures, and videos.

All course materials are free to access and can be found in each unit of the course. Pay close attention to the notes that accompany these course materials, as they will tell you what to focus on in each resource and will help you understand how the learning materials fit into the course as a whole. You can also see a list of all the learning materials in this course by clicking on Resources in the navigation bar.

Evaluation and Minimum Passing Score

Only the final exam is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. To pass this course, you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on the final exam. Your score on the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you may take it again as many times as you want, with a 7-day waiting period between each attempt. Once you have successfully passed the final exam, you will be awarded a free Course Completion Certificate.

There are also end-of-unit assessments in this course. These are designed to help you study and do not factor into your final course grade. You can take these as many times as you want until you understand the concepts and material covered. You can see all of these assessments by clicking on Quizzes in the course's navigation bar.

Tips for Success

HIST103: World History (1600–Present) is a self-paced course, which means that you can decide when you will start and when you will complete the course. There is no instructor or an assigned schedule to follow. We estimate that the "average" student will take 50 hours to complete this course. We recommend that you work through the course at a comfortable pace that allows you to make regular progress. It's also a good idea to schedule your study time in advance and try to stick to that schedule as best as you can.

Learning new material can be challenging, so we've compiled a few study strategies to help you succeed:

• Take notes on the various terms, practices, and theories that you come across. This can help you put each concept into context and will create a refresher that you can use as you study later on.
• As you work through the materials, take some time to test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned is important for your long-term memory and will make you more likely to retain information over time.

Technical Requirements

This course is delivered entirely online. You will be required to have access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and have consistent access to the internet to either view or download the necessary course resources and attempt any auto-graded course assessments and the final exam.

• To access the full course, including assessments and the final exam, you will need to be logged into your Saylor Academy account and enrolled in the course. If you do not already have an account, you may create one for free here. Although you can access the course materials without logging in to your account, you should log in to maximize your course experience. For example, you cannot take assessments or track your progress unless you are logged in.

For additional guidance, check out Saylor Academy's FAQ.

Fees

This course is entirely free to enroll in and access. Everything linked in the course, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, is available at no charge. This course also contains a free final exam and course completion certificate.