HISTORY 105 — GLOBAL HISTORY
2025 Fall
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 7:30-8:20
Smith 108
Instructor: O.T. Ford
Office: Beering 6175
E-mail: otford@purdue.edu
Phone: (765-49)4-6730
Office hours: after class Monday and Friday, or by appointment
Teaching assistants: Leah Moyer (lmoyer@purdue.edu), Johari Tello (telloj@purdue.edu)
History 105, as it will be taught here, is survey of the pre-historical and historical periods for the entire world. In condensing the past into a one-semester course, priority will be given to understanding the elements of the past that help explain our present.
- Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students should have:
— a better understanding of the peoples and institutions, and the kinds of peoples and institutions, that have been active throughout history
— a conceptual framework or outline of larger historical processes which can be used to give context to events that would be studied in narrower time periods and regions
- Course texts
All readings will be provided on Brightspace.
Eugene BERGER, George ISRAEL, Charlotte MILLER, Brian PARKINSON, Andrew REEVES, and Nadejda WILLIAMS, ‘World history: cultures, states, and societies to 1500’. University of North Georgia Press, 2016.
John RANKIN and Constanze WEISE, ‘World history: cultures, states, and societies to 1500’. East Tennessee State University, 2022.
Bret DEVEREAUX, ‘Logistics’ (parts I-III), in A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, acoup.blog, 2022.
III. Weekly schedule
Test 1 reading: Berger et al., chapters 1, 2 (pages 1-19, 22-58)
Week 1, Monday, August 25
Introduction. Discussion of class structure. Lecture.
Week 1, Wednesday, August 27
Lecture.
SYLLABUS, HIST 105, 2025 FALL, FORD
Week 1, Friday, August 29
Lecture.
Week 2, Monday, September 1
Labor Day. NO CLASS.
Week 2, Wednesday, September 3
Lecture.
Week 2, Friday, September 5
Test 1. Lecture.
Test 2 reading: Berger et al., chapters 3, 4 (pages 62-109, 112-68)
Week 3, Monday, September 8
Lecture.
Week 3, Wednesday, September 10
Lecture.
Week 3, Friday, September 12
Lecture.
Week 4, Monday, September 15
Lecture.
Week 4, Wednesday, September 17
Lecture.
Week 4, Friday, September 19
Test 2. Lecture.
Test 3 reading: Berger et al., chapters 5, 6 (pages 171-214, 217-63)
Week 5, Monday, September 22
Lecture.
Week 5, Wednesday, September 24
Lecture.
Week 5, Friday, September 26
Lecture.
Week 6, Monday, September 29
Lecture.
Week 6, Wednesday, October 1
Lecture.
Week 6, Friday, October 3
Test 3. Lecture.
Test 4 reading: Devereaux (all); Berger et al., chapter 7 (pages 269-94)
Week 7, Monday, October 6
Lecture.
Week 7, Wednesday, October 8
Lecture.
Week 7, Friday, October 10
Lecture.
Week 8, Monday, October 13
Fall Break. NO CLASS.
Week 8, Wednesday, October 15
Lecture.
Week 8, Friday, October 17
Test 4. Lecture.
Test 5 reading: Berger et al., chapters 8-10 (pages 296-334, 337-66, 369-95)
Week 9, Monday, October 20
Lecture.
Week 9, Wednesday, October 22
Lecture.
Week 9, Friday, October 24
Lecture.
Week 10, Monday, October 27
Lecture.
Week 10, Wednesday, October 29
Lecture.
Week 10, Friday, October 31
Test 5. Lecture.
Test 6 reading: Berger et al., chapters 11, 12 (pages 398-424, 428-77)
Week 11, Monday, November 3
Lecture.
Week 11, Wednesday, November 5
Lecture.
Week 11, Friday, November 7
Lecture.
Week 12, Monday, November 10
Lecture.
Week 12, Wednesday, November 12
Lecture.
Week 12, Friday, November 14
Test 6. Lecture.
Test 7 reading: Rankin and Weise, chapters 1-11 (pages 1-154)
Week 13, Monday, November 17
Lecture.
Week 13, Wednesday, November 19
Lecture.
Week 13, Friday, November 21
Lecture.
Week 14, Monday, November 24
Question-and-answer session. No new material.
Week 14, Wednesday, November 26
Thanksgiving Break. NO CLASS.
Week 14, Friday, November 28
Thanksgiving Break. NO CLASS.
Week 15, Monday, December 1
Lecture.
Week 15, Wednesday, December 3
Lecture.
Week 15, Friday, December 5
Test 7. Lecture.
Final exam reading: Rankin and Weise, chapters 12-15 (pages 155-225)
Week 16, Monday, December 8
Lecture.
Week 16, Wednesday, December 10
Lecture.
Week 16, Friday, December 12
Lecture.
Final exam: Week of December 15-20, time and place to be announced
- Grading
Grading for the class will consist entirely of tests — seven short tests (25 minutes) every other Friday, and a final exam. The final exam will have a section that covers the last two weeks, and a longer section that is cumulative.
Tests will consist of fill-in-the-blank questions, and short-answer questions. There will be no multiple choice or essay questions.
This will be the grade breakdown:
Seven in-class tests, 10% each: 70%
Final exam: 30%
Grading Scheme
A+ = 97-100
A = 93-96.99
A- = 90-92.99
B+ = 87-89.99
B = 83-86.99
B- = 80-82.99
C+ = 77-79.99
C = 73-76.99
C- = 70-72.99
D+ = 67-69.99
D = 63-66.99
D- = 60-62.99
F = Below 60
- Course policies
Attendance: Attendance at all class meetings is strongly encouraged. You are responsible for any material missed when absent. Make-up tests will only be given for documented emergencies or university-sanctioned absences, unless approved by me in advance. Voluntary absences like vacation will not warrant a make-up test.
Free expression: Purdue is committed to free expression, and so am I. While you cannot say anything you want at any time — it is still necessary to have some order in a classroom, for example — you are encouraged to read Purdue’s policy on free expression, and recognize the value to your own education of an environment where ideas are exchanged and discussed freely. https://www.purdue.edu/purdue/about/free-speech.php