MMW Course Overview

MMW 1. Prehistory and the Birth of Civilization (4 credits)

This course introduces students to what is known about early humans, including the evolution of the human body and the characteristics of Paleolithic and Neolithic cultures. It examines contemporary hunter-gatherer and tribal societies, illuminating the complexity of such cultures with respect to mythology and oral tradition, interpersonal relations, and ecological practices. The course concludes with an analysis of the emergence of large agrarian societies and the earliest great settled communities and civilizations.
 

MMW 2. The Great Classical Traditions (6 credits)

This course introduces major classical civilizations of the ancient world, all of whose legacies live on in the present.  These civilizations may include the ancient Near East (including Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Israel), Greece, Republican Rome, India, and China.  The course examines the great early systems of religious and social thought, using an approach that combines historical and social science perspectives.  MMW2 includes intensive instruction in writing expository, argumentative prose.
 

MMW 3. The Medieval Heritage (6 credits)

A survey of the period from roughly 100 BCE to 1200 CE, this course focuses on the development of imperial bureaucracies in historical contexts, such as Tang and Song China, medieval Japan, imperial Rome, and the Islamic caliphates.  It also examines the process through which Christianity, Islam, and Mahayana Buddhism evolved as world religions on account of imperial patronage, trade, and other cross-cultural contacts.  Major themes in the course include the formation of orthodoxies and heterodoxies, the function of theocracies, and the social impact of sectarianism.  MMW3 includes intensive instruction in university-level writing.
 

MMW 4. New Ideas and Contact of Cultures (4 credits)

MMW 4 provides a basic framework for understanding major trends, developments, and movements in world history from 1200 to 1750, from the Mongol Empire through the Scientific Revolution and the expansion of European inter-continental empires.   This is a period of tremendous transition, with increased interaction between cultures and continents and new developments in technology, trade, political and philosophical ideas, science, and religious beliefs.  The course examines a variety of medieval civilizations and explores their growing ties and tensions as they transition through the Early Modern period.  It studies the expansion of inter-continental trade networks, with the integration of the Americas into the system of Eurasian and African world trade and the creation of a global network, which systematically moved products, ideas, technologies, peoples, and diseases across cultural and continental divides.  It also looks at indigenous responses to the growth of Western power.
 

MMW 4T. Understanding the Pre-Modern World (4 credits)

MMW 4T is designed specifically for transfer students and provides a background to major trends and issues addressed in MMW2-4. MMW 4T also reviews and strengthens students’ analytical, research, and writing skills. This course helps students adjust to the UCSD environment by preparing them for writing and research not only in other MMW courses, but also in their own areas of academic specialization. (Note: This course is for transfer students only.)
 

MMW 5. Revolution, Industry, and Empire (4 credits)

This quarter examines the great changes that took place in European society from the late seventeenth century to the time of the Russian Revolution, and considers the impact of those changes on the non-Western world. Topics include absolutism and constitutional monarchy, the Enlightenment, political revolutions, industrialization, the rise of nationalism and the nation-state, mass politics, Western imperialism, and the colonial experience.  Such developments in the West are examined in conjunction with their consequences in non-Western countries during this period.
 

MMW 6. The Twentieth Century and Beyond (4 credits)

Beginning with World War I and the Russian Revolution, this course examines the expansion of state power and the conflicts that arose between democratic and anti-democratic forces, as well as the social and cultural implications of those developments. It also explores changes in the international system—the end of European hegemony, the rise of the superpowers, decolonization, international economic instability, the world after 1989 (e.g. the decline of Communist power), ethnic conflict, terrorism, and so forth—and in the character of warfare, particularly the development of nuclear weapons.  The class ends with a survey of important issues and debates in the world today.

MMW Global Seminars

The Global Seminar programs are not limited to University of California students and are open to all college and university students in good standing. Each program consists of two UCSD courses (8 credits total; students must enroll in both classes), taught by UCSD faculty. Lodging, museum and site-visits, transportation within the city, and many meals are included. Class meets three days each week from morning to the early afternoon and is often followed by an excursion to an historical location in the city (mosque, church, museum, bazaar, etc.). The course design includes lecture, discussion, and student presentations on city sites and historic issues. There will be a fourth day of required activity each week which is dedicated to a longer site visit, but otherwise there is no class on that day. There is no required activity during the other three days of the week which you may use for course work and for exploring and enjoying the city and surrounding area.