AU415 A Global History of Empire

Empires have been with us, for good or ill, for nearly 5000 years; this course will explore their nature and impact.

We’ll cover a vast expanse of time and space, from the Classical Empires in the Middle East, the Mediterranean and China, to the Mongol Empire which dwarfed them all. We’ll travel from the Empires of Africa and the Americas to the emergence and global dominance of European powers, discovering the different ways Empires rose, functioned, and fell. Finally, we’ll examine the legacy of Empire in our own times.