The Spanish Empire in the Early Global Age: 15th-17th Centuries
COL 391
Fall 2011
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
HIST 391, IBST 272 |
"The world is not enough"--with these words Philip II, king of Spain, expressed his idea of the first truly global empire: his own. Spain's imperial ambition had no limits: Philip II's monarchy was to encompass the planet and beyond, spearheading the conquest of Heaven itself. In fulfillment of what he saw as God's will, the Spanish monarch's messianic imperial vision sought to bring Christianity to the most distant confines of the earth, effectively extending his rule over lands scattered in four continents, from Spain to China.
The Spanish Empire appears to us medieval in its ideas about religion, law, and government and, at the same time, as a forerunner of modernity, giving rise to phenomena such as scientific exploration, cultural globalization, world capitalism, biologic and cultural crossbreeding, all in an unprecedented scale. This course will consider the Spanish imperial experience as a global history. Through art, literature, political writings, and memoirs, we will learn about its political practices, the everyday life of its subjects and rulers, and the ways in which they made sense of the world. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Intercultural Literacy, Interpretation
In order to understand past societies, we need to regard them as "alien" to us: this implies a jump outside of our own conventions and assumptions, and an effort to apprehend "foreign" cultures in their own terms. Interpretation (of texts, artifacts, discourses, moral principles, etc.) is the tool through which we achieve understanding of different cultures.
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS COL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (HIST-MN)(HIST) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
John Edwards. FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. (Longman, 2004) ISBN: 9780582218161
Wim Blockmans. EMPEROR CHARLES V: 1500-1558. (Bloomsbury, 2001) ISBN: 9780340731109
Henry Kamen. PHILIP OF SPAIN. (Yale University Press, 1999) ISBN: 9780300078008
Serge Gruzinski. THE MESTIZO MIND: THE INTELLECTUAL DYNAMICS OF COLONIZATION AND GLOBALIZATION. (Routledge: 2002) ISBN: 9780415928793
Miguel León Portilla (ed.) THE BROKEN SPEARS: THE AZTEC ACCOUNT OF THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO. (Expanded and updated edition. Beacon Press, 2006) ISBN: 978-0807055007
Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala. THE FIRST NEW CHRONICLE AND GOOD GOVERNMENT. (Abridged edition. Ed. and trans. by David Frye. Hackett, 2006). ISBN: 9780872208414
Sanjay Subrahmanyam. THE CAREER AND LEGEND OF VASCO DA GAMA. (Cambridge University Press, 1998) ISBN: 9780521646291
Alonso de Contreras. THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN ALONSO DE CONTRERAS: A 17TH CENTURY JOURNEY. (Paragon House, 1989) ISBN: 9781557781680
Mercedes García-Arenal & Gerard Wiegers. A MAN OF THREE WORLDS: SAMUEL PALLACHE, A MOROCCAN JEW IN CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT EUROPE. (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007) ISBN: 9780801886232
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Examinations and Assignments:
The final grade will be based on three short papers, one longer research project, response papers, and participation. |
| Instructor(s): Castro-Ibaseta,Javier Times: ....R.. 07:00PM-09:50PM; Location: BTFDC314; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 19 | | SR major: 4 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: 8 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 3 | SO: 4 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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