Topics to expect in this class: 

•     Aspects of technology, architecture, inventions, and commodities connecting Ancient China with empires of Mediterranean region and later Europe and Africa with the Americas. 

•     Aspects of law, justice, court systems, crime and punishment practices as they were transformed after the fall of the Roman Empire from the 5C through the Middle Ages by the influences of new cultural and legal authorities (the German ‘Barbarians’ and the Catholic Church) while backed in the understanding classical Greek standards, unified practices from the time of Huang-di in China, Ancient Persia, and Egypt before and after Alexander the Great.

•     Diverse social and cultural perceptions of lives lived from a Japanese court maiden to a lowly Roman slave as gladiator to Native Americans contact with Europeans and Mongol warrior horsemen and women conquests in Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe

•     Aspects of exploration, ship building, and sea travel knowledge & experiences across the globe along with overland trade & migration across the Americas, Africa, and Asia before 1700 AD. 

•     Aspects of medicine, health practices, women, and politics; from home environments to seats of political power (republican, ‘barbarian’, monarchical empires to regional feudal state governments).

•     Discussion of the diverse experiences of conquest and imperialism from the founding of our practice of living in settled societies since 3,500 BC (civilization): defense strategies; retaining control over raw materials; ideological differences; colonialism; war-time technology and fighting styles; weaponry & armor craftsmanship, quality, and effectiveness and more…

•     Effects of the printing press on world history with the spread of ideas while political and cultural forces attempted to keep societies from challenging authority.