HIS 100-03 - Introduction to Historical Inquiry: Global Reformations: Christianity, Capitalism, and Colonialism

4 credits (Fall Term 1)

This course provides an introduction to issues of historical causation, argumentation, and evidence by examining the consequences of the global spread of religious conflict that began with the European Reformation in the sixteenth century. After an introductory unit on historical methods, we will use a variety of primary and secondary sources to investigate why a set of obscure theological debates between European Christians set Christianity on a course to become a truly global religion, adapted to new local contexts and implicated in the growth of both capitalism and colonialism. Topics include the impact of the ‘New World’ conquests on European understandings of Christian conflict in the West; Protestant attempts to establish anti-Catholic alliances with Jews and Muslims; Japanese Catholic convert rebellions against the Tokugawa Shogunate; Ethiopian Orthodox resistance to Portuguese Catholicism; and the intellectual activities of Jesuit Catholics in the Chinese Qing court.

Prerequisite: None.
Instructor: Chou