1) Trace the development of a rational worldview in Western European culture from the Middle Ages through the eighteenth century, placing the development in the context of modernization.

2) How did the traditional worldviews of the great Asian civilizations differ from that of Western Europe since the Renaissance and Reformation. How do these differences help to explain the rise of productivity, wealth and power in the West (and not in Asia)?

3) Trace the achievement of higher per capita output (i.e., wealth) by Europeans from the Late Middle Ages to the mid-eighteenth century.

4) How did the Western worldview change as a result of the Renaissance and Reformation movements? Carefully define and contrast the medieval worldview with that which appeared with these two movements.

5) Compare the Confucian teachings taught by Chu Hsi and the Christian teachings taught by Martin Luther (discuss all aspects of their worldviews), showing how their distinct views helped to produce the differing socioeconomic and political structures of their respective societies.

6) Compare and contrast the motivations for exploration and empire building of Cheng Ho and Prince Henry (the Navigator), and their patrons. Of what important theme is this comparison demonstrative?

7) Compare and contrast the polities (political organizations) of the major societies examined this semester. How do the contrasts explain the ultimate dominance of the West Europeans by the mid-eighteenth century? Put the discussion in the context of modernization versus traditionalism.

8) Compare and contrast the traditional village-level social ranking [or "class structures"] structure of India or China with the social structure of Western Europe since the Commercial Revolution, explaining how these differences account for the differing economic and political stories of the two cultures since 1500.

9) What were the major impacts of European empire building on human life throughout the globe by about 1763.

10) How were the West Europeans able to subjugate and exploit much of the trade and wealth of West Africa and the Indian Ocean during the period between 1415 and 1700? Discuss both factors endogenous and exogenous to Europe.

11) How were the West Europeans able to conquer and exploit much of Caribbean, Central, and South America during the period from about 1500 to 1763? Discuss both factors endogenous and exogenous to Europe.

12) What were the Newtonian and Liberal worldviews and why did they develop in Western Europe by the late eighteenth century? Why didn't these worldviews develop in China or the Moslem World by that time?

13) Remembering the models of traditionalism and modernization provided by R. Redfield and W. Rostow, compare and contrast the readiness of China and Western Europe for the achievement of sustained economic growth by the year 1750.

14) Using Robert Redfield's model of traditionalism, describe the late medieval West European or Hindu-Indian (1000-1800) social structure, religious views, and moral values as traditional.

15) Identify, define, and describe the form or mode of economic life that we have associated with imperial monarchy in Mughal India and/or the Holy Roman Empire.

16) Define and explain how West European feudalism (1000 to 1800) worked. How, after 1000, did the Church-State and the Holy Roman Empire influence or alter feudalism?

17) Compare the progress (or regress) of science and mathematics after 1000 in the Moslem world with that in the West. Describe and account (offer a causal explanation) for the changes in each culture and the differences between them [i.e., describe how each culture related to science].

18) Compare the political structure and potentialities of the Moslem world with that of the Western European world after the year 1000.

19) Using the art works available, show the development of a rational world view in the West from 1000 to 1800. Discuss the changing style and purpose of art, after identifying the works.

20) Using the art works available, compare the values and world views of the cultures represented. Identify and discuss the styles and purposes of art, after identifying the works.

21) Indentifying examples of the Moslem, Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic, and/or Renaissance art-trait styles from the art works available, explain how these art-trait styles represent their time and place (i.e., show how these styles emerged from their historical contexts.)

*Such terms as rational world view, traditionalism, modernization, increased per capita output, cohesive or unified political authority refer to the models of the instructor (which are based upon the work of Talcott Parsons, Robert Redfield, and W.W. Rostow) that our found on the web page for the course. **Moslem world refers to the several ethnic and political groups that adhered to Islamic cultures, including those in West Africa, North Africa, Iberia (until 1492), Sudanic Africa, East Africa, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and India.