Architects of World History Researching the Global Past

Architects of World History presents an innovative collection of original essays by leading scholars associated with World History, exploring through intellectual autobiography the ideas, challenges, and inspirations that are shaping the field

• Features original, accessible contributions from pioneering scholars in the field
• Offers insights into the process of developing a workable world history research topic and the experience of professional life as a world historian.
• Points to methodological challenges; the scholar’s current research agenda in relation to the development of world history; and future directions anticipated for key areas within world history

Kenneth R. Curtis is Professor of History at California State University, Long Beach. His most recent publication, co-authored with Valerie Hansen, is the second edition of Voyages in World History (2013).

The late Jerry H Bentley was Professor of History at the University of Hawaii and editor of the Journal of World History. He wrote written extensively on the cultural history of early modern Europe and on cross-cultural interactions in world history.

Notes on Contributors vii

1 Architects of World History 1
Kenneth R. Curtis

2 En Route to World Environmental History 30
J.R. McNeill

3 Gender Intersections 56
Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks

4 No Great Divergence? Reaching World History Through East Asian Studies 81
Kenneth Pomeranz

5 Cultural and Religious Exchanges 108
Dominic Sachsenmaier

6 Law and World History 134
Lauren Benton

7 Africa in the World: From National Histories to Global Connections 159
Kerry Ward

8 Big History 190
David Christian

9 In Search of a Global Cultural History 215
Jerry H. Bentley and Karen Louise Jolly, foreword by Alan Karras

Index 238

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