Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in World History, Volume I

, by Mitchell, Joseph R.; Mitchell, Helen Buss

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ISBN: 9780072548662 | 0072548665
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 3/29/2002

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This debate-style reader is designed to introduce students to controversies in world history. The readings, which represent the arguments of leading historians and educators, reflect a variety of viewpoints, and have been selected for their liveliness and substance, their relevance to the topics included in college-level study of world history, and because of their value in a debate framework.

Preface

Introduction: The Study of World History

PART 1 The Ancient World

(116)

Did Homo Sapiens Originate in Africa?

(18)

Yes: Christopher Stringer and Robin McKie, from African Exodus: The Origins of Modern Humanity (Henry Holt & Company, 1996)

(8)

No: Milford Wolpoff and Rachel Caspari, from Race and Human Evolution (Simon & Schuster, 1997)

(8)

Were the Aryans Responsible for the Demise of the Indus Valley Civilization?

(20)

Yes: Stanley Wolpert, from A New History of India, 6th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2000)

(10)

No: Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, from Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization (Oxford University Press, 1998)

(8)

Was Egyptian Civilization African?

(20)

Yes: Clinton Crawford, from Recasting Ancient Egypt in the African Context: Toward a Model Curriculum Using Art and Language (Africa World Press, 1996)

(9)

No: Kathryn A. Bard, from ``Ancient Egyptians and the Issue of Race,'' in Mary R. Lefkowitz and Guy MacLean Rogers, eds., Black Athena Revisited (University of North Carolina Press, 1996)

(9)

Was Sumerian Civilization Exclusively Male Dominated?

(18)

Yes: Chester G. Starr, from A History of the Ancient World (Oxford University Press, 1965)

(7)

No: Samuel Noah Kramer, from ``Poet and Psalmists: Goddesses and Theologians: Literary, Religious, and Anthropological Aspects of the Legacy of Sumer,'' in Denise Schmandt-Besserat, ed., The Legacy of Sumer: Invited Lectures on the Middle East at the University of Texas at Austin (Undena Publications, 1976)

(9)

Does Alexander the Great Merit His Exalted Historical Reputation?

(18)

Yes: N. G. L. Hammond, from The Genius Alexander the Great (University of North Carolina Press, 1997)

(6)

No: Ian Worthington, from ``How `Great' Was Alexander?'' The Ancient History Bulletin (April June 1999)

(10)

Did Christianity Liberate Women?

(21)

Yes: Karen L. King, from ``Women in Ancient Christianity: The New Discoveries,'' a Report From FRONTLINE (April 6, 1998)

(8)

No: Karen Armstrong, from The Gospel According to Woman: Christianity's Creation of the Sex War in the West (Anchor Press, 1987)

106

(11)

PART 2 The Medieval/Renaissance Worlds

117

(108)

Did Same-Sex Unions Exist in Medieval Europe?

118

(18)

Yes: John Boswell, from Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe (Villard Books, 1994)

120

(7)

No: Philip Lyndon Reynolds, from ``Same-Sex Unions: What Boswell Didn't Find,'' The Christian Century (January 18, 1995)

127

(9)

Were Environmental Factors Responsible for the Collapse of Maya Civilization?

136

(18)

Yes: Richard E. W. Adams, from Prehistoric Mesoamerica, rev. ed. (University of Oklahoma Press, 1991)

138

(7)

No: George L. Cowgill, from ``Teotihuacan, Internal Militaristic Competition, and the Fall of the Classic Maya,'' in Norman Hammond and Gordon R. Willey, eds., Maya Archaeology and Ethnohistory (University of Texas Press, 1979)

145

(9)

Were the Crusades Primarily Motivated by Religious Factors?

154

(20)

Yes: Hans Eberhard Mayer, from The Crusades, 2d ed., trans. John Gillingham (Oxford University Press, 1988)

156

(8)

No: Ronald C. Finucane, from Soldiers of the Faith: Crusaders and Moslems at War (St. Martin's Press, 1983)

164

(10)

Does the Modern University Have Its Roots in the Islamic World?

174

(18)

Yes: Mehdi Nakosteen, from History of Islamic Origins of Western Education A.D. 800-1350 (University of Colorado Press, 1964)

176

(8)

No: Charles Homer Haskins, from The Rise of Universities (Great Seal Books, 1957)

184

(8)

Did Women and Men Benefit Equally From the Renaissance?

192

(16)

Yes: Margaret L. King, from Women of the Renaissance (University of Chicago Press, 1991)

194

(7)

No: Joan Kelly-Gadol, from ``Did Women Have a Renaissance?'' in Renate Bridenthal, Claudia Koonz, and Susan Stuard, eds., Becoming Visible: Women in European History, 2d ed. (Houghton Mifflin, 1987)

201

(7)

Was Zen Buddhism the Primary Shaper of the Warrior Code of the Japanese Samurai?

208

(17)

Yes: Winston L. King, from Zen and the Way of the Sword: Arming the Samurai Psyche (Oxford University Press, 1993)

210

(7)

No: Catharina Blomberg, from The Heart of the Warrior Origins and Religious Background of the Samurai System in Feudal Japan (Japan Library, 1994)

217

(8)

PART 3 The Premodern World

225

(117)

Were Christopher Columbus's New World Discoveries a Positive Force in the Development of World History?

226

(22)

Yes: Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, from Columbus (Oxford University Press, 1991)

228

(9)

No: Kirkpatrick Sale, from The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy (Plume; 1991)

237

(11)

Was China's Worldview Responsible for Its Failure to Continue Its Commercial and Maritime Efforts During the Ming Dynasty?

248

(18)

Yes: Nicholas D. Kristof, from ``1492: The Prequel,'' The New York Times Magazine (June 6, 1999)

250

(5)

No: Bruce Swanson, from Eighth Voyage of the Dragon: A History of China's Quest for Seapower (Naval Institute Press, 1982)

255

(11)

Did Martin Luther's Reforms Improve the Lives of European Christians?

266

(18)

Yes: Robert Kolb, from Martin Luther as Prophet, Teacher, Hero: Images of the Reformer, 1520-1620 (Baker Books, 1999)

268

(7)

No: Hans Kung, from Great Christian Thinkers, trans. John Bowden (Continuum, 1996)

275

(9)

Were European Witch-Hunts Misogynistic?

284

(22)

Yes: Anne Llewellyn Barstow, from ``On Studying Witchcraft as Women's History: A Historiography of the European Witch Persecutions,'' journal of Feminist Studies in Religion (Fall 1988)

286

(9)

No: Robin Briggs, from Witches and Neighbors: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft (Penguin Books, 1998)

295

(11)

Was the Scientific Revolution Revolutionary?

306

(16)

Yes: Herbert Butterfield, from The Origins of Modern Science, 1300-1800,rev ed. (Free Press, 1965)

308

(6)

No: Steven Shapin, from The Scientific Revolution (University of Chicago Press, 1996)

314

(8)

Did the West Define the Modern World?

322

(20)

Yes: William H. McNeill, from The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community (University of Chicago Press, 1991)

324

(9)

No: Steven Feierman, from ``African Histories and the Dissolution of World History,'' in Robert H. Bates, V.Y. Mudimbe, and Jean O'Barr, eds., Africa and the Disciplines: The Contributions of Research in Africa to the Social Sciences and Humanities (University of Chicago Press, 1993)

333

(9)

Contributors

342

(4)

Index

346

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Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in World History, Volume I

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials