HIS 301 World History and Politics

HIS 301 World History and Politics

HERE FOR YOU: HIS 301 World History and Politics

HIS 301 World History and Politics

HIS 301 Milestone Three Guidelines and Rubric

The final project for this course is the creation of an 8–10-page research paper that will incorporate both primary (historical) sources and secondary (scholarly)
sources. The primary goal of History 301 is for students to learn more about the cultures of Japan, China, India, and Africa, while examining the ways in which
those cultures interacted with the Western world.

You will take a closer look at this mission by focusing on a key event or time period in history during which a
person, group, army, or explorer caused Eastern and Western ideas to come together. Topic suggestions for your paper can be found in the sections below. You
may use one of those directly or as inspiration for a different topic.
Prompt: For Milestone Three, you will submit your rough draft. The rough draft should include as much of the completed paper as possible. All citations within
the rough draft must be in Chicago-style footnotes with a bibliography on the final page.

Suggested Topics
Feel free to propose and develop your own idea (upon instructor approval) or to use one of the following:
• Influences of African kingdoms on the Greco-Roman empires
• A cultural comparison of explorers Zheng He and Christopher Columbus and their travels to the New World
• The observations of Marco Polo in his famous journey East
• The journey of Jesuit priests throughout Asia
o A narrow topic might trace Jesuit priests specifically in India, China, or Japan and investigate the consequences of their arrival.
• Compare and contrast Japanese religious ideals in the sixteenth century: Shinto, Buddhism, and Catholicism.
• Akbar’s Din-i-Ilahi (the Indian Emperor’s “Divine Faith” built out of the beliefs of multiple Eastern and Western religions)
• Compare and contrast the Tang and Song dynasties of China with the Italian Renaissance through historical themes (art, science, technology, etc.).
• The Mughal Empire and the British Empire
o A narrow topic might trace the cause of the British takeover of India, the implementation of British legal systems, the use of Indian Parsi and
Sepoy in administering the British Empire, or the adoption of a parliamentary system following the Indian independence.
• The role of Western people and ideas during the Opium Wars or the Taiping Rebellion in China
• The European “Scramble for Africa”
o A narrow topic might select a single African colony and investigate the changes that occurred under European imperialism.
• The development of a Japanese–German partnership during World War II
• The relationship between India and Japan following decolonization after World War II
For further instruction and guidance in completing your research, be sure to use the Guide to Research document found in Modules One and Three.

Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
• Include an arguable thesis statement. The thesis statement should be well-phrased and set up the natural organization of the paper. The thesis
statement should be included in the introduction paragraph of your paper. The thesis statement is the argument you are supporting throughout the
paper with scholarly evidence.
• Place the chosen culture into a historical context through the inclusion of historical information regarding the country, religion, civilization, time period,
dynasties or kingdoms, primary people involved, and any other relevant information.
• Your paper must compare Western and Eastern elements for the chosen topic, such as elements from Japan, China, India, Africa, or a combination of
those AND an element (an explorer, an idea, a religion, an interaction, an empire, etc.) from Western civilization. Discussion of the comparative elements
from the two regions should be throughout the paper to provide a comprehensive comparison.
• Analyze how members of your chosen topic react to ideas, institutions, and the cultural ideals during moments of historical interaction. Consider how
the individuals or groups reacted to the exchange of ideas and how the interaction changed the civilization.
• You should analyze scholarly evidence to include in your paper that fully supports your thesis statement. You should include at least four primary sources
and four secondary sources. Scholarly evidence can be included as specific examples, quotes, detail, events, or statistics to support the argument of the
paper.
• Conclude with an analysis of the consequences of these interactions that considers how the cultural exchanges benefited both groups and are evident in
the current day.