THE WORLD SINCE 1492

Key Terms by Lecture

Please note: for a small number of the key terms below, I have provided glossary entries, which you can access by clicking on the highlighted key terms.  The glossary entries that are provided are both to help you understand these key terms and, more importantly, to give you models of the sort of definitions and explanations that you are expected to produce on the examinations

WEEK I

8/29

energy

the biological energy regime

four human distinctions:

biological incompleteness

environmental flexibility

a disposition (or an instinct) to language

many dispositions (or instincts) that each have diverse manifestations

culture

8/31

four human distinctions:

biological incompleteness

environmental flexibility

a disposition (or an instinct) to language

many dispositions (or instincts) that each have diverse manifestations

two human worlds of 1500ish

the Afro-Eurasian ecumene

state

city

money and commerce with money

writing

9/2

state

WEEK II

9/7

cultivation and domestication (as two defining aspects of farming)

farming, both mobile and sedentary

sufficiency

positive anarchy

9/9

reciprocity or gift-exchange

the Kula

restricted sphere of exchange

WEEK III

9/12

eunuchs

Afro-Eurasia Ecumene

state distancing, state resistance

neo-Confucianism (“neo-” meaning new)

female seclusion

9/14

the invention of tradition (or traditionalizing)

bureaucracy

standardization

crowd diseases

state, empire, kingdom…

--ish

Christendom

9/16

Zomia