Old World Encounters

This innovative book examines cross-cultural encounters before 1492, focusing in particular on the major cross-cultural influences that transformed Asia and Europe during this period: the ancient silk roads that linked China with the Roman Empire, the spread of the world religions, and theMongol Empire of the thirteenth century. The author's goal throughout the work is to examine the conditions--political, social, economic, or cultural--that enable one culture to influence, mix with, or suppress another. On the basis of its global analysis, the book identifies several distinctivepattern of conversion, conflict, and compromise that emerged from cross-cultural encounters. In doing so, it elucidates that larger historical context of encounters between Europeans and other peoples in modern times. _Old World Encounters_ is ideal for students of world geography, religion, andcivilizations.

For review see: J.W. Schulte Nordholt, in Tijdschrift voor geschiedenis, jrg. 107, nr. 4 (1994); p. 591-592.

Based on Bentley and Ziegler's best-selling, comprehensive survey text, "Traditions & Encounters: A Brief Global History" provides a streamlined account of the cultures and interactions that have shaped world history. An effective part structure organizes developments into seven eras of global history, putting events into perspective and creating a framework for cross-cultural comparisons, while the strong themes of traditions (the formations and development of the world's major societies) and encounters (cross-cultural interactions and exchanges) bring focus to the human experience and help turn the giant story of world history into something more manageable. With an engaging narrative, visual appeal, extended pedagogy, and a strong emphasis on critical thinking, this concise version offers enhanced flexibility and affordability without sacrificing the features that have made the complete text a favorite among instructors and students alike.

"This is History Book. It explored the grand scheme of world history as a product of real-life human beings pursuing their individual and collective interests. It also offered a global perspective on the past by focusing on both the distinctive characteristics ofindividual societies and the connections that have linked the fortunes of diff erent societies. It has combined a clear chronological framework with the twin themes of traditions and encounters, which help to make the unwieldy story of world history both more manageable and more engaging. From the beginning, Traditions & Encounters off ered an inclusive vision of the global past-one that is meaningful and appropriate for the interdependent world of contemporary times"--

The history and concept of Jesuit mapmaking -- The possessions of the Spanish crown -- The viceroyalty of Peru -- Portuguese possessions: Brazil -- New France: searching for the Northwest Passage.

"A ... culinary travel book featuring profiles of the stewards of the world's oldest foodways--traditional farming, hunting, fishing, and foraging methods--along with 40 recipes"--

We have all experienced fortuitous encounters--those moments in our lives--where a person, place, or thing caused our lives to change in a more positive direction. Our lives are full of what some have called serendipity, strange acts of fortune or causeless miracles. A favorite teacher inspires our choice of career, a chance encounter develops into love, marriage, and a new family. At the time we are most in need of a friend, one appears in our lives. We look at a mountain or the ocean and find meaning and peace, we read a book and an idea is planted in our brains that provides the wisdom we seek. The ability to experience fortuitous encounters is key to learning and growth. The more fortuitous encounters someone has, the better the odds are the person is successful and happy. While fortuitous encounters are by their very nature a product of chance that is beyond our ability to control, Davis and Spears strongly believe, as did Pasteur, that "chance favors only the prepared mind." The intention is not to try to explain chance, or divine intervention in this book, but simply to help the reader, whatever their core beliefs, to understand the power of fortuitous encounters. In this book, you will read firsthand reports of fortuitous encounters of many kinds. These true stories can help you to learn how to prepare yourself to experience your own fortuitous encounters, and experience a lifetime of learning and growth. This wise book will serve as a great companion to help you stay awake to the fortuitous people, places, and things that ultimately shape your days and your life. +

This collection of essays asserts the specific value of world history research and teaching, showing how the field contributes to the larger historical profession and offering concrete suggestions to develop more interaction between the academy and the public. The twelve contributors, each with their own academic areas of interest, are experienced scholars and classroom teachers. Uniting them together in this volume is their professional relationship with Jerry H. Bentley (1949–2012). This shared connection served as a catalyst to showcase Bentley’s enduring legacy: a commitment to investigating large-scale questions with detailed empirical evidence that explains the human condition—documenting both patterns of similarity and difference in ways that account for regional and temporal variations. The volume continues Bentley’s meticulous attention to world historical methods: focus on scale, cross-cultural encounter, comparison, periodization, critical geography, and interdisciplinarity. Encounters Old and New in World History responds to provocations that Jerry Bentley tendered in his scholarship and through his professional activities. Contributors interrogate the institutional settings, disciplinary proclivities, methodological choices, and diverse source bases of world history research and teaching. Several essays address the ways in which present-day concerns influence research on local and global scales. Other essays pay particular attention to the production and circulation of knowledge across regional, temporal, and class boundaries, as well as between the academy and the wider public. Claiming the centrality of globally informed and focused approaches to historical inquiry, researchers continue the conversations that Bentley carried on through his own scholarship, teaching, editing of the Journal of World History, participating in public forums, and contributing to public discussions about the place of history in understanding today’s global integration. The stakes involved in asking questions about the shared history of humankind continue to increase in the current era of intensified globalization. It is incumbent upon scholars with the skills to work across linguistic, geographic, temporal, and disciplinary boundaries to show the ways that cross-cultural encounters happened historically, and to point out how such interactions play out in the institutions, classrooms, and public debates where historical interpretations are created and shared.

A comprehensive, chronological overview of American literature in three scholarly and authoritative volumes A Companion to American Literature traces the history and development of American literature from its early origins in Native American oral tradition to 21st century digital literature. This comprehensive three-volume set brings together contributions from a diverse international team of accomplished young scholars and established figures in the field. Contributors explore a broad range of topics in historical, cultural, political, geographic, and technological contexts, engaging the work of both well-known and non-canonical writers of every period. Volume One is an inclusive and geographically expansive examination of early American literature, applying a range of cultural and historical approaches and theoretical models to a dramatically expanded canon of texts. Volume Two covers American literature between 1820 and 1914, focusing on the development of print culture and the literary marketplace, the emergence of various literary movements, and the impact of social and historical events on writers and writings of the period. Spanning the 20th and early 21st centuries, Volume Three studies traditional areas of American literature as well as the literature from previously marginalized groups and contemporary writers often overlooked by scholars. This inclusive and comprehensive study of American literature: Examines the influences of race, ethnicity, gender, class, and disability on American literature Discusses the role of technology in book production and circulation, the rise of literacy, and changing reading practices and literary forms Explores a wide range of writings in multiple genres, including novels, short stories, dramas, and a variety of poetic forms, as well as autobiographies, essays, lectures, diaries, journals, letters, sermons, histories, and graphic narratives. Provides a thematic index that groups chapters by contexts and illustrates their links across different traditional chronological boundaries A Companion to American Literature is a valuable resource for students coming to the subject for the first time or preparing for field examinations, instructors in American literature courses, and scholars with more specialized interests in specific authors, genres, movements, or periods.

Based on Bentley and Ziegler's best-selling, comprehensive survey text, "Traditions & Encounters: A Brief Global History" provides a streamlined account of the cultures and interactions that have shaped world history. An effective part structure organizes developments into seven eras of global history, putting events into perspective and creating a framework for cross-cultural comparisons, while the strong themes of traditions (the formations and development of the world's major societies) and encounters (cross-cultural interactions and exchanges) bring focus to the human experience and help turn the giant story of world history into something more manageable. With an engaging narrative, visual appeal, extended pedagogy, and a strong emphasis on critical thinking, this concise version offers enhanced flexibility and affordability without sacrificing the features that have made the complete text a favorite among instructors and students alike.