Kaichi and Mitsuke Schools
While most pre-Meiji commoner schools were held either in temples or in the homes of the teachers, most teachers and officials associated with the Meiji education reforms emphasized the importance of having schools in new buildings created specifically for the purpose of education. While this goal took around three decades to accomplish, there were some early, ambitious efforts to erect school... Read More »
"Torture by Water" in the Early Modern Dutch Empire
The Amboyna trial was a famous conspiracy case that took place in 1623 when a group of Japanese mercenaries were accused of plotting with English merchants to seize control of a Dutch fort on a remote island in Southeast Asia. Despite occurring thousands of miles away in an unfamiliar part of the world, the trial on Amboyna swiftly escalated to become one of the most famous legal cases of the... Read More »
A Hindu Princess Committing Sati against the Wishes of Emperor Akbar
This 18th century painting by Mohammad Rizā Naw'ī depicts Sati, the practice whereby an elite Hindu widow would commit suicide through self-immolation upon the death of her husband. Sati was featured prominently in European depictions of Hinduism where it reinforced “exotic” stereotypes of South Asians, and was used as an excuse to justify British Imperialism. In reality, the practice was not... Read More »
A History of the World in 100 Objects
Age of Revolutions
An Abassid Caliph Drinking Wine, Presented by His Wine Steward
This image shows customs of the Abassid caliphs of Soutwestern Asia which included drinking wine. This would have been a part of their culture when Muslims explored other parts of the Asia and parts of Africa in this period.
An Encouragement of Learning
Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901) is one of the most famous figures of modern Japan. He was an intellectual, journalist, and educator who was the most visible advocate of modernization and Western Learning in the 1870s and 1880s. In this excerpt from his 1872 An Encouragement of Learning, Fukuzawa rejects traditional social hierarchies and the classical mode of education practiced by those at the... Read More »
Analyzing Material Objects
The modules in Methods present case studies that demonstrate how scholars interpret different kinds of historical evidence in world history. This module developed by historian Daniel Waugh explores how historians interpret material objects to better understand the past. Examples of objects include Turkish water jugs and Byzantine coins among others. Waugh introduces the kinds of questions... Read More »
Analyzing Paintings and Prints
The modules in Methods present case studies that demonstrate how scholars interpret different kinds of historical evidence in world history. In the video below, historian Brian Platt analyzes two ukiyo-e woodblock prints from the Tokugawa or Edo period in Japan (1600 to 1867) created by the artist Utamaro in 1802. These prints, titled, "The Drunkard" and "Vulgarly called the Wanton"... Read More »
