From the very small to the very large: having tackled Local History in Episode 24, we now turn to World History. And to guide us through this relatively recent sub-discipline of historical studies we turn to Peter Stearns.

He's an eminent historian and academician. Now a Professor at George Mason University, he has served as GMU's Provost. Prior to coming to George Mason, he was a member of the Department of History at Carnegie Mellon, and the Dean of the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences at that institution. While at Carnegie Mellon he founded the Journal of Social History, for which he has served as editor for decades. He has also written or edited over one-hundred books. In the process, he has moved from social history, to being one of the key innovators of the field of world history. We can't think of anyone better able to teach us about this subject.

We hope you enjoy the podcast. If you do, please write a review on iTunes! And do join the Historically Thinking group on Facebook.

For Further Investigation*

Patrick Manning, Navigating World History 

"The single best introduction to the field..."

Edmund Burke II, David Christian, and Ross Dunn, World History: A Compact History of Humankind for Teachers and Students

"A good overview.."

Peter N. Stearns, Peter Seixas, and Sam Wineburg, Knowing, Teaching, and Learning History: National and International Perspectives

"A useful general work..."

Lawrence Besserman, ed., The Challenge of Periodization: Old Paradigms and New Perspectives

David Christian, Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History

THE introduction to Big History–the subject of a future podcast.

Jerry H. Bentley, Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times

Greg Dening, Beach Crossings: Voyaging Across Times, Cultures, and Self

Two "good resources on cross-cultural interactions..."

Patrick Manning, Migration in World History

Kenneth Pomeranz and Steven Topik, The World That Trade Created: Society, Culture, and the World Economy, 1400 to the Present

A good resource not only on trade but on "world-system analysis"

Robbie Robertson, The Three Waves of Globalization: A History of Developing Global Consciousness

The World History Association

World History Matters

*All of these resources and their descriptions come from Peter Stearns in his World History: The Basics