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KOC UNIVERSITY

HUMS 131

History Power and People

Fall 2026

Instructor: Dr. Seda Altug E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

Course description

The world's modern history is often conceived as the gradual domination of Western political ideas, technology and economic organization. This course intends to complicate this narrative and examine the causes behind Western ascendancy in the modern era. The course will trace the emergence and development of the enduring geopolitical, economic and cultural division line between the west and the non-west, or what is nowadays called the "North" and the "South" divide. The goal of the course is to understand the role of political revolutions, western imperial expansion, nation-state formation and nationalism, industrialization and war in the creation of this divide.

Office Hours

To schedule a Zoom meeting outside, please contact me by email.

Required Texts

All readings may be found on the KUHub

Requirements and Grading

Midterm 35%, Final 40%, Film Presentation 15%, Participation 10%.

Disclaimer: This is a face-to-face class, there will be no online sessions.

Reading requirements

Students are required consult each week the readings posted on KUHub. As readings form the basis of our in-class discussions, students are required to bring copies of these readings to class. There will be questions on the readings in the midterm and final exams.

Grading scale

A+ (98+); A (90+); A- (87+); B+ (83+); B (80+); B- (77+); C+ (73+); C (70+); C- (67+); D+ (64+); D (60+); F (0-59)

Assignments

a Attendance and participation

Attendance will be taken and note will be made of students who contribute to class discussions.

b Group presentations on films

Depending on the size of the class there will be in-class group presentations of films related to class material starting on week 3. Each presentation should last around 15 minutes.

List of movies:

c Mid-Term Exam

The Midterm Exam will be given in class during class hours.

d Final Exam

The date of the final exam will be announced centrally, it will be outside the normal class hours and its format will be identical to the midterm exam.

Academic Honesty

Students are required to strictly conform to the university's "Statement on Academic Honesty with Emphasis on Plagiarism" which you will find in full at the end of this syllabus. Plagiarism will result in immediate failure of your assignment and may entail disciplinary action.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1 10 February Introduction

Week 2 12-17 February The Foundations of European Global Power-1 The Columbian Exchange and Transatlantic Slave Trade

Reading: Cortes, "Second Letter to Charles V of Spain"

Week 3 19-24-26 February The Foundations of European Global Power-2 Transatlantic Slave Trade and British Expansion in India

Readings:

  1. Falconbridge, An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of Africa
  2. Charter Granted by Queen Elizabeth to the East India Company, 31 December 1600

Movie presentation: 1492

Week 4 3-5-10 March Where is the Universal Man The Example from America

Readings:

  1. Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776
  2. The Constitution of the United States of America, 17 September 1787

Movie presentation: '12 Years a Slave'

Week 5 12-24 March The French Revolution and the birth of the nation-state

Reading:

  1. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, 26 August 1789
  2. Robespierre, "The Republic of Virtue," 5 February 1794

Movie presentation: 'Danton'

Week 6 26-31 March The French Revolution A Caribbean Perspective

  1. Society of the Friends of Blacks, "Address to the National Assembly in Favour of the Abolition of the Slave Trade," 5 February 1790
  2. Toussaint Louverture, "Final Proclamation," 1801

Week 7 2-7-9 April Northern Intrusions Napoleons Egyptian Campaign

  • Midterm (2 April)

Reading:

  1. Napoleon, Addresses, speeches and letters related to Egyptian Campaign
  2. Said, Orientalism [excerpts]

Movie presentation: 'Passion in the Desert'

Week 8 14-16 April The Eastern Question and National Liberation Movements in Southeastern Europe

Reading:

  1. Mazower, The Balkans: A Short History [excerpts]
  2. Greek Declaration of Independence, January 1822

Week 9 21-28-30 April Industrialization and the Economic Foundations of Europes Global Power

Reading: Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of Great Powers [excerpts]

Movie presentation: 'Oliver Twist'

Week 10 5-7 May Industrialization and Labor Mobilization

Reading: Engel, Condition of the Working-Class in England [excerpts]

Movie presentation: 'Germinal'

Week 11 7-12 May Alternatives to Western Dominion Egypts path to modernization 1805-1882

Reading: Fahmy, All the Pasha's Men [excerpts]

Movie presentation: 'Suez'

Week 12 14-21 May A Mission to Civilize Europes New Imperialism 1881-1912

Readings:

  1. Ferry, "Speech to the French Chamber of Deputies"
  2. Osterhammel, Colonialism: A Theoretical Overview
  3. General Act of the Berlin Conference, 1884

Movie presentation: 'America America'

Week 13 online The Great War Remapping the Middle East

Reading:

  1. The Sykes-Picot Agreement, 1916
  2. The MacMahon-Hussein Correspondence, 1915-1916
  3. Clark, Twice a Stranger

Movie presentation: 'Joyeux Noel'

Koc University

Statement on Academic Honesty with Emphasis on Plagiarism

Koç University expects all its students to perform course-related activities in accordance with the rules set forth in the Student Code of Conduct (http://vpaa.ku.edu.tr/academic/student-code-of-conduct). Actions considered as academic dishonesty at Koç University include but are not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, and impersonating. This statement's goal is to draw attention to cheating and plagiarism related actions deemed unacceptable within the context of Student Code of Conduct:

All individual assignments must be completed by the student himself/herself, and all team assignments must be completed by the members of the team, without the aid of other individuals. If a team member does not contribute to the written documents or participate in the activities of the team, his/her name should not appear on the work submitted for evaluation.

Plagiarism is defined as 'borrowing or using someone else's written statements or ideas without giving written acknowledgement to the author'. Students are encouraged to conduct research beyond the course material, but they must not use any documents prepared by current or previous students, or notes prepared by instructors at Koç University or other universities without properly citing the source. Furthermore, students are expected to adhere to the Classroom Code of Conduct (http://vpaa.ku.edu.tr/academic/classroom-code-of-conduct) and to refrain from all forms of unacceptable behavior during lectures. Failure to adhere to expected behavior may result in disciplinary action.

There are two kinds of plagiarism: Intentional and accidental. Intentional plagiarism (Example: Using a classmate's homework as one's own because the student does not want to spend time working on that homework) is considered intellectual theft, and there is no need to emphasize the wrongfulness of this act. Accidental plagiarism, on the other hand, may be considered as a 'more acceptable' form of plagiarism by some students, which is certainly not how it is perceived by the University administration and faculty. The student is responsible from properly citing a source if he/she is making use of another person's work. For an example on accidental plagiarism, please refer to the document titled "An Example on Accidental Plagiarism".

If you are unsure whether the action you will take would be a violation of Koç University's Student Code of Conduct, please consult with your instructor before taking that action.

An Example on Accidental Plagiarism

This example is taken from a document prepared by the City University of New York.

The following text is taken from Elaine Tyler May's 'Myths and Realities of the American Family':

"Because women's wages often continue to reflect the fiction that men earn the family wage, single mothers rarely earn enough to support themselves and their children adequately. And because work is still organized around the assumption that mothers stay home with children, even though few mothers can afford to do so, child-care facilities in the United States remain woefully inadequate."

Below, there is an excerpt from a student's homework, who made use of May's original text:

"As Elaine Tyler May points out, "women's wages often continue to reflect the fiction that men earn the family wage" (588). Thus many single mothers cannot support themselves and their children adequately. Furthermore, since work is based on the assumption that mothers stay home with children, facilities for day care in this country are still "woefully inadequate." (May 589)".

You may think that there is no plagiarism here since the student is citing the original author. However, this is an instance of accidental plagiarism. Although the student cites May and uses quotation marks occasionally, the rest of the sentences, more specifically the following section: "Thus many single mothers cannot support themselves and their children adequately. Furthermore, since work is based on the assumption that mothers stay home with children, facilities for day care in this country are still "woefully inadequate." (May 589)" almost exactly duplicates May's original language. So, in order to avoid plagiarism, the student either had to use quotation marks for the rest of the sentences as well, or he/she had to paraphrase May's ideas by using not only his/her own words, but his/her own original ideas as well. You should keep in mind that accidental plagiarism often occurs when the student does not really understand the original text but still tries to make use of it. Understanding the original text and understanding why you agree or disagree with the ideas proposed in that text is crucial both for avoiding plagiarism and for your intellectual development.

Reference(s):

Avoiding and Detecting Plagiarism: A Guide for Graduate Students and Faculty. The Graduate Center. City University of New York, 2012. Web. http://www.gc.cuny.edu/CUNY_GC/media/CUNY-Graduate-Center/PDF/Publications/AvoidingPlagiarism.pdf

HUMS 131 Syllabus - Fall 2026 — Umut Yalçın Baki