17th Century
Crossing Borders Across Venetian, Habsburg and Ottoman Empires, 1500-1800
How did the Ottoman, Habsburg, and Venetian empires interact with each other? How did their competition over southeastern Europe shape these borderlands and their inhabitants?
Thinking about World History: Historic Maps as Sources
What can old maps teach us about world history? What sorts of evidence do they offer, and is displaying evidence the main purpose of these maps, or can they do other things?
The Medieval Spice Trade
How were spices used by medieval Europeans, and why were spices so valuable in medieval Europe?
Religious Change and the Ottoman Empire, 1450-1750
What did the rise and expansion of the Ottoman Empire look like in the eyes of European observers? How did the Ottomans shape the political and religious history of early modern Europe?
Foods of the Columbian Exchange
How did the Columbian Exchange shape food culture in the modern world?
Religious Change and Print Culture in the Reformation
How did the changes in religion during the Reformation shape the medium of print? How did religious leaders and thinkers attempt to interact with their audience(s)? How did the ways in which religious figures used print pave the way for modern mass media?
Daily Life in Early Modern France
How did handwritten documents shape life in the early modern period? What can these documents tell us about the experiences of early modern people?
The World of Don Quixote
How did Cervantes’ Don Quixote respond to the social conditions and literary traditions of early modern Spain?
Mapping Chicago and the Midwest, 1688–1906
How do maps tell the early history of Chicago and the Midwest? How have maps been used by different empires and nations to secure control of the region?
Maps and the Beginnings of Colonial North America
What can maps tell us about how people from different times, places, and cultures make sense of their world? How did maps and mapmaking influence the development of colonial North America?
Shakespeare’s Romans: Politics and Ethics in Julius Caesar and Coriolanus
What is the context for Shakespeare’s Roman plays? What were his sources? Why did classical Rome capture the interest of people in Renaissance England?