Hocbigg - Cultural History
Contents
Summary
The Cultural History curriculum is a complete education in Cultural History using online materials.
Organization
This repository is organized into 2 main components:
- Core Curriculum (this page): the foundational knowledge of the field;
- Advanced Topics: focused study in specific areas;
Process: Learners may work through the curriculum independently or collaboratively, and either sequentially or selectively.
- For simplicity, courses in the Core Curriculum are ordered according to their prerequisites.
- The Core Curriculum provides a shared foundation and is intended to be completed in full.
- Advanced Topics are optional; learners are encouraged to select one area of focus and complete all courses within that topic.
Note: When there are courses or books that don't fit into the curriculum but are otherwise of high quality, they belong in extras/courses, extras/readings.
Communities
- Forums:
- Historum - Arts & Culture (Active discussions on cultural history, art, literature, mythology, and popular culture)
- Historum Main History Forum (Broad history forum with dedicated sections for cultural and related topics)
- Subreddits:
- r/AskHistorians (Highly active, expert-moderated Q&A for in-depth historical questions, including strong coverage of cultural history, anthropology, and material culture)
- r/history (General history discussions, frequently including cultural aspects, everyday life, and long-term cultural evolution)
- Cultures of History Forum (Academic-oriented platform focused on cultures of history, memory, and historiography in Central/Eastern/Southeastern Europe and beyond)
- You can also interact through GitHub issues. If there is a problem with a course, or a change needs to be made to the curriculum, this is the place to start the conversation. Read more here.
-
Join our Discord server (for discussions around this and other curricula):
Curriculum
- Foundations of Cultural History
- Global Cultural History — Before 1500
- Global Cultural History — 1500–1800
- Global Cultural History — 1800–Present
How to use this curriculum
Core Sections
These sections form the necessary backbone of the discipline. Study them in this exact order:
-
I. Foundations of Cultural History
Start here. This section teaches you the basic concepts, methods, and ways of reading cultural evidence that you will use throughout the entire curriculum. -
II. Global Cultural History — Before 1500
Move to this section next. It gives you the long-term historical context of human societies before the modern era. -
III. Global Cultural History — 1500–1800
Continue directly after section II. This covers the crucial period of global encounters, early empires, and the beginnings of the modern world. -
IV. Global Cultural History — 1800–Present
Finish the broad historical spine here. This section brings the story up to the contemporary world.
Once you have completed sections I–IV in order, you will have a coherent, chronological understanding of global cultural history and the main tools needed to analyze it.
Foundations of Cultural History
1. Introduction to Cultural History
| Subject | Resource |
|---|---|
| What is cultural history? | Peter Burke, What is Cultural History? (Polity, 3rd ed. recommended; check library or affordable editions) |
| Key concepts & approaches | Cultural History – A Very Short Introduction (excerpts or summary via open resources if full text not free) (supplemental) |
2. How Culture and History Work
| Subject | Resource |
|---|---|
| Historical method & thinking | Stanford History Education Group Reading Like a Historian (now hosted by Digital Inquiry Group, successor to SHEG) |
| Culture as evidence & historical sources | MIT OCW: Introduction to Anthropology (select modules) + [Peter Burke excerpts on cultural sources] |
3. How We Read Cultural Evidence
| Domain | Resource |
|---|---|
| Texts & myths | Internet Sacred Text Archive |
| Art & objects | MET Museum Heilbrunn Timeline |
| Architecture & cities | Smarthistory |
Global Cultural History — Before 1500
(All regions studied together)
A. Ancient & Classical Worlds
| Region | Primary Source Base |
|---|---|
| Mesopotamia, Egypt | Internet Ancient History Sourcebook |
| India | Fordham Indian History Sourcebook |
| China | Chinese Text Project |
| Africa | UNESCO General History of Africa Vol. I–II (full volumes available on Internet Archive) |
| Americas | Dumbarton Oaks Pre-Columbian |
Core Narrative: OpenStax World History Vol. 1
B. Medieval Global Cultures (500–1500)
| Civilizational sphere | Sources |
|---|---|
| Islamic world | Aga Khan Museum online (collections and virtual access) |
| Europe | Yale HIST 210 (Early Middle Ages) |
| China | Harvard ChinaX materials |
| Africa | UNESCO GHA Vol. III (part of the series) |
| Americas | FAMSI + Dumbarton Oaks (FAMSI integrated into similar resources) |
Global Cultural History — 1500–1800
A. Encounters, Empires, Exchange
- OpenStax World History Vol. 2 (Note: Use later chapters for post-1500)
- Fordham Modern History Sourcebook
Regions studied in parallel:
- Europe
- Islamic empires
- China & Japan
- Africa
- Indigenous Americas
Global Cultural History — 1800–Present
A. Industrial, Colonial, Postcolonial Worlds
- OpenStax World History Vol. 2 (later chapters)
- Yale Global History lectures (relevant global courses available)
Primary sources:
- Wilson Center Digital Archive
- British Library Images (searchable images collection)
- Smithsonian Open Access