​​MAJOR THEMES IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION TO 1650  
 
THE ANCIENT WORD (TO 476)
THE MEDIEVAL WORLD (476-1517)
EARLY MODERN WORLD (1517-1650)
AGE OF EXPLORATION (1492 - 1850)
INDUSTRIAL AGE  (1850 - 1980)
WORLD WAR I
WORLD WAR II
INFORMATION AGE 1990 - PRESENT

SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS DURING
THESE HISTORICAL PERIODS  

THE ANCIENT WORLD (TO 476)

• THE POLITICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL, AND CULTURAL LEGACIES OF ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME.
• ORIGINS, IDEAS, MORAL CODES, DOCTRINES, AND INSTITUTIONS OF JUDAISM AND OF CHRISTIANITY IN ALL ITS FORMS.

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD (476-1517)

• MEDIEVAL SOCIETY AND ITS INSTITUTIONS (FEUDALISM, MANORIALISM, ROMAN CATHOLICISM).
• RELATIONS WITH ISLAM (E.G., THE CRUSADES).
• THE EVOLUTION OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT (TOWN CHARTERS)
• THE CULTURE AND IDEAS OF THE RENAISSANCE.

THE EARLY MODERN MODERN (1517-1650)

​• THE CULTURE AND IDEAS OF THE REFORMATION.
• EUROPEAN EXPLORATION AND COLONIZATION.
• THE ORIGINS OF CAPITALISM AND COLONIZATION