This course is designed to engage students in conversations about particular perspectives on the history of a selected nation, region, people, culture, institution, or historical phenomenon as specified by the respective instructor. By taking this course, students will come to understand, and develop an appreciation for, some combination of: the origins and evolution of the people, cultures, and/or political, economic, and/or social institutions of a particular region(s) of the world. They may also explore how human encounters shaped individual and collective identities and the complex political, economic, and social orders of the region/nation/communities under study. Instructors and subject will vary.

This course uses money as a vantage point from which to survey major historical developments from roughly the 15th century to the present. It is not an economic history in the strict sense but rather, an attempt to understand the broader - political, social, and cultural usages and meanings of money, in addition to its economic functions. What is money, and what is it for? You might be tempted to answer this question by simply opening your wallet and taking out a quarter and a dollar note, if you still carry cash on you. But what about the credit card next to it? What about those bitcoins that you may have bought ‘for fun’ when the cryptocurrency first became known to a broader audience, but that you now keep because their value has gone up and might do so even more? Was it historically better to have the biggest silver mine, or the biggest stock market in the world? Can—and should we—put a price tag on everything? These questions already tell you a little bit about the transformations that money has undergone historically—from coins to printed paper to invisible, electronic forms, hidden behind computer screens. Among the topics covered in this course are the invention of debt and credit instruments, counterfeiting, bubbles and speculation, global currencies, finance, banking, and imperialism, gold, and Ponzi schemes and other so-called white-collar crimes in the 20th century. A note on previous exposure to Economics/economic history/history courses: I’m asking students to keep in mind that by design, the topics, questions, and problems covered in this course are starkly different from economic history as taught in Economics departments and similar settings. Students who are looking for a more Economics-like class will likely find this course will not meet their expectations. Accordingly, this class does not require any familiarity with Economics, economic history, or history courses. Readings will be available in digital form through bCourses.

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