world history research agenda and ReOrient

The Andre Gunder Frank/David Landes debate at Northeastern University
left us with an important question demanding further research.   What
factors contributed to Europe's rise in the 19th century?  Was it a
result of endogenous factors, or as Gunder Frank and Prasannan
Parthasarthi suggest, part of a complex set of global interactions and
reactions grounded in Asian dominance that led to a new unfolding world
order?  Andre Gunder Frank suggests some answers and areas demanding
further research in chapter 6 of his ReOrient.  Indeed, he may have
provided world history with its most important research agenda.

We hope to begin this dialogue with a series of speakers at the World
History Seminar, sponsored by the World History Center at Northeastern
University, by scholars knowledgable in these areas.  Among them are
Peter Gran of Temple University and author of Beyond Eurocentrism;
UC-Irvine's Ken Pomeranz who has provided  original research for Gunder
Frank's ReOrient;  R. Bin Wong, also of the "California School", with
Peter Perdue of MIT; and Sanjay Subrahmanyam (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en
Sciences Sociales): and Prasannan Parthasarthi of Boston College.

Our series begins with someone who methodologically is on the frontiers
of our field.  Professor Peter Gran, author of Beyond Eurocentrism, will
present "The rise of the rich:  Egypt and the transition from old to
modern capitalism, 1760-1860."  This topic is part of a special focus
the World History Seminar will have on the global interactions between
"Asia," the "Middle-East" (primarily Egypt), and "Europe" in the 18th
and early 19th centuries.  In this series we hope to further our knowledge of
how Europe was forced to react to a dominant Asian economy and how this
contributed to a European response resulting in industrialization and the
development of the modern world as we know it.  These are  big and important
issues.  The work of scholars, such as Andre Gunder Frank in his ReORIENT, and
Prasannan Parthasarthi in his Past and Present article this past February,
have forced us to confront the possibility that the development of
industrialism and the modern world may have resulted from complex global
interactions rather than just residing in Europe alone. Spawned by the Gunder
Frank/Landes debate, this series of presentations may prove seminal in
redefining world history research.


Wednesday, January 13, 1999, 3:00 - 4:30 p.m., 340 Egan
Peter Gran, Temple University
        "The Rise of the Rich:  Egypt and the transition from old
        to modern capitalism, 1760-1850"

Thursday, February 11, 1998, 3:00 - 4:30 p.m., 340 Egan
Kenneth Pomeranz, University of California, Irvine
        "A Global Perspective on Early Industrialization?"

Friday, February 26, 1998, 3:00 - 4:30 p.m., 340 Egan
Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris
        Title to be announced.

Wednesday, March 3, 1999, 3:00 - 4:30 p.m., 340 Egan
Prasannan Parthasarathi, Boston College
        "New Comparative Perspectives on the British Industrial
        Revolution".

Wednesday, March 17, 1999, 3:00 - 4:30 p.m., 340 Egan
Peter Perdue, MIT, with a comment by R. Bin Wong, University of
          California, Irvine.
        "The Industrial revolution seen from China: Early, Late, Deep,
        or Sudden?"





Please check our web page for the full schedule of
events at <www.whc.enu.edu> and feel free to write me at 
<jsommers@lynx.neu.edu> or call me at 617-373-3676 for further
information.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Sommers