In this course, the student will study the emergence of the major civilizations of the ancient world, beginning with the Paleolithic Era (about 2.5 million years ago) and finishing with the end of the Middle Ages in fifteenth century A.D. The student will pay special attention to how societies evolved across this expanse of time - from fragmented and primitive agricultural communities to more advanced and consolidated civilizations. By the end of the course, the student will possess a thorough understanding of important overarching social, political, religious, and economic themes in the ancient world, ranging from the emergence of Confucian philosophy in Asia to the fall of imperial Rome. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: Identify and define the world's earliest civilizations, including the Neolithic Revolution, and describe how it shaped the development of these early civilizations; Identify, describe, and compare/contrast the first advanced civilizations in the world - Mesopotamia and Egypt; Identify and describe the emergence of the earliest civilizations in Asia: the Harappan and Aryan societies on the Indian subcontinent and the Shang and Zhou societies in China; Identify and describe the emergence of new philosophies - Daoism and Confucianism - during the Warring States period in China. Identify and describe the subsequent rise of the Qin and Han dynasties; Identify and describe the different periods that characterized ancient Greece - Archaic Greece (or the Greek Dark Ages), classical Greece, and the Hellenistic era; Identify and describe the characteristics of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and Imperial Rome; Analyze the emergence of the Mauryan and Gupta empires during the 'classical age' in India; Identify and analyze the Buddhist and Vedic (Hindu) faiths; Identify and describe the rise of civilizations in the Americas, particularly in Meso and South America; Analyze and describe the rise of Islam in the Middle East; Identify and describe the emergence of the Arab caliphate, the Umayyad dynasty, and Abbasid dynasty; Identify and describe the rise and fall of the Byzantine Empire; Identify and analyze key facets of medieval society in Western EuropeŃthe Catholic Church, feudalism, and the rise of technology and commerce; Analyze and interpret primary-source documents that elucidate the exchanges and advancements made in civilizations across time and space. (History 101)

With wisdom and wit, Anupam Mishra talks about the amazing feats of engineering built centuries ago by the people of India's Golden Desert to harvest water. These structures are still used today -- and are often superior to modern water megaprojects. A quiz, thought provoking question, and links for further study are provided to create a lesson around the 17-minute video. Educators may use the platform to easily "Flip" or create their own lesson for use with their students of any age or level.

Agha Ibrahim Akram was a lieutenant general who served in the Pakistan Army during the 1965 and 1971 wars with India. In this video segment, Akram recalls 1974 as the watershed year when India detonated a nuclear explosive and took one step toward becoming a nuclear power in hopes of enhancing its global status. That moment also coincided with skyrocketing oil prices, which stiffened Pakistan's resolve to develop nuclear energy for electricity and, if need be, weapons. The interview Akram conducted for War and Peace in the Nuclear Age: 'The Haves and Have-Nots' concentrates on the history of tension and conflict between Pakistan and India. He reviews the three wars: the devastating bloodshed that followed partition in 1947, the pride he felt in 1965 as chief of staff of an infantry division along the West Pakistan border, and his bitterness toward India over the Bangladesh war in 1971. Despite the persistence of tension between Pakistan and India, Akram recognizes circumstances in which their perspectives and geopolitical positions meet. For instance, he fully supports India's critique of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: that the major nuclear powers only selectively enforce and adhere to its provisions. He wishes that South Asia could be a nuclear-weapons-free zone but is willing to settle for India and Pakistan's interdependence: 'The two countries are the protagonists of South Asia. We'll actually cross the threshold together or not cross it at all.'

This course serves as an introduction to the major pre-Modern artistic traditions of India, China, and Japan. It first examines Indian Art, focusing on Buddhist, Hindu, and Islamic art and architecture. Then, the student will cover the arts of China, detailing the interaction between art, politics, and culture throughout Chinese dynastic history. Lastly, the course discusses Japanese Art, exploring the effects that various sub-traditions and sub-cultures had on the art of Japan. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: identify major pre-modern Indian, Chinese, and Japanese works of art and architecture; identify the major art historical time periods in India, China, and Japan and the important artistic developments that occurred during each of them; recognize how art and architecture can be used to understand the politics, history, and culture of India, China, and Japan; look at, analyze, and compare and contrast different types of Asian art. (Art History 305)

In this Nature video, learn about the extraordinary impact that birds have on the agriculture of a small Indian community.

This course serves as an introduction to the Buddhist artistic traditions of South, Southeast, and East Asia, as well as the Himalayas. It starts with the core tenets of Buddhism, Buddhist iconography, and early Buddhist art and architecture in India, then progresses to Southeast Asia. The course then focuses on Vajrayana Buddhism and its artistic traditions in the Himalayas, then examines Mahayana Buddhist art and architecture in China, Korea and Japan. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to: identify the core beliefs of Buddhism, major Buddhist schools, and basic Buddhist iconography; identify major works of Buddhist art and Buddhist monuments from South, Southeast, and East Asia, as well as the Himalayas; identify the major developments in Buddhist doctrine and Buddhist art and architecture, as well as the relationship between the two as the religion spread throughout Southeast Asia, East Asia, and the Himalayas. (Art History 406)

Improvisation and composition are words frequently used in the western world to describe the creation of music. But are they really two distinct processes, or are they aspects of the same phenomenon? In this unit we will explore the relationships between the two using examples of Asian music to help us clarify the concepts.

This dataset has been added as an experimental use of Open Context for public health data sharing applications. Corneal ulceration is a major cause of blindness in many parts of the world, but in South East Asia the WHO estimates that there are as many as 12 million blinding ulcers every year in a population of 1.6 billion. Now that we know the main causes of these ulcers it is possible to prevent the occurrence of most of them with simple, grass-roots, public health measures. The development of these public health programs were a result of findings of this corneal ulcer study in Madurai, India in 1994.

D-Lab is a design studio course in which students work on international development projects for under served communities. The class is focused on a participatory, iterative prototyping design process, with particular attention on the constraints faced when designing for developing communities. Students work in multidisciplinary teams on term-long projects in collaboration with community partners, field practitioners, and experts in relevant fields. Students will learn about their partner communities through the collaborative design process and be exposed to many hands-on fabrication and prototyping skills relevant to development at MIT and manufacturing in their partner community. The course will consist of hands-on labs, guest speakers, and a guided design process with review by experts and professionals in development and design.

In this video from Wide Angle, learn about the farmers of Vidarbha in central India who have seen a loss in profits due to the high cost of borrowing money and the low prices for their crops in a globalized market.

Recent years have seen an astonishing spread of democracy to many Asian, African, and Latin American countries. Subject explores the causes of these dramatic political transitions; the challenges democratizing countries in the developing world face; and the question of whether these new democracies will endure. Subject explores these questions using film, fiction, popular journalism, and scholarly research as a basis for discussion. Focus on a small number of countries (Brazil, Mexico, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore, and Senegal) allows exploration of relevant topics in greater depth.

This is a collection of downloadable video clips on the theme of Economic Systems, with guiding questions for students. Clips are drawn from the following PBS WIDE ANGLE documentaries: "To Have and Have Not" (2002), "A State of Mind" (2003), "Ladies First" (2004), "1-800-INDIA" (2005), "Border Jumpers" (2005).

As markets or production bases, China and India are becoming important and integral players in the global economy. Foreign direct investment (FDI), portfolio investments and outsourcing businesses have increased dramatically in these two economies. Despite the rising importance of these two economies on the world stage, our knowledge and analysis of these two countries in an integrated manner has remained poor. The two are often lumped together by business analysts as "emerging markets," despite the substantial differences in their political systems, reform policies and business organizations. Academics, in contrast, have tended to treat two countries separately, preferring to specialize in issues and questions specific to one or the other country. The purpose of this course is to analyze these two countries within a coherent analytical framework. Our learning model is inductive, and heavily based on class discussions and participation. The group projects should aim at integrating analysis, knowledge and understanding of these two countries. We will also experiment with other forms of group projects, such as creating and working on business plans and those projects that integrate research from field trips with more traditional research, such as library research.

From pineapples grown in Hawai'i to English-speaking call centers outsourced to India, the legacy of the "Age of Imperialism" appears everywhere in our modern world. This class explores the history of European imperialism in its political, economic, and cultural dimensions from the 1840s through the 1960s.

Modernization is an important issue in the New York State Global History and Geography curriculum. Students are expected to understand how modernization may impact such areas as society, politics, the economy, and the environment. In the Global History and Geography curriculum, a study of historical examples of modernization includes examples of attempts to transform society, such as the Meiji Restoration or Kemal Ataturk. In this lesson, two PBS WIDE ANGLE documentaries -- "To Have and Have Not" (2002) and "1-800-INDIA" (2005) -- will enable students to examine the effects of modernization on two Asian countries: China and India.

This is a collection of downloadable video clips on the theme of Factors of Production, with guiding questions for students. Clips are drawn from the following PBS WIDE ANGLE documentaries: "To Have and Have Not" (2002), "Pickles, Inc." (2005), "1-800-INDIA" (2005), "Border Jumpers" (2005).

In this video from Wide Angle, the sparse life of the rural farmer in India is compared to the wealth of consumer goods available to wealthier city dwellers.

Today, over 115 million children have never set foot inside a school. The fact is that for children living in developing countries, the dream of a first day of school is yet to be realized. The daily realities of poverty, political instability, regional conflict, geography, and cultural or traditional values all play a role to varying degrees -- and the issue of gender disparity makes this fact even more staggering. Full and equal access to education (Article 26) as outlined in the 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights' and 'The Convention on the Rights of the Child' (Articles 2,3,28, and 29), has clearly been out of the reach of poor children -- and even more so in the case of girls. Nearly two-thirds of children who are denied a primary education are girls. In the least developed countries, nearly twice as many adult women than men are illiterate. (Source: UNFPA http://www.unfpa.org/icpd/10/icpd_ed.htm) If you happen to be a female, you are less likely to have access to a quality primary education and beyond -- contributing to the feminization of global poverty. Yet, there is hope despite this current state of affairs. 189 nations have pledged to meet 8 major Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. In doing so, nations hope to improve the social and economic development of all peoples. Included in these goals are those that address education and gender disparity: MDG 2: Achieve universal and primary education. MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women. Through the activities outlined in this lesson, students will become familiar with the current barriers standing in the way of educational opportunity -- especially for girls. They will watch clips from the WIDE ANGLE film 'Time for School' (2003) to understand the sense of urgency surrounding this issue, the potential benefits that can result from educating girls, and the ways that local communities are trying to address these problems. Note: This lesson focuses on MDG 2 and MDG 3. An introduction to the overall goals of the Millennium Project should be presented prior to this particular lesson.

Almost all major works in philosophy and literature are accessible via online sources on the Internet. Fortunately, much of the best work in philosophy and literature is available in the public domain. A translation of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, in particular, became available through Project Gutenberg by Michael Pullen. This edited version of that text is subject to the legal notice following the title page referencing the GFDL License. By placing this edited reading selection under the GFDL, this product is being open-sourced, in part, to minimize costs to interested students of philosophy and, in part, to make it widely available in a form convenient to a wide variety of readers. A particular virtue of DocBook is that the same text may be converted into a variety of formats, including audio and Braille files. Also, students, themselves, can improve the product if they wish to do so. This particular edition represents a first step in the development of the open-source text. The development model of Siddhartha is loosely patterned on the "release early, release often" model championed by Eric S. Raymond.[1] Various formats of this work are being made available for distribution. If the core reading and commentary prove useful, the successive revisions will be released as incrementally numbered "stable" versions beginning with version 1.0.