Poster for Bridging World History

PBS 2004 1 season 26 eps TV-G Canceled

Bridging World History

2004 1 season 26 eps TV-G

Season 1

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Season 1

28 min

S1 · E1 · Jan 2, 2004

Maps, Time, and World History Episode 1

What tools do world historians use in the study of history? This unit begins the study of world history by examining its use of geographical and chronological frameworks: how they have shaped the understanding of world history and been used to chart the past.

28 min

S1 · E2 · Jan 9, 2004

History and Memory Episode 2

How are history and memory different? Topics in this unit range from the celebration of Columbus Day to the demolition of a Korean museum to the historical re-interpretation of Mayan civilization, exploring the ways historians, nations, families, and individuals capture, exploit, and know the past, and the dynamic nature of historical practice and knowledge.

28 min

S1 · E3 · Jan 16, 2004

Human Migrations Episode 3

How did the many paths of human migration people the planet? From their origins on the African continent, humans have spread across the globe. This unit explores how and why early humans moved across Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas, based on recent studies in archaeology and linguistics.

28 min

S1 · E4 · Jan 23, 2004

Agricultural and Urban Revolutions Episode 4

What do historians know about the earliest farmers and herders, and the evolution of cities? Newly emerging evidence about the 'cradles of civilization' is examined in light of the social, technological, and cultural complexity of recently discovered settlements and cities.

28 min

S1 · E5 · Jan 30, 2004

Early Belief Systems Episode 5

How did people begin to understand themselves in relation to the natural world and to the unseen realms beyond, and how was religion a community experience? In this unit, animism and shamanism in Shinto are contrasted with philosophical and ethical systems in early Greece and China, and the beginnings of Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, and Judaism.

28 min

S1 · E6 · Feb 6, 2004

Order and Early Societies Episode 6

How do diverse political structures and relationships distribute power and material resources? Through the rise of the Chinese empire, Mayan regional kingdoms, and the complex society of Igbo Ukwu, this unit considers the origins of centralized states and alternative political and social orders.

28 min

S1 · E7 · Feb 13, 2004

The Spread of Religions Episode 7

How do religions interact, adopt new ideas, and adapt to diverse cultures? As the missionaries, pilgrims, and converts of Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam moved around the world, the religions created change and were themselves changed.

28 min

S1 · E8 · Feb 20, 2004

Early Economies Episode 8

How do societies assign value to land, labor, and material goods? A comparison of manorial economies in Japan and medieval Europe is contrasted with the tribute economy of the Inka, and the experience of dramatic economic change is illustrated by the commercial revolution in China.

28 min

S1 · E9 · Feb 27, 2004

Connections Across Land Episode 9

How were land-based trade routes conduits of both commerce and culture? The Eurasian Silk Roads, the trans-Saharan Gold Roads, and the Meso-American Turquoise Road trace the transmission of commodities, religions, and diseases, as well as the movements of people.

28 min

S1 · E10 · Mar 5, 2004

Connections Across Water Episode 10

How were water routes used as conduits of expansion and trade? The traders of the Indian Ocean, the early Mississippians, and the Norsemen carried death and disease, skills and technologies, philosophies and religion down rivers and across oceans.

28 min

S1 · E11 · Mar 12, 2004

Early Empires Episode 11

What makes an 'empire'? Through the Mongol empire, the Mali empire, and the Inka empire, this unit examines the construction of empires, their administrative structures, legitimating ideologies, and the environmental and technological conditions that shaped them.

28 min

S1 · E12 · Mar 19, 2004

Transmission of Traditions Episode 12

What are traditions and how are they transmitted? Islamic Spain, Korea, and West Africa provide examples of many different modes of transmission, including oral, written, artistic, and architectural.

28 min

S1 · E13 · Mar 26, 2004

Family and Household Episode 13

What does the study of families and households tell us about our global past? In this episode examining West Asia, Europe, and China, families and households become the focus of historians, providing a window into the private experiences in world societies, and how they sometimes become a model for ordering the outside world.

28 min

S1 · E14 · Apr 2, 2004

Land and Labor Relationships Episode 14

What factors shape the ways in which the basic resources are exploited by a society? From Southeast Asia to Russia to Africa and the Americas, the ratios between land availability and the usable labor force were the primary basis of pre-industrial economies, but politics, environment, and culture played a part as well.

28 min

S1 · E15 · Apr 9, 2004

Early Global Commodities Episode 15

What is globalization and when did it begin? Before the sixteenth century, the world's four main monetary substances were silver, gold, copper, and shells. But it was China's demand for silver and Spain's newly discovered mines in the Americas that finally created an all-encompassing network of global trade.

28 min

S1 · E16 · Apr 16, 2004

Food, Demographics, and Culture Episode 16

What role has food played in human societies? Studying the production and consumption of food allows historians to uncover hidden levels of meaning in social relationships, understand demographic shifts, and trace cultural exchange. This unit examines the earliest impact of globalization including changing cuisine, environmental impact, and the rise of forced labor as a global economic force.

28 min

S1 · E17 · Apr 23, 2004

Ideas Shape the World Episode 17

How do ideas change the world? This unit traces the impact of European Enlightenment ideals in the American and Haitian revolutions and in South America. It also examines the revitalization of Islam expressed in the Wahhabi movement as it spread from the Arabian peninsula to Africa and Asia.

28 min

S1 · E18 · Apr 30, 2004

Rethinking the Rise of the West Episode 18

How does historical scholarship change over time, and why do the perspectives of historians shift? This unit recaps the economic and political events that led to the rise of the West, but examines and re-examines those events through differing opinions of its causes, reflecting changes in historical interpretation.

28 min

S1 · E19 · May 7, 2004

Global Industrialization Episode 19

How was the story of the industrial revolution a global process? Industrialization was and is a global process, not just a European or American story. This unit links Cuba, Uruguay, Europe, and Japan, examining the impact of industry on trade, environment, culture, technology, and lives around the world.

28 min

S1 · E20 · May 14, 2004

Imperial Designs Episode 20

What lasting impacts did modern imperialism have on the world? The profound consequences of imperialism are examined in the South African frontier and Brazil, where politics, culture, industrial capitalism, and the environment were shaped and re-shaped.

28 min

S1 · E21 · May 21, 2004

Colonial Identities Episode 21

How did colonialism and eventual de-colonization mutually affect the colonizer and the colonized? From Zanzibar to India, colonial and post-colonial identities are examined through clothing.

28 min

S1 · E22 · May 28, 2004

Global War and Peace Episode 22

How 'global' were the World Wars? This unit examines Japanese imperialism, the Belgian Congo, and twentieth century peace institutions to study how local, national, ethnic, and religious conflicts shaped these wars and their aftermaths.

28 min

S1 · E23 · Jun 4, 2004

People Shape the World Episode 23

What is the impact of the individual in world history? This unit examines the role of individual and collective action in shaping the world through the lives of such diverse figures as Mao Zedong, the Ayatollah Khomeini, and Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo.

28 min

S1 · E24 · Jun 11, 2004

Globalization and Economics Episode 24

How have the forces of globalization shaped the modern world? This unit travels from the Soviet Union to Sri Lanka and Chile to study the role of technology and the impact of economic and political changes wrought by globalization.

28 min

S1 · E25 · Jun 18, 2004

Global Popular Culture Episode 25

What are the sounds and sights of an emerging global culture? From World Cup soccer to Coca-Cola, modern icons reflect the intertwined cultural, political, and commercial dimensions of globalization. This unit listens to and looks at the music and images of global production and consumption – from reggae to the Olympics.

28 min

S1 · E26 · Jun 25, 2004

World History and Identity Episode 26

How have global forces redefined both individual and group identity in the modern world? This unit examines the transnational identity that emerged from the Chinese diaspora, and compares it to a newly re-defined national Chechen identity forged through war with Russia.

26 episodes in Season 1

Some details come from TheTVDB.

A multimedia course for secondary school and college teachers that examined global patterns through time, seeing history as an integrated whole. Topics were studied in a general chronological order, but each is observed through a thematic lens, showing how people and societies experience both integration and differences.

Documentary History

Where to watch

Not streaming anywhere

Not on any streaming service in United States, and not available to rent.

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Eric Slade Director

Director

Eric Slade

Total runtime 12h 8m · Episode length 28 min · Country United States

Show info

Premiered

January 2, 2004

Final episode

June 25, 2004

Status

Canceled

Network

PBS

Country

United States

Type

Scripted

Episode length

28 min

Total runtime

12h 8m

Original language

English

Production

A

Annenberg Media

Production

O

Oregon Public Broadcasting

Production

United States

Produced in

Languages

Spoken on screen

English

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Some details come from TheTVDB.

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