Online – Content Session – World History Era Four: The First Golden Age (1400–1800)
January 14, 2027 @ 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm CST
Explore how expanding global connections between 1400 and 1800 transformed societies, economies, cultures, and systems of power across the world. Dr. Karin Vélez will present her scholarship, drawing on primary and secondary sources to examine how the first global age reshaped human experiences and created legacies that continue to influence our world today. Dr. Katharine Gerbner, historian and scholarly lead for this series, will facilitate a conversation with Dr. Vélez exploring key ideas and perspectives related to this transformative era. This session provides historical context, source analysis, and thematic framing for teaching this era, with opportunities for participant questions and discussion.
Karin Vélez currently teaches History at Macalester College. Her first jobs post-college were teaching World History in Massachusetts high schools. She trained as an intellectual historian, specializing in religious encounters in the early modern period (1500-1750). Her book, The Miraculous Flying House of Loreto: Spreading Catholicism in the Early Modern World (Princeton, 2019), won the American Academy of Religion’s Best First Book in the History of Religions prize. Karin’s research focuses on the “miraculous” or unexpected: animals impacting conversion zones, churches falling on faithful converts, houses flying across oceans, and other moments of bizarre cross-cultural convergence. She teaches college courses on magic and science; conquest and conversion; pirates, translators and missionaries–a comparison across categories; and world history courses on oceans, “rumors” or fake news, and disasters. She keeps in touch with colleagues in the high school trenches, where she feels some of the best history education happens.
All Content Sessions will be held via Zoom and supported through a Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)-hosted Canvas learning community. Registered participants will have access to session recordings, curated resources, and collaborative planning tools through the Canvas course.
High school World History teachers and 8th grade educators are encouraged to participate in companion Pedagogy Sessions, which explore inquiry-based instructional approaches and classroom applications for each era.
This offering is part of Navigating the World History Eras: Content, Pedagogy, and Inquiry in the Classroom, a yearlong professional learning opportunity presented by MHC and MDE that supports implementation of Minnesota’s 2021 K–12 Academic Standards in Social Studies.
K-12 Educators will receive 1.5 clock hours upon completion of the event.
Registration
Content Sessions are open to all K–12 educators interested in historical content and source-based instruction. Educators are welcome to register for individual sessions that align with their interests and schedules. Join us for one or more sessions throughout the year.
This event is free, however registration is required. Separate registration is required for each offering.
Registration Questions: brittany.rawson-haeg@state.mn.us
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