Final Report Summary - URKEW (Useful and Reliable Knowledge in Global Histories of Material Progress in the East and the West)
In short form three achievements can be claimed for the URKEW project:
First its research in comparative global history has validated the following negotiable thesis. The economic and geopolitical rise of the west can, we maintain, be best explained by a historical narrative concentrated upon the 3-4 centuries after 1492 when (for path dependant reasons) western Europe established and sustained effective institutions for the discovery, development and diffusion of useful and reliable knowledge ahead of the rest of Eurasia.
Secondly, the programme of postdoctoral education in global history and the sub-disciplines relevant to that research has produced 5 young scholars trained to teach global history in institutions of higher education, to undertake further research in that field and to add a global perspective to national histories of Europe, China, India, Japan and the countries of west Asia that they will be teaching for years to come.
Thirdly, the Project has furthered the cause of persuading institutions for higher education throughout the world to include compulsory courses in global history in their curricula.
First its research in comparative global history has validated the following negotiable thesis. The economic and geopolitical rise of the west can, we maintain, be best explained by a historical narrative concentrated upon the 3-4 centuries after 1492 when (for path dependant reasons) western Europe established and sustained effective institutions for the discovery, development and diffusion of useful and reliable knowledge ahead of the rest of Eurasia.
Secondly, the programme of postdoctoral education in global history and the sub-disciplines relevant to that research has produced 5 young scholars trained to teach global history in institutions of higher education, to undertake further research in that field and to add a global perspective to national histories of Europe, China, India, Japan and the countries of west Asia that they will be teaching for years to come.
Thirdly, the Project has furthered the cause of persuading institutions for higher education throughout the world to include compulsory courses in global history in their curricula.