Voyages in World History

About Ken CurtisValerie Hansen

Kenneth R. Curtis received his Ph.D. in African and comparative world history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on colonial to postcolonial transitions in East Africa with a particular focus on the coffee economy of Tanzania. He is a professor of history and liberal studies at California State University Long Beach. He teaches world history at the introductory level in special courses designed for future middle and high school teachers and in graduate seminars. He has worked to advance the teaching of world history at the collegiate and secondary levels in collaboration with the World History Association the California History/Social Science Project and the College Board's Advanced Placement World History course. Valerie Hansen received her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1987. She is Stanley Woodward Professor of History at Yale University where she teaches courses on East Asian history especially pre-modern China and Silk Road history. Her most recent books include THE OPEN EMPIRE: A HISTORY OF CHINA TO 1600 THE SILK ROAD: A NEW HISTORY WITH DOCUMENTS and THE YEAR 1000: WHEN EXPLORERS CONNECTED THE WORLD AND GLOBALIZATION BEGAN. As co-author of VOYAGES IN WORLD HISTORY Dr. Hansen has written this edition's Chapters 115.