This course introduces students to a wide range of topics shaping Macao’s global history from its sixteenth-century foundation as a Portuguese trading post in Ming China to its handover to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) at the end of the twentieth century. It examines political, social, economic, and cultural dimensions of Macao’s historical development vis-à-vis China, Portugal and other Western powers, retracing the main forces shaping European and Chinese modernity in tandem with the port city’s emergence and later conversion into a colonial setting before its return to the PRC.

CILO-1: Identify the major dynamics and historical forces informing Macao’s evolution within the context of Portuguese history, Chinese history, and global history. CILO-2: Take historical perspective to analyze the social, cultural, intellectual, and emotional dimensions shaping people’s lives and actions in the past. CILO-3: Use basic historical methods (e.g., interpretation, analysis, and the evaluation of historical material) to examine important events that have shaped the history of Macao. CILO-4: Deploy historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence through academic writing.