This course will examine selected topics in the 20th century, integrating the history of Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia. We will study the major conflicts that have shaped the 20th-century world, as well as the major challenges to the democratic order such as fascism, communism, terrorism and the breakdown of long-standing empires that created new economic and political systems such as Nazism.   Other topics for consideration will include imperialism, nationalism and the rapid development and proliferation of technology in the 20th century that led to profound social, economic, and political changes. The goal of this course is to gain a greater understanding of the events and ideas that have shaped modern human civilization.