In their attempt to reconstruct ancient life-ways archaeologists have been enthusiastic consumers of theoretical advances. The recent employment of globalization theories in historical and archaeological literature have generated both excitement and controversy. In this course we will engage with the broad academic underpinnings of globalization as a theoretical model, as well as discuss its suitability for studying the past. We will focus on the application of globalization models to early China and explore archaeological studies that have oversimplified globalization as well as those that have embraced the real potential of the concept. The first part of the course will introduce key concepts in the theoretical discussion on globalization. This is followed by critical examinations of globalization research in the study of the past. The last part will provide a number of case studies through which we will investigate the many ways in which scholars have utilized globalization approach in China’s past.