HIS 101: Sec. 56132
HISTORY OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION TO 1648
Spring 2006
Tues., & Thurs. 10:30-11:45 a.m.; AD 119
Professor Linda Bregstein Scherr
Office: LA 121
Office Hours: Mon. & Wed., 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Tues., & Thurs., 1:30-3:00p.m.
Office Phone: 609-586-4800 ext. 3839
Mailbox: Division of Liberal Arts Office, LA 170
Email:
Course Objectives: To introduce students to the political, social, cultural, and economic events that distinguished Western Civilization from its earliest roots to the Thirty Years’ War (1648). Major topics include Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations, Greece and Rome, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance and Reformation. Emphasis is placed on close readings of primary works, including literary and visual sources, in order to provide a deeper appreciation for the events and people that have helped shape the modern world.
In more specific terms, at the end of the course, students will be able to:
- read primary and secondary historical sources critically, with an understanding of their context, validity, perspective, bias, and audience.
- construct an historical essay that presents a clear thesis, a persuasive argument, and well-researched supporting data.
- identify major personalities of western civilization.
- describe major movements, trends, and developments of western civilization.
- use information technologies in acquiring new knowledge and perspective.
- discuss with authority, either in writing or verbally, the historical forces (e.g., religion, economics, politics, social stratification, gender, individual actors, technology, intellectual and aesthetic thought, etc.) behind the major movements, trends, and developments of western civilization.
- analyze other time periods and cultures with little or no ethnocentrism, thus displaying a sense of informed perspective and a deeper appreciation of the common threads of human nature.
Required Texts:
Jackson Spievogel,Western Civilization, Vol. 1: To 1715. 6thedition. Wadsworth, 2006.
Candace Gregory, Documents of Western Civilization, Vol. 1: To 1715. Wadsworth, 2006.
The Spielvogel textbook is shrink-wrapped with Gregory. The Gregory book is free from the publisher (but if you think you might sell your textbook back to the bookstore at the end of the semester, you must have both the Spielvogel textbook and the free Gregory document book).
Online resources are available at the textbook website: search through the screens of Western Civilization resources to find Spielvogel’s textbook)
Course Requirements:
Students will be evaluated through:
two non-cumulative 50-minute exams (each is 20% of the final grade)
two 3-5 page writing assignments (each is 15% of the final grade)
a semi-cumulative final exam (20% of the final grade)
five short quizzes, attendance and active participation (10%)
Quizzes, Tests and Final Exam
After each of the five major sections of the course, there will be a short multiple-choice quiz. Students who miss the quizzes will be permitted to make them up for partial credit.
The two 50-minute tests will consist of identifications and short essays. Identifications should be 2-3 sentences long and specify the approximate date, importance, identity, contribution, and description of the term/person/place/period, as appropriate. The well-organized essays should be 2-3 paragraphs in length. You will be required to answer 2 out of a choice of 6 essays. Short study guides for the exams will be handed out in class at least one week prior to each test.
Test 1 covers the lectures and readings from weeks 1-5. Test 2 covers the lectures and reading from weeks 6 - 10. The final exam is a semi-cumulative, two hour exam consisting of identifications, essays and 40 multiple choice questions. The identifications and essays will cover only weeks 11-14 plus the final exam essay questions. The cumulative part of the exam will be the 40 multiple-choice questions which will cover the material from weeks 1-10.
If you cannot take any of the exams as scheduled, you must contact the professor before the exam deadline passes. I will allow students to take the exam late (indeed, you must to pass the course), but I will deduct 10 points (the equivalent of one letter grade) from your score.
Writing Assignments
Students must complete two writing assignments. The first writing assignment is a 3-5 page essay based one of the primary source readings included in Gregory’s document book. The second writing assignment is a 3-5 page essay based on a choice of topics, including primary source readings or an artifact in a museum.
Any writing assignments submitted late will be accepted, but grades will be lowered by one full letter grade.
Students must complete all the assignments in the class (two writing projects, two tests, and a final exam) in order to receive a final grade.
Cheating and Plagiarism
As stated in the College Policy, cheating or plagiarism will result in an “F” for the final grade. If you are unsure whether something is plagiarism, you are responsible for asking your professor. All quotations must be set off by quotation marks, with the source listed. Downloading and copying passages without attribution from the Internet is plagiarism. You are encouraged to use the Internet as a tool, but all Internet information must be properly cited according to MLA or APA rules, with web page and date of access listed.
HIS 101 Schedule of Lectures and Assignments
All assigned readings should be completed before class
PLEASE BRING YOUR SPIELVOGELTEXTBOOK TO CLASS EVERYDAY AND
GREGORY’S BOOK ON THE DAYS WHENREADING IS ASSIGNED
Jan. 17Introduction: The Study of History and Human Civilization
Jan. 19The First Humans; Civilization of MesopotamiaSpielvogel, Ch. 1, pp. 1-15
Jan. 24How to Read a Primary Source Document; Gregory, pp. xi-xiv; 1-9
Mesopotamian Law and Culture
Jan. 26Ancient EgyptSpielvogel, Ch. 1, pp. 16-29
Jan. 21Quiz #1 (Chap. 1-2);Gregory, pp. 10-23
Documents from Ancient Egypt; The HebrewsSpielvogel, Ch. 2, pp. 31-36
Feb. 2Hebrew Civilization and Culture; The PhoeniciansSpielvogel, Ch. 2, pp. 36-38
Gregory, pp. 23-25
Feb. 7Assyrians, Neo-Babylonians, and PersiansSpielvogel, Ch. 2, pp. 38-49
Gregory, pp. 25-27
Feb. 9Early Greece; Society and Politics in Archaic GreeceSpielvogel, Ch. 3, pp. 51-62
Feb. 14Classical Greece; Civilization and Everyday LifeSpielvogel, Ch. 3, pp. 62-81
Feb. 16First Writing Assignment DUE; Discussion of the Documents
Feb. 21Alexander the Great; The Hellenistic AgeSpielvogel, Ch. 4, pp. 84-103
Feb. 23QUIZ #2 (on Chaps. 3-4);Gregory, pp. 48-62
The Hellenistic Age, continued; Early RomeSpielvogel, Ch. 5, pp. 106-114
Take TEST #1 in the Testing Center anytime fromFebruary 27 – March 4
Feb. 28The RomanRepublicSpielvogel, Ch. 5, pp. 115-125
Mar. 2The Culture of the Republic; Decline of the RepublicSpielvogel, Ch. 5, pp. 125-134
Gregory, pp. 62-65
Mar. 7Augustus and the Early Roman EmpireSpielvogel, Ch. 6, pp. 137-149
Gregory, pp. 69-76
Mar. 9Quiz #3 (on Chaps 5-6)Spielvogel, Ch. 6, pp. 149-163
The Later Roman Empire and the Rise of ChristianityGregory, pp. 88-100
Week of March 13- Spring Break
Mar. 21The Fall and Transformation of the Roman EmpireSpielvogel, Ch. 7, pp. 165-186
Gregory, pp. 101-111
Mar. 23The Byzantine World; The Rise of IslamSpielvogel, Ch. 7, pp. 186-196
Mar. 28The Early Middle Ages; The Carolingian WorldSpielvogel, Ch. 8, pp. 198-211;
222-225
Gregory, pp. 115-127
Mar. 30Quiz #4 (on Chaps. 7-8)
The Medieval WorldSpielvogel, Ch.8, pp. 211-222
Apr. 4The High Middle Ages – Land and PeopleSpielvogel, Ch. 9, pp. 227-242
Gregory, pp. 132-139; 143-147
Apr. 6The Culture of the High Middle Ages;Spielvogel, Ch. 9, pp. 242-251
The Emergence of European KingdomsSpielvogel, Ch.10, pp. 254-261
Gregory, pp. 149-156
Take TEST #2in the Testing Center anytime from April 3 –April 8
Apr. 11The Rise of Germany and Eastern Europe; Spielvogel, Ch. 10, pp. 261-274
Apr. 13The Crusades; Crisis in Medieval EuropeSpielvogel, Ch. 10, pp. 265-280
Gregory, pp. 162-175; 185-188
Spielvogel, Ch. 11, pp. 283-299
Apr. 18Quiz #5 (on Chaps. 10-11)Spielvogel, Ch. 11, pp. 300-310
Crisis in Medieval EuropeGregory, pp. 192-196
Apr. 20Renaissance Society and ThoughtSpielvogel, Ch. 12, pp. 313-330
Apr. 25Renaissance Art; Renaissance EuropeSpielvogel, Ch. 12, pp. 330-337
Gregory, pp. 199-208
Apr. 27Second Writing Assignment DUE; Spielvogel, Ch. 12, pp. 337-343
Renaissance Europe
May 2QUIZ #6(on Chaps. 12-13); The ReformationSpielvogel, Ch. 13, pp. 346-356
Gregory, pp. 209-214
May 4The Spread and Politics of the ReformationSpielvogel, Ch. 13, pp. 356-376
May 9European Expansion and Conquest; ReviewSpielvogel, Ch. 14, pp. 379-407
Final Exam (see Final Exam schedule)