HISTORY 100, SECTIONS 05, 09

FALL 2007

(Image of the Parthenon in Athens courtesy of http://www.ancient-sites.com)

Contents

Course Description: An introduction to the foundations of Western Civilization from the dawn of humans through the Reformation, with an emphasis on the political, economic, social, intellectual, and cultural attributes which made that civilization unique.

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Texts:

Chambers, Mortimer, Barbara Hanawalt, Raymond Grew, Theodore Rabb, Isser Woloch, Lisa Tiersten, The Western Experience, Volume 1. New York: McGraw-Hill, Ninth edition, 2007.

Brophy, James M., Steven Epstein, Cat Nilan, John Robertson, Thomas Max Safley, eds.,
Perspectives from the Past:  Primary Sources in Western Civilization, Volume 1.  New York, W.W.
Norton, Third edition, 2005.

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Course Objectives:

Upon completion of the course, students will have gained an appropriate increase in:

     1. An understanding and appreciation of history and historical inquiry through the use of research, critical thinking, and
     problem solving..

     2. A sense of how historical knowledge has been affected by new findings and approaches.

     3. An appreciation for how history poses ethical dilemmas and challenges, both for men and women who lived in the
     past, and for those pondering its significance now.

     4. An appreciation for how knowledge of history helps clarify the consequences of collective action, both in the past and
     in the present.

     5. A sense of history as combining a variety of disciplines, approaches, and perspectives.

     6. An awareness of the diverse modes of gathering, analyzing and interpreting information.

     7. An ability to express oneself clearly and concisely on paper, by means of a substantive written assignment or
     series of written assignments.

     8. An understanding of how history relates to other disciplines and modes of inquiry.

     9. An awareness of how historical inquiry can contribute to understanding the issues and dilemmas that face the
     contemporary citizen.

     10. An understanding of the historical development of Western civilization in its formative stages.

     11. A sense of how to relate the development of Western civilization to other regions of the world.

     12. An understanding of how historical cultural developments influence the present day.

General Education Goal 7 Goals

Class Schedule:

Week 1 (Aug. 27-31)

Introduction: Course Information and Requirements
What is History? What is Civilization? What and Where is the West?

Readings: Chambers, chapter 1.
Brophy, pp. 12-22, 23-31.

Note: The add/drop deadline is Sept. 4.

Week 2 (Sept. 4-7)

Labor Day Holiday:  Sept. 3

Early Humans and the Neolithic Period
Mesopotamia

Map quiz: Thursday (09), Friday (05).

Readings: Chambers, chapter 2.
Brophy, pp. 89-95, 98-102.

Egypt
Hebrews, Phoenicians and other Peoples
Early Greeks

Quiz on readings for weeks 1-3, Thursday (09), Friday (05).

Readings: Chambers, chapter 3.
Brophy, pp. 120-126, 133-137, 141-146.

The Dark Age and the Emergence of the city-state
Classical Greece
Greek and Hellenistic Civilization

Readings: Chambers, chapter 4.
Brophy, pp. 161-175, 208-213.

First document analysis due by Friday, 5 p.m (both classes).

Review
MID-TERM - Thursday, Sept. 27 (09) or Friday, Sept. 28 (05).

Readings: Chambers, chapter 5.

Early Rome
Rome from Republic to Empire
Imperial Rome

Readings: Chambers, chapter 6.
Brophy, pp. 220-233, 253-259.

Critique of document analysis (together with the critiqued work) due by Wednesday, 5 p.m (both classes).

Fall of the Western Empire and Early Christianity
Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages
The Byzantine Empire and Islam

Quiz on readings for weeks 4-7, Thursday (09) or Friday (05).

Readings: Chambers, chapter 7, and ch. 8, pp. 215-225.
Brophy, pp. 269-280.

Note: The withdrawal deadline is October 17 (Noon).

Oct. 15-16 (Fall Break).

Feudalism and Manorialism

Readings: Chambers, chapter 8, pp. 225-245, chapter 9, pp. 249-263,  and ch. 10, pp. 279-287.
Brophy, pp. 290-296, 306-311.

The Emergence of National Monarchies 1
The Emergence of National Monarchies 2
Church and Culture in the High Middle Ages

Readings: Chambers, chapter 9, pp. 263-276, and ch. 10, pp. 287-301.
Brophy, pp. 364-371, 394-401.

Extra-Credit Opportunity (for assignment, see "Quizzes" below):  10/22 - Thieves of Baghdad: The Journey to Recover the World’s Greatest Stolen Treasures, A Lecture by Col. Matthew Bogdanos, free admission to lecture, Book signing to follow, Jarman Auditorium, 6:30 pm.

10/24 - Campus Week of Dialogue: Can Faith be Guided by Reason? “Perspectives from Different Religious Traditions”, Various Faith Interpreters, Reception to Follow, Wygal Auditorium, 7pm -- (Credit for attendance only -- see "Quizzes" below)

Review
MIDTERM - Thursday, Nov. 1 (09) or Friday, Nov. 2 (05).

Readings: Chambers, chapter 11, pp. 305-319.
Brophy, pp. 434-440.

Conflicts and Crises in Medieval Society
The Waning of the Middle Ages
Renaissance in Italy and Humanism

Readings: Chambers, chapter 11, pp. 319-333, and chapter 12, pp. 337-351.
Brophy, pp. 467-471, 530-536, 553-559. 

Map Quiz, Thursday (09), Friday (05).

Politics and Society in Renaissance Europe
Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation
The Reformation in a European Perspective

Readings: Chambers, chapter 12, 351-363, ch.13, pp. 365-381.
Brophy, pp. 575-581, 608-611, 614-623.

Final document analysis due by Friday, 5 p.m (both classes).

The Catholic Counter-Reformation

Readings: Chambers, chapter 13, pp. 381-393, ch. 14, pp. 395-417.
Brophy, pp. 512-523, 

Thanksgiving Break, Nov. 22-24.

State-Building in Early Modern Europe
European Society in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

Readings: Chambers, chapter 14, pp. 418-426, chapt. 15, pp. 429-437.
Brophy, pp. 624-632

The Age of Religious Wars
Europe in 1648
Review

Readings:  Chambers, chapter 15, pp. 437-444.
Brophy, 636-641.

Quiz on readings for weeks 8-15, Thursday (09) or Friday (05).

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Course Requirements: Two mid-term exams, a final exam and two document analyses are the written requirements for this course. Failure to complete any of these six requirements will be regarded as a failure to complete the course, and result in a failing grade. In addition, there are five short map and reading quizzes, with one unannounced bonus quiz in the course of the semester. To be on time, document analyses must be received by me before 5 p.m. on the due date indicated for each assignment in the class schedule. Those received in the week after the due dates indicated, up to 5 p.m. the following Friday, will be marked down up to one full grade. Absolutely no assignments will be accepted after such time – resulting in an F for the entire course, not a "0" for the individual assignment.  In the case of the final document analysis, the grace period is extended to Monday of the week when classes resume after Thanksgiving Break (see schedule).  Be aware, however, that all papers received on that Monday will have points deducted for lateness.

Exams and quizzes must be taken when scheduled. Make-ups will be scheduled only by prior consent of the instructor, and only for compelling reasons (as determined by the instructor). If a student, without gaining prior consent, is unable to take an exam because of sudden illness or some other extraordinary event, the instructor must be notified immediately. If I cannot be reached directly or by phone, you must leave a message with the History Department. A student's request for a make-up exam must be accompanied by a doctor's note or other written documentation.

Quizzes:  During the course of the semester, there will be five scheduled quizzes worth eight points each..  Two will be map quizzes, three will be on the required reading in the Brophy source book.  There will be a sixth unannounced quiz of undisclosed format, and I will record the five highest quiz scores in your final grade.  Those students seeking to augment their quiz scores may write a short 250 word essay essay responding to the talk on Oct. 22 by Col. Matthew Bogdanos about the ransacking of antiquities in the Baghdad Museum (see class schedule for time and place of this talk).  These essays should respond to the question:  "What was and is the responsibility of the invading forces of the United States to the preservation of cultural and historical artifacts in an invaded country like Iraq?"  Those opting for this assignment are encouraged to seek me out for further clarification of the issue.  This will be a maximum 20 point assignment, and will replace the two lowest quiz scores.  In addition, students doing the assignment will receive a two-point extra-credit bonus for attending the talk.  Students attending the Oct. 24th program "Can Faith be Guided by Reason?" will also receive a two-point bonus for attending if they sign an attendance sheet available at the end of the program.  

Exams: The first mid-term exam will consist of objective questions, including multiple choice. The second mid-term will consist of two essays. The final exam will consist of objective questions, and two essay questions, one of which will be comprehensive (covering the course as a whole). As a study aid, class time will be set aside for review sessions as indicated on your weekly schedule, but the exams may contain material not covered in these sessions. The exams will be designed to test acquaintance with classroom material and the assigned readings. Taking careful notes on the readings and in class, therefore, is strongly recommended. The instructor will be looking for evidence of general knowledge, and an organized and analytical approach to that knowledge. In the essays, the instructor will also be looking for an ability to combine the raw materials of the course -- text, classroom information, and documentary sources -- into pertinent and meaningful insights. The instructor will also be evaluating your ability to communicate those insights. Points will be taken off for run-on sentences, grammatical errors, spelling errors, poor punctuation, illegible handwriting or any other problems that, in the opinion of the instructor, affect comprehension of the student's work. Strive above all for clarity. The two mid-terms will be fifty minutes long, the final will be three hours. Bring your own blue examination booklets, which can be purchased at the bookstore.

Document analyses: The primary source materials from the Brophy anthology will be the point of departure for these assignments, but you will be required to find longer selections from primary source collections in the library and on the internet. The first document analysis will gather essential information about the document's authorship, context, and purpose, and will also focus on defining a provisional thesis for the final document analysis.  The final analysis will consist of a longer essay, with a thesis, that focuses on the document's content, meaning, and historical significance. The first analysis will be reviewed by another student in the class before being reviewed by me. Each student, therefore, will be responsible for a written critique. This critique will not be graded, but failure to complete it on time will result in a deduction of seven points from the final grade. All reports and critiques must be printed on a word-processor, in a standard font of 10 or 12 pitch (courier or Times Roman 10 or 12 is preferred), with double-spaced text, a title page, and one inch (and no more than one inch) margins. The text (not including bibliography, title page and endnotes page) of the first analysis should be no less than 3 full pages and no more than 4 in length. The length of the second document analysis must be no less than 4 full pages of text and no more than 6 in length.  All citations should be in the form of endnotes (in a separate section at the end of the paper). Your name, the course name and number, section number and the date must be on the title page. It must include a bibliography of all sources cited. Bibliography and endnote citations must conform to the proper style, as defined in the "Department of History and Political Science Style Sheet" on the departmental web page at  http://www.longwood.edu/history/HDPTSTS2.htm.  More in-depth coverage of style questions can be found in the latest edition of Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations. Do not use MLA, APA, parenthetical footnotes or any alternative style current in other disciplines. Unless you wish to see the instructor fly into a blind rage, make a particular point of not using parenthetical notes. All papers should be saved to disk in at least two separate locations (hard disk and floppy, two floppies, etc.), so that a new copy may be immediately printed in case the original hard copy is misplaced.

The type of material that must be documented (i.e. footnoted) includes: controversial or distinctive arguments and opinions, facts that are not a matter of broad general knowledge, statistics, all quotes, and paraphrases or summaries of an author's argument. All direct quotes over fifty words in length must be indented and single-spaced as described in the departmental style sheet. You should have at least one footnote or endnote per full page of text.

It is imperative that you document source material, but your own points, observations, and arguments must be expressed in your own words: excessive use of quotes or lengthy paraphrasing of sources will not be accepted, and leads easily to the grievous sin of plagiarism. On plagiarism, see below.  In order to prevent plagiarism, all students are required to turn in their second document analysis as a Word file to www.turnitin.com and generate an originality report before submitting it to me in hard copy.  This procedure will be explained more fully in class.  Double-dipping (submitting an assignment for this course that is substantially the same as a paper submitted for any other course, past or present) is not permitted.

Sources: You may use the assigned texts as a start, but you must utilize at least two other secondary sources (by historians) from the library. One of these secondary sources must be a scholarly study of article or book length.  You will need to find an excerpt from the historical document or documents you have chosen (the primary source) longer than the ones found in Brophy.  For this,  you may use the internet, but for the paper as a whole you may use no more than two internet sources (one as a primary source, and one, and no more than one, as a secondary source).  Informational materials on the internet are notoriously unreliable, especially in history, since there is often no monitoring of the content for accuracy.  When in doubt, contact me about any web sites you are using, and avoid those not affiliated with an institution of higher education (.edu sites) or a scholarly organization devoted to the  subject in question (which are sometimes .org sites). Even those can be misleading, inaccurate or out-of-date. You may use encyclopedias and other reference works as a place to start, but only to get up to speed on a topic or as background information on the documents you are using.  These should not be listed in the bibliography, cited in the second document analysis, or considered a replacement for a more substantial outside source.  Never cite a textbook (including our own), dictionary, encyclopedia or their on-line equivalents (including Wikipedia) in the final document analysis.   Some examples of useful web sites containing primary sources are:

The Internet Ancient History Sourcebook --  http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook.html
The Internet Medieval History Sourcebook -- http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html
The Internet Modern History Sourcebook -- http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook.html
(the best and easiest to use -- it contains both excerpts and full-text on-line editions of important sources)
The Hanover Historical Texts Project -- http://history.hanover.edu/project.html
The Avalon Project --  http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm
The Historical Text Archive --  http://historicaltextarchive.com/ (useful mainly for links)
The Michigan Electronic Library -- http://web.mel.org/mer/SPT--BrowseResources.php?ParentId=357  (also a collection of links, organized by category)
The Voice of the Shuttle --  http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=2713#id877 (be sure to browse the special topics as well)
E-Server --  http://eserver.org/history/ (for selected topics)
EuroDocs --  Main Page - EuroDocs  (use both time period and national history links -- for example, "France" has sites for cave paintings)

All of these web sites require extensive searching to get to the documents you want, so be prepared to spend some time
browsing.  In many, if not most, cases, books will be easier and less time-consuming to access, especially if they contain a good
index.  This listing is not exhaustive, nor can I vouch for the accuracy of everything contained in them.  

 To first document analysis form

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Grading: The mid-terms and the final are worth 90 points each. The first document analysis is worth 30 points, the final one 60 points, for a total of 90 points:  your overall grade for this assignment therefore depends directly on the degree of your improvement from the first to the second analysis. The five quizzes are worth eight points each, for a total of 40 points. Your final grade will be determined by the total number of points you gain out of a maximum of 400. I do not grade on a curve. Attendance, evidence of progress or lack thereof in the course of the semester, and class participation, will be used to decide half grades and borderline cases (which, experience shows, means most students). Serious attendance problems or misconduct in class can result in a lowering of grade. The grading scale is as follows:
 
 

Extra-Credit Assignments: Extra-credit assignments may be arranged with the instructor. These assignments must be approved in advance by me on or before October 12, and will not be accepted unless so approved. They are worth a maximum of 40 points. Under no circumstances will an extra-credit assignment be accepted as substitute for any other written requirement in the course.   An extra-credit assignment can only elevate a student into a higher grade bracket (for example, from a B to an A) if the student has scored the higher grade on at least one of the three major exams or as an overall grade on the document analyses. The assignment must take the form either of an analytical book review (not a book summary) 3-5 pages in length, or an analytical research paper (with a thesis) 5-7 pages in length, and must utilize sources not assigned in this course. The topic and sources must be substantially different from any used in the required document analyses. Style of text, footnotes, bibliography and title page must conform to the guidelines of Turabian. If you decide to do an extra-credit assignment, it must be turned in no later than November 27 for you to receive credit.

Attendance Policy: Class attendance is a requirement of this course. Repeated unexcused absences will lead to a reduction of grade. Unexcused absences totaling 25% or more will result in an automatic F for the course. The instructor will excuse a student only under the most extraordinary circumstances. Chronic lateness will also be penalized, since it presents a class disturbance. If a student arrives after roll is taken, it is the student's responsibility to place his or her name on the class roll no later than the end of that class period. Failure to do so will result in an unexcused absence.

Honor Code and Plagiarism: Students are expected to observe the honor code. All work for this course must be pledged. Students found to have cheated on an exam or to have plagiarized material in a paper will be subject to the maximum penalty under college rules. For those in doubt about the definition of plagiarism, it consists of copying passages from a source without both attribution and quotation. If you have reproduced the language of your source, you have committed plagiarism whether or not you have cited the source and the page number. This includes passages that a student may have modified: for example, changed verb tenses, omission or replacement of occasional words, reshuffling of phrases, sentences or paragraphs, combining of different plagiarized sources. The question of the author's intent -- whether a student, in his or her heart of hearts, intended to deceive the instructor -- is completely irrelevant.  If passages have been lifted from another source as described above, the student has committed plagiarism, period.  Students are required to comply with any request by the instructor -- for example to bring in all the sources used, or to write an on the spot description of the essay in question -- to determine whether that student has committed plagiarism or cheated on an exam. The moral is:  writing a bad paper in your own words is far better than writing a good one using the words of someone else. One suggestion for avoiding inadvertent echoing of your texts and sources: close all books when writing, and consult them only for specific facts or direct quotes. Also, proofread your paper with plagiarism specifically in mind. For more on plagiarism, see the departmental style sheet.

Tape-recording and Class Decorum: Tape-recording of lectures is not permitted. Students who are excused from class by the instructor must make arrangements with the instructor or with other students to cover the material missed. Students who skip class without permission are responsible for making their own arrangements with other students (not with the instructor) for the material covered in class.

Students are expected to observe class decorum. Students engaging in behavior bothersome to other students or to the instructor (for example, eating or drinking, talking in class, the use of personal stereos or mp3 players, switched on cell phones or other electronic devices) will be asked to leave and marked as absent. Food and drinks are not permitted in the classroom.

Students with Disabilities:  Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a physical, psychological, medical, or learning disability should contact Dr. Sally Scott privately. If you have not already done so, please contact the Office for Disability Services (103 Graham Building, 395-2391) to register for services.