Syllabus for
History 101: Western Civilization
I Section 2
Class #: 4273
Room 300 T
William Caraher Phone: 777-6379
Department of History william.caraher@und.nodak.edu
Merrifield 209 Office
Hours: MWF 2-3 and
by appointment
Introduction:
Hello! And I hope you all had a pleasant and
relaxing holiday. The following syllabus
outlines the philosophy, procedures, and standards for this class. If you have any questions feel free to
contact me by phone or email or during my office hours.
It is important to
stress up front that this course will have an ESSENTIAL online component. So, it is crucial that you become familiar
and comfortable with the class web site in Blackboard where course material, class
discussions, and supplemental material will be posted daily. The web page can
be accessed by going to “My UND (Blackboard)” on the University’s main web site
(www.und.nodak.edu), and then clicking
on the “My UND (Blackboard)” tab under the FOR STUDENTS heading on the left
side of the webpage. It will be
essential for you to become comfortable with the course’s website and check it
daily.
The class reading list and
syllabus is on the website now! Consult
it today!!
Course Goals:
The primary goal of
this class is to familiarize you with the basic skills associated with the
historical method. The core of these
skills is the ability to read, write and talk about things that took place
before our time and in very foreign cultures.
More importantly, though, this class will help you construct arguments in a comprehensible and convincing way. Consequently, this class will feature an
emphasis on intensive reading coupled with writing and discussing.
The course goals, then, can be summarized as:
1. To gain a better knowledge of the narrative of Western Civilization, particularly as it relates to our own cultural and political institutions and structures.
2. To develop improved textual interpretation skills through the careful reading and discussion of ancient and medieval texts.
3. To further refine your ability to express ideas and produce convincing arguments.
Assignments and Grading:
Midterm Exam: 20%
The midterm will be an essay test including material from my lectures and the primary source readings. The week in which the exam occurs is noted in the following reading list.
Final Exam: 35%
This exam will be one midterm exam plus a
cumulative essay (i.e. 20% midterm + 15% cumulative essay.). It must be administered and taken during
the scheduled final exam period.
Short Paper: 20%
Each student is required to write one short (3 page) paper. There will be 3 short paper assignments due at various times after the first midterm. These short papers will be based on extended primary sources which will be available on the classes Blackboard web page. You can write as many of these short papers as you want, and I will take the most recent (i.e. not necessarily the highest) grade.
Participation: 25%
The participation
grade will be assigned on the basis of online (discussion board) and in class
participation. See the comments under
‘Discussion’ for an outline of how online discussion will work and how your
participation grade will be apportioned.
Books:
The textbook is
available at the university bookstore.
It is:
T. F. X. Noble, et al. Western
Civilization : The Continuing Experiment. Volume I: to 1715. Dolphin Edition. New
York 2006.
This book is the
“Dolphin Edition” meaning it is a cheaper, two tone version of the
textbook.
There is require course material on the class Blackboard website:
Excerpts
from P. Crone, Pre-Industrial Civilization.
Primary Source Reader
The Primary Source
Reader is available only online at the class’s Blackboard home page. From the Blackboard site you will be able to access the reader in two
formats. One option will be to download
the entire reader as an Adobe PDF file.
To do this, however, you must have Adobe Acrobat reader. This is available free on the internet. The file will be rather large, but can be saved
on your computer and read there or printed.
The other option is to reader the chapters online as HTML files. I have divided the reader into individual
chapters each which can be downloaded separately through your web browser and
read or printed. Please bring either notes or
printed copies of the primary sources into class daily.
Discussion:
This class will have
two discussion components. Whether the
discussion is online or in class it is essential that you treat your fellow
students (and me!) with respect.
In class discussions:
One will be in class discussion.
This will either be based upon in class writing assignments or be
designed to produce in class writing assignment. It is your responsibility to participate in
classroom discussion and produce quality written work in this environment.
Online
discussions:
The class will be divided into 10 online discussion groups. Each week I will post questions for the group
to discuss in each group’s discussion page in Blackboard. The reading from the Primary Source Reader
will be the basis for the discussion on the class discussion board in
Blackboard. The goal of the online
discussion will be to interpret and analyze the documents in the Primary Source
Reader. To get points for online
discussion, it will be necessary to refer directly to the documents in the
reader and youe fellow students’ posts when
discussing the question posed at the beginning of each weekly discussion.
I expect each student to post at least one time each
week. Posts that do not refer to the
primary sources, consider fellow students’ posts, or address the questions
posed for the week will not receive credit.
To receive all the participation points, you must REGULARLY post HIGH
QUALITY responses both to my questions and your fellow students’
posts. The more thoughtful and detailed
your post is, the better the grade.
The posts will be graded on a 5 point scale:
5 – Thoughtful and detailed post (>10 lines)
that takes into consideration not only the readings, but also material from
lecture and other students’ posts. Posts
awarded 4s or 5s will show originality in interpretation.
4 – A good use of primary source material and
lecture as well as an effort to engage fellow students in discussion. Posts awarded 4s or 5s will show originality
in interpretation.
3 – Short post (4-6 lines) which displays comprehension
of the primary sources and some understanding of fellow students’
interpretation.
2 – Short post (4-6 lines) which shows only a
cursory reading and interpretation of the primary source material.
1 – Very short post with no effort to analyze
the primary source material or fellow students’ posts.
Civilization = T. F. X. Noble, et al. Western
Civilization : The Continuing Experiment. Volume I: to 1715. Dolphin Edition. New
York 2006.
Crone
(January 18th) – P. Crone, Pre-Industrial Civilization.
January 10: Intro:
What is Western Civilization?
Civilization, Chapter 1
January 17: Early
Civilization and Preindustrial Societies
Civilization, Chapter 1
: 2.1-2.2 Early Greek World
January 24:
Civilization, Chapter 2-3
January 31: The
Hellenistic World and
Civilization, Chapter 3-4
February 7: The
Civilization, Chapter 5-6
February 14: Christianity
and the Rise of Monasticism
Civilization, Chapter 6-7
7.1-7.3 Christians and
February 21: The End
of Antiquity
Civilization, Chapter 7
Paper 1 Due
February 28: Review
and Midterm Exam
March 7: The Early Middle Ages
Civilization, Chapter 8
March 21: Manorialism and Feudalism
Civilization, Chapter 9-10
10.1-10.4
Feudalsim
Paper 2 Due
March 28: Papal Power and
Investiture
Civilization, Chapter 9-10
April 4:
The High Middle Ages and The Crusades
Civilization, Chapter 9-10
April 11:
The World of Town and Heresy
Civilization, Chapter 10-11
April 18: Kings and Popes
Civilization, Chapter 11
April 25:
The Waning of the Middle Ages: The Plague and 100 Years War
Civilization, Chapter 11
Paper 3 Due
May 2: Capstone
Lecture and Review
May 9: