| Course outline and assignments:
***Your ability to note, understand, and describe similarities and
differences between sources and between events, policies, and attitudes in
different cultures revealed through the readings is crucial for the
understanding of history, not to mention for securing successful results in this
class. Look hard for those similarities and differences, and ASK QUESTIONS
of the sources, and of the instructor.***
28, 30 August: Introduction, overview of course, "general
education," division into
groups, how to read (and practice in reading) the textbooks.
Unit I: Polytheism and monotheism in the Fertile
Crescent, c. 3000--500BCE.
Reading assignments: KGO, Chapter 1; DISCOVERING, Chapter 2 (read
all the sources in the chapter,
be ready to address the questions at the end of the chapter).
4 September: Group work in
class. Be prepared to discuss the questions written in that portion of
DISCOVERING Cha. 2 "Sources and method" that relate to all sources assigned to
your group, PLUS these basic identification questions: Where and when were
they written/created? By whom were they created? What else is known
about the society from which each source derives? For these questions, utilize background
information in KGO and in "The Problem" in DISCOVERING, Chapter 2.
Group A: sources 1 & 2; Group B:
sources 3 & 4; Group C: source 5; Group D: source 6; Group E:
sources 7 & 8; Group F: sources 9 & 10; Group G: source 11.
6/11 September: Share group
results. Be prepared to speak for your group.
13 September: Draw conclusions. Be prepared
to compare all sources in the chapter while analyzing these questions: In
ancient societies, what was the range of thought on the origins of human
beings/human societies? How did people in these societies explain events
in their worlds? How did they establish order? What was common and
what was different in these societies if these sources are representative?
Unit II: Ideals/realities in classical Athens,
5th--4th century BCE.
Reading assignments: KGO, Chapters 2 & 3; DISCOVERING,
Chapter 3 (read all the sources in the chapter, be ready to address the
questions at the end of the chapter).
18 September: Group work in class. Be prepared to discuss the
questions written in that portion of DISCOVERING Cha. 3 "Sources and method"
that relate to all sources assigned to your group, PLUS the basic identification
questions used in Unit I. Utilize background
information in both KGO and DISCOVERING.
Group A: source 1; Group B: source 2; Group
C: source 3; Group D: source 4; Group E: source 5; Group F:
source 6; Group G: source 7.
18/20 September: Share group results. Be prepared to speak
for your group.
25 September: Draw conclusions. Be
prepared to compare all the sources in the chapter while analyzing these
questions: What ideals for the individual, for the household, and for the
government were sketched by ancient Athenian writers in these texts? How
closely, in your opinion, was the ideal operational in reality? What do
your answers to these questions suggest SHOULD be remembered about ancient
Athens? Are those things generally remembered? If so, why, and if
not, why not?
27 September: Writing seminar...instructions,
preparation for essay writing in this course.
2 October: Practice essay #1, in class, on material in
Unit II.
Unit III: Augustus: the transition from republic to
empire in Rome.
Reading assignments: KGO, Chapters 4 & 5; DISCOVERING, Chapter 4 (read all the sources in the chapter, be ready to
address the questions at the end of the chapter).
4 October: Group work in class. Be prepared to
discuss the questions written in that portion of DISCOVERING Cha. 4 "Sources and
method" that relate to all sources assigned to your group, PLUS the basic
identification questions used in Unit I. Utilize background information in
both KGO and DISCOVERING.
Group A: sources 8-12; Group B: sources 3 & 4; Groups C & D: sources 5 & 6; Groups E & F: source 7; Group G:
sources 1 & 2.
9 October: Multiple choice examination #1, covering KGO
chapters 2, 3, 4, 5.
4/11 October: Share group results. Be prepared to speak
for your group.
16 October: Draw conclusions. Be prepared to compare
all the sources in the chapter while analyzing these questions: What
different opinions on the work and character of Augustus were voiced in early
imperial Rome? In what ways did Augustus transform Rome, and how can you tell?
What were the real characteristics of his reign? What were the reasons for
his success? How would you describe Augustus and his rule? How
SHOULD he be remembered? Is he remembered in this way? If so why, if
not, why not?
Unit IV: Life/learning at medieval universities
Reading assignments: KGO, Chapters 9 & 10; DISCOVERING,
Chapter 7 (read all the sources in the chapter, be ready to address the
questions at the end of the chapter).
18 October: Group work in class. Be prepared to discuss
the questions written in that portion of DISCOVERING Cha. 7 "Sources and method"
that relate to all sources assigned to your group, PLUS the basic identification
questions used in Unit I. Utilize background information in
both KGO and DISCOVERING.
Group A: sources 5 & 6; Group B: sources 7, 8 &
9; Groups C &D: sources 10 & 11; Group E: sources 1 & 2; Group
F: sources 12 & 13; Group G: sources 3 & 4.
18/23/25 October: Share group results. Be prepared to speak
for your group.
30 October: Draw conclusions. Be prepared to compare all
the sources in the chapter while analyzing these questions: What sort of
rules were devised for university students in the Middle Ages? How would
you characterize the rules? What were the goals of university teachers,
and what methods did they utilize in trying to attain those goals? What
were the characteristics of student life at medieval universities, and how can
you tell? Were these universities places of innovation or of repression?
How SHOULD medieval universities be remembered?
Unit V: Infidels and
heretics in the Middle Ages.
Reading assignments: KGO, Chapters 7
& 9; DISCOVERING, Chapter 8 (read all the sources in the chapter, be ready to
address the questions at the end of the chapter).
1 November: Group work in class. Be prepared to
discuss the questions written in that portion of DISCOVERING Cha. 8 "Sources and
method" that relate to the sources assigned to your group, PLUS the basic
identification questions used in Unit I. Utilize background information in
both KGO and DISCOVERING.
Group A: source 1; Group B: source 2;
Group C: source 3; Group D: source 4; Group E: source 5;
Group F: source 7; Group G: source 6.
6 November: Practice essay #2, in class, on material in Unit IV.
1 November/8 November: Share group results. Be prepared to speak on
the sources assigned for your group.
13 November: Multiple choice examination #2, covering KGO, chapters 7, 9, 10.
15 November: Draw conclusions. Be prepared to
compare all the sources in the chapter while analyzing these questions: How did
authorities representing the Roman church encourage people to respond to Muslim
and Cathar threats to its power and its "vision of salvation." How would
you describe the response of the people? Did representatives of the Roman
church describe infidels and heretics in the same way, or in different terms?
What values (that is, prized things/attitudes/qualities) are revealed in the
documents contained in this chapter?
Unit VI: Renaissance
images of women and men.
Reading assignments: KGO,
Chapter 11; DISCOVERING, Chapter 11 (read all the
sources in the chapter, be ready to address the questions at the end of the
chapter).
27 November: Group work in class. First, we
will examine the images together. Then, be prepared to discuss the
questions written in that portion of DISCOVERING Cha. 11 "Sources and method"
that relate to the written source assigned to your group, PLUS the
basic identification questions used in Unit I. Utilize background
information in both KGO and DISCOVERING.
Group A: source 7; Group B: source 8; Group C: source
9; Group D: source 10; Group E: source 4;
Group F: source 5; Group G: source 6.
29 November: Group work/share group results. Be prepared to speak
for your group.
4 December: Share group results/draw conclusions. Be prepared to compare
all the sources in the chapter while analyzing these questions: How did
authors, and the creators of art depict ideal women and men during the
Renaissance in Italy? Were there differences between the written
descriptions and the artistic representations? Were there differences over
the time period in which these sources were created? Is there any way to
determine what men and women were REALLY like in this era, based on the sources
examined? What were they like, and how do you know? Is that the way
Renaissance women and men are usually remembered? If so, why, if not, why not?
6 December: Conclusions, examination guidance, course evaluation.
Unit VII: The Reformation: confessionalization?...social
disciplining?
**Fall 2007**: Cancelled. Reading assignments: KGO, Chapter 13 & 15; DISCOVERING,
Chapter 13 (read all the
sources in the chapter, be ready to address the questions at the end of the
chapter).
No group work in class. General discussion
only. Read the KGO chapters, all the sources, and be
prepared to discuss them. What did you find? What do the sources
mean? What conclusions about the nature of "confessionalization" and
"social disciplining" can you draw? Utilize the questions in DISCOVERING Cha. 13
"Sources and method" that relate to all the sources, plus the
questions appearing below to guide your reading and thinking.
: General
discussion. Come prepared to
compare all the sources in the chapter while analyzing these questions: What
means was the range of methods used by religious and secular authorities to try
to educate people and to shape their behavior? Were these methods
effective or not, and how can you tell? How popular were the changes
introduced by religious reformers in this era? Are the terms "confessionalization,"
and "social disciplining" (as they were defined in "The Problem" section of the
introduction to this chapter) useful in describing what happened in early modern
society? How SHOULD the Reformation era and its affect on the people be
described and remembered? Is this the way that era is remembered today?
***Term paper due on Wednesday, 12 December, at 12 Noon.***
Final examination.
Final examination will be held on Tuesday, 11 December 8-10AM.
***NOTE: While I do not anticipate any circumstances that
would necessitate alteration of the syllabus, all due dates and assignments
listed here are subject to change. Any necessary changes will be announced
in class, and will be updated on the on-line syllabus. This on-line
syllabus is the official course schedule, and supersedes any printed version.***
Letter and number grade equivalents:
A = 460 points and higher; A- = 445-455 points; B+ = 425-440 points; B =
405-420 points; B- =390-400 points; C+ =370-385 points; C
=350-365 points;
C- =335-345 points; D =300-330 points; E =below 300 points.
Guide for reading primary source documents:
Be ready to answer the following questions on every primary source assigned for
your perusal (reading, viewing, etc.) in this course. Remember that
primary sources and "documents" in this course can come in many different forms.
1. Who created/wrote the document? When was the document created? (there are both "short"
and "long" answers for both of these topics)
2. Who was the intended audience for this document?
3. What story is told by the document? (summarize)
4. Why was this document created?
(identify the creator's purpose)
5. What type of document is
this? (identify the genre, think about how this might affect #4)
6. What can be learned/concluded about the
society that produced this document?
7. What difference does this document make for my
understanding of the period in which it was produced?
Statement on general education:
Why do the very finest colleges and universities in America, like the University
of Chicago, Swarthmore, Harvard, and the University of California at Berkeley,
insist that general education programs or "core" curricula are essential to
higher education? Why does Bloomsburg University follow this same model
with its own "General Education" curriculum? Aren't courses outside of
one's major irrelevant, especially considering the need to prepare for the job
market facing college graduates today?
The general education program at Bloomsburg University, like general education
programs and core curricula at other universities, is, in fact, directly
relevant to career preparation. The global economy of the early
twenty-first century demands that those who will succeed be flexible, adaptable,
and ready to constantly adjust their ways of thinking to continuously changing
technical, financial, human and interpersonal realities. The general
education curriculum, when courses are carefully chosen, forces students to
develop the ability to think, to analyze information, and to function in widely
divergent intellectual disciplines and methods. Natural science and
mathematics courses in general education can especially impart understanding of
the natural world, and of the importance of rational thinking and quantifiable
evidence in decision making. Courses in the social sciences provide
understanding of the relationship of human behavior to society and its
institutions. These courses hold a special potential for illustrating the
complexities of individual and interpersonal activity in the innumerable
contexts of the contemporary world. Humanities courses can be truly
liberating because they help students think freely, independently, about human
life, human knowledge, and human expression. These courses lead students
to appreciate the course of the development of ideas and to critically analyze
their content. If students dedicate themselves to excellent performance in
courses that train them in different ways of thinking, they will possess the
adaptability and facility of mind that will enable them to succeed in any career
path. That facility is at the very heart of the creativity so prized in
our global, entrepreneurial economy.
Like all universities, Bloomsburg provides students with additional,
wide-ranging opportunities to enhance their general education. These
opportunities are found in the broad offering of speakers and performing arts
programs on campus every semester. Through these programs, students can take
part in the ongoing debate about human ideas and human values that extends far
beyond the confines of any classroom.
The general education program at Bloomsburg University, or at any university,
could be considered irrelevant to a student's career preparation. This
particular irrelevance is a strength, however, not a weakness. Career
training teaches students what they must do in order to succeed in some
single occupation. General education, truly "liberal" education, revolves
around the polar opposite: opening students to the range of what they can
do, not what they must do. It is "liberal" not according to
any particular political or philosophical stance, but in the sense that it
liberates the mind. It liberates persons from a form of bondage that goes
all too frequently unrecognized in contemporary society: the bondage to
habitual, customary ways to thinking. Its goal is to help students begin
to think for themselves, not to form an elite group of individuals all thinking
in the same way, or a band of uncritical moral relativists. Its goal is to
help students begin to pursue a way of life, not a career path. That way
of life is critical and self-reflective. That way of life can help
students guide their own actions in the societal and family contexts that at
once contain and supercede their narrower career paths. The general
education curriculum provides access to the education that can result in true
freedom of thought: rejection of the presumed validity of any untested
assumptions, of whatever political or philosophical color, no matter how
commonplace. Such education is the foundation of this, and any other
university, and it forms the fundamental difference between universities and
schools of technology, between real education and mere training.
Please note that the general education curriculum at
Bloomsburg University only opens the avenue to education. Development of a
habit of thinking can't be delivered, force-fed, or spoon-fed. Hence, the
goal of this program can only be fulfilled when students and their advisors pick
the courses conducive to development of the habit. The goal can only be
fulfilled when students come to these courses with an open mind, because without
that open mind, students can develop no mind of their own. The goal can
only be fulfilled when students bring real commitment to the process, and work
in a way that reflects their commitment. The time required to truly
succeed in these courses, when combined with the even greater investment needed
for success in the major program, can push other activities into the background,
and it should. Like any other enterprise, benefits from university study
come in direct proportion to the amount of energy expended in the process.
Statement on plagiarism:
Plagiarism, whether accidental or deliberate, is defined in this class as
follows. "Exact word plagiarism": using three or more words of another
author in succession, excluding proper nouns. "Parallel plagiarism":
setting up sentences in a paragraph, or even in one sentence alone, where the
structure, and/or content, and/or ideas there expressed parallel the structure,
content and ideas in the work of another author. Neither of these forms of
plagiarism, whether created deliberately or accidentally, will be tolerated in
this class. If plagiarism is detected, a grade of E for the assignment--or
for the course--shall be issued at the discretion of the instructor.
Fabrication of evidence and other forms of academic dishonesty will be
treated in an identical fashion. (See the Academic Integrity Policy
in The Pilot, the Bloomsburg University student handbook). |
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