Western Civilization to 1650  (42.125)

Spring 2009

M. Hickey  Old Science Hall Office 130  570-389-4161 mhickey@bloomu.edu

Office Hours:  T-Th. 2:00-3:30; Weds 3:30-5:30  or by appointment

Final exam days and times: 

Section 3 (9:30), exam is on Weds, 29 April, from 8:00 to 10:00

Section 4 (3:30), exam is on Monday, 27 Apri, from 10:30 to 12:30

Final exam study guide

Midterm Exam Study Guide

Navigation links for this syllabus

• Brief Course Description                   
• Grade Scale                              
• Required Texts 
• Study questions and ID questions on the Noble textbook 
• Study questions on Five Great Greek Tragedies
• Quick short guide to names of Greek gods (with Roman equivalents)
• Study questions on The Song of Roland
• Study Tips
• Warning regarding plagiarism  
• Weekly Schedule of Assignments

GRADED ASSIGNMENTS:

• Participation (10 percent)    
• Quizzes (20 percent)
• Mid-Term Exam (30 percent)
• Final  Assignment (40 percent)         

Warning regarding plagiarism

Weekly Schedule of Assignments   

Brief Description:   This course is a survey of "Western Civilization" to the mid-1600s.  It begins with a brief examination of societies in the ancient Near East, moves on to the history of Ancient Greece and Rome, and then focuses on the history of Europe. 

Here are some of the topics we will cover in the course:   

• Geographic and other factors contributing to the rise of ancient civilizations
• The interrelationship between economic, state, and religious systems in the ancient world
• The roles of warfare and trade in spreading ancient civilization
• The evolution of democratic institutions and classical philosophy in Greece
• The centrality of law and imperialism to Roman society
• The influence of Greek and Roman culture on other societies
• The origins and evolution of monotheism (i.e., Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
• The collapse of Roman hegemony
• The central role of religion in Medieval culture
• The shifting relationship between the Catholic Church and monarchical power
• The emergence of a commercial economy
• Feudalism and the rise of national monarchies
• The roles of trade and warfare in the spread of Western European power
• The impact of the Renaissance on the arts and scholarship
• The impact of the Reformation on popular religious belief and politics
• The origins of modern science
• The relationship between religious conflict and the emergence of nation states

The course will be organized around discussion of reading assignments and "mini-lectures."

The main course objectives are to help you:

• Develop a solid, basic understanding of major themes in the history of Western Civilization to 1650
• Develop a solid, basic understanding of the deep historical roots of modern Western culture 
• Develop familiarity with the process historians use in examining evidence and writing history
• Develop your critical reading skills through analysis of historical evidence
• Develop your ability to explain complex ideas clearly in writing 

Grades and Grade Scale:  Your grade in this course is based upon: 

• Participation (10 percent)    
• Quizzes (20 percent)
• Mid-Term Exam (30 percent)
• Final  Assignment (40 percent)  

The grades on written work will be based on its accuracy, clarity, and logic.  I will also consider technical matters, such as grammar and punctuation.

IMPORTANT NOTES RE. ASSIGNMENTS AND CLASS SESSIONS:

• "Make-up" and late assignments:   I will give "make-up" quizzes or exams only in cases of excused absences. 
• "Excused" absences: If you have medical, family, or university-related events (etc.) and have informed me in writing in advance and/or have documentation provided by the university administration, then an absence is excused. 
• Regarding various forms of plagiarism:  Please read the linked warning regarding plagiarism.  I will give you a failing grade on any quiz on which I determine that you plagiarized.  I will fail you in the courses if I determine that you have plagiarized on an exam.
• Regarding disruptive behavior:  Please read the linked statement regarding disruptive behavior in the classroom.

Grade Scale

• An "A" in the course means that you have a total of 920 or more out of 1000 possible points
• A- = 900-919
• B+ = 880-899
• B=820-879
• B-=800-819
• C+=780-799
• C=720-779
• C-=700-719
• D+=680-699
• D=600-679
• E= fewer than 600 points

Required Texts:  The following books are required.

• Thomas Noble, et al., Western Civilization:  The Continuing Experiment.  Volume 1, to 1715.  Dolphin Edition.  Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 2005.  Study questions and ID questions on the Noble textbook
• Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus, Five Great Greek Tragedies.  New York:  Dover, 2004.  Study questions on Five Great Greek Tragedies
• The Song of Roland.  New York: Signet Classics, 2002.  Study questions on The Song of Roland
• Assorted web-linked documents, which I will post on the website during the semester.

Participation (10 percent of course grade)

What do I expect of you in class?

• attend class regularly.
• complete all assigned readings, including any web-based documents that I ask you to read during the semester.
• be prepared to ask as well as answer questions about readings in class.  That means that you have to take notes on the readings and bring them to class.  We will spend much of our class time discussing assigned readings.
• take notes during the class sessions.
• ask as well as answer questions about any lectures I present in class.

Your participation grade will be based upon your attendance and the quality of your contributions to discussions in class.  You can not participate if you are not in class, so your grade will fall in direct ratio to your unexcused absences.

TIP ON STUDYING:

How should you take notes on the textbook readings?

• Write down your notes in a notebook. (Highlighting in the textbook without writing out notes has been proven to be almost useless!) 
• Instead of trying to write out "all the facts," focus on the main points--what seems to be the most important point made in each section of a chapter and what information is most important to understanding that point?
• Answer the study questions for each chapter in the Noble textbook. (These are linked to this syllabus).
• Define the vocabulary terms for each chapter.  (These also are linked to this syllabus).
• Note that at least two of the study questions will appear as the "short essay" questions on your midterm exam.
• Note that at least two of the study questions will appear as the "short essay" questions on your final exam.
• Note that the IDs will be the basis of all of your quizzes.
• Bring your notebooks and the Noble textbook to class with you--we will use these during class discussions.

How should you take notes on any web-based documents assigned during the semester?

     Answer the following questions--write them down in a notebook:

• Who wrote the document, where, and when?
• Who was the author's intended audience?
• What main point or idea was the author trying to get across?
• What does the document tell you about the time and the society in which it was produced?

How should you take notes on Five Great Greek Tragedies and The Song of Roland? 

• Be sure that you read the linked study questions before you begin reading the plays/poem.
• Either in the margins or in a notebook, mark or reference passages that you think relate to specific study questions.
• When you finish reading, use your notebook to sketch out outlines for your answers to each of the study questions.
• It is not a bad idea to actually write out a full answer to each question
• You can be certain that at least one study question on the plays will be the "long essay" on your midterm exam
• You can be certain that at least one study question on the poem will be the "long essay" on your final exam.

How should you take notes in class?

• Instead of trying to write down every fact that we discuss in class, focus on the main points. 
• Write out a few sentences to summarize the main points of the lecture.
• Summarize the most important evidence ("facts") you think will well you understand and remember the lecture's main points.
• When we discuss readings, make notes on the discussion that you can use to supplement your own reading notes.

Quizzes (20 percent of course grade):

You will have at least five quizzes. 

Quiz questions will be based upon the ID questions on your assigned textbook readings. 

What needs to be in your answer?

Answer the following about the ID in 1-3 sentences:

• whom or what
• when
• where
• if a person, why was he or she historically important
• if an idea or concept, what did it mean and why was it historically important
• if an event, what was it and why was it historically important

How can you prepare for the quizzes?

• Answer the ID questions for the assigned chapters in the Noble textbook.  (These are in the study questions linked to this syllabus.)
• I will ask two ID questions on each quiz.
• I will grade each answer on a scale of 0-5.  An excellent ID answer will receive a grade of "5"; a good answer will receive a grade of "3"; a very poor answer will receive a grade of "1."  Not answering or giving an answer that shows that you have not read the assignment will result in a grade of "0"
• You can not use your written notes during the quizzes, so you must review your notes before our class sessions.

Your semester quiz grade will be the sum of your quiz grades multiplied by 2. 

Be sure to read the warning regarding plagiarism.

Mid-Term Exam:  (30 percent of course grade.) 

You will have an essay-format mid-term exam that covers the following:

• Any lecture notes from Weeks I-VI
• Study Questions from Noble, chapters 1-6
• Study questions on plays by Sophocles and Euripides in Five Great Greek Tragedies.  (These are linked to this syllabus.)

What is the format for the exam?

• The exam will be in essay format, with at two short-answer questions and one long-answer question.
• The short essays will be taken directly from the Noble study questions and will be worth 25 points each.
• The long essay will be taken directly from the study questions on Five Great Greek Tragedies and will be worth 50 points.
• You will write your answers in a Blue Book.
• You can not use your written notes for the exam, so you must prepare by reviewing your notes in advance.

How can you prepare for the exam?

• Do all the assigned readings and answer the study questions.
• Take notes during lectures and class discussions.
• Review your notes carefully.

In grading your essays, my primary concern will be the accuracy, clarity, and logic of your essays.  Your total exam grade will be the sum of your grades on all three questions, multiplied by 3.

Be sure to read the warning regarding plagiarism. 

Final Exam (40 percent of course grade): 

You will have an essay-format final exam that covers the following:

• Any lecture notes from Weeks VII-XV
• Study Questions from Noble, chapters 7-15
• Study questions on The Song of Roland.

What is the format for the exam?

• The exam will be in essay format, with at two short-answer questions and one long-answer question.
• The two short essay question will be taken directly from the study questions on the Noble textbook and will be worth 25 points each.
• The long essay question will be taken directly from the study questions on The Song of Roland and will be worth 50 points.
• You will answer the exam questions in a Blue Book.
• You cannot use your written notes for the exam, so you must prepare by reviewing your notes in advance.

How can you prepare for the exam?

• Do all the assigned readings and answer the study questions.
• Take notes during lectures and class discussions.
• Review your notes carefully.

In grading your essays, my primary concern will be the accuracy, clarity, and logic of your essays.  Your total exam grade will be the sum of your grades on all three questions, multiplied by 4.

Be sure to read the warning regarding plagiarism. 

Weekly schedule:

Note: This is a provisional schedule--I may find it necessary to change the dates of some assignments during the semester, and I may at times run a bit ahead or behind the syllabus.

Week I (12-16 January): The Ancient Near East and Egypt. 

Readings:  Noble, chapter 1

Week II (19-23 January):   Western Asia, Ancient Israel, and Pre-Archaic Greece

Readings:  Noble, chapter 2.  Not a bad idea to begin reading Five Great Greek Tragedies.

Week III (26-30 January):  Archaic Greece and Classical Greece

Readings:  Noble, chapter 3.  Get to work reading Five Great Greek Tragedies.

Quiz 1 (chs. 1-3)

Week IV (2-6 February):  Alexander the Great and Hellenic Civilization

Readings:  Noble, chapter 4.  You should be finishing Five Great Greek Tragedies.

Week V (9-13 February): Royal Rome and the Roman Republic  (link includes Hickey's notes on questions 3-5)

Readings:  Noble, chapter 5.  You should begin reviewing for the exam.

student answers to questions  3-5 (These are the answers that your small groups gave to questions 3-5.  Your answers include several small errors, so you really must compare them to the readings and my notes.)

Week VI (16-20 February): Imperial Rome 

Readings:  Noble, chapter 6.  You should be reviewing for the exam with vigor.

Quiz 2 (chs. 4-6)

Week VII (23-27 February): Mid-term exam and the Collapse of the Roman World

Readings:  Noble, chapter 7.

SPRING BREAK:  28 February-8 March 

Week VIII (9-13 March):    Early Medieval Europe

Readings:  Noble, chapter 8.  Start reading The Song of Roland.

Week IX (16-20 March):  Europe in the High Middle Ages

Readings:  Noble, chapter 9.   You should be well into The Song of Roland.

Quiz 3 (chs 7-9)

Week X (23-27 March):  Medieval European Society and Culture

Readings:  Noble, chapter 10.  You should be finishing The Song of Roland.

Week XI (30 March-3 April): Late Medieval Europe

Readings:  Noble, chapter 11.

Week XII (6-10 April): The Renaissance

Readings:  Noble, chapters 12 and 13.

Quiz 4 (chs 10-12)

Week XIII (13-17 April): The Reformation

 Readings:  Noble, chapter 14. 

Week XIV (20-24 April): National Monarchies and Wars of Religion

Readings:  Noble, chapter 14.

 Quiz 5 (chs 13-15)

Begin reviewing for the final exam.

Week XV:  Final Exam