Western Civilization Since 1650 (42.126)
M.
Hickey Old Science Hall Office 130
389-4161 hickey@bloomu.edu
Final Exam Schedule:
Navigation links for this syllabus
Brief Description Mid-Term Exams Final Exam Required Texts Absence policy
Weekly Schedule Wessley study guide answer key
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NEW LINK------------Final Exam Question
Explanation of grading standards on exam II
Second Mid-Term Essay Question
First Mid-Term Exam Essay Questions
Explanation of the grading standards on exam 1
________
On Plagiarism vs Quoting On Disruptive Behavior
Link to Hickey's European and Jewish History Resources Page
Brief Description: This course is a survey of "Western Civilization" since the mid-1600s, although we will concentrate primarily on European societies.
Here is a short list of some of the themes and topics we will follow this semester:
the development of the centralizing "state" and the birth of the modern notion of the "nation state," which has expanded the claims of the state over new areas of people's lives
the development of modern science and its application to not only to technology, but also to thinking about society (for instance, in the ideas of the Enlightenment and then in the great "isms"of the 19th and 20th century)
the development of a way of organizing economic activity known as capitalism (and particularly of industrial capitalism), that has created new social classes and conflicts, shaped every aspect of people's daily lives, and led steadily towards "globalization"
the development of modern concepts of politics, government, and of rights, which have led to conflicts over how and by whom rights are defined and who "gets" them
the development of intellectual and social movements (or "isms") that have shaped how people understand the world and directed their efforts to change it (for instance, Liberalism, Conservativism, Nationalism, Anarchism, Socialism, Communism, Fascism, etc.).
the development of new methods by which states and other political/social actors mobilize, control, or eliminate mass populations (for instance, propaganda, warfare, genocide, ethnic cleansing.
Most of our class sessions will be lectures. It is a VERY good idea to take careful notes during lectures.
The Final Grade in this course is based upon: Three Mid-Term Exams (20 percent each); and a Final Exam (40 Percent). In grading all of your exams, my primary concern will be your accuracy, clarity, and logic (although I also will take into consideration "technical" matters, such as grammar). Your grade for the course will also depend upon your attendance (see below).
Regarding Cheating and Plagiarism: I will enforce university policy on cheating and plagiarism. Please read the linked statement regarding plagiarism
Regarding Disruptive Behavior in the Classroom: I will enforce university policy on classroom conduct. Please read the linked statement regarding disruptive behavior in the classroom.
Absence Policy: I will consider as "excused" absences only those medical, family, or activity related events (etc.) that the student has discussed with me in advance and/or that are documented by the university administration. All other absences will be treated as "unexcused."
Your grade FOR THE ENTIRE COURSE will fall in direct ratio to the percentage of classes that you miss (unexcused absences). If, for instance, you have three unexcused absences (= 10 percent of course sessions), then your grade in the course will fall by 10 percent (etc).
Required Texts:
Judith Coffin, et al., Western Civilizations: Their History and Their Culture, Vol. 2, 14th Edition (New York: Norton, 2002).
Stephen Wessley, Study Guide for Coffin (et al), Western Civilizations Volume 2 14th Edition (New York: Norton, 2002).
Brophy, et al., Perspectives from the Past, Vol. 2 (New York: Norton, 2002).
Emile Zola, L'Assommoir; the Dram Shop (New York: Penguin, 2001).
ON-LINE TUTOR WEBSITE: Norton, the publisher of the Coffin
textbook, provides an "on-line tutor" program for the course
text. It is called the "Western Civilizations Online
Tutor," by Steven Kreis of Wake Technical College. The website for
the on-line tutor is www.wwnorton.com/wciv. To use this website, your computer must have a "flash player"
version 5 and use Explorer version 5 (or higher) or Netscape version 4.7 (or
higher). The publisher's website provides free downloads of upgrades for
these programs. I encourage you to use this on-line tutor program, but it
is not required for the course.
Mid-Term Exams: (3 @ 20 percent each) You will have three mid-term exams. Each examine will include questions in the multiple choice, short answer, and essay format. You can expect to have multiple choice questions on the course textbook, short answer questions on documents assigned from the Brophy document reader, and essays on the lectures and the readings.
The first midterm will take place in the 4th week of class; the second will take place in the 8th week of class; and the third will take place in the 12th week of class. We will determine the exact day of each exam (Tuesday or Thursday) later in the semester. I will not schedule "make-up" exams unless I receive notification from the University administration that your absence is excused for the day of the exam.
In grading the exams, my primary concern will be your accuracy, clarity, and logic (although I will also take into consideration "technical" matters such as grammar).
The best way to prepare for exams is to complete all of the assigned readings and to take careful notes during lectures. Use the Wessley study guide to study for the exam sections on the textbook.
Final Exam: (40 percent) You will take an in-class final exam, which will be mixed format (like the midterm exams). The final exam will be comprehensive, and will cover all of the readings and lectures for the entire semester.
I will not schedule "make-up" exams unless I receive notification from the University administration that your absence is excused for the day of the exam. In grading your essays my primary concern will be your accuracy, clarity, and logic (although I will also take into consideration "technical" matters such as grammar).
Weekly schedule:
A Note on reading assignments:
Coffin refers to Western Civilizations. For each week, I indicate the reading assignments that should be finished by Tuesday (the exception, of course, is our first class session). Be sure to read the chapter introductions and the "document boxes" as well as the chapter text. At the end of each chapter, you should be able to answer that chapter's study questions
Wessley refers to Study Guide for Coffin (et al). For most students, the best way to check to see if you have understood the textbook is to answer the questions in this study guide. Also, each chapter in Wessley includes a few documents, some of which I might expect you to use in writing your exams.
Brophy refers to Perspectives from the Past. It is best to first read Coffin each week, and then to do the readings in Brophy. When you read Brophy each week, be sure to begin with the chapter introductions. Before you read each assigned document, be sure that you read that document's introduction. When you finish reading each assigned document, be sure that you can answer the review questions. Although all of the documents in each chapter are important, I indicate the documents that I particularly want you to read consider each week as "key" documents.
These documents are often very difficult to read--they are written in the style and vocabulary of their time, and have not been "altered" to make them "easy." Often they are on difficult topics, like philosophy or economic theory. You will have to work at them.
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 : Introduction to the course; Life in Early Modern Europe
Readings: Coffin, Chapter 16; Wessley, Chapter 16.
Brophy, intro to Ch. 16, key documents:
Goudge, "Of Domestical Duties"
Marquis de Vauban, "Description Geographique"
Cure of Rumegies, "Journal"
Pepys, "Diary."
Week II: Life and Politics in Early Modern Europe
Readings: Coffin, Chapter 17; Wessley, Chapter 17.
Brophy, Chapter 17, key documents:
Locke, Two Treatise on Government
Read ahead in Brophy, Chapter 18, key documents
Galileo Galilei, The Starry Messenger and The Assayer
Descartes, Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy
Newton,
Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy
Week III: Science and the Enlightenment
Readings: Coffin, Chapters 18 and 19; Wessley, Chapters 18 and 19.
Brophy, Chapter 19, key documents
Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Voltaire, Letters Concerning the English Nation
Baron de La Brede et de Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws
Kant, What is Enlightenment?
Also, from Brophy Chapter 21
Smith, The Wealth of Nations
Week IV: The French Revolution (I will give a short intro to the topic on Tuesday--the outline applies to next week's lecture)
Readings: Coffin, Chapter 20; Wessley, Chapter 20.
Brophy, Chapter 20, key documents:
Abbé Emmanuel Sieyes, What is the Third Estate?
National Assembly, The Tennis Court Oath
National Assembly, Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
National Convention, Levée en Masse Edict
National Convention, The Law of Suspects
Opposing Views of the Revolution: Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine
MIDTERM EXAM ONE THIS WEEK-- THURSDAY
Week V: Lecture Thursday is on The French Revolution
See week IV reading assignments
Read the following for next week
Readings: Coffin, Chapter 21; Wessley, Chapter 21.
Brophy, Chapter 21, key documents (These are on the industrial revolution)
Smith, The Wealth of Nations (yes, read it again! )
Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population
Rules of a Factory in Berlin
From Brophy, Chapter 22:
Anonymous, An Address by a Journeyman Cotton Spinner.
Week VI: Lecture Tuesday is on the The French Revolution. Lecture Thursday is on The Industrial Revolution and Social Change
Readings: Coffin, Chapter 22; Wessley, Chapter 22.
Brophy, Chapter 22, key documents
Anonymous, The Life & History of Captain Swing
Ryan, Prostitution in London
Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England
Sanford, Woman in Her Social and Domestic Character
Week VII: Social Change and Politics in the Early 1800s
Readings: Coffin, Chapter 23; Wessley, Chapter 23.
Brophy, Chapter 21, key documents
Owen, A New View of Society
Brophy, Chapter 22, key documents
Marx and Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party
Brophy, Chapter 23, key documents
von Metternich, Letter, 24 June 1832
Mill, On Liberty
Week VIII: The Revolutions of 1848
Readings: Coffin, Chapter 24; Wessley, Chapter 24.
Begin reading the Zola novel (it takes place in the late 1840s and early 1850s)
MIDTERM EXAM TWO THIS WEEK
Week IX: The Revolutions of 1848 (see last week's readings)/ Mass Politics and State Authority in Europe, 1850-1914
Readings: Coffin, Chapter 25; Wessley, Chapter 25.
Brophy, chapter 23, key documents
Ferry, The State Must Be Secular
Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum
Brophy, chapter 24, key documents
von Bismarck, Memoirs
Renan, What is a Nation?
Week X: Mass Politics and State Authority in Europe, 1850-1914
Readings: Coffin, Chapter 26; Wessley, Chapter 26. READINGS ALSO COVER LECTURE ON IMPERIALISM
Brophy, chapter 25, key documents
Fabri, Does Germany Need Colonies?
Chamberlin, Foundations of the Nineteenth Century
Brophy, Chapter 26, key documents
Williams, Made in Germany
Darwin, The Origins of Species
Week XI: end of lecture on politics in 1850-1914/ IMPERIALISM
Readings: FOR NEXT WEEK'S LECTURE ON WWI Coffin, Chapter 27; Wessley, Chapter 27.
Brophy, chapter 27, key documents
The Trench Poets of the First World War
Junger, The Storm of Steel
Leddell, On the Russian Front
Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace
Week XII: World War One/ The Russian Revolution [I will not have a chance to present this lecture in class, but you are REQUIRED to read the linked lecture notes! If you have any questions about these lecture notes, be sure to ask me!
Readings: Coffin, Chapter 28; Wessley, Chapter 28.
Brophy, chapter 28
Reed, Ten Days That Shook the World
Week XIII: The rise of Fascism and Nazism in Central Europe
MID-TERM EXAM THREE ON TUESDAY!!!
Readings: Coffin, Chapter 29; Wessley, Chapter 29..
Brophy, chapter 29, key documents
Mussolini, Born of A Need for Action
Hitler, Mein Kampf
Week XIV: Nazi Rule and World War Two
Readings: Brophy, chapter 29, key documents
Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union
Marchant, Women and Children Last
Grossman, In the Line of the Main Attack
Trials of War Criminals
Week XV: The Cold War Era
Readings: Coffin, Chapters 30 and 31; Wessley, Chapters 30 and 31.
Brophy, chapter 30, key documents
Churchill, The Sinews of Peace
Marshall, The Marshall Plan Speech
Khrushchev, On the Cult of Personality
Wagnleitner, The Coca-Colonization and the Cold War
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Week XVI: Final Exam