WESTERN CIVILIZATION
History 300
Fall 2012
Davies 208
[email protected]
Bill Wrightson
Office: Davies 306
Phone: 484-8429
Office Hours: MW 12:30-1:30;
TR 12:00-1:30, & by appt.
“To forget one's purpose is the commonest form of stupidity.” Friedrich Nietzsche
REQUIRED TEXTS: Perry, et al. Sources of the Western Tradition, vol. I. [8th ed.]
Perry, M. Western Civilization: A Brief History. Vol. I. [7th ed.]
*Reading Assignments: The reading assignments for each week are listed after the weeks’ topics with S:
denoting Sources of the Western Tradition and T: the Perry textbook. The assigned sources must be read
before the designated class meeting and you must come to class prepared to discuss them!
*Discussion Questions: We will regularly refer to the primary sources in the Perry reader during lectures and
discussions. The questions after each numbered source should be studied before reading the source, for they will
help you focus on important issues and make your reading more purposeful and useful. You need to prepare
yourself for our discussions by answering the questions before class. In addition, I will pose questions throughout
the semester that will be the focus of class discussions. You are required to prepare yourself for our
discussions by answering all relevant questions before class!
Lecture and Discussion Themes and Topics
PART I.
Week 1
(August 27-30)
THE ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST: FOUNDATIONS OF ANCIENT
CIVILIZATION
Western Civilization: What, Why & How?
Rediscovery of the Past
The Origins of Civilization
Reading: S: Preface; T: Preface & Geography essay
Week 2
(Sept. 4-6)
Labor Day Holiday, September 3r d
The Origins of Civilization
Myth-Making and State-Building
Reading: S: chapter 1 [#1-3, 5, 7]; T: Chapter 1
Week 3
(Sept. 10-13)
Folk Movements & Empire-Building
Monotheism: The God Who Did Wrong
Reading: S: chapter 1 [#6, 4]; chapter 2 [all but esp. Job]; T: Chapters 1 & 2
PART II. GREECE: DEFINING THE INDIVIDUAL
Week 4
(Sept. 17-20)
Heroes and History
Greek Political Development: The Polis
Reading: S: chapter 3 [#1, 7]; T: Chapter 3
Week 5
(Sept. 24-27)
Sparta vs. Athens
Science and Tragedy: The Classical Ideal
Reading: S: chapter 3 [#3-6, 8-10]; T: Chapter 3
Week 6
(Oct. 1-4)
The Enlightenment
The Hellenistic Age: Advance and Withdrawal
Reading: S: chapter 3 [#11-15]; T: Chapter 3
Week 7
(Oct. 8-11)
FIRST MID-TERM [Blue book—small]
PART III. ROME: INTEGRATION OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATION
Myths, Legends, and Heroes: Roman Self-Definition
Reading: S: chapter 5 [#2—The Aeneid]; T: Chapter 4
Week 8
(Oct. 15-18)
City-State to Empire
Republic into Empire
Reading: S: chapter 4 [#1-6]; chapter 5 [#1]; T: Chapter 4
Week 9
(Oct. 22-25)
Son of God Who Did Wrong
‘Greatness’ and ‘Decay’
Reading: S: chapter 5 [#3-7]; & 6 [#1, 2]; T: Chapters 4 & 5
Week 10
(Oct. 29-Nov. 1)
Christianity and the Empire
Cause and Effect: The Problem of Rome’s “Fall”
Reading: S: chapter 6 [#3-9]; chapter 5 [#8]; T: Chapters 4 & 5
PART IV.
Week 11
(Nov. 5-8)
ROME’S HEIRS: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE
Rome’s Heirs
SECOND MID-TERM EXAM [Blue book—small]
Reading: S: chapter 7 [#1]; T: Chapter 6
Week 12
(Nov. 13-15)
The Rise and Spread of Islam
Europe in Transition: Adaptation and Withdrawal
Reading: S: chapter 7 [#2-6]; T: Chapter 6
Week 13
(Nov. 19-21)
Feudalism and Manoralism
The Nature of Medieval Society
Reading: S: chapter 7 [#8-10]; T: Chapter 6
PART V.
Week 14
(Nov. 26-29)
RECOVERY & RENEWAL IN THE WEST: THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES
(1050-1300)
Revival and Expansion
Church, State and Nobility: Origins of European States
Thanksgiving Holiday, November 24th
Reading: S: chapter 8 [#1-3, 11]; T: Chapter 6
Week 15
(Dec. 3-6)
Church, State and Nobility: Dynamics of Tension
“Uninterrupted Light”: Culture of the High Middle Ages
Reading: S: chapter 8 [#5-9, 13] T: Chapters 6 & 7
PART VI.
Week 16
(Dec. 10-13)
AGE OF TRANSITION: LATE MEDIEVAL/EARLY MODERN EUROPE
Age of Crisis: Late Medieval/Renaissance Europe
Shift in Focus: The Birth of the Renaissance in Italy
Reading: S: chapter 8 [#12]; chapter 9 [#1, 2]; T: Chapters 7 & 8
* The above syllabus is a guideline for the semester and is subject to change.
FINAL EXAM:
Class
MW 10:39am
MW 1:30pm
TR 10:30am
Date & Time of Final
Wednesday, December 19th (10:15am-12:15pm)
Wednesday, December 19th (12:45-2:45pm)
Thursday, December 20th (10:15am-12:15pm)
Note: You must take the Final at the scheduled time for the class in which you’re enrolled!
PREREQUISITES: Advisory: ENGWR 102 or 103 and ENGRD 320; or ESLR 320 & ESLW 320.
Given the nature of the course, however, completion of or concurrent enrollment in English 300 is strongly
advised. Students who have successfully completed English 300 have a greater chance of success in this class,
since success is directly related to a student’s reading, writing and critical thinking skills.
The foremost prerequisite for this course, however, is commitment to your own education!!!
If this commitment is lacking, you have little chance of succeeding in this course.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Upon completion of this course, the successful student will be able to do the following:
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identify and correctly use basic historical terminology.
distinguish between primary and secondary sources as historical evidence.
compare and evaluate various interpretations used by historians to explain the development of western
civilization prior to the Renaissance.
evaluate multiple causes and analyze why a historical event happened.
identify the major eras and relevant geography of western civilization prior to the Renaissance.
evaluate major economic, social, political, and cultural developments in western civilization prior to the
Renaissance.
evaluate the experiences, conflicts, and connections of diverse groups of people in western civilization prior
to the Renaissance.
draw historical generalizations about western civilization prior to the Renaissance based on understanding
of the historical evidence.
describe and evaluate the cultural legacies and contributions of the Ancient Middle East, Greece, Rome, and
Medieval Europe to the development of western civilization.
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: PLAGIARISM & CHEATING
Neither will be tolerated. Plagiarism is presenting the words of another person as your own. Memorizing another
person’s words and writing them on your essay as your own words is plagiarism; it is cheating. Cheating on any
exam will result in a “zero” for that exam, and you won’t pass the class.
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND GOALS:
This class is a survey of the most important political, economic, social, cultural and intellectual developments from
the emergence of civilizations in the Ancient Middle East until the Renaissance. The focus will be on the cultural
legacies and contributions of the Ancient Middle East, Greece, Rome and the Middle Ages to the development of
western civilization. The unifying theme of this course is not a nation, state or people, but a culture: western
civilization. In this sense it is vastly different from most history classes you’ve taken, which typically focus on a
nation (e.g., U.S. history) or a people within a nation (e.g., Afro-American history). Western civilization is a
culture that has shifted geographically over time, which has continually redefined itself in response to internal and
global forces, and which has become one of the most, if not the most, influential forces in the world today.
Goals of Course:
Our goal is to think historically about the major themes and developments within western civilization from its
origins up to the birth of the Renaissance in Italy. The course is designed to help you learn the logic of history.
Everything we do this semester will in some way, either broadly or narrowly, relate to improving your
understanding of and thinking critically about major historical developments, their causes and their impact. The
primary goal is for you to think about history as historians, which mean interpreting the past in light of evidence.
An interpretation is only as valid as the evidence used to support it. Unsupported conclusions are meaningless,
irrelevant and useless.
To think deeply and purposefully about history, one must think clearly about the questions which face historians,
one must gather relevant and valid information which relates to those questions, one must accurately analyze the
value of the information gathered, and one must understand the complexity of the human experience.
Purpose of Course:
Our purpose will be to discover, explore, and analyze those events, people, and forces that have come to shape not
only the world but how we think and live today. We are, each of us, a part of a historical process that links the past
to the present and the present to the future. To understand ourselves as individuals and as members of a broader
community or nation, we must understand the context in which we live. And the only way to understand this
context is to examine how it came about, how it has evolved, and how it has shaped our world as well as our
thinking. By examining our world historically we will better understand both the potential promise and inherent
dangers of the future, a future that can only emerge out of the past. Understanding of the past does not enable us
to predict the future; its value is much more significant than that. Understanding the past makes it possible for us
to create a future of our own making!
Logic of Course:
This class will be different from most, if not all, history classes you’ve taken before. Because it is new and
unfamiliar the difference can be, and typically is, unsettling. Yet there is an underlying logic to this course, one that
is frequently not found in other classes, whether they be history classes or not. Once you understand this logic the
course will make more sense; it will become easier, more meaningful and more relevant because you will
understand the context and purpose of everything we do. Information, such as names or dates, only makes sense
and is only relevant if the context is clear and the significance of the context is understood.
The context of this class, its inherent logic to which all things relate, is really quite simple: the major contributions
of the Ancient Middle East, Greece, Rome and the Middle Ages to the making of western civilization. Everything
we will discuss, read, and analyze this semester will all relate to explaining, understanding and interpreting the
forces, developments and people that served to create the world in which we live,
Organization of Course:
Themes
Most of you are probably use to a chronological approach to history, where the class begins at a specific date and
chronologically follows developments up to a designated year. Since you’re use to this approach you’re probably
more comfortable with it, but many of you have probably been numbed in the process and have lost sight of the
relevance of studying history. Who, after all, wouldn’t be numbed by an approach that treats history like a string
of events—first this happened, then this happened, then this happened, then this happened . . . . Who, after all,
could see the relevance when it means being bombarded with “facts” to be memorized, regurgitated, and quickly
forgotten. This class, however, is designed to nurture an appreciation of history and its relevance. It is organized
thematically rather than chronologically.
The point is to explain and interpret the past, to understand the human experience. Therefore we will examine the
significance of each theme and analyze how it contributed to making the world in which we live. Once you
understand its contribution you’ll understand its significance, and hence its relevance. With this understanding,
studying history becomes meaningful. Names and dates are no longer “facts” to be memorized, but relevant
information to be learned and remembered because they are significant, because they help explain something that’s
relevant. The specific themes are directly tied to the overriding theme of the course: the major contributions of the
periods and cultures we will study to the making of western civilization.
Below are the themes that make the study of past civilizations particularly relevant for understanding the making of
our world.
ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST:
Organization of Peoples (state-building & empire-building)
Religion (principally Hebrew ethical monotheism)
GREECE:
Individualism (the relationship between the individual & the group or state)
ROME:
Duty and Abstract Conceptions of Government, Law, Citizenship, etc.
Rise of Christianity
The “Fall” of Rome Question (Cause & Effect; Change vs. Continuity)
MIDDLE AGES:
Medieval Contributions to Making of the Modern World
(why “Dark Ages” is grossly misleading, seriously distorting both the
period and our understanding of the making of our world)
Critical Thinking:
Most people are not in charge of their own ideas and thinking. Their thinking is most often focused on
rationalizing or justifying immature or egocentric drives. Freedom to them means acting on impulse. Most of their
ideas have come into their minds without their having thought about them. They unconsciously pick up what
people around them, or on T.V., think. They unconsciously absorb ideas from family and friends. They are the
products, simply and completely, of forces they did not choose. They reflect those forces without understanding
them.
Becoming a critical thinker means reversing this process, by learning to practice skills that enable one to start to
take charge of the ideas that run one’s life. It is to think consciously and deliberately and skillfully in ways that
allow an individual to take charge of their mind, of their ideas, of their thinking.
History and Critical Thinking:
We can not begin to take control of our own minds as critical thinkers unless we study how the past has shaped
our world, our ideas, and our thinking. A critical thinker must think historically because critical thought demands
understanding the context, and the context can only be understood historically.
Studying history is not merely memorizing facts; studying history means attempting to explain the past. And our
efforts to explain are what makes the study of history not only useful but enjoyable. Studying history means
interpreting the past. The writers of the text do it, I do it, and I expect you to do it. We’re not looking for ‘right’
answers here, such answers do not exist for anything as complex as the human experience. The goal is thoughtful,
well-reasoned answers supported by evidence. The fundamental question is not when, but why. What history
teaches us is to argue productively with each other. In the process we come to a clearer understanding of our past
and the world we live in today. Perhaps most important, however, we come to understand ourselves better.
Studying history challenges us to confront our values and clarify our thinking; it nurtures critical and analytical
skills necessary not only for personal success but for personal freedom—which is, after all, one of the primary
purposes of a college education.
If this last point is too much to swallow at this point, after all not many of you have thought about history in terms
other than mindless memorization, I should note that my goal is fairly long-term. Sometime after taking this class,
perhaps not right away, when you’re listening to someone or reading something that you used to think was great,
you’re going to say, “That’s bullshit! Cut the crap and get to the point. Do you have any facts to back up what
you’re saying?” Moreover, you will say precisely, succinctly and persuasively what is wrong. From that moment
on, you will know that you are going to be a free person for the rest of your life. It’s no small matter.
The way for us to pursue such lofty goals is by confronting the past directly, interpreting the past by reading what
are known as primary sources: documents and works written by people of the time. We can quickly see that
people saw what was happening from different perspectives. These primary sources are what historians use when
trying to explain the past, and they’ll be what you use to explain and support your understanding of the past. They
are, moreover, the heart of history, what makes the study of history both intellectually challenging and personally
rewarding.
MY EXPECTATIONS, YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES:
Attendance is Required: This is not a correspondence course! More than 2 absences will affect your
grade. 3 or more absences and I can drop you from the class!!! So-called “excused absences” count as
absences; they do not increase the number of allowable absences. You don’t need to call me in the event of an
absence unless there is a particular problem causing you to miss a scheduled exam or several class meetings. You
are responsible for every class meeting; being absent does not excuse you from responsibility of what was
discussed nor for what is assigned for the next class meeting. And tardiness is both rude and disruptive, so be here
on time. After the third week if you come in after I am through with taking roll you will be marked absent!!!
Thoughtful, Active Participation is also Required: You are expected to come to each class having
read the assigned reading, and prepared to contribute to our discussions, so bring Sources of the Western
Tradition to class. Some of the primary sources will require several readings before you begin to master them.
You must read and think carefully about the assigned selections prior to each class meeting. You will not be able
to contribute to our discussions unless you’ve done so; the success of discussion depends on you! You should
clarify your understanding of what you’ve read by answering the questions following a selection before you come
to class. The above questions will form the basis of our discussions. And, of course, please come to class with
questions about anything you don’t understand. The point is this: I want you to assume an active role in this
class.
Quizzes: You will be graded on your participation and there may be periodic quizzes to gauge your attention,
understanding and preparation. Depending on time and how everything seems to be going, there will be between 8
and 10 random, unannounced quizzes. The lowest score will be dropped and there are no quiz make-ups. You’ll
need scantron form #2020 (20 question form).
Grades: Your grade for the course will be roughly determined as follows:
Participation & Quizzes
1st Mid-term Exam:
2nd Mid-term Exam:
3rd Mid-term & Final:
10%
20%
20%
50%
Exams will be graded according to the standard scale:
A=90–100; B=80–89; C=70–79; D=60–69; F=59 and below
Note-taking and Studying:
You will need to take good notes if you expect to do well in the class. I will write an outline on the board of
important themes, topics and terms at the beginning of each class, but you need to pay attention and take careful,
useful notes since our class meetings will form the basis of the exams. I urge you to take advantage of the skills
classes at the Learning Resource Center in order to improve your note-taking and studying skills.
The general guideline for studying is 2 to 3 hours outside of class for every hour in class, which means you should
spend 6 to 9 hours studying every week. You’ll need to make a dedicated commitment if you want to do well, but
nothing worthwhile is ever accomplished without such a commitment. The reward is not just a good grade. If you
value yourself, your education should be one of your highest priorities. And since it is your education you need
to take responsibility for it!
You must take all written, bluebook essay exams in order to pass the class (3 midterms and the final). Make-up
exams will be granted if there is a legitimate excuse; a separate time outside of class will be scheduled. Make-up
exams, however, will be more difficult in that there will be fewer essay options.
Office Hours: I try to nurture an environment in class where people feel comfortable asking questions and
participating in discussions, where people don’t feel threatened about revealing their ignorance because we are all
pursuing the same goal: understanding. Yet I am keenly aware of how difficult it can be to ask questions or a
particular question that may not seem appropriate at a given time in class. I encourage you, therefore, to take
advantage of my office hours if you have any questions, or if you would merely like to discuss more fully an idea
or development. Besides, it should be no secret that getting to know one’s professors and them getting to know
you helps insure a successful and rewarding college education, for it means being actively involved in your own
education. If the scheduled office hours aren’t convenient for you, please feel free to make an appointment.
Classroom Policies:
I’ve coined a new acronym to describe a growing problem: CSDD (common sense deficiency disorder).
Below are some of the common symptoms; if you are guilty of any of the following cure yourself. I will point out
any disruptive and annoying failures to do so. If this causes you public embarrassment the fault lies with you!
• Falling Asleep in Class (and anything similar, such as putting your head down on your desk)
• Leaving in the middle of class (unless you notify me before class)
• Eating in Class
• Not paying attention in class (Be forewarned, I will call you on this!)
• Wearing sunglasses and/or having hoods up (Hiding is not the point of college!)
• Being Disruptive in Class (e.g. whispering, talking, visiting, note passing, etc.)
• Reading/studying material not related to this class (e.g. newspapers, notes or books for another class,
class schedules, magazines, etc.)
• Cellphones: Turn them Off!!! Or Don’t Bring Them to Class!!!
• Text Messaging: You Flunk!!!
• Using a laptop for anything other than taking notes: You Flunk!!!