Fall 2001

 

History of Western Civilization I

Hist. H113 Section C356/Section C357 (Honors College)

 

Time: M/W 9:30-10:45 a.m.                                         Dr. Kevin C. Robbins

Place: CA 219                                                             Associate Professor of History

Office: CA 504Q

                                                                                    Office Phone: 317-274-5819        

                                                                                    E-MAIL: krobbin1@iupui.edu                                                                                                  FAX: 317-278-7800

                                                                                    Office Hours: M/W: 12:30-2:00 p.m.

                                                                                    (And by Appointment.)

 

Course Objectives: A course in the grand history of western civilization is an excellent and rigorous means by which students can gain, practice, and master critical reading, critical writing, critical thinking, and critical, analytical study skills useful for a lifetime.  Among the vital skills to be developed by all students in the context of this history course are: 1) ease and confidence in oral and written expression; 2) careful and analytical reading habits developed through contact with original sources and written masterworks of the eras surveyed; 3) the ability to read complex maps for meaning to develop a clear understanding of old world geography and the geo-cultural factors shaping the development of  our western civilization; and 4) effective critical reasoning abilities.  Diligent students can expect to leave this course with not only a better knowledge of important historical civilizations and events still powerfully shaping the world in which they live right now, but also a greater knowledge of the fundamental skills of critical study and argument essential for them to do well in all future university courses and in all future working environments. The aim of this course is not to fill the student's mind with a mass of useless, memorized, and quickly forgotten "facts."  History is definitely not the mere accumulation of uncontested "facts" about prior times and peoples.  It is not (and never has been) an "objective" or un-biased mode of inquiry.  History is an interpretation of the past based upon scholars' highly idiosyncratic, inherently contentious research and analysis of selected surviving evidence about past, highly complex human beings, human communities, and cultures.  Such investigators, like good detectives, commonly reflect over, question, and argue about the meaning and implications of all evidence gathered about their human subjects.  In these investigations argument and well-founded, cleverly asserted opinions matter.  All students must be ready to question and to disagree over the meanings, significations, and implications of the readings assigned and the civilizations they imperfectly communicate to us.  All students must therefore prepare themselves to express their opinions about course readings and subjects as clearly, directly, and elegantly as possible.  In history, opinions--crafted as interpretations based upon careful analysis of evidence--matter a great deal.  Your opinions about what we study are thus also important and you should be ready to share them in a civil, intelligent, and determined manner orally and in writing with your instructor and with your classmates.  Following this path, we will work to break common and pitiful misconceptions held by many about the nature of history and the value of historical study.  Students should thus always expect to have their opinions challenged and to be pressed in consideration of how history, even ancient history, continues to shape powerfully their own lives and values today. 

Required Course Readings:  This course will address the institutional, political, social, and cultural history of human communities from circa 4000 BCE to circa 1500 CE.  While a textbook will be part of the assigned readings, students will also read a number of beautiful, challenging, provocative, and memorable original works written by authors living during the time periods covered in the class. Each of these masterworks is far better reading than any textbook.  For quality of instruction about past human communities, their values, preoccupations, arts, and obsessions, there can be no better sources than such original texts.  That is why we will read them, discuss them, and pay very careful attention to them in class and in writing.  These original works by great authors male and female demand interpretation so that we may come to see how they represent or communicate to us information about the societies in which they were written.  Be prepared.  The textbook for this course is Jackson J. Spielvogel, Western Civilization, 4^th ed., (Vol. A To 1500.)  It is abbreviated in the assignments below as Spiel.  This textbook will provide a basic narrative of important events during the periods of history covered.  Each assigned chapter or chapter section must be read by the date listed below.  This textbook will be supplemented by readings taken from great masterworks by famous ancient authors.  These additional required readings are (in order of use):

 

            Ferry, David. Gilgamesh: A New Rendering in English Verse.  Farrar, Straus and Giroux,

                        New York: 1992.

            Plato. Symposium. Robin Waterfield (Translator). Oxford World's Classics, Oxford

                        University Press, Oxford: 1994.

            Marcus Aurelius. Meditations.  A.S.L. Farquharson (Translator). Oxford World's

                        Classics, Oxford University Press, Oxford: 1989.

            Hildegard of Bingen. Book of the Rewards of Life. B.W. Hozeski (Translator).

                        Oxford University Press, Oxford: 1994.

            J.C. Bondanella and Mark Musa (eds.). The Italian Renaissance Reader.  Meridian/

                        Penguin Group. New York: 1987.

            Erasmus. Praise of Folly.  Betty Radice (Translator). Penguin Books, London: 1993.

 

A final required course text, vital to an understanding of the geography and geo-cultural factors shaping the history of western civilization is the Hammond Concise Atlas of World History (5^th ed.)--abbreviated in assignments below as Atlas.  All required texts for this course are for sale in the IUPUI Bookstore, Cavanaugh Hall, Basement, History Section, H113 Shelves.  All students must purchase and read their own copies of the required texts.  Buy them all.        

           

Optional Supplemental Course Material from the World Wide Web:  Students should be aware that a vast amount of material highly relevant to the cultural history of western civilization can be found at various sites on the World Wide Web.  The instructor will be offering a selection of such useful web site addresses via occasional handouts in class.  All students are encouraged to bring to the instructor's attention relevant new web sites they have found while pursuing online research.  Since all students in both sections of H113 addressed here will be expected to prepare several written essays and papers on course topics, they should be aware that substantial assistance with the logistics and forms of university-level writing is also available through numerous Online Writing Centers and Workshops.  One of the best such online writing centers, providing many screens of information on all aspects of paper organization and composition, can be found through Purdue University.  Visit OWL, Purdue's Online Writing Lab, at:

 

                        http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ 

 

Course Requirements:  1) Regular class attendance (one unexcused absence will lower your final grade for course participation).  Class rosters for student signature will be circulated at all class sessions.  Make certain that your name is on them.  Students missing class will be penalized accordingly.  Students who cannot assure consistent attendance at all class meetings should drop this class at once; 2) completion of all assigned readings by the dates listed below; 3) completion on time of all assigned map projects; 4) completion of an in-class Mid-Term examination comprised of essay questions; 5) completion of a non-comprehensive Final examination comprised of essay questions; 6) completion on time of two research papers, one on a topic assigned by the instructor and one on a topic chosen by the student with the instructor's expressed approval; and 7) informed participation in all class discussions.  All written work submitted late is subject to severe grade penalties.

 

Additional Requirements for Honors College Students in Section C357:  Honors College students in section C357 will be expected to meet all the requirements above except point 6) on papers.  Honors students instead will write a total of six essays, one on each of the six major primary readings (masterworks) listed above, addressing analytical topics relevant to each reading assigned by the instructor.  Length and format of essays will be explained in class handouts.  As will be explained, Honors students will have the possibility of rewriting for improved credit those essays first graded poorly by the instructor.  All Honors Essays must be turned in on time.  Late papers will be graded down.  Additionally, Honors College students will arrange to attend an extra six special required class sessions devoted to intensive discussion of the assigned masterwork readings.  These sessions will be led by the instructor personally and a hard effort will be made to schedule these extra sessions at times and places on campus convenient to all Honors students.  Finally, all Honors College students will be required to subscribe to a special e-mail listserv discussion group to be organized and maintained by the instructor.  Instructions on listserv subscription, required participation, and activities will be forthcoming.  Stay tuned.

 

Course Grading:

 

C356: Mid-Term 10% of final grade; Final 20% of final grade; Map Projects 15%; Papers (2) 40% of final grade; and Class Participation 15% of final grade.

 

C357 (Honors): Mid-Term 5% of final grade; Final 10% of final grade; Map Projects 10%; Papers (6) 60% of final grade; and Class Participation--including listserv/e-mail--15% of final grade.

 

COURSE OUTLINE AND ASSIGNMENTS

(All Readings to be Completed by the Date They Are Listed)

 

Wed.  8/22  Course Introduction.  Distribution of Syllabus.  First Lecture on History and

                    Geography.  Distribution of First Map Project.

 

 

Mon.  8/27  Lecture on Ancient Civilizations and Their Geo-History.

                    Readings: Atlas, pp. 2-7 and 14-17; Spiel, Intro. and Chapt. 1, pp.xxix-31.

                    First Map Project Due in Class.

 

Wed.  8/29  Lecture/Discussion: Rise of Middle Eastern Empires and the Culture of

                    Mesopotamia

                    Readings: Spiel, Chapt. 2, pp, 32-54.  Begin Gilgamesh.

 

Mon.  9/3    NO CLASS   MEMORIAL DAY   NO CLASS

 

Wed.  9/5    Lecture/Discussion: Themes, Problems, Drama, and History  in Gilgamesh.

                    Readings: Gilgamesh, Intro. and Tablets 1-9, pp. ix-53.

                    First Honors Essay Topics Distributed in Class.

 

Mon.  9/10  Lecture/Discussion: The End of Gilgamesh and the Lessons of Mesopotamian

                    Culture.

                    Readings: Gilgamesh, Tablets 10-12, pp. 54-92.

                   

Wed.  9/12  Lecture: Early and Classical Greece.

                    Readings: Atlas, pp. 18-25; Spiel, Chapt. 3, pp. 55-90

                    Second Map Project Distributed in Class.

 

Mon.  9/17  Lecture/Discussion: Who was Plato? Greek Philosophy: Subjects, Methods,

        Questions, and Problems.  Lessons and Reflections of a Humane, Antagonistic,

        And Erotic Culture.

                    Readings:  Plato, Symposium,  Intro. (pp. xi-xli) and pp.3-24.

                    First Honors Essay Due in Class.

                    First C356 Paper Topics Distributed in Class.

 

Wed.  9/19  Discussion: Why Do Greeks Argue about Love?

                    Readings: Plato, Symposium, pp. 24-41.

                    Second Map Project Due in Class.

                    Second Honors Essay Topics Distributed in Class.

 

Mon.  9/24  Discussion: Socrates in Plato: Socratic Arguments and Lessons About Love.

                    Readings: Plato, Symposium, pp. 41-60.

                                

Wed.  9/26  Lecture/Discussion: Greek Philosophy, Greek Systems of Experiment, and

                    the Expansion of Hellenic Civilization in the Near East.

                    Readings; Plato, Symposium, pp. 60-72; Spiel, Chapt. 4, pp. 91-113.

 

Mon. 10/1  Lecture: The Rise of Rome: Republican Society, Politics, and Culture.

                   Readings: Atlas, pp. 26-27 and 30-31; Spiel, Chapt. 5, pp. 114-146.

Wed. 10/3  Lecture/Discussion: The Roman Empire: Society, Politics, and Culture in

                   The Mediterranean World.

                   Readings: Spiel, Chapt. 6, pp. 147-177; Begin Marcus Aurelius, Meditations,

                   Intro., pp. ix-xx.

                   Second Honors Essay Due in Class.

                   First C356 Paper Due in Class.

 

Mon. 10/8  Discussion: Roman Imperial Culture and Philosophy.  What is Stoicism?

                   Readings: Marcus Aurelius, Meditations,  Books 1-5, pp. 3-43.

 

Wed. 10/10 Discussion: The Roman Values of Self-Examination and Self-Discipline.

                    Readings: Marcus Aurleius, Meditations, Books 6-7, pp. 44-67.

                    Third Honors Essay Topics Distributed in Class.

 

Mon. 10/15  Discussion: The Lessons of Roman Rulership, Self-Denial, and Observation

                     of the World.  What Are We in Time? Roman Conceptions of Good and Evil.

                     Readings: Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Books 8-12, pp. 68-118.

 

Wed. 10/17  IN-CLASS MID-TERM EXAM.

 

Mon. 10/22  Lecture: Early European Middle Ages and Development of Christian Church.

                     Readings: Atlas, pp 32-39 and 52-55; Spiel, Chapts. 7-8, pp. 179-235..

                     Third Map Project Distributed in Class.

 

Wed. 10/24  Lecture/Discussion: The Cultural History of Religion and Religious Values in

                     The European Middle Ages.

                     Readings: Spiel, Chapt. 9, pp. 237-265; begin Hildegard of Bingen, Book of the

                     Rewards of Life, First Part, pp. 1-65.

                     Third Honors Essay Due in Class.

 

Mon. 10/29  Discussion: The Religious Mysticism of a Medieval Woman: Images and

                     Meanings.

                     Readings: Hildegard of Bingen, Rewards of Life, Third Part, pp. 119-169.

                                

Wed. 10/31  Discussion:  Medieval Visions of Heaven and the End of Time.

                     Readings: Hildegard of Bingen, Rewards of Life, Sixth part, pp. 261-290.

                     Third Map Project Due in Class.

         Fourth Honors Essay Topics Distributed in Class.

 

Mon. 11/5    Lecture: Late Medieval Europe and the Coming Renaissance.

                     Readings: Atlas, pp. 56-59 and 72-73; Spiel, Chapts. 10-11, pp. 266-324.

                     Final C356 Paper Topics Distributed in Class.

 

Wed. 11/7    Lecture/Discussion: Dimensions and Characteristics of the European

                     Renaissances.

                     Readings: Spiel, Chapt. 12, pp. 326-360; begin Renaissance Reader,  Petrarca, pp.  

                     1-11 and Mirandola, pp. 178-183.

Mon. 11/12  The Agents and Aspects of "Renaissance."

                     Readings: Renaissance Reader, Alberti, pp. 164-177 and Da Vinci, pp. 185-195.

                     Fifth Honors Essay Topics Distributed in Class.

                   

Wed. 11/14  Renaissance Arts and Artists.

                     Readings: Renaissance Reader, Cellini, pp. 306-351 and Michelangelo, pp. 375-

                     381.

                     Fourth Honors Essay Due in Class.

 

Mon. 11/19  The Renaissance Fashioning and Refashioning of the Self: The Perfect

                     Courtier--to What Purpose?

                     Readings: Renaissance Reader,  Castiglione, pp. 197-257.

                      

Wed. 11/21   NO CLASS  THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY  NO CLASS

 

Mon. 11/26  Lecture: The Northern European Renaissance: Modern Themes and Forms of

                     Literary Expression and Cultural Criticism.  The Work of Erasmus.

                     Readings: Erasmus, Praise of Folly, Introduction, pp. xi-liii.

                     Fifth Honors Essay Due in Class.

                     Sixth Honors Essay Topics Distributed in Class.

 

Wed. 11/28  Lecture/Discussion: Why Then Should We Praise Folly?  Erasmus and His

                     Satire of the World.

                     Readings: Erasmus, Praise of Folly, pp. 3-54.

 

Mon. 12/3    Discussion: Who's the Bigger Fool? Mirth and Mockery in Erasmus.

                     Readings: Erasmus, Praise of Folly, pp. 55-115.

 

Wed. 12/5    Discussion: The Religious Beliefs and Ethical Demands of a Renaissance Fool.

                     What Will the Future Bring?

                     Readings: Erasmus, Praise of Folly, pp. 116-134.

 

Mon. 12/10  Lecture/Discussion: Course Summation and Conclusion.

                     Final C356 Paper Due in Class.  No Exceptions.

                     Sixth Honors Essay Due in Class.  No Exceptions.

 

 

 

FINAL EXAMINATION:  FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 8:00-10:00 a.m.  CA 219.