Spring 2002

History of Western Civilization II

Hist. H114 Section C329

Time: M/W 1:00-2:15 p.m. Dr. Kevin C. Robbins

Place: CA 221 Associate Professor of History

Office: CA 504Q

Office Phone: 317-274-5819

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

Office Hours: Tue. 9:00 a.m.-Noon

(And by Appointment.)

Course Objectives: A course in the grand history of early modern and modern 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 maps, paintings, and other visual media for meaning to develop a clearer and more well-rounded understanding 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 in the West (i.e. Europe) from circa 1500 CE to circa 1945 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, "great books," 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 Since 1300, 4^th ed. 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 early modern and modern authors. These additional required readings are (in order of use):

Hillerbrand, Hans, (ed.), The Protestant Reformation. Harper and Row, New York: 1968.

Galileo, Galilei, Sidereus Nuncius or the Sidereal Messenger. (A.Van Helden, trans.),

University of Chicago Press, Chicago: 1989.

Redman, Ben R. (ed.), The Portable Voltaire. Penguin Books, New York: 1977.

Wordsworth, William, Selected Poetry (Nicholas Roe, ed.). Penguin Books, London:

1992.

Engels, Friedrich, The Condition of the Working Class in England, (V. Kiernan, ed.),

Penguin Books, London: 1987.

Zola, Emile, The Ladies' Paradise, (B. Nelson, trans.), Oxford World's Classics.

Oxford University Press, Oxford: 1995.

(NOTE: ALL STUDENTS SHOULD BEGIN READING THIS TEXT AT

ONCE AT THE RATE OF APPROX. 30 PAGES PER WEEK. DO NOT

WAIT UNTIL WEEKS OF CLASS USE TO READ. THIS IS A GREAT

NOVEL. START NOW. YOU'LL LOVE IT--NINETEENTH-

CENTURY EUROPEANS DID!)

Staerck, Christopher, Battlefront: 1^st July 1916, The First Day of the Somme. Public

Record Office, London:1998.

(NOTE: This document collection may not as yet be in the IUPUI Book Store. Do Not Panic. It will be used last in our readings and we can safely await its arrival. Keep checking for availability or order online.)

All required texts for this course are for sale in the IUPUI Bookstore, Cavanaugh Hall, Basement, History Section, H114 Shelves--look for the shelf cards with the instructor's name (Robbins) on them. New and used copies of these texts may also be acquired from many online book sellers such as Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com. Students should make certain to get the exact editions of these texts as listed above. 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 H114 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). If you can not commit to regular class attendance and always coming to class with the book or books under discussion, then you should not be in college. 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 supplementary text media interpretation 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. All written assignments must be handed in exactly on the date that they are due. No exceptions.

Course Grading:

Mid-Term 10% of final grade; Final 20% of final grade; Media Projects 10%; Papers (2) 45% of final grade; and Class Participation 15% of final grade.

COURSE OUTLINE AND ASSIGNMENTS

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

Mon. 1/7 Course Introduction. Distribution of Syllabus. Explanation of Course

Organization and Requirements. Remarks on Western Civilization as a

"Great Books" course.

Wed. 1/9 Lecture: Late Medieval and Reformation Europe: The Dimensions of the

Historical Problems.

Readings: Spiel: Chapter 13, pp. 362-391. (START ZOLA READING FOR

FUN. THIRTY PAGES A WEEK OF A REAL FRENCH NOVEL IS

MUCH BETTER FOR YOU THAN TELEVISION OR DANCING!)

Mon. 1/14 Lecture/Discussion: What are the documents and the issues of Europe's

Reformations? What is a religious "Reformation?"

Readings: Hillerbrand, Protestant Reformation, Introduction, pp. xi-xxvii, and

Documents, pp. 3-43.

Wed. 1/16 Discussion: The Culture and Politics of the Reformations.

Readings: Hillerbrand, Protestant Reformation, Documents, pp. 63-87, 129-136, and

146-152.

First Text Media Project Distributed in Class.

Mon. 1/21 NO CLASSES MLK DAY NO CLASSES

Wed. 1/23 Lecture/Discussion: The modern Police and the Protest in Protestantism.

Readings: Hillerbrand, Documents, pp. 172-178 and pp. 222-239.

First Text Media Project Due in Class.

Mon. 1/28 Lecture: Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Europe: New Horizons, New

Problems. Readings: Spiel., Chapt. 14, pp. 392-401, 408-410, 418-423; and

Chapt. 15, pp. 426-435, 444-458.

Wed. 1/30 Lecture: The European Scientific Revolution: New Tools of Scientific Analysis

And New Ways of Conceiving the Cosmos.

Readings, Spiel., Chapt. 16, pp. 460-484; and Galileo, Siderius Nuncius,

Introduction, pp. 1-24.

First Essay Topics Distributed in Class.

Mon. 2/4 Discussion: The Documents and Methods of the European Scientific

Revolution. Readings: Galileo, Siderius Nuncius, pp. 25-57.

Wed. 2/6 Discussion: Making and Recording a Scientific Revolution.

Readings: Galileo, Siderius Nuncius, pp. 27-86.

Mon. 2/11 Lecture: The Nature of the European Enlightenments.

Readings: Spiel., Chapt. 17, pp. 486-514.

Second Text Media Project Distributed in Class.

Wed. 2/13 Lecture/Discussion: Voltaire as the Perfect Enlightened European.

Readings: Redman, Portable Voltaire, Selections from "English Letters,"

pp. 512-530.

Mon. 2/18 Discussion: The Contents and Challenges of Voltaire's Enlightened Literature.

Readings: Redman, Portable Voltaire, "Micromegas," pp. 413-435; and

"Philosophical Dictionary," pp. 58-65, 77-80, 85-87, 90-92, 102-103, 109-116,

131-132, 134-141,152-158, 161-163, 169-172.

First Essay Due in Class.

Wed. 2/20 Discussion: Voltaire's Reflections on Man and Nature.

Readings: Redman, Portable Voltaire, "Lisbon Earthquake," pp. 556-569.

Begin "Candide," in Redman, pp. 229-328.

Mon. 2/25 Lecture/Discussion: The Notable Enlightened Tale of Candide.

Readings: "Candide," in Redman, Portable Voltaire, pp. 229-275.

Second Text Media Project Due in Class.

Wed. 2/27 Discussion: The Critical and Subversive Aspects of "Candide."

Readings: Redman, Portable Voltaire, "Candide," pp. 275-328.

Mon. 3/4 In-Class Mid-Term Examination

Wed. 3/6 Lecture: Revolution and Romanticism

Readings: Spiel., Chapt. 19, pp. 555-580; and Chapt. 21, pp. 610-630 and 636-

641.

Mon. 3/11--Fri. 3/15 SPRING BREAK NO CLASSES SPRING BREAK

(TIME TO READ MORE ZOLA. TAKE THE BOOK TO THE BEACH!)

Mon. 3/18 Lecture/Discussion: English Romantic Poetry: Themes, Problems, and Protests.

Readings: Wordsworth, Selected Poetry, (Poems TBA).

Third Text Media Project Distributed in Class.

Wed. 3/20 Lecture/Discussion: English Romantic Poets: Lyrical Voices for the

Dispossessed. Readings: Wordsworth, Selected Poetry (Poems TBA).

Mon. 3/25 Lecture: European Industrial Revolutions: Rise of Factories, Fall of Workers.

Readings: Spiel.., Chapt 20, pp. 582-607.

Wed. 3/27 Lecture/Discussion: The Human Toll of Early Modern European Industrialism.

Readings: Engels, Condition of the Working Class, pp 27-65, begin pp. 65-110.

Mon. 4/1 Lecture/Discussion: The Politics of Radical Printing in Modern, Industrializing

Europe. Readings, Engels, Condition of the Working Class, pp. 111-122, 127-

157, and 275-292.

Final C326 Essay Topics Distributed in Class.

Third Text Media Project Due in Class.

Wed. 4/3 Lecture: European Urban and Mass Society of the Nineteenth Century.

Readings: Spiel., Chapt. 23, pp. 678-707; and Chapt. 24, pp. 710-722.

Mon. 4/8 Lecture/Discussion: The Nineteenth-Century Great European Novel as a

Historical Source. Readings: Zola, Ladies' Paradise.

Wed. 4/10 Lecture/Discussion: Main Themes in the Literary History of Great European

Capital Cities: Paris in Zola. Readings: Zola, Ladies' Paradise.

Mon. 4/15 Lecture: European High Modernity, High Anxieties, and High Explosives: The

Coming of Catastrophic (but very organized) War. Readings: Spiel., Chapt. 24,

pp. 723-745; and Chapt. 25, pp. 747-779.

Wed. 4/17 Discussion: The Human Experience, Organization, and Cost of World War I.

Readings: Staerck, Battlefront 1^st July 1916, (Selected Documents TBA).

Mon. 4/22 Discussion: How Do You Make Modern War in the Twentieth Century?

What are the modern and bureaucratic implications of making war?

Readings: Staerck, Battlefront, (Selected Documents TBA).

Wed. 4/24 Lecture: Europe 1919-1939: Twenty Years of Truce and Another World War.

Readings: Spiel., Chapt. 26, pp. 781-813.

Mon. 4/29 Lecture: Europe and the Horrors of World War Two. Course Summation and

Conclusion. Readings. Spiel., Chapt. 27, pp. 815-845.

Final Essay Due in Class.

FINAL EXAMINATION: FRIDAY, MAY 3: 1:00—3:00 p.m. CA 221.