Syllabus: H114 (C330-3CR)

History of Western Civilization II (Spring 2002)

TR 9:30-10:45 CA221 (Subject to Change)

 

Professor Kevin Cramer                                                                                    Cavanaugh 504B

317-278-7744                                                                                                                                                                                Tues/Th: 2:30-4:00

kcramer@iupui.edu                                                                               and by appointment

 

Required Texts:

 

1.       Lynn Hunt and Thomas Martin, The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures, Vol.II: Since 1560 (Boston and New York, Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001).

2.       Merry Wiesner and Julius R. Huff, Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence, Vol. II: Since 1500, 4th ed., (Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin, 2000)

 

Course Description

 

This course is intended to provide an introduction to the process of modernization and state formation in the western world during the five centuries between the opening of the New World and the fall of the Berlin Wall (1500-1989). The thematic emphasis will be on the European impact on the rest of the globe and the interconnections between technological change, intellectual innovation and the development of industrial society. The problems associated with this development are explored in the study of evolving social, economic, and political systems and the various revolutions they inspired. Cultural, social, and ideological conflicts (as well as two world wars), as both causes and symptoms of this process of modernization, will also be examined. The course concludes with an examination of globalization, the decline of the nation-state, and the rise of supra-and trans-national institutions and organizations.

 

Course Objectives

 

The aim of this course is to increase your understanding of how the social, political, cultural, and economic foundations of your world were constructed. Lectures and exams will introduce you to facts, concepts, themes, and terms that will allow you to explain and contextualize the importance of this period while applying this knowledge to a better understanding of how your society and world works. The writing assignments, based on readings of primary sources, will enable you to develop your reflective, critical, and analytical abilities. In-class participation and discussion will push you to sharpen your communication skills as well as your capability to efficiently and spontaneously summarize, categorize, interpret, and evaluate information. This aspect of the course also allows you to make a vital and necessary contribution to how topics and issues are brought into focus in each class. The course is designed to provide you with an introduction to the skills required by the university's "Principles of Undergraduate Learning." Over the course of your four years at IUPUI you will acquire increasing competence in these skills which culminate in the"capstone" courses in the various majors. Please see the department web sites for further information on the "Principles of Undergraduate Learning."

 

Course Requirements

 

1.       Three exams (30%).

2.       Two five-page written assignments (30%).

3.       One take-home final exam (25%).

4.       Participation in five in-class discussion sessions (10%).

5.       Four Map Quizzes (5%).

 

Grading System

 

This course will use the grading system and numerical equivalencies established by the Registrar, e.g., A (4), A- (3.7), B+ (3.3) and so on.

 

Course Policies

 

Written assignments will be docked 1/2 grade for every day late past the due date. Without mitigating circumstances and prior approval work more than two days late will not be accepted. Make up exams will only be offered in cases of documented dire emergency. As participation in class discussions is part of your final grade, attendance is important. Keep me informed well in advance (if possible) of circumstances that will force you to miss class. Lecture outlines, writing assignments, exam reviews, and other important information and course material will be posted on Oncourse, so check it regularly. All assignments must be turned in.

 

Plagiarism is the deliberate theft of someone else's work and passing it off as your own. But inattention, ignorance of citation conventions, and sloppy note taking can also result in plagiarism, even if it is unintentional. Please consult the IUPUI Campus Bulletin (2001-2002) for further guidelines and information on plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct. Internet sources and references can only be used in written assignments with my approval.

 

Class Schedule

 

I.                   From Absolutism to Revolution, 1648-1815

 

Unit One

 

1.       Lecture 1 (T 1/8): Introduction: "Europe Before 1648"

2.       Lecture 2 (Th 1/10): "The Search for Stability: Absolutism"

Readings: Making of the West, chapters 16-17; Discovering the Western Past, chapter 2.

 

Unit Two

 

3.       Discussion Session 1(T 1/15): "Staging Absolutism"

4.       Lecture 3 (Th 1/17): "The European Impact on the New World"

Readings: Making of the West, chapter 18.

 

Unit Three

 

5.       Lecture 4 (T 1/22): "Science, Enlightenment, and Institutional Change"

6.       Exam One (Th 1/24)

Readings: Making of the West, chapter 19; Discovering the Western Past, chapter 3 (Essay One), chapter 5 (Discussion Session 2).

 

Unit Four

 

7.       Lecture 5 (T 1/29): "The Crisis of the Old Regime and the French Revolution"

8.       Discussion Session 2 (Th 1/31): "A Day in the French Revolution: July 14, 1789".

Readings: Making of the West, chapters 20-21.

 

Unit Five

 

9.       Slide Presentation 1 (T 2/5): "Revolution and Public Space"; Essay One Due.

10.   Lecture 6 (Th 2/7): "Napoleon and the Export of Revolution"

 

II. The Rise of the Nation State, 1815-1914

Unit Six

 

11.   Slide Presentation 2 (T 2/12): "Romanticism"

12.   Lecture 7 (Th 2/14): "Economic Modernization, Social Upheaval, Political Revolution"

Readings: Making of the West, chapter 22.; Discovering the Western Past, chapter 6.

 

Unit Seven

 

13.   Discussion Session 3 (T 2/19): "Labor Old and New: The Impact of the Industrial Revolution"

14.   Lecture 8 (Th 2/21): "Nationalism and State Building"

Readings: Making of the West, chapter 23; Discovering the Western Past, chapter 7.

 

Unit Eight

 

15.   Slide Presentation 3 (T 2/26): "The Imagery of Nationalism"

16.   Discussion Session 4 (Th 2/28): "Two Programs for Social and Political Change: Liberalism and Socialism"

 

Unit Nine

 

17.   Lecture 9 (T 3/5): "Mass Society and Imperial Expansion"

18. Lecture 10 (Th 3/7):  "Modernity and the Critique of Progress"

Readings: Making of the West, chapters 24-25; Discovering the Western Past, chapter 9 (Essay Two).

 

Unit Ten

 

18.   Slide Presentation 4 (T 3/19): "New Art: Realism and Impressionism"

19.   Exam Two (Th 3/21)

 

II.                The Violent Century, 1914-2001

 

Unit Eleven

 

20.   Lecture 11 (T 3/26): "War and Revolution, 1914-1921"; Essay Two Due.

21.   Film 1 (Th 3/28): TBA

Readings: Making of the West, chapter 26; Discovering the Western Past, chapter 11.

 

Unit Twelve

 

22.   Discussion Session 5 (T 4/2): "World War I: Total War"

23.   Slide Presentation 5 (Th 4/4): " New Art: Expressionism"

 

Unit Thirteen

 

24.   Film 2 (T 4/9): TBA

25.   Lecture 12 (Th 4/11): "The Inter-war Crisis and World War II"

Readings: Making of the West, chapter 27.

 

Unit Fourteen

 

26.   Exam Three (T 4/16)

27.   Film 3 (Th 4/18): TBA

 

Unit Fifteen

 

28.   Lecture 13 (T 4/23): "The American Century: 1945-2001"; Take-home Final Exam given out.

29.   Final Exam Review (Th 4/25)

Readings: Making of the West, chapters 28-29.

 

Take-home Final Exam due at Noon, Tuesday, April 30 in my office