Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
Department of
History
|
Michael C. Paul, Ph.D. Office: 313 C Cavanaugh Hall Office Phone: (317) 274-5840 mipaul@iupui.edu |
4:00-5:15 PM MW (August 25
– December 13) Classroom: 221 Cavanaugh Hall
Office Hours: 5:20-6:20 PM MW and by appointment <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0
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I. COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES
This course introduces students to the Modern
portion of Western European History a period spanning from the Renaissance to
the present day. In addition to learning the historical narrative and
conceptual themes of modern western civilization, and gaining an increased
understanding of the social, political, economic, and cultural foundations of
our Western world, students will also gain an understanding of some of the
problems of doing history by reading primary and secondary resources. They will also develop their critical and
analytical skills through readings, discussions, and written assignments.
John P. McKay, Bennett D. Hill, and John Buckler. A History of
Western Society. Volume II from Absolutism to the Present. Seventh Edition.
Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
In addition to the main textbook, required
primary source readings will be placed on the ONCOURSE system and are also
available online. These texts are noted
in the course syllabus. If students are
unable to access these texts online or through the ONCOURSE system, please see
me to get a paper copy of the text.
III. Course
Procedures and Policies:
Classes will be a combination of lectures,
videos, readings, class discussion, and a term paper. Students should take notes during lectures
and videos and will be tested from all class material. Study guides and extra
credit assignments will not be given.
A. Attendance and Assignment
Deadlines:
Attendance is
mandatory at all scheduled classes in their entirety. Missing class more than three times will
result in the lowering of your course grade by 1% per day absent. Absences may be excused for medical or other
dire personal reasons, but written documentation explaining the situation is
required. Extensions for assignments and
make up exams (but not quizzes) are possible in the event of an emergency,
otherwise, late work will be penalized at a rate of a third of a letter grade
per day.
B. Plagiarism and Cheating:
You are hereby reminded
that plagiarism (i.e., failing to give proper credit to sources of information
and ideas, particularly in the paper) or cheating, if discovered, will beget
disciplinary action consistent with the guidelines set forth by the university. For further details, consult the Code of
Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct at
www.hoosiers.iupui.edu/studcode.
C. Students with Disabilities:
If you have a disability and are in need of classroom or exam
accommodation, please discuss this with me as soon as possible. All information
will be held in the strictest confidence and will be used only to make
necessary accommodations for the success of the student.
IV. Course
requirements:
A. Quizzes
There will be seven quizzes (essentially one given every other week)
based on the assigned readings (from the books, Internet, and ONCOURSE) and the
lectures (and videos) for that week. These quizzes will consist of
multiple choice, fill in the blank, and short answer questions, and are
designed to test your general command of the material. No make-up quizzes
will be given, but the lowest quiz grade will be dropped at the end of the
semester, thus allowing you to miss one without penalty if necessary. Weekly quizzes will not be given during the
same week an examination is given or the same week the map quiz is given.
B. Short Papers and Discussions:
There will be four discussions scheduled
based on the primary source readings (works written during the period under
study). Students will be required to
hand in a short (1-2 page) paper for each discussion (due at the beginning of
class on the day of discussion). In
these papers, the students should react to the readings and discuss their
significance to Western Civilization and to the specific culture being
discussed. Students should then be
prepared with questions and observations to participate in discussion about the
readings.
C. Exams:
The midterm and final exams will have two
parts; the first part will consist of short answer and fill-in the blank
questions; the second part will consist of essay questions that require you to
combine the information learned in class in a meaningful and coherent
format. Students are encouraged to ask
questions about lectures and reading assignments as they arise.
D. Historic Paper:
Students will prepare a 6-8 page (typed, double-spaced)
paper analyzing one or more primary documents (i.e., works written during the
period under study) emphasizing what the actual documents tell us about Western
Civilization since 1500. They should not
be narratives based on the analysis of other historians or a discussion of the
historiography; rather they are designed to develop your ability to do one
important component of the historian’s job, namely to take the raw material of
history and use it to develop arguments about the past. I will speak at greater
length about what I expect from the papers later in the semester. Students may not, under any circumstances,
use a text that has been assigned or discussed in class.
V.
GRADE BREAKDOWN:
Quizzes 15% Short Papers/Discussion 15% Midterm exam 20% Historic Paper
20% Final Exam 30% |
|
VIII.
GRADING SCALE: A+ 100 A 93 – 99 A- 90 – 92 B+ 88 – 89 B 82 – 87 B- 80 – 81 C+ 78 – 79 C 72 – 77 C- 70 – 71 D+ 68 – 69 D 62 – 67 D- 60 – 61 F 59 and below |
VII. Schedule
Week
1 (August 25)
Introduction
Week 2 (August 30, September 1)
McKay, Chpts. 16
and 17, Absolutism and Constitutionalism in Western Europe (ca 1589-1715), and
Absolutism in Eastern Europe to 1740
September 6 – Labor Day; No Class
Week 3 (September
8)
McKay, Chpt. 18, Toward a New World-View, The Scientific Revolution and
the Enlightenment
Galileo Galilei, “The Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina”
Available on ONCOURSE
Also available online at
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/galileo-tuscany.html
Week 4 (September
13, 15)
McKay, Chpts. 19 and 20, The Expansion of Europe in the Eighteenth
Century and the Changing Life of the People
*Discussion of “The Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina.” Short paper due, September 13
Week 5 (September
20, 22)
McKay, Chpt. 21, The Revolution in Politics, 1775-1815
Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence
Adams and Hamilton, The Federalist Papers
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
Available on ONCOURSE
Week 6 (September
27, 29)
McKay, Chpt. 22, The Revolution in Energy and Industry
Week 7 (October
4, 6)
McKay, Chpt. 23, Ideologies and Upheavals, 1815-1850
Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engels, “The Communist Manifesto”
Available on ONCOURSE
Also
available online at http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/etext93/manif12.txt
First
five pages are “small print”; read beginning on p. 6
*Discussion of The Communist Manifesto. Short paper due, October
6
Week 8 (October
11, 13)
McKay, Chpt. 24, Life in the Emerging Urban Society
Charles Dickens, Hard Times, Chapter Two
Available on ONCOURSE
Also available online at
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/hardtime.htm
Week 9 (October 18, 20)
McKay, Chpt. 25, The Age of Nationalism, 1850-1914
Week 10 (October 25)
McKay, Chpt. 26, The West and the World
Joseph Conrad, “Heart of Darkness”
Available on ONCOURSE
October 27; MIDTERM EXAM
Week 11 (November 1, 3)
McKay, Chpt. 27, The Great Break: War and Revolution
Woodrow Wilson, “The Fourteen Points”
Available on ONCOURSE
Also available online at
http://www.uiowa.edu/~c030162/Common/Handouts/POTUS/14-POINT.html
*Discussion of “The Fourteen Points.” Short paper due, November 3
Week 12 (November 8, 10)
McKay, Chpt. 28 The Age of Anxiety
Week 13 (November 15, 17)
McKay, Chpt. 29, Dictatorships and the Second World War
Benito Mussolini, “What is Fascism?”
Available on ONCOURSE
Also available online at
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/mussolini-fascism.html
Joseph Stalin, “Dizzy with Success”
Available on ONCOURSE
Also available online at http://www.dur.ac.uk/~dml0www/dizzy.html
Martin Niemoller, “First the Nazis Came…”
Available on ONCOURSE
Also available online at
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Niem%C3%B6ller
*Discussion of Mussolini, Stalin, and Niemoller. Short paper due,
November 17
Week 14 (November 22)
McKay, Chpt. 30, Cold War Conflicts and Social Transformations,
1945-1985
George F. Kennan, The Long Telegram
Available on ONCOURSE
**Term Papers due by beginning of class, November 22
Thanksgiving break; No class November 24
Week 15 (November 29, December 1)
The Cold War and Social Transformation (continued)
Week 16 (December 8, 10)
McKay, Chpt. 31, Revolution, Rebuilding, and New Challenges: 1985 to the
Present
Conclusion
Final Examination: Monday, December 20, 3:30-5:30 PM in the regular classroom