Spring 2004

History of Western Civilization II

Hist. H114 Section C269/Section C270 (Honors College)

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: M/W: 10:00 a.m. to 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. This is not simply a history course, it is a critical skills course as well. Commit yourself now to mastering and practicing the skills necessary to succeed in this class.

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 ethical standards and moral issues raised by each of the masterwork readings should also aid students to fashion a strong and personal set of civil values, principles by which to think and to live better.

Progress toward these course objectives fulfills the IUPUI Principles of Undergraduate Learning, especially enhancement of Core Communication Skills, Critical Thinking, Integration and Application of Knowledge, Intellectual Depth and Breadth, Understanding Society and Culture, and High Ethical Behavior.

Always keep in mind that 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. Historians regularly disagree and loudly argue over what interpretations of the past are best and give history the richest meaning and value today. Such investigators, like good detectives, commonly reflect over, question, and argue about the meaning and implications of all evidence they can gather about their human subjects. Crucial pieces of historical evidence for early modern and modern Europe include sermons, religious and political manifestos, poems, short stories, novels, scientific papers and reports, maps, graphs, paintings, musical works, and photographs. All of these are valid historic sources and students will consult some of each during this course. Professional historians regularly call upon a wide array of sources in different media to craft their interpretations of the past and you, too, will be expected to try this out. 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 various types 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. And, finally, remember that history is an artful, creative, and imaginative endeavor inviting you to compare sources critically, identify with ancestors, and place yourself in time. If you have always thought of history as dull and boring, it’s probably only because your prior teachers of history were dull and boring!

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. Remember! 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, 5^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 brief readings assigned in your required course atlas, The Hammond Concise Atlas of World History, 6^th edition. Assignments here are abbreviated below as Atlas. These textbooks will be supplemented by required readings taken from great masterworks by famous early modern and modern authors. These additional required readings for every student 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 Poems (John Hayden, ed.). Penguin Books, London:

1994.

Engels, Friedrich, The Condition of the Working Class in England, (D. McLellan, ed.),

Oxford's World's Classics, Oxford Univ. Press, London: 1993.

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

Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford: 1995.

(NOTE: ALL STUDENTS SHOULD BEGIN READING THIS NOVEL 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, YOUR ANCESTORS--

NINETEENTH-CENTURY EUROPEAN BOOK-LOVERS--DID!)

Ellis, John. Eye Deep in Hell: Trench Warfare in World War One. Johns Hopkins

University Press, 1989.

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 booksellers 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.

Students should consult the IUPUI History Department’s website: http://www.iupui.edu/~history, for useful information on faculty, courses, and online syllabi for all history classes. You can get a new syllabus for this course off of this site should you lose your paper copy.

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 (Section C269): 1) Regular class attendance (one unexcused absence will lower your final grade for course participation). If you cannot commit to regular class attendance and always come to class with the book or books under discussion and the assigned readings done, 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.

Additional Requirements for Honors College Students (Section C270): Honors College students in section C270 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 paper as assigned on six of the major primary readings (masterworks) listed above, addressing analytical topics relevant to each reading given 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.

Course Grading: C269: 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.

C270 (Honors): Mid-Term 5% of final grade; Final 10% of final grade; Media 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)

Mon. 1/12 Course Introduction. Distribution of Syllabus. Explanation of Course

Organization and Requirements. Remarks on Western Civilization as a

"Great Books" course. First Map Project Distributed in Class.

Wed. 1/14 Lecture: Late Medieval and Reformation Europe: The Dimensions of the

Historical Problems.

Readings: Spiel: Chapter 13, pp. 336-367. Atlas, pp. 72-73.

(START ZOLA READING FOR FUN. THIRTY PAGES A WEEK OF A REAL FRENCH NOVEL IS MUCH BETTER FOR YOU THAN TELEVISION OR WEBTRASH!)

Mon. 1/19 School Holiday. No Class. No Class.

Wed. 1/21 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. Atlas, pp. 74-77.

First Map Project Due in Class. No Exceptions!

First Honors Essay Topics Distributed in Class.

Mon. 1/26 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.

Wed. 1/28 Lecture/Discussion: The modern Police and the Protest in Protestantism.

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

Mon. 2/2 Lecture: Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Europe: New Horizons, New

Problems. Readings: Spiel., Chapt. 14, pp. 368-378 and 388-398; and

Chapt. 15, pp. 400-437. Atlas, pp. 78-83.

First Honors Essay Due in Class.

Wed. 2/4 Lecture: The European Scientific Revolution: New Tools of Scientific Analysis

and New Ways of Conceiving the Cosmos.

Readings, Spiel., Chapt. 16, pp. 438-461 and Galileo, Siderius Nuncius,

Introduction, pp. 1-24.

First Text Media Project Due in Class. No Exceptions.

First C269 Essay Topics Distributed in Class.

Second Honors Essay Topics Distributed in Class.

Mon. 2/9 Discussion: The Documents and Methods of the European Scientific

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

Wed. 2/11 Discussion: Making and Recording a Scientific Revolution.

Readings: Galileo, Siderius Nuncius, pp. 57-86.

Mon. 2/16 Lecture: The Nature of the European Enlightenments.

Readings: Spiel., Chapt. 17, pp. 463-489; Atlas, pp. 86-87.

Second Text Media Project Distributed in Class.

Wed. 2/18 Lecture/Discussion: Voltaire as the Perfect Enlightened European.

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

pp. 512-530.

Second Honors Essay Due in Class.

Mon. 2/23 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.

Third Honors Essay Topics Distributed in Class.

First C269 Essay Due in Class.

Wed. 2/25 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. 3/1 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. 3/3 Discussion: The Critical and Subversive Aspects of "Candide."

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

Mon. 3/8 In-Class Mid-Term Examination.

Wed. 3/10 Lecture: Revolution and Romanticism.

Readings: Spiel., Chapt. 19, pp. 522-551; and Chapt. 21, pp. 580-593 and 603-

609

Third Honors Essay Due in Class.

Mon. 3/15--Fri. 3/19 SPRING BREAK NO CLASSES SPRING BREAK

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

OR ANYWHERE ELSE!)

Mon. 3/22 Lecture/Discussion: English Romantic Poetry: Themes, Problems, and Protests.

Readings: Wordsworth, Selected Poems, pp. 61-63, 66-69, 78-81, 139-145, 166,

168, 170, 209, 212, 287-289, 300, and 374-382.

Fourth Honors Essay Topics Distributed in Class.

Third Text Media Project Distributed in Class.

Wed. 3/24 Lecture/Discussion: English Romantic Poets: Lyrical Voices for the

Dispossessed. Readings: Wordsworth, Selected Poems, pp. 8-17, 25-31, 45-53,

70-77, 133-136, and 279-286.

Mon. 3/29 Lecture: European Industrial Revolutions: Rise of Factories, Fall of Workers.

Readings: Spiel.., Chapt 20, pp. 552-577. Atlas, pp. 88-91 and 98-99.

Wed. 3/31 Lecture/Discussion: The Human Toll of Early Modern European Industrialism.

Readings: Engels, Condition of the Working Class, Introduction, pp. ix-xxiv and pp

9-31, begin pp. 32-100.

Fourth Honors Essay Due in Class.

Fifth Honors Essay Topics Distributed in Class.

Mon. 4/5 Lecture/Discussion: The Politics of Radical Printing in Modern, Industrializing

Europe. Readings, Engels, Condition of the Working Class, pp. 32-100, 106-143,

and 281-302

Final C269 Essay Topics Distributed in Class.

Third Text Media Project Due in Class.

Wed. 4/7 Lecture: European Urban and Mass Society of the Nineteenth Century.

Readings: Spiel., Chapt. 23, pp. 642-671; and Chapt. 24, pp. 672-690; Atlas,

pp. 100-101, 108-109, and 114-117.

Mon. 4/12 Lecture/Discussion: The Nineteenth-Century Great European Novel as a

Historical Source. Readings: Zola, Ladies' Paradise.

Fifth Honors Essay Due in Class.

Sixth Honors Essay Topics Distributed in Class.

Wed. 4/14 Lecture/Discussion: Main Themes in the Literary History of Great European

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

Mon. 4/19 Lecture/Discussion: The Human Impact of the European Metropolis: Urban

Existence and Opportunities for Modern Men and Women. Readings: Zola,

Ladies' Paradise.

Wed. 4/21 Lecture: European High Modernity, High Anxieties, and High Explosives: The

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

pp. 690-705; and Chapt. 25, pp. 707-726; Atlas, pp. 116-121.

Mon. 4/26 Discussion: The Human Experience, Organization, and Cost of World War I—

or the Suicide of Western Civilization.

Readings: Spiel., Chapt. 25, pp. 726-738 and Ellis, Eye Deep in Hell, Prologue and Part I, pp. 3-70.

Wed. 4/28 Discussion: Fighting and Dying in World War One. What the Tactics and

Battles Tell Us About Civilization As We Now Know It.

Readings: Ellis, Eye Deep in Hell, Part II, pp. 71-121.

Mon. 5/3 Lecture/Discussion: The Outcomes of the “Great War”—or Why We Are All

Casualties of WW I. How is Your Morale Holding Up Under the Pressures of

Total, Mechanized War??

Readings: Ellis, Eye Deep in Hell, Part IV, pp. 161-205

Final C269 Essay Due in Class. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Sixth Honors Essay Due in Class. NO EXCEPTIONS.

FINAL EXAMINATION: FRIDAY, MAY 7: 1:00 p.m.--3:00 p.m., CA 221.