H114:  History of Western Civilization II  (C272)

Spring 2004

T-TR 1:00-2:15, CA221

 

Instructor:  Nathan Wood

Email: ndwood@indiana.edu

Office hours:  Tuesday-Thursday 2:30-3:20, CA201

 

Required Texts:

 

  1. John P. McKay, Bennett D. Hill, and John Buckler, A History of Western Society, Vol. II: From Absolutism to the Present, seventh edition (Houghton Mifflin, 2003).  [Textbook]
  2. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff and William Bruce Wheeler, Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence, Vol. II: Since 1500, fifth edition (Houghton Mifflin, 2004).  [Primary Source Anthology]

 

Course Description:

This course is designed to provide an introduction to the process of modernization and state formation in the western world during the last three centuries, while paying attention to the ways that political, economic, and technological developments affected human society and culture.  Framed by the large themes of absolutism, the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the ideologies of the nineteenth century, urbanization, imperialism, world wars, communism, fascism, and the Cold War, the course will also pay attention to the lives of ordinary people and how they were affected (or not) by these momentous changes.

 

Course Objectives:

H114 is designed to help you understand the origins of the world we live in today, while developing many of the skills listed in the “Principles of Undergraduate Learning” -- http://www.jaguars.iupui.edu/gened/gnedprin.htm -- including, foremost, core communication skills, critical thinking, application of knowledge, and understanding of society and culture.  Readings, lectures, discussion sessions, and exams will help students synthesize and analyze information, while introducing them to the common features and key differences of societies and periods.  Through the use of primary source documents, the course will encourage students to think historically to arrive at interpretations of the sources.  Papers and discussion sessions will provide written and oral opportunities “to comprehend, interpret, and analyze texts.” 

 

Course Requirements:

 

Response Papers (4 of 8 possible):                                                         20%

First Exam:                                                                                           15%

Second Exam:                                                                                       15%

Participation in 8 discussion sessions:                                                      20%

Final Exam (over last third of course, plus one cumulative essay): 30%

 

Response papers (400-500 words, approximately two pages) are designed to help you think like historians, working through the primary source documents in Discovering the Western Past to answer questions and make connections.  You must write four of these papers this semester, of eight possible assignments.  You may write a fifth paper and I will drop your lowest grade.  They will not be accepted late (See “Course Policies”).  Even if you do not write a paper, you must complete the readings for the discussion session.  I will provide guidelines for the papers.

 

Three essay exams (including the final) will assess your ability to recall and describe key themes of a given third of the course, making connections between lectures, readings, and discussions.  They will include short answer identifications and essay questions.

 

Final grades will be calculated according to the system used by the registrar (A = 4.0, A- = 3.7, etc.).  Grades on each assignment will be assessed on a 100-point scale: 90-100 A, 80-89.5 B, etc.

A-level work is imaginative, original, and stylistically sound, exceeds the requirements of the assignment, and uses evidence effectively to make a persuasive argument.  B-range work generally meets the requirements of the assignment, including use of evidence and effective argumentation, but without the creativity or clarity of an A.  C-range work demonstrates effort to fulfill the requirements of the assignment but has more serious flaws in style or content.  D-range work demonstrates clear failure to meet or understand the requirements of the assignment and has major flaws.  F work demonstrates complete failure to fulfill the assignment. 

 

Course Policies:

 

Please bring your textbook (McKay, et. al) to class.   We will refer to maps, documents and other features of the textbook during lectures.  On the days that we hold discussion sessions, it is imperative that you bring the readings (usually Wiesner, et. al).  If you do not have the primary sources in front of you, you will find it quite difficult to participate—and I will find it difficult to give you a passing participation grade.  I have placed reminders in the syllabus to bring the readings. 

 

Reading assignments should be completed before the class date on which they are listed.  It is essential to keep up with the readings.  Textbook reading assignments are designed to provide background for the lectures, and will contain information that will appear on exams that may not be covered in lecture.  You will find it easier to take notes and understand the lectures if you have read the text.  I expect you to read, think critically about, and come prepared to discuss assigned readings.  Critical reading requires that you question the text, take notes, and come prepared with ideas and questions to discuss.  Learning how to read texts and primary sources is one of the most important skills you can acquire in this course. 

 

I will use ONCOURSE [http://oncourse.iu.edu/Default.asp?action=login] to post your grades, announcements, and assignments, so please check it regularly. 

 

Response papers are due at the beginning of class on the day listed. Because they are designed to facilitate discussion on that day, they will not be accepted late.  I will not accept electronic paper submissions.  Print and staple your assignment before handing it in.

 

Plagiarism, which is the use of the work of others without proper acknowledgement, quotation, or citation, is unethical and will not be tolerated.  Please see the IUPUI Campus Bulletin, 2000-2002 (p. 36) or at the following link [http://www.jaguars.iupui.edu/studcode/stucode.htm]for university policies regarding plagiarism.

 

Be sure to save all papers to your hard drive and a diskette, and retain all graded assignments until final grades are posted.

 

Make-up exams will be scheduled only in the case of serious illness or emergency.  You must contact me before the scheduled exam in order to take a make-up examination.

 

Please be courteous of your classmates and instructor by arriving on time and turning off your cellular telephones while in class. 

 

Course Schedule:  (Subject to change)

 

UNIT ONE:  From Absolutism to the Ideals of Liberty and Equality, 1648-1815

 

WEEK 1:  Jan. 13/ 15

 

  1. Introduction:  What is History?  What is Western Civilization?  What are our tasks in this class and how can you succeed?
  2. Lecture 1:  Absolute Monarchy: West and East

Reading:  McKay, chapters 16 and 17

 

WEEK 2:  Jan. 20/ 22

 

  1. Discussion Session 1:  Staging Absolutism,

Reading:  Wiesner, Chapter 2.  BRING TEXT TO CLASS

FIRST RESPONSE PAPER DUE

  1. Lecture 2:  The Scientific Revolution and The Enlightenment

Reading:  McKay, chapter 18

                  First Map Quiz

 

WEEK 3:  Jan. 27/ 29

 

  1. Lecture 3:  The Expansion of Europe in the 18th Century

Readings:  McKay, Chapter 19 and Wiesner, Chapter 4 “A Statistical View of European Rural Life, 1600-1800”  BRING BOTH READINGS TO CLASS 

  1. Lecture 4:  The Changing Life of the People

Reading:  McKay, Chapter 20

 

WEEK 4:  Feb. 3/ 5

 

  1. Lecture 5:  The French Revolution

Reading:  McKay, Chapter 21

  1. Discussion Session 2: “A Day in the French Revolution”

Reading:  Wiesner, Chapter Five, BRING READINGS TO CLASS

                  SECOND RESPONSE PAPER DUE

 

UNIT TWO: The “Long 19th Century”:

Reacting to the “Dual Revolution”, 1789-1914

 

WEEK 5:  Feb. 10/ 12

  1. First in-class Exam, Feb 10
  2. Lecture 6:  The Industrial Revolution

Reading:  McKay, Chapter 22

 

WEEK 6:  Feb. 17/ 19

  1. Discussion Session 3:  “Labor Old and New: The Impact of the Industrial Revolution”

Reading:  Wiesner, Chapter 6, BRING READINGS TO CLASS

THIRD RESPONSE PAPER DUE

  1. Lecture 7:  Liberalism and Socialism

Readings:  McKay, Chapter 23, and pp. 846, 848-50; Wiesner, Chapter 7

 

WEEK 7:  Feb. 24/ 26

 

  1. Lecture 8:  Nineteenth-Century Society and Big-City Life

Reading:  McKay, Chapter 24

  1. Discussion Session 4:  Vienna and Paris, 1850-1930

Reading:  Wiesner, Chapter 8, and McKay, Chap 24.  BRING BOTH BOOKS TO CLASS; FOURTH RESPONSE PAPER DUE

 

WEEK 8:  March 2/ 4

 

  1. Lecture 9:  Nationalism

Reading:  McKay, Chapter 25, section on Nationalism in Chap 23*

            Lecture 10:  “New” Imperialism

Reading:  McKay, Chapter 26; Wiesner, Chapter 9,

           

 

WEEK 9:  March 9/ 11

 

  1. Discussion Session 5:  “New Imperialism”, or “The West and the Rest”

Reading:  Wiesner, Chapter 9, BRING READINGS TO CLASS

FIFTH RESPONSE PAPER DUE

  1. In-class Exam 2, March 11

 

SPRING BREAK:  MARCH 15-21

 

UNIT THREE:  The Twentieth Century:  Horror (and Hope?)

 

WEEK 10:  March 23/ 25

 

  1. Lecture 11:  The Great War

Reading:  McKay, Chapter 27, pp. 887-904; 918-919

  1. Discussion Session 6:  World War 1: Total War

Reading:  Wiesner, Chapter 11, BRING READINGS TO CLASS

In-class video:  The Great War, Episode 3: Total War

SIXTH RESPONSE PAPER DUE

 

WEEK 11:  Mar. 30/ April 1

 

  1. Lecture 12:  The Russian Revolution and the End of the War

Reading:  McKay, pp. 904-916

  1. Lecture 13:  The Age of Anxiety: Modern Art and Culture

Reading:  McKay, Chapter 28, pp. 921-937

 

WEEK 12:  April 6/ 8

 

  1. Lecture 14:  “Democracy and Capitalism in Crisis”:  The Great Depression and the Rise

of Dictatorships

Reading:  McKay, pp. 937-971

2.   Discussion Session 7:  “Selling a Totalitarian System”

Reading:  Wiesner, Chapter 12, BRING READINGS TO CLASS

SEVENTH RESPONSE PAPER DUE

 

WEEK 13:  April 13/ 15

 

  1. Film:  “Triumph of the Will”
  2. Lecture 15:  World War II and the Holocaust

Reading:  McKay, pp. 971-98

 

WEEK 14:  April 20/ 22

 

  1. Lecture 16:  The Cold War, East and West

Reading:  McKay, Chapter 30

  1. Discussion Session 8:  Youth Unrest in the 1960s

Reading:  Wiesner, Chapter 14, BRING READINGS TO CLASS

EIGHTH RESPONSE PAPER DUE

 

WEEK 15:  April 26/ 29

 

  1. Lecture 17:  1989 to the Present

Reading:  McKay, Chapter 31

  1. Final Review Session

 

 FINAL EXAM:  Tuesday, May 4, 3:30-5:30 pm