History 113

Western Civilization I

Summer 2004

Instructor: Professor Demetrius Glover

Class Time: M T Th 4:00-6:15

Classroom: CA-217

Office Hours: M T Th 6:30-8:00

Office: CA-243 B

Office Phone: 278-9021

E-mail: deglover@iupui.edu

Purpose

This course introduces students to the Pre-Modern portion of Western European history encompassing two periods known as Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, a period spanning from the later years of the Roman Empire to roughly 1500 A.D. In addition to learning the historical narrative and conceptual themes of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, students will grapple with the problems of doing history by reading primary resources and developing their analytical skills through discussions and written assignments.

Required Texts

1. Early Christian Lives. New York: Penguin Press, 1998.
2. The Song of Roland. New York: Penguin Press, 1990.
3. Niccolo Machiavelli. The Prince, Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company Inc., 1995.

Optional Textbook

1. John P. McKay, Bennett D. Hill, and John Buckler, A History of Western Society Volume A: From Antiquity to 1500. Boston Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003. Seventh Edition

Final Exam 25%

There is one exam, a cumulative group oral final exam. The exam is worth 25% of the final grade. The exam tests the students’ knowledge and understanding of the entire body of lecture and reading material. The exam consists of four thematic questions. These questions appear later in this edition and are posted on On-course under schedule. The class is required to divide into 4 groups with no more than 11 in one group. One group will be assigned to each final exam question. The groups are required to work separately from one another. At the exam, each group will produce a thirty minute (estimated time) presentation in front of the class. The instructor and other class members will then ask the presenters follow-up questions concerning the strengths and weaknesses of each presentation. The scoring of the final exam will be based on the evaluation of the group members, the class, and the instructor.

Final Exam Critique 10%

To inspire the mental involvement of the class members during the final exam presentations, students are required to write a five-page essay that explains the strengths and weaknesses of one of the final exam presentations (not your own) and how you would have done it better.

Essay 25%

Each student must write one five-page paper (no more than five pages, no less than five pages, 1 inch margins, twelve-point type) either on Early Christian Lives, The Song of Roland, or The Prince. The assignment sheets containing 2 questions are posted on On-course. Each student must address one of the two questions in his or her essay.

Discussions 30%

There are three days of class time devoted to discussing the primary sources (Early Christian Lives, The Song of Roland, and The Prince). Each day of discussion is worth 10% of the final grade. Attendance and participation in the discussion is mandatory to receive credit. The discussions primarily address the questions for the written assignment. For the more ambitious students, I request that two students volunteer to be the primary discussant for each essay question. The primary discussant (preferably someone who has written an essay addressing this question) will take five to ten minutes to explain his/her response to an essay question. The class will then use the primary discussants’ varying interpretations as the starting point to explore that issue. In addition to speaking in front of the class the primary discussants will also assist the instructor in tracking class participation. For these two duties primary discussants are guaranteed the full 10% for that day of discussion.

Extra Credit 10%

For the ambitious student or for those who wish to make up for lost points, there is an extra credit assignment. Although students must only write a five-page paper for one of the three primary sources, they may earn extra credit by doing the paper assignment for a second primary source from the course. This essay will be worth up to 10% extra credit, depending upon the quality of the essay.

Attendance 10%

Attendance in this course is mandatory. Students are expected to attend every course lecture and discussion. During the fifteen class lectures, attendance will be randomly checked ten times. Each absence deducts one percent from the final grade.

Lecture and Reading Schedule

With a six-week schedule, we are forced to cover a lot of information each day of class. To facilitate this, each day of lecture is divided into two periods. The first period will cover the first lecture listed for that day, and the second period will cover the second lecture listed for that day. There will be a 10-minute break between each period for the students and the instructor to refresh. To reach the chronological goals of this course the lectures only provide a general overview and thematic approach to the material. The lecture outlines are provided in this text and will be provided on On-course. I believe that the lectures provide the necessary information for doing well in the course, but for those students who believe that they need more details, they may read the optional textbook that is intended to fill any informative gaps in the material. Under various dates a reading assignment from the textbook is listed. Students may choose to have those selections read by that day of class.

May 13^th Thursday

1. Discussion: Introduction

May 17^th Monday

1. Lecture 1: Rome Down to 180
2. Lecture 2: Crisis of the Third Century
3. Readings: McKay Chapters 5 and 6

May 18^th Tuesday

1. Lecture 1: Savior effort of the Fourth Century
2. Lecture 2: Fall of the Roman West

May 20^th Thursday

1. Lecture 1: Early Christianity
2. Lecture 2: Conflicts in Christianity
3. Readings: McKay Chapter 7

May 24^th Monday

1. Lecture 1: Germanic Successor States
2. Lecture 2: Rome Ends and Byzantium Begins

May 25^th Tuesday

1. Early Christian Lives Discussion
2. Early Christian Lives Paper Due

May 27^th Thursday

1. Lecture 1: Islam down to 1050
2. Lecture 2: Ireland and Angoland

May 31^st Monday

1. Lecture 1: Clovis and the Merovingians
2. Lecture 2: The Carolingian Achievement
3. Readings: McKay, Chapter 8

June 1^st Tuesday

1. Lecture 1: Vikings and the Decline of the Carolingians
2. Lecture 2: Early Ottonians

June 3^rd Thursday

1. Lecture 1: Early Capetians
2. Lecture 2: Anglo-Norman Italy
3. Readings: McKay Chapter 9

June 7^th Monday

1. The Song of Roland Discussion
2. The Song of Roland Paper Due

June 8^th Tuesday

1. Lecture 1: The Agricultural Revolution
2. Lecture 2: Town and Court Culture
3. Readings: McKay Chapter 10 and 11

June 10^th Thursday

1. Lecture 1: The Gregorian Reform
2. Lecture 2: The Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire

June 14^th Monday

1. Lecture 1: The Crusades
2. Lecture 2: High Medieval France and England

June 15^th Tuesday

1. Lecture 1: Crises of the 14^th Century
2. Lecture 2: Origins of European Exploration
3. Readings: McKay Chapters 12 and 13

June 17^th Thursday

1. The Prince Discussion
2. The Prince Paper Due

June 21^st Monday

1. Final Exam I
2. Final Exam II

June 22^nd Tuesday

1. Final Exam III
2. Final Exam IV

June 24^h

1. Final Exam critique due at Noon in person or via On-course email.