History 114 X465
Western Civilization II
Summer 2004
Instructor: Professor
Demetrius Glover
Class Time: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday
Office Hours: Monday, Tuesday,
and Thursday
And by Appointment
Office: CA 243-B
Office Phone: 278-9021
E-mail:
Purpose
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 the
modern western civilization, 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.
René
Descartes. The Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy. Translated by Donald A. Cress.
2.
Karl Marx
and Friederich Engels. The
Communist Manifesto.
3.
Bill Gertz. Breakdown: The Failure of the
Optional Text
1.
John P.
McKay, Bennett D. Hill, and John Buckler. A History of Western Society Since 1300.
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 divided into 4 groups with no more than seven in one group. One group will be assigned to each 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.
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 The Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings, The Communist Manifesto, or Breakdown: The Failure of American Intelligence to Defeat Global Terror. The assignment sheets containing 2 questions are posted on On-course and provided in this edition. Each student must address one of the two questions in his or her essay.
There are three days of class time devoted to discussing the main primary sources (The Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings, The Communist Manifesto, and Breakdown: The Failure of American Intelligence to Defeat Global Terror). 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 four students volunteer to be the primary discussant for the essay questions. 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.
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.
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 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.
Lecture:
Introduction to History
Lecture 1: The Renaissance
Lecture 2: European
Exploration
Lecture 1: The
German Reformation
Lecture 2: The
Reformation Across
Lecture 1: The Wars
of Religion and the Military Revolution
Lecture 2: The
Scientific Revolution
Lecture 1: The Rise
of Absolutism
Lecture 2:
Constitutionalism in
Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings Discussion
Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings Paper Due
Lecture: Rene Descartes
and the Matrix
Lecture 1: The
Enlightenment
Lecture 2: The Seven
Years War and the American Revolution
Lecture 1: The
Romantic Movement
Lecture 2: The
French Revolution I
Lecture 1: The
French Revolution II
Lecture 2: The
Balance of Power
Lecture 1: The
Industrial Revolution
Lecture 2: The
Italian and German Unifications
Lecture 1: Western
Imperialism
Lecture 2: World War
I
The Communist
Manifesto Discussion
The Communist
Manifesto Paper Due
Lecture 1: Russian
Revolution
Lecture 2: The
Failed Peace
Lecture 1: World War
II
Lecture 2: The Cold
War
Lecture 1: Cultural
Revolutions of the Twentieth Century
Lecture 2: The
Breakdown: The Failure of American Intelligence
to Defeat Global Terror
Discussion
Breakdown: The Failure of American Intelligence
to Defeat Global Terror Paper
Due