IUPUI
Fall 2005
Dr. E.L. Saak
CA 504P
Office Hours: Tues.:
(and by appointment)
Phone: 274-1687
Email: esaak@iupui.edu
History H113
Western Civilization 1
MW
Sect. 3872
CA 219
This course has the
following three goals: 1) to give the students an over-view of the development
of Western Civilization from its beginnings to approximately 1648; 2) to
provide the students with a sense of what “doing history” entails; and 3) to
foster the critical, analytical, and communicative skills of the students,
through extensive reading and writing assignments. By the end of the course, the students should
be able to describe effectively the basic development of Western Civilization
from the Ancient Near East to the Peace of Westphalia, and to evaluate
critically the sources upon which historical portrayals of Western Civilization
have been based. Furthermore, students
should be able to reflect on how Western traditions have impacted, and continue
to impact, life in the West today. Thus
this course contributes to, and indeed is based on, IUPUI’s Principles of
Undergraduate Learning. The exams,
combined with the final essay (see below) are designed to develop and test the
students’ communication and quantitative skills, their critical thinking, their
ability to integrate and apply their knowledge, their intellectual depth,
breath, and adaptiveness, their understanding of society and culture, and their
values and ethics. This is not a course
that seeks only to impart information.
This is a course that by design focuses on the creation of meaning in
the past, and how that creation of meaning in the past relates to present-day
meanings. Reflection on and analysis of
the sources and well as the self is the primary requirement for success in this
course. History is not a “thing of the
past”, but a “thing” of the present. The
ways in which it is so are the foundation upon which this course is based, and
are analyzed as much as they are taken as givens. The over-all goal for the course is that students
will not only develop their communicative and analytical skills, but will also
gain intellectual depth and breadth in reflecting on the values and ethics of
the past as a “sounding board” for the values and ethics of today in coming to
a deeper and broader understanding of the society and culture of the past and
of the present, and how that past has impacted and continues to impact
themselves and their worlds.
Required
Texts
Lynn
Hunt, et al.., The Making of the West. Peoples and Cultures. Vol. 1: To 1740.
2nd Edition.
Bedford/St. Martins, 2005.
Katharine
J. Lualdi, Sources of The Making of the West. Peoples and Cultures. Vol. I:
to 1740. 2nd Edition.
Bedford/St. Martins, 2005.
Grading
The final grade will be given
based on the following percentages:
1) Two mid-term examinations
(100 points each): 200
points each (50%)
2) Final Exam 200
points (50%)
Total: 400
points
Extra Credit:
One 8-10 page term paper
(topic to be discussed with professor): 40
points
The mid-term exams will consist of 20 multiple-choice questions (20%); 5 short answer identification of terms (40%); and one essay question (40%), covering the text book, the assigned, required readings, and the lectures. The final exam will be comprehensive, and will consist of two parts. The first part is an essay question, worth 100 points; the second part is short answers and multiple choice, worth 100 points. The multiple choice and short answer part of the exam will be comprehensive, but will focus on the material assigned and presented in class since the second mid-term. This part of the exam will be taken at the scheduled time for the final. The essay part of the final exam is a take-home essay. The assignment is found here below. It is to be typed, double spaced in standard font. Please see the guide included below for the final essay. It will be due in class at the scheduled final time
Students interested to doing the extra credit term paper must see me; no extra credit term papers will be accepted without prior permission and consultation. The extra credit assignment will only be counted toward your final grade if the grade you receive on the extra credit assignment is higher than the grade you receive for the course without the extra credit, regardless of the point count. For example, if you receive 310 points for the course, which is a C, and do the extra credit term paper, on which you earn a 20, which is an F, you will receive a C in the course, even though the total points with the extra credit would be 330 points, which would be a B. If, however, you have 290 points, which is a C, and do the extra credit term paper, for which you earn 34 points, which is a B, then your total for the course would be 324 points, which is a B, and you would receive a B in the class. To repeat: the extra credit term paper will only be counted toward your final grade if and only if the grade you receive on the extra credit term paper is a higher grade than what you have earned in the course. If there are any questions about this policy and this assignment, please see me in advance. My reason for making this policy is because I strongly feel that a student should not earn an A or a B in a course in which she/he did C or D work. The extra credit is offered as a stimulus to learning, and as a reward for hard work; it is not intended to function as a way of getting a higher grade in the course than you have earned. Again, if you have any questions, please ask.
Oncourse
This course uses Oncourse for much of its administration. If you do not know how to use oncourse, you
are strongly urged to contact the University Information Technology Services to
learn how, and please notify me as well.
This course will use course mail for all communications and
announcements (as well as in class). I
will be discussing the use of oncourse for this course during the course of the
semester, of course!
I expect each and every student to attend each and every lecture. More than three absences will result in a loss of 20 points; more than six absences will result in a loss of an additional 40 points. Excused absences must be cleared with me. Only the most extraordinary of circumstances will excuse more than three absences.
Please
note that I will not tolerate cheating, and will punish any student caught
cheating with the full severity allowed me by IUPUI regulations, which could
include being suspended permanently from the course and automatically assigned
an ‘F’ as a final grade, as well as further disciplinary measures. Please refer to the IUPUI handbook for
Student Conduct. I view cheating any of
the following: 1) Plagiarism of any kind, by which I mean: copying all or part
of another student’s paper; handing in papers written for you by someone else;
failure to properly footnote direct quotations, paraphrased passages, or
opinions of other scholars (including authors of Cliff Notes and other such
study aids) in essays written outside of class. Plagiarism also consists of
using material from the WWW without using quotation marks and proper
citation. Plagiarism is easy to
detect. Do not do it! If you have any questions whether you are
plagiarizing material, please ask me about it before hand! Once a paper is turned in, it is too late and
the paper, if plagiarized, is subject to the penalties mentioned above; 2)
collaborating on any in-class exam; 3)
copying the answers of any other student during an in-class exam In short, DO NOT CHEAT AND DO NOT PLAGIARISE! YOU WILL BE CAUGHT AND PUNISHED!
W Aug. 24: Introduction: What are we
doing here?
W Aug. 31: The World
of the Greeks
Week 2
M Sept. 5: Beyond the Gods: The Greek Mind
W Sept. 7: The Myth of
Week 3
M Sept. 12: The Rise of Christianity
W Sept. 14: Augustine of Hippo
Week 4
M Sept. 19: “Not with a Bang, but a
Whimper”: The Fall of
W Sept. 21: The Rise of the West
Week 6
M Oct. 3: Power, Authority, and Rule: Church and State
W Oct. 5: The Medieval Renaissance
Week 8
M Oct. 17: Popes, Princes, and Patres: Who Ruled
W Oct. 19: The Crisis of the Later Middle Ages
Week 9
M Oct. 24: In the Footsteps of the Ancients: A Renaissance?
W Oct. 26: Late Medieval Reform and Reformation
Week 10
W Nov. 2: Martin Luther: Augustinian
Week 11
M. Nov.
7: Second Mid-Term Exam
M Nov. 14: The Development and Spread of the Reformation
W Nov. 16: The Radical Reformation
Week 13
M Nov. 21: John Calvin and the Reformation of the Refugees
W Nov.
23: Thanksgiving—No Class
Week 15
M Dec. 5: The Wars of Religion and the Crumbling of
Christendom
W Dec. 7: Religion, Politics, and the Early
Week 16
M Dec. 12: So What?
FINAL EXAM: Wednesday, Dec. 14,
Guide to Writing the Final Essay
As
stated above on the syllabus, part of the final is a take-home essay. The essay for the final is given here
below. You are strongly encouraged to
work on this essay throughout the semester.
The essay must be typed/printed, double-spaced in standard font (e.g.:
CG TIMES, TIMES NEW ROMAN). Your essay will
be graded on form as well as content. It
must be well written, without spelling or grammatical errors. The essay should be approximately 8-10 pages
as a minimum, though no maximum limit is given.
The essay should be answered based on the course material, namely, the
lectures, the textbook, and the source readings. Your essay should have a strong argument,
supported with evidence, namely, detail and reference to the sources. There is no right or wrong answer on this
essay. The essay will be graded based on
how well you analyze the course material and apply it to the question
below. Be sure to argue your case, and
to base your argument on the course material, and particularly on the
sources. When quoting from the textbook,
the source readings, or from the lectures, please give references/citations in
parenthesis: for example: “As can be seen in the Epic of Gilgamesh, when Gilgamesh cried out: ‘How can I be silent,
how can I rest, when Enkidu whom I love is dust, and I too shall die and be
laid in the earth.’ (Sources,
6).” If you have any questions about
this assignment, please do not hesitate to see me! Good luck!
Answer
the following::
“The foundational myth of
Western Civilization is Western Civilization.”
Defend or refute this thesis in answering the questions: What is ‘Western Civilization’? When did it arise? What are its characteristics? How did that civilization that is
distinctively and uniquely western develop into what we term ‘Early Modern
Europe’? Be sure to include in your
essay a comparison of factors from: 1.) the ancient Near East; 2.) the ancient
civilizations of Greece and Rome; 3.) the Middle Ages; and 4.) Early Modern
Europe, taking into account all material assigned and presented in this course
(or in other words: analyze and evaluate the origins and content of the
consciousness and ideology of ‘the West’ and its impact on the development of
Western society and culture).