History 101A: Roots of the Western Experience
Spring 2011: MWF 10:00-10:50am (Wyatt 307)
Instructor: Katherine Smith
Email:
Office phone: (253) 879-3906 (ext. 3906)
Office hours: Wyatt 142, Mon/Wed 11:00-1:00 (& by appointment)
Course Description: Regardless of whether we as individuals identify ourselves as “Westerners,” as twenty-first-century residents of the United States we continue to live within a cultural environment that is informed by the historical development of Western civilizations in premodern Europe and neighboring areas. By studying the origins of human civilization and tracing the historical trajectory of the West up to modern times, we can gain a better understanding of the political, social, and legal world in which we live, and hopefully gain the wisdom that comes from historical perspective.
This course serves as an introduction to the Western historical traditions that trace their roots back to the earliest human settlements in the Near East approximately six thousand years ago. We will take a chronological and thematic approach to the history of Europe and its neighbors from the ancient world through the medieval and early modern periods, ending in the sixteenth century. The course will focus on identifying key social, political, economic, and religious attributes of each culture we encounter, so that we will be in a position to make meaningful comparisons between various time periods and civilizations. To this end, we will consider a number of themes throughout the semester, including models of political organization and rulership, perceptions of individual rights and responsibilities, the definition of oneself or one’s own community in relation to outsiders or ‘others,’ and conceptions of deities and divine power.
Course Objectives:All students will
- have the opportunity to improve their analytical skills by engaging with a variety of historical sources in class discussions and through written assignments;
- become familiar with the chronological development of the West from the beginnings of recorded history through the seventeenth century, and be able to identify and compare key elements of past cultures;
- and make connections between the structures and values of their own civilization and those of pre-modern cultures, exploring the roots of contemporary institutions, ideologies, and conflicts.
Requirements and Evaluation: All students are expected to attend class meetings and come prepared to discuss assigned readings during class time. In order to do well in the course it is crucial to keep up with the readings and to avoid absences. Please be advised that more than three unexcused absences will result in a lowering of your class participation grade by ½ grade (with an additional ½ grade deducted for each additional absence), and that I reserve the right to withdraw students from the class for excessive absences (defined as six or more unexcused absences). Of your final grade 10% will be based on your participation in class discussion, and another 10% on reading responses. A map quiz will constitute another 5% of your grade. In addition, three short analytical papers (of 3-4 typed, double-spaced pages each) based on assigned questions will constitute 36% of the final grade (12% each), a mid-term exam will be worth 21% of the grade, and a regularly scheduled final exam will make up the remaining 28%.
Essays: All of the paper assignments will ask you to do a close reading of at least two primary sources we have read and discussed as a group, and to use your knowledge of the contexts in which the sources were produced to present a clear argument. Essay questions for each of these assignments may be found in the schedule of readings below, and you will receive a detailed handout describing the analytical essay form before the first essay is due. Please note that late papers will be penalized at the rate of ½ of a letter grade per day late (so a ‘B’ paper handed in two days late becomes a ‘C+’), and will not be accepted more than five calendar days following the due date. Emailed papers will not be accepted. Essays must be typed, double-spaced, and proofread, with page numbers, footnotes, and titles that reflect their contents.
Exams: The midterm and final exam will ask you to synthesize a great deal of material, reflecting on the various civilizations we’ve studied and considering the relationship between different time periods and cultures. Both exams will contain an essay component, as well as identifications of primary source quotations and key terms (derived from those listed on the schedule of classes below). Please note that make-up exams will not be given. If you require additional time for exams, you must provide me with documentation well in advance of the midterm so we can make arrangements for you to take the test at the Center for Writing, Learning, & Teaching.
Texts: The texts listed below are required for the class and may be purchased at the bookstore. With the exception of the first two titles (Coffin & Stacey and Perry), copies of the texts are available on 2-hour Library Reserve, though note that the reserve editions of Gilgamesh, Plato, Aristophanes, Tacitus, andSir Gawainare different.
* Judith G. Coffin and Robert C. Stacey, Western Civilizations, Vol. 1, 16th ed. (W.W. Norton & Co., 2008) ISBN: 0-393-93097-9 (Note: it’s fine to buy an older – and cheaper – edition, but be sure to check that you’re reading the relevant chapters at the right time)
* Marvin Perry, ed., Sources of the Western Tradition, Vol. 1: From Ancient Times to the Enlightenment, Brief Edition (Houghton Mifflin, 2006) ISBN: 0-618-53901-8
* Anon., The Epic of Gilgamesh, trans. N.K. Sandars (Penguin Classics, 1960) ISBN: 0-14044-1000
* Plato and Aristophanes, Four Texts on Socrates, rev. ed., trans. Thomas G. West and Grace Starry West (Cornell University Press, 1998) ISBN: 0-8014-8574-6
* Tacitus, The Agricola and the Germania, rev. ed., trans. H. Mattingly (Penguin Classics, 1970) ISBN: 0-14-044241-3
* Anon., Beowulf, trans. Seamus Heaney (Norton, 2000) ISBN: 0-393-32097-9
* Anon., Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo, trans. J.R.R. Tolkien (Ballantine, 1975) ISBN: 0-345-27760-0
* Petrarch, Selections from the Canzoniere and Other Works, trans. Mark Musa (Oxford World’s Classics, 1985) ISBN: 0-19-283951-9
Doing the Reading: Coffin and Stacey’sWestern Civilization is a textbook that is intended to give you a basic understanding of the different cultures and time periods we will cover in the course. For the most part, daily assigned readings are not long, but they are often dense; you will likely find that the textbook is difficult to skim, and that even short sections cover a lot of ground. Textbook readings are not a substitute for lectures; lectures may use material covered in the textbook as a point of departure, but will typically contain a substantial amount of information that is not discussed in Spielvogel.
The Sources of the Western Tradition is a collection of primary sources (sources written in the periods under study in the course) that will introduce you to the wide range of materials employed by historians of premodern civilizations. We will read at least one – and often more than one – primary source for each class, and these texts will serve as the basis for class discussion and written assignments. In addition to the Sources of the WT, we will read several primary sources in their entirety: The Epic of Gilgamesh, Plato’s Apology of Socrates, Aristophanes’ Clouds, Tacitus’ Germania, Beowulf, the Arthurian Legend Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and a selection of the writings of the fourteenth-century humanist Petrarch. Primary sources are historians’ bread and butter, and we will spend a great deal of time learning how to read primary sources with a critical and historically informed eye. There are a number of questions you need to bear in mind when interrogating primary sources, some of the most important of which are listed below. I urge you to get into the habit of asking these questions and reading sources like a historian from the first day of class:
-Who wrote this? What kind of person was the author (consider their social class, group affiliations, gender, etc.)?
-For what audience was this piece intended? How did the author tailor the content and style of the text to their audience?
-What was the author’s purpose in writing this piece?
-What can this text tell us about the larger cultural tradition(s) and time period in which it was written?
Schedule of Classes
Wed. 1/19 – Introduction: What is Civilization? What is ‘the West’?
NB: There’s no assigned reading for today, but for additional background on material covered in class you may wish to consult Coffin & Stacey, pp. 7-14.
------
Unit 1: The Ancient Near East
Fri. 1/21 – Mesopotamia: The Cradle of the Bronze Age
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 14-32
- Sources of the WT, ch. 1, no.2: The Code of Hammurabi
terms: lugal, ziggurat, cuneiform
Mon. 1/24 – Close Reading: The Epic of Gilgamesh
Reading: The Epic of Gilgamesh, trans. N.K. Sandars (Penguin, 1960), full text (pp. 61-119)
Wed. 1/26 – Ancient Egypt
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 32-47, 53-63
- Sources of the WT, ch. 1, nos. 3-4: Egyptian Hymns
terms: pharaoh, ma’at, Hyksos
MAP QUIZ TODAY (first 5 min. of class)
Fri. 1/28 – The Ancient Hebrews and their Neighbors
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 70-84 & 88-94, including the Senjirli Stele (p. 81)
- Sources of the WT, ch. 1, nos. 6-7: excerpts from the Hebrew Bible
terms: Assyrians, Babylonian Captivity, transcendent theology
------
Unit 2: The Ancient Greeks
Mon. 1/31 – The Rise of the Polis
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 101-18, including another excerpt from the Iliad (p.104)
- Sources of the WT, ch. 2, no. 1: excerpts from the Iliad
terms: polis (pl. poleis), Hellenism, hoplites
Wed. 2/2 – Greece in the Fifth Century B.C.E.: Crisis and Innovation
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 118-35
- Sources of the WT, ch. 2, no. 4 & 6: Thucydides, Funeral Oration of PericlesMelian Dialogue
terms: Persian Wars, Peloponnesian War, Sophists
Fri. 2/4 – Close Reading: Plato, The Apology of Socrates
Reading: Plato, Apology of Socrates, in Four Texts on Socrates, pp. 16-24 (intro) and 63-97 (full text)
Mon. 2/7 – Close Reading: Aristophanes, The Clouds
Reading: Aristophanes, The Clouds, in Four Texts, pp. 29-37 (intro) and 115-76 (full text)
Wed. 2/9 – The Hellenistic World
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 137-152, 162
- Sources of the WT, ch. 2, no. 10: Plutarch, Life of Alexander, & Epicurus, On Self-Sufficiency
terms: Alexander the Great, Epicureanism, Stoicism
------
Unit 3: Rome
Fri. 2/11 – The Rise of the Republic
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 165-75, incl. Livy, “The Rape of Lucretia” (p.169)
- Sources of the WT, ch. 3, no.1: Polybius, On the Roman Army
terms: plebians, Struggle of the Orders, Punic Wars
Mon. 2/14 – Civil War and the Decline of the Republic
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 176-83
- Sources of the WT, ch. 3, no. 5: Plutarch, Cicero, and Sallust on Republican crises
terms: latifundia, Gracchi, Julius Caesar
Wed. 2/16 – Rise of an Imperial Order
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 183-96, incl. Augustus and Tacitus (pp.186-87)
- Sources of the WT, ch. 3, no. 6: Two views of the Pax Romana
terms: principate, Augustus, Pax Romana
Fri. 2/18 –Close Reading: The Germania
Reading: Tacitus, The Germania, pp. 24-34 (intro) and pp. 101-41 (full text)
Mon. 2/21 – Late Imperial Crises & the Beginnings of Christianity
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 196-201, 203-13
- Sources of the WT, ch. 4, no. 1: excerpts from the Gospels
terms: Third-Century Crisis, tetrarchy, Pharisees
–------
Unit 4: Late Antiquity
Wed. 2/23 - Pagans and Christians in a Changing World
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 213-22, incl. Letters of Pliny and Trajan (pp. 214-15)
- Sources of the WT, ch. 4, nos. 2-3: Christians on Pagan Learning Jerome, Solitude
terms: martyrdom, bishops, monasticism
Fri. 2/25 – The End of the Western Empire
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 222-33
- Sources of the WT, ch. 3, no. 9: Salvian, Jerome, and Gregory I on the fall of the Western Empire, and ch. 4, no. 6: Augustine, The City of God
terms: foederati, Goths, Augustine
Mon. 2/28 –The Rise of Islam
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 252-67
- Sources of the WT, ch. 5, nos. 2-3: excerpts from the Koran; Avicenna, On Learning
terms: Hijrah, umma, caliph
Wed. 3/2– Rome’s Survival in the East: Byzantium
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 233-38, 245-52
- Sources of the WT, ch. 5, no. 1: Theophylact Simocattes, Reason and History
terms: Justinian, Santa Sophia, Iconoclastic Controversy
Fri. 3/4 – In-class film: Byzantium: The Lost Empire (attendance required)
There is no assigned reading today, so use this time to begin your review for the midterm!
------
Mon. 3/7– Midterm Review
Wed. 3/9– **Midterm Exam** (full class period)
Note: The exam will consist of identifications of key terms and quotations from primary sources, as well as a choice of short essays.
------
Unit 5: Early Medieval Europe
Fri. 3/11 –Rome’s Heirs in the West: the Roman Church and Germanic Kingdoms
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 267-73
- Sources of the WT, ch. 5, no. 4: Bede and Einhard, Germanic conversions to Christianity
terms: Merovingians, Clovis, Gregory I
Mon. 3/14 – Fri. 3/18 – Spring Break - No Classes This Week!
Mon. 3/21 – Close Reading: Beowulf
Reading: Beowulf, pp. 3-103.
Wed. 3/23 –Close Reading: Beowulf, cont.
Reading: Beowulf, pp. 103-210.
Fri. 3/25 –The Carolingian Revival of Empire
Reading:Coffin & Stacey, pp. 273-83
- Sources of the WT, ch. 5, no. 5: The Carolingian Renaissance
terms: Charlemagne, Carolingian Renaissance, Vikings
–------
Unit 6: The High Middle Ages
Mon. 3/28 – The Rise of a New Order
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 287-93, 309-312, 314-15
- Sources of the WT, ch. 5, no. 6: The Feudal Lord
Handout: Bertran de Born, selected poems, ed. trans. Paul Blackburn in Proensa: An Anthology of Troubadour Poetry, ed. George Economou (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1978), 143-46 and 168-70.
terms: manors, serfdom, chivalry
Wed. 3/30 – Christendom and the Crusades
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 297-309, incl. calls to crusade (pp.302-03) and crusading preparations (p.308)
- Sources of the WT, ch. 6, no. 3: The First Crusade
terms: Seljuk Turks, Council of Clermont, First Crusade
Fri. 4/1 –New Models of Power: Church and State
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 316-24, 332-41, incl. two views of kingship (pp.338-39)
- Sources of the WT, ch. 6, no. 2: Pope Gregory VII
terms: Magna Carta, baillis, Investiture Contest
Mon. 4/4 –Trade, Towns, and Urban Culture
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 293-97, 312-13, 346-50, incl. Peter Waldo (p.348)
- Sources of the WT, ch. 6, no. 1 &4: Rise of Towns, Frederick II on heretics
terms: guilds, commune, friars
Wed. 4/6 – Intellectual and Artistic Achievements
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 351-64
- Sources of the WT, ch. 6, no. 5: Thomas Aquinas
terms: Renaissance of the Twelfth Century, scholasticism, Gothic
Fri. 4/8 –Close Reading: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Reading: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, trans. J.R.R. Tolkien (Del Rey, 1975), pp. 19-97
------
Unit 7: The Waning of the Middle Ages
Mon. 4/11 – Disasters of the Late Middle Ages: Famine and Plague
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 371-84, incl. Froissart on the Peasants’ Revolt (p.381)
- Sources of the WT, ch. 6, nos. 9 and 10: Jean de Venette; The Medieval World-View
terms: Black Death, flagellants, English Peasants’ Revolt
Wed. 4/13 –Disasters of the Late Middle Ages: War and Spiritual Crisis
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 343-44, 384-95, 398-403, 405-406, 410-13, incl. the conciliarist controversy (pp. 402-03)
terms: Hundred Years’ War, Great Schism, Lollards
Fri. 4/15 – No Class Meeting (Prof. Smith will be at a conference) *catch up on reading!
Mon. 4/18 – Expanding Horizons
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 422-438, incl. ‘The Legend of Prester John’ (p.432)
terms: Ottomans, caravels, Prester John
------
Unit 8: The Renaissance
Wed. 4/20 – An Intellectual Revolution
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 441-48
- Sources of the WT, ch. 7, nos. 1-2: Petrarch and Leonardi Bruni; Pico della Mirandola
terms: humanism, Medici, Renaissance Neoplatonism
Fri. 4/22 – Close Reading: Petrarch, Father of Humanism
Reading: Petrarch, Selections, pp. ix-xix (introduction), pp. 1-19 (“Letter to Posterity” and “Ascent of Mount Ventoux”), and Canzoniere nos. 1-3, 50, 128, 264, 323, 333, and 346.
Mon. 4/25 – Revivals and Transformations in Politics and the Arts
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 448-61, incl.excerpt from Machiavelli’s Prince (p.450)
- Sources of the WT, ch. 7, no. 3: Machiavelli, The Prince
terms: chiaroscuro, Machiavelli, Italian Wars
------
Unit 9: The Age of Reformation
Wed. 4/27 – In-class film: Martin Luther (PBS Empires Series) (attendance required)
Fri. 4/29 – Luther and his Predecessors
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 462-65, 473-82
- Sources of the WT, ch. 7, no. 5: Martin Luther; Ulrich von Hutten, Resentment of Rome
terms: Christian humanism, indulgences, justification
Mon. 5/2 – Reformations of Church, State, and Society
Reading: Coffin & Stacey, pp. 482-500
- Sources of the WT, ch. 7, no. 6-7: John Calvin, Selections; The Council of Trent
terms: Anabaptists, Calvin, predestination
Wed. 5/4 – Last Day of Class: Review Session for Final Exam
1