H-114: History of Western Civilization Iiprofessor Kevin Cramer

H114: Syllabus-Spring 2013/1

H-114: History of Western Civilization IIProfessor Kevin Cramer

Spring 2013Cavanaugh Hall 503M

CLSD 8391: T 6:00-8:40 317-278-7744

Office Hours: T/Th 1:00-3:00

(and by appointment)

“The most outrageous sin of all is stupidity.”

Saint Augustine

“One must live the way one thinks or end up thinking the way one lives.”

Paul Bourget

“Life must be understood backwards….but it must be lived forwards.”

Søren Kierkegaard

Required Texts

1. Judith G. Coffin, Robert C. Stacy, Western Civilizations: Their History and Their Culture: Vol. II, (W.W. Norton, 2009), Third Brief Edition. The second edition of this textbook is acceptable; the chapters are thematically the same, but the pagination differs.

2. John Beeler, Charles Clark, eds. Sources of Western Society: Volume 2: From the Age of Exploration to the Present, (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011), Second Edition.

READ THIS FIRST: Take the time to read this syllabus (which is subject to change) carefully and take special note of course policies, requirements, assignments, and due dates. The syllabus is a good faith contract and “honor pledge” between professor and student stipulating that you agree to follow these policies, fulfill the requirements of the course, and conduct yourself according to the highest standards of moral and academic honesty, dedication, and integrity. Ignoring, modifying, violating, and/or misunderstanding these policies, requirements, and standards are not options. If, after reading the syllabus, you have problems or objections, or come to the conclusion that the workload would interfere with your other course work or schedule outside of class, feel free to drop the class. The syllabus is also subject to change. Also bear in mind that the course number does not describe the “level” of the course in terms of difficulty of content, requirements, instructor expectations, or work load. It simply indicates that it is a survey course. Because this course covers a time span of approximately 400 years, and focuses on European developments and their effect on the rest of the world, much of this material, particularly in the early sections of the course, will be unfamiliar to you. Therefore, it is important that you keep up with assigned readings in the textbook and pay close attention to the section “Before You Read This Chapter” that introduces each chapter, the “Questions for Analysis” at the end of each document excerpt, the maps and illustrations, and the section “After You Read This Chapter” that concludes each chapter.

Course Description

This course is intended to provide an introduction to the process of modernization and state formation in the western world during the three hundred years between the end of the European religious wars in the 17th century and the collapse of Communism in the late twentieth century. Framed by “big questions” and organized around major themes, the emphasis will be on the rise and eventual decline of European global dominance and influence and the interconnections between technological change, intellectual innovation, and the development of modern society as it accelerated toward today’s “globalized” international community. The problems associated with this development are explored in the study of evolving social, economic, and political systems (as they embodied contested notions of the limits of individual liberty, civil freedom, and state authority) and the various revolutions they inspired. Cultural, social, and ideological conflicts (as well as two world wars), as both causes and symptoms of this process of modernization, will also be examined. The course concludes with an examination of the decline of European power in the face of an “Americanized” global economic system after the end of World War II, the Soviet-American confrontation of the Cold War, the emergence in the West of the social welfare state, and the advent of a democratic and capitalist “New World Order” that was mistakenly presumed to have emerged with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Course Objectives

The aim of this course is to increase your understanding of how the social, political, cultural, and economic foundations of your world were created. The course is also designed to provide you with an introduction to the skills required by the university's "Principles of Undergraduate Learning,” especially those designated “Understanding Society and Culture,” and “Communication Skills” (for details and further information on the PUL go to The lectures, tests, and textbook readings will introduce you to facts, concepts, themes, and terms that will allow you to understand the importance of this period while giving you the historical context for a better understanding of how your society and world works. The analytical essay is designed to help you develop your critical, analytical, and writing abilities by working with historical evidence. In-class participation will help you sharpen your communication skills as well as your capability to efficiently and spontaneously summarize, categorize, interpret, and evaluate information.

Course Requirements

1. Test One: 10%
2. Test Two: 15%
3. Test Three: 15%
4. 3 Discussion Sessions: 20%
5. Essay Preparation:

a). Source Evaluation Worksheet: 5%

b). Thesis Proposal: 5%

5.Analytical Essay: 20%

6. Attendance and General Participation: 10%

Grading System and Course Policies

Course work will be graded on the standard 100-point scale.

An A-range grade evaluates work that goes substantially beyond the formal outlines of the assignment by showing marked originality, creativity, and strength of argument, organization, and conception. A B-range grade evaluates work that fulfills the assignment with noticeable, but not thorough, attention paid to these ideas. Such work might also include flawed reasoning and organization as well as stylistic problems (sentence structure, spelling, vocabulary, use of scholarly conventions, etc.). A C-range grade evaluates work of genuine effort that largely fulfills the assignment but displays substantial weaknesses in several of the above areas. D-range work is evaluated as meeting the bare minimums of the assignment in a perfunctory fashion. Obviously, an F grade indicates complete failure to fulfill the assignment. Where grades cannot be exactly calculated numerically, as in the grades for attendance and general participation, the discussion sessions, the source evaluation worksheets, and the thesis proposal, you will be given the highest numerical value for that grade range; for example, a B would be calculated as an 86, a B+ as an 89. You are graded and evaluated according to my judgment of your progress in mastering the various components of the course, your willingness to ask questions or raise issues during lectures and other class sessions, the quality of your preparation and fulfillment of assignments, and your willingness to risk thinking analytically and originally. You will not get a high grade simply for “effort” and “working hard” and showing up each day. If you haven’t figured it out already, this is college; it’s supposed to be hard. The course design and assignments emphasize individual motivation, diligence, initiative, originality, and thinking. There are no collaborative assignments; putting together study groups for the tests, however, is encouraged.

Make up tests will only be offered in emergencies and are conditional on timely notification of the crisis. As a gesture of good faith (and all problems are negotiable), please keep me informed reasonably in advance of circumstances that will force you to miss lectures and assignment due dates and be prepared to present documentation. Lecture outlines, writing assignments and guidelines, test reviews, film and image notes, and other important information and course material will be posted on Oncourse as document attachments under the “Resources” tab, so check the class’s Oncourse site regularly.

Because of the time span and amount of material covered in a survey course like H114, regular attendance is crucial to your success in this course. Given that the class meets only once a week, absences can have a significant negative effect on your grade. Excused absences will be granted only if you can reasonably provide advance notice and documentation and/or explanation. Attendance will be taken with a sign-in sheet. Regular attendance is defined as less than three unexcused absences. Perfect attendance (no absences) will result in an A (96). Regular attendance will result in a B (86). Irregular attendance (more than three unexcused absences) will result in a C (76). Noticeable engagement in the class sessions through asking questions during lectures or otherwise prompting general discussions will be positively noted and will result, at my discretion, in a higher grade for attendance and general participation. The three discussion sessions constitute a separate participation grade.

Emergencies that cause you to miss test and assignment due dates must be discussed as soon as possible with me. Without prior agreement, late submission (up to 24 hours) of the essay preparation assignments and the essay itself will be penalized a full letter grade; essays will not be accepted beyond 24 hours of the due date (unless, as noted, there are extraordinary and documented circumstances that prevent timely submission). Essays, source evaluation worksheets, and thesis proposals must be submitted as MS-Word compatible document attachments via my office or Oncourse mail (you must also obtain a confirmation of receipt from me; if you do not get this confirmation within 24 hours you can assume I did not receive the assignment and should contact me immediately). If extraordinary circumstances prevent completion of required work, and only if at least 75% of the work has been completed at a passing level, an incomplete will be given. Incompletes are rarely given and are only offered if the student engages in timely and good faith discussions with the instructor regarding the situation.

If you are having problems fulfilling the requirements of the course contact me sooner rather than later. The Student Advocate Office ( is also available when you need help finding information or dealing with issues that affect your attendance and academic performance. The Student Advocate’s office is in University College Lower Level 002. For general campus policies and support services go to When life’s other commitments and stresses threaten to derail your academic performance, another resource is the IUPUI Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). This program evaluates for learning disorders and ADHD; minimal fees are charged for counseling and testing. CAPS is located in Union Building 418. For more information visit or call them at 274-2548.

Academic Misconduct

Plagiarism is usually defined as the deliberate theft of someone else's work and passing it off as your own. But inattention, failure to read and understand this syllabus and the assignment guidelines and instructions, ignorance of scholarly citation conventions, sloppy note taking, and the belief that all information circulating in cyberspace is “free,” can also be construed as plagiarism, even if it is unintentional. Lack of intent to plagiarize is not a defense.Cutting and pasting from all web-based sources, including Wikipedia and other “intellectual commons” sites, is plagiarism. The penalties for plagiarism (and all other forms of cheating and deleterious and disruptive in-class behavior) can include an automatic failing grade for the assignment and the course (in addition to whatever institutional penalties may be assessed). Please consult the IUPUI Campus Bulletin for further guidelines and information on plagiarism, the adjudication of plagiarism cases (and your rights in such cases), and possible penalties, and other forms of academic misconduct. For the Code of Students’ Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct, go to These IUPUI policies will be followed and enforced.

Academic integrity also includes respect for individual differences and points of view. In and out of the classroom, the professor and students are expected to respect other students and their opinions regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, or sexuality. Attentive engagement in classroom activities is a courtesy that all students must extend to their peers and professors; therefore turn all electronic devices, including phones, off before entering the classroom.

Administrative Withdrawal

If circumstances prevent you from devoting the necessary amount of time and effort to be successful in this course, please drop the class as early as possible. For drop/add procedures, go to Timely and good faith notification of emergencies that force you to miss class, tests, and assignment due dates is required in order to make up tests and submit assignments past deadline. Unavoidable absences and missed assignments are negotiable; provided that you keep me informed reasonably in advance of circumstances that will force you to miss class (via my office email or through Oncourse email) and that you provide, if requested, documentation demonstrating legitimate reasons for being absent. Remember, University College freshmen (25 credit hours or below) may not drop more than one course per semester. This policy will be enforced through advisor sign-off on drop requests. This policy does not include course adjustments made during the first week of class nor does it apply to classes in which a student as been administratively withdrawn.

A basic requirement of this course is that you will actively engage with your peers and instructor during class and conscientiously prepare for and complete all assignments. If you miss more than half our class meetings within the first two weeks of the semester without contacting me, you may be administratively withdrawn from the class to make room for students on the waitlist. Administrative withdrawal may have academic, financial, and financial aid implications. Administrative withdrawal will take place after the full refund period, and if you are administratively withdrawn from the course you will not be eligible for a tuition refund. For more details go to

Your Responsibilities and Assignments

• Because lecture material not covered in the textbooks is covered in the tests, regular attendance is crucial to success in this class, particularly given the class meets only once a week. Reading the textbook is not an adequate substitute for attending lecture. For the same reasons tardiness and leaving class early are discouraged. Because you are adults and are paying for tuition, I assume it is in your own best interests to attend class as regularly as possible. If circumstances prevent you from devoting the necessary amount of time and effort to be successful in this course, please drop the class as early as possible. For drop/add procedures, go to Please note carefully the various deadlines for tuition refunds and withdrawals.
• All class session will be divided into two parts with a 10-15 minute break in between sections.
• Lecture outlines will be posted on Oncourse as document attachments under the “Resources” tab no later than the day before the lecture.
• Under each week’s assignments there will occasionally be some information in italics. These are notifications that additional course material, such as discussion session questions, test reviews, image notes, and assignment instructions and guidelines have been posted on Oncourse as document attachments under the “Resources” tab. Information in bold text identifies a test or due date.
• The readings from the textbook for each week are intended to provide background information for that week’s lectures. Make every effort to read the assigned textbook pages before that particular week’s class sessions. You will also follow the lectures more easily if you do this. You will find it useful to bring your textbook to class. You will need to refer to the textbook during lecture in order to examine and talk about primary sources, artwork, and maps related to the lecture topic. I will expect questions to arise during lectures and other class sessions; don’t hesitate to raise your hand; any question that you have someone else probably has as well.
• The three discussion sessions will be based on selected chapters from the document collection Sources of Western Society. The questions that will guide our discussions will be posted in advance.

• Learning to take effective notes is a skill rewarded by heightened comprehension, increased retention of information, and good grades; the recording of lectures (via tape recorder, cell phone, and/or webcam or other similar devices) is therefore prohibited barring special circumstances. I will post on Oncourse detailed lecture outlines.
• You are welcome to use a laptop or a tablet in class for taking notes. Displays of excessive mirth and/or hilarity will be viewed with suspicion. The same goes for any focus of attention on anything beyond the subject at hand.
• Before class starts, make sure your phone is turned off.
• The test format consists of an identification section covering the ideas presented in the primary source documents featured in the textbook, a multiple-choice section covering factual information drawn primarily from the lectures, and a short-answer section covering historical concepts. You will be provided with a test format and review guide well in advance of each test that will be the basis of the test review sessions. The tests can also include extra-credit questions drawn from the image presentations and films.
• You are required to write an analytical essay that analyzes and interprets the historical documentation in the primary source anthology Sources of Western Society. The format and guidelines for this essay, and the preparatory assignments (Source Evaluation Worksheets and Thesis Proposal) will be posted on Oncourse. There will also be a review session that will discuss how to organize and write an essay of this type for a history class. Remember, the University Writing Center has drop-in hours for peer consultation on drafts and other questions about writing. For more details on the UWC, go to
• Remember: when all else fails, read the syllabus, follow instructions, and ask questions. If you are still unclear about any of these policies and requirements, send me an email, talk to me after class, or see me during office hours.

Class Schedule and Readings