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Spring 2017
History 5: Western Civilizations, Pre-History to c. 1500 CE
Section #93115, Monday and Wednesday, 3:00-6:30 pm, FNAC-204
FINAL EXAM: Wednesday, May 10, 3:00-6:30 pm, FNAC-204
Class Website: www.profgunderson.com
Text: Western Civilization: A Brief History, Volume I, To 1715 (2nd edition)
by Jackson J. Spielvogel, 2002 ISBN: 0534587178
Available in the Library, but can only be checked out for two hours!
This Syllabus is amendable by written change or verbal notice of change accessible through the Class Website.
Instructor
Professor Luke Gunderson
Voicemail: (909) 652-7240
“Office” Hours immediately before class or by appointment
Chaffey College Course Description
Development of the cultural foundations of Western peoples from prehistoric times, through the rise and diffusion of civilization in the era of Middle Eastern dominance and the Middle Ages, and culminating with the Renaissance period of Western Europe.
History 5 Student Learning Outcomes
Upon successfully completing History 5 (grade of C or higher) students will analyze competing historical interpretations of the history of western civilization in ancient and medieval times by finding and using sources.
Upon successfully completing History 5 (grade of C or higher) students will appraise the factors that shape history by explaining cause and effect (significance) of historical events in ancient and medieval western civilization.
Upon successfully completing History 5 (grade of C or higher) students will demonstrate the connections between events in the history of western civilization in ancient and medieval times and how events influence the course of history by explaining the chronology and context of historical events in the history of western civilization in ancient and medieval times.
Instructor’s Course Description
This is a “flipped” class! That means that all class lectures will be viewed in video format, while virtually all homework assignments will be performed during class sessions in work groups.
Understanding the rise and fall of major western civilizations is critical to understanding and analyzing our modern existence. Ancient peoples and governments followed natural paths to regional power (such as efficient food production and social structuring), just as modern governments struggle with similar uses of natural resources (food, water, land, oil, electricity, etc.) and social control (law, media, education, etc.). Ancient governments consistently had to cope with the effects of a landed aristocracy whose self-interest corrupted society and debilitated government administration. Future generations of US citizens must learn such lessons if they are interested in perpetuating US world dominance well into the future. Knowledge of the ancient past may even provoke US citizens to question the benefits and costs of such imperial ambitions.
Course content will include major political events of the period, the main intellectual arguments that provoked them, the arts that represented and popularized them, and the military conflicts that decided their outcomes. Course materials will include PowerPoint presentations, comparative timelines, and exposure to various excerpts of music, literature, and paintings of each era under study. Students will also learn two of the most important abilities for further success in collegiate study, time management and organization, through the creation of Study Calendars from which they can allocate study time along with the impact of their various outside, personal, familial, and professional responsibilities. Three major exams and a short research paper will be given to assess student learning.
All of these requirements are designed to facilitate student learning of the major political developments in the western world from Pre-history to circa 1500 CE. Students completing this course will be informed of the major political, intellectual, and artistic questions that heavily impact their everyday life. Students will learn to recognize the differences between political rhetoric, observed action, and utopian political theory. Open questioning of political motivations and critical thinking will be emphasized.
This is an introductory course designed as a first step in comprehending the major political, intellectual, and social movements of the first era of world history and cultures. It is taught mainly in the professor-based lecture style. No pre-requisites exist.
Advice on Studying History
Most introductory students in history find the subject extremely frustrating because they see much of it as being the memorization of “names, dates, and places.” These students are quickly overwhelmed by the amount of information being given on a daily basis. Names, dates, and places are merely the examples and evidences of larger historical trends and ideas. Make sure you understand these larger ideas BEFORE trying to memorize things at the level of names, dates, and places. In essence, do not lose sight of the forest in the obsession with its trees. This policy will save you much blood, sweat, and tears!
Even at the highest levels, history is taught as the interaction and interrelation of concepts. Experts are always analyzing books and the historical movements they describe in terms of “threads” that are present throughout. Understanding these larger, overarching concepts will GREATLY assist you in learning the importance of smaller names, dates, and places that are the nuts and bolts. If you learn the concepts first, memorization of names, dates, and places will come much easier!
Graded Assignments
All students will be required to take three in-class examinations on the three major portions of the course. The Exams are not cumulative. These exams will be the primary means of assessing student learning. Learning how to adequately study for and take such hours-long exams will be a fundamental need for the vast majority of students pursuing higher education; the professor will therefore be stringent in examination rules in order to prepare students for their “upper division” future. Students are HIGHLY advised to be present for all three exams; ANY make-ups or other alternative testing dates will ONLY be granted by the professor’s judgment and the concurrence of the Department Chairperson. As a result, there IS NO GUARANTEE that such make-ups will be permitted. Please plan accordingly.
As a major factor in lower division collegiate education is the learned ability to write effectively, all students are required to submit a mini-research paper approximately 4 pages in length. Students will work on this project throughout the semester, with separate due dates for deciding on a topic, submitting sources, creating an outline, and submitting a Rough Draft. The Final Draft is due on the Final Draft Due Date.
Students are also required to submit thoughts on lectures. These Lecture Critiques can focus on student questions regarding lectures or what worked (or did not work) in the lecture to help their understanding of the topic. Critiques will be graded on a Credit or No Credit basis; students must receive Credit for 20 Critiques throughout the semester to receive the full 2% for the course grade. There are 21 lectures during the semester, so each student can miss one Critique and still receive the full 2% of the course grade.
Because a major factor in collegiate success is the ability to manage time effectively, students in this class are assigned Study Calendars in an effort to teach and assess student organization. Students will create these calendars and turn in one copy to the professor on the designated date. These calendars should not only contain due dates of all assignments for all classes taken this semester, but also any important personal or professional dates that may impact study time.
Three “Map Quizzes” will be given throughout the semester. These quizzes are designed so that students will learn important places and borders on the map throughout the era under study. Students will be given maps at the outset of each section, with the quiz coming about a week later.
Any assignment turned in or taken after the due date or testing date will be punished by a 10% point reduction for every class session it is received late. If you need to miss a test date, inform the professor AHEAD OF TIME to avoid this reduction.
Extra Credit will be offered at the end of the semester ONLY to students that have turned in ALL other assignments.
Grading Scale
Exam One: 150 Points = 15%
Exam Two: 150 Points = 15%
Final Exam: 150 Points = 15%
Term Paper on Topic of Student’s Choice: 200 Points = 20%
Term Paper Rough Draft (topic, website evaluation, sources, and outline due dates)
40 Points (10 points each) = 4%
Essay Formatting Worksheet: 50 Points = 5%
Rough Draft Peer Review: 30 Points = 3%
Film Analysis 1 Group Presentation: 10 Points = 1%
Film Analysis 1: 40 Points = 4%
Film Analysis 2 Group Presentation: 10 Points = 1%
Film Analysis 2: 40 Points = 4%
Study Calendars: 30 Points = 3%
Lecture Critiques: 20 Points = 2%
Reading the History Book: 20 Points = 2%
Asking Questions Like an Historian: 20 Points = 2%
Map Quiz 1: 10 Points = 1%
Map Quiz 2: 10 Points = 1%
Map Quiz 3: 10 Points = 1%
Syllabus Quiz: 10 Points = 1%
Total 1,000 Points = 100%
Term Grading Scale:
A = 90-100% (900-1000 points)
B = 80-89.9% (800-899 points)
C = 70-79.9% (700-799 points)
D = 60-69.9% (600-699 points)
F = 59.9% and below (599 and less points)
Schedule (subject to written or verbal change by the professor)
Video Lecture (to be viewed before class session)
Classroom Activity (to be performed in work groups)
Tests, Quizzes, and Essays (begin when class starts)
M 3-20: Course Introduction, Views of History, Civilization and Culture
Syllabus Quiz
Early Civilizations: Metal Technology, Agriculture, and the Rise of Cities
W 3-22: Egypt 1: Old Kingdom to Second Intermediate Period
Egypt 2: New Kingdom
Reading the History book
Building a Study Calendar
Choosing a Term Paper Topic
M 3-27: Monotheism and the Rise of Judaism, c. 2000-539 BCE
The Persian Empire
Map Quiz 1
Evaluating Online Resources DLA
W 3-29: Greece 1: City-States and Politics, c. 7000-c. 600 BCE
Greece 2: Athens’ Democracy and the Persian Wars, c. 600-479 BCE
Film Analysis 1 Group Presentation
M 4-3: Greece 3: The New Athenian Empire and the Peloponnesian Wars, 479-371
Greece 4: Philosophy and the Macedonian Conquests, c. 479-323 BCE
Library Visit on Finding Academic Sources (meet in regular classroom!)
Exam One Review
W 4-5: Exam One
Film Analysis 1 Due
M 4-10: Rome 1: Origins to the Conquest of Greece, c. 1900-146 BCE
Rome 2: The Civil Wars, 146-31 BCE
Map Quiz 2
Crash Course in Essay Writing
Essay Formatting Assignment Due (will be completed in class)
Building the Annotated Bibliography
W 4-12: Rome 3: Height of Empire, 31 BCE – 14 CE
Rome 4: Technology and the Resources of Empire
Film Analysis 2 Group Presentation
M 4-17: Christianity’s Rise within Rome’s Empire, c 0-250 CE
Rome 5: Collapse, 14-c. 600 CE
Map Quiz 3
Building the Term Paper Outline and Rough Draft
W 4-19: Faculty Lecture of the Year – NO CLASSES HELD
Th 4-20: LAST DAY TO DROP THIS CLASS!!!
M 4-24: The Byzantine Empire
Exam Two Review
W 4-26: Exam Two
Film Analysis 2 Due
Class Writing Workshop
M 5-1: Europe After Rome: Rise and Fall of the Frank Empire, c. 400-c. 900 CE
Rough Draft Peer Review
W 5-3: Europe’s Medieval Chaos, c. 870-1435 CE
Religion in Europe’s “Dark Ages,” c. 1000-c. 1300 CE
Term Paper Final Draft Due (also turn in Rough Draft!)
Asking Questions Like An Historian
M 5-8: Europe’s Renaissance, c. 1300-1527 CE
European Discovery and Conquest of the Americas, 1453-1535 CE
Final Exam Review
W 5-10: FINAL EXAM
3:00—6:30 pm in the same room
Textbook Readings Schedule 2002 (2nd) edition:
M 3-20: The First Humans (pages 2-6) and Civilization in Mesopotamia (pages 6-13)
W 3-22: Egyptian Civilization (pages 13-20)
Egyptian Civilization (pages 20-22)
M 3-27: The Hebrews (pages 27-33)
The Persian Empire (pages 36-42)
W 3-29: Chapter 3: The Civilization of the Greeks (pages 44-53)
Chapter 3: The Civilization of the Greeks (pages 53-55)
M 4-3: Chapter 3: The Civilization of the Greeks (pages 55-60)
Chapter 3: The Civilization of the Greeks (pages 60-72) and Chapter 4: The
Hellenistic Era (pages 78-80)
M 4-10: Chapter 5: The Roman Republic (pages 83-92)
Chapter 5: The Roman Republic (pages 92-104)
W 4-12: The Age of Augustus (pages 107-110)
Roman Culture and Society in the Early Empire (pages 113-119)
M 4-17: The Transformation of the Roman World: The Development of Christianity
(pages 121-125) Development of the Christian Church (pages 134-141)
The Early Empire (pages 110-113), The Decline of the Roman Empire (pages
119-121), and the Fall of the Western Roman Empire (pages 125-126)
M 4-24: The Byzantine Empire (pages 141-145) and The Zenith of Byzantine
Civilization (pages 164-166)
M 5-1: The Transformation of the Roman World: The Role of the German Peoples
(pages 129-134), The World of the Carolingians (pages 152-159), and
The Disintegration of the Carolingian Empire (pages 159-161)
W 5-3: The Emerging World of Lords and Vassals (pages 162-166), Land and People
in the High Middle Ages (pages 173-178), The Emergence and Growth of
European Kingdoms (pages 205-213), and War and Political Instability
(pages -227)
Christianity and Medieval Civilization (pages 179-184), The Crusades (pages
184-190), and The Intellectual and Artistic World of the High Middle
Ages pages 198-205)
M 5-8: Chapter 11: Recovery and Rebirth: The Age of the Renaissance (pages 235-
257)
An Age of Discovery and Expansion (pages 281-288)
Course Policies
Chaffey College does not permit eating, drinking (other than water), or smoking inside any classroom. This includes gum, chewing tobacco, and other such sloppiness!
The instructor will take roll at every session in the first few weeks of class. Students missing sessions in the first two weeks of the course must inform the instructor; any unannounced absences during this time may result in the student being dropped in order to create room on the roster for potential students on the registration “wait-list.” Students are expected to attend all class sessions, and are responsible for all information given in each session whether they attended that day or not. Students are responsible for dropping the class. Never assume that you were dropped by the instructor or by the registrar until you have obtained written evidence! Poor assumptions can lead to dramatic consequences on your academic transcript!