Western Civilization

CORE 131 / Fall 2009

Scarboro

Plan for St. Petersburg, 1714

Office:             Hafey-Marian Hall 314

E-mail:            cristoferscarboro@kings.edu

Phone:             208-5900 ext. 5637 (o)

                         735-4762 (h)
Section F:        T/Th     11:00-12:15 McGowan 109

Office Hours: M:12:00-1:00

                        T: 12:30-2:00

                        W: 12:00-3:15 

                        Th:12:30-2:00 

Moodle Site:   http://kings.mrooms2.net/course/view.php?id=308

Sharepoint:     https://sharepoint.kings.edu/sites/CORE131--Fall09/default.aspx

I. Description:

How are we to interpret and understand Western Civilization?  Can we speak of it as a single unified entity?  How did the concept of “western civilization” come into being? What are its attributes and what impact had it had on the world in which we live?  This course will survey the main stages of Western Civilization, with an emphasis on concepts, forces, ideas, events and people that have shaped western society through the early 20^th century.  Through close readings of primary texts, discussions of readings, and written commentary we will investigate how those in the west handled nature, ordered government, structured society, produced wealth, expressed ideas in word and form, and conceived the ultimate meaning and meaninglessness of life and the universe.  

II. Purpose:

A. Mission Statement:

Civilization courses are designed to explore in some depth the complex dimensions of our world and the cumulative experience of the past, to provide an understanding of how yesterday, influences today, and the outlook for tomorrow. We study the major developments of Western peoples until the 20th century because most of the problems and institutions of contemporary society have distinguishable roots in the historical past. Further, the physical and material expansion of the West and its interaction with non-western cultures have both transformed the meaning of “western” and made “westernization and its discontents” a global phenomenon.

We offer this course as part of your general education requirements because it is important for educated citizens to be familiar with the main stages of Western Civilization and recognize it as an expanding force which produced important forms of political, social, and economic organization. You should understand that most of the structures within which we order our lives are products of this evolution. How we understand and experience the past does much to make us who we are.

Further, whatever your major or career goals may be, throughout your lives you will be inundated with information, opinion, and interpretations about events which you should be able to evaluate critically. Answering questions and solving problems by critical analysis -- not just memorization of data -- is a basic goal of education. Information is just the raw material in this process and, though rational analysis must be based on factual data, memorizing tidbits of information is not an end in itself. Our real goal is to develop concepts which give order and meaning to the raw material of our recorded past. Doing this requires comprehension beyond minimal factual details of past events. Major emphasis will be on the interpretation of patterns, themes, and concepts against which the factual data must be understood.

We hope that upon successful completion of this course you will have improved your understanding of world civilizations and become a more perceptive judge of the data, opinions, interpretations and explanations continuously offered to you.

B. Objectives for the student:

1. To be familiar with the main stages of civilization as a series of expanding forces that has produced important forms of political, social, economic and cultural organization which have shaped the modern world.
2. To identify major events, persons and ideas that contributed to the development of Western (including American) and non-Western attitudes and institutions.
3. To develop concepts which give meaning and order to the raw material of the recorded past.
4. To identify and analyze significant problems and situations as they relate to the continuing issues of contemporary life.

C. Goals for the student:

1. To improve understanding of the major events which have influenced the modern world.
2. To be an intelligent consumer and evaluator of information about world events.
3. To develop a global perspective which recognizes the political, economic and cultural interdependence of all nations.
4. To understand the influence of the past on contemporary events and problems or, in other words, to develop Historical Mindedness.

D. General Learning Outcomes for the student:

In addition to the more content-related objectives described above, this course has some general liberal-learning goals of developing academic skills. It is expected that successful completion of this course will help you improve your ability:

1. To manage information, which involves sorting data, ranking data for significance, synthesizing facts, concepts and principles.
2. To understand and use organizing principles or key concepts against which miscellaneous data can be evaluated.
3. To differentiate between facts, opinions and inferences.
4. To frame questions so as to more clearly clarify a problem topic or issue.
5. To compare and contrast the relative merits of opposing arguments and interpretations, moving between the main points of each position.
6. To organize your thoughts and communicate them clearly and concisely in written form.
7. To obtain practice in selecting and presenting information and arguments within a restricted environment, especially the limitations of time in exams.

III. General Requirements

A. Course Readings:

The textbook for the course, Brian A. Pavlac, Supremacies and Diversities: A Review of Western Civilization, Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania: Zelbstdrook Press, 2006, is intended to provide you with important context and background information before class and to be used as a review and reference work afterwards.  You will be responsible for reading the assigned sections of the textbook according to the schedule listed below and come prepared to ask questions and contribute to class discussion on-line. 

The textbook is for sale in the departmental office, Hafey-Marian 109, and in my office.

B.  Course Readings, Primary Sources:

Each week you will also be expected to examine a series of primary sources consisting of texts, visual art and/or short video clips.  These sources will either be websites (links are provided in the syllabus) or files found on the course sharepoint site: 

https://sharepoint.kings.edu/sites/CORE131--Fall09/default.aspx

These primary sources are to supplement the readings in the textbook and place you in dialogue with another time and place.  You will need to examine these sources as a historian.  What can they tell us about the past and the worldview of past cultures?  How do they help us understand the historical theme of the week and the class as a whole?  Further, these documents will be the source upon which you will base your microthemes and paper for the class. 

C.  Microthemes:

Five times during this semester you will be responsible for writing a 1-2 page microtheme on the assigned primary source material covered during that time.  These microthemes are intended to allow you the opportunity to analyze and write about these sources historically and should consist of two parts: first, you should summarize the argument of the sources—you should ask and elucidate what the author, director or artist was trying to say.  Second, you should place the piece and argument within the larger context of the 20^th century.  What themes and trends is the artist or author tapping into?  How does it relate to larger issues in the class?  How are we to make sense of the work historically? 

Due dates for microthemes:

D.  Written Assignment:

Your larger writing assignment is due in its final form on December 10^th.  This paper will be much like a longer, more in depth, microtheme.  Your final paper will be between 8-10 pages.  You are to take any of the primary sources and place them in historical conversation with one another.  Like the microtheme, you should seek to answer the meaning of the primary sources: what argument or worldviews were the authors/artists seeking to put forward?  How was this a product of the time and place in which they were living?  Importantly you are also to relate the sources to one another.  How do these sources help us understand western civilization?  What problems and opportunities do they articulate?  What larger issues are they wrestling with?  You are free to chose any two sources from the course—you may find it easiest however, to chose two within a similar theme (i.e. "the place of religion and society," "the growth of the individual," "voyages of discovery," etc.).  Several possible combinations and topics are listed on the last page of the syllabus. 

This paper is to take place in several stages: 

1)  Choose the set of primary sources to frame your paper—you should think in terms of a larger question that you are seeking to address.  You must submit your choice and the topic that they will address in class September 22nd. 

2)  Visit the Library  for a tour of potential sources and databases.  This will be done in class on October 1^st.

3)  Refer to at least three printed scholarly, detailed works (namely, not electronic from the internet or CD-ROM and not tertiary such as the textbook, handbooks or encyclopedias).  These sources should be the basis of your preliminary bibliography.  These sources should be history books and/or journal articles written by professional historians and which closely examine the person.  If you have any doubts about the appropriateness of your professional sources, please see the instructor.  Your preliminary bibliography is due in class on October 20^th.

4)  By the middle of October you should have some idea what you will be arguing in your paper.  How are you reading the sources?  How does your understanding fit with other scholar's interpretations?  You will need to hand in a brief thesis statement that will set the tone for your paper outlining the major claim that you will be making in your paper.  A thesis is an argument based on an intelligent reading of sources (and something that intelligent informed people should be able to disagree with).  To this end your thesis should include both your argument and a counterargument.  You should also produce a working outline detailing the major points and sources that you will be using in your paper.  This is due in class October 27^th.

5)  Visit the Writing Center to review your work and think about revisions.  You must visit the center before November 19^th and have the reader-reviewer stamp your draft or outline.  Your rough draft is due in class on November 19^th.

6)  Rest, review, and revise repeatedly.  Then write a final draft to be turned in on December 10^th. 

Please turn in all of the material from all of the steps to this assignment together with the final draft on December 10^th.

E. Exams:

There will be three exams in this class two midterms (on October 6^th and November 12^th respectively) and a final given during finals week.  All exams will consist of short identifications quizzing knowledge of detail and significance, geographical content and essays demanding your understanding of the course material through logical presentation of facts and explanation of historical trends.  The exams will cover both the material from the textbook and the primary sources.  You may take a missed exam only at the discretion of the instructor. 

F.  Quizzes

There will be nine short quizzes this semester taken on the course moodle site: <http://kings.mrooms2.net/course/view.php?id=308>.  These exams will primarily cover material covered in the course textbook.

Dates for Quizzes:

G.  Class Discussion and Participation

As well as providing you with the methodological and analytical tools for engaging in historical thinking, this class will ask you to actively take part in a larger conversation of historical issues within the class.  I expect this class to allow us to delve deeply into the historical topics of each week’s readings.  To that end you need to make sure that you arrive to class on time ready to discuss the weekly readings, having carefully read and thought over the material.  You must take an active role in the class discussions.  Thus a portion of your grade will depend on your in-class performance and presence. 

Further, each week you will participate in a threaded class discussion on two to three topics from the weekly readings on the course moodle site <http://kings.mrooms2.net/course/view.php?id=308>.  I will have posted discussion questions at the beginning of the week and you will be expected to contribute to the class discussion at least twice during the week (once before Wednesday and once before Saturday).  Your contributions to the class discussion must be substantive and should be in response to both my comments and the observations of your classmates.  You will be expected to read all the posts each week and material from the class discussion will appear on your exams.

In a class of this nature it goes without saying that a classroom environment in which everyone feels comfortable is essential.  You should treat your fellow classmates with respect, listen carefully to their comments and respond to them in a polite manner. 

H.  Grading:

It is your responsibility to understand why you have achieved a certain grade, and what steps you can take to maintain or improve your grade.  You should consult with the instructor during office hours or by appointment before and after exams and written assignments.

For your protection, in case of errors in record keeping, you should keep copies of all exams and assignments until you have received official notice of your final grade.

Your final grade will be based on the following percentages

Your grade distribution for class assignments is as follows:

I. Academic Integrity:

The Department of History adheres to guidelines on academic integrity outlined in the Student Conduct Code in the Student Handbook: 

http://www.kings.edu/student_handbook/studentregulations_rights/conductcode.htm

Cheating and plagiarism will be penalized in accord with the penalties and procedures indicated in that source.  All students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the definition of these infractions of academic honesty. 

J. Absences:

I will regularly take attendance in this class. Absences due to college activities, emergency or extended illness may be excused by the appropriate college official. You should consult with the professor about making up missed work in advance or as soon as possible after your return.  Other absences are unexcused and will lower the class participation portion of your grade. After any absence, you are responsible for requesting hand-outs and already returned assignments from me or borrowing notes from other students. If you miss an exam, contact me as possible. You may take a missed exam only at the discretion of the instructor.

K.  Disabilities:

King’s College and I will make every effort to accommodate students with a bona-fide disability that impacts on their ability to learn the course material.  Please meet with me privately so that appropriate arrangements can be made to help in the learning process.

IV. Course Schedule

Course Introduction

Tuesday, September 1^st

Western Civilization:  Born in Caves and Written on Tablets

Question: What is meant by History?  What is meant by civilization?  What ideological work do these conceptions perform?

Thursday, September 3^rd

Textbook:  Pavlac, “History’s Story,” and “Wanderers and Settlers,” 1-27

Primary Sources: 

1) Caves of Lascaux

http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/

2) Code of Hammurabi, 18th Century BCE

http://www.wsu.edu/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_1/hammurabi.html

***First Quiz Due by September 5th***

Judaism: Monotheism and the Chosen People

Question:  What accounts for the creation and endurance of the Jewish nation in the period of Moses and Abraham?  What was the role of the exile on the development of monotheism?  What accounts for the spread of Judaism through the Mediterranean world?

Tuesday, September 8^th 

Textbook: Pavlac, “The Chosen People,” 29-36

Primary Sources:

1) Exodus 20, “The 10 Commandments”

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Exodus+20

2) Genesis 15, “The Covenant of Abraham”

http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Genesis+15:1-12,17-18

3) Genesis 11: 1-9, “The Tower of Babel”

http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=42785207

The Greeks, Part I: of Poleis and Persians

Question:  What were the Athenian and Spartan conceptions of the "good society"?  What role did the Peloponnesian Wars play in the development of a shared "Greekness" or "Westerness"?

Thursday, September 10^th

Textbook:  Pavlac, “The Trials of the Greeks,” 37-52

Primary Sources:

1) Thucydides, “Pericles’ Funeral Oration,” from The Peloponnesian War, c. 430-395 BCE

http://www.wellesley.edu/ClassicalStudies/CLCV102/Thucydides--MelianDialogue.html

2) Thucydides, “The Melian Dialogue,” from The Peloponnesian War, c. 430-395 BCE

http://www.wsu.edu/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_1/pericles.html

3) Herodotus, “Reports of India and Aryavarta,” from The Histories, c. 430 BCE

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/greek-india.html

***Second Quiz Due by September 12th***

The Greeks, Part II:  Hellenistic Greece

Question:  How are we to understand the place of Greece as the "birthplace of western civilization?"  What ideologies did the Greeks bequeath to Western Civilization?  How are we to make sense of them?

Tuesday, September 15^th

Textbook:  Pavlac, “The Trials of the Greeks,” 37-52

Primary Sources:

1) Plato, “Apology of Socrates,” c. 400 BCE

http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Plato/Apology/APOLOGY_p9.html

Sharepoint:

1) “Greek Statuary”

***First Microtheme Due***

Rome: Republic to Augustus

Question:  What accounts for the remarkable growth and stability of the Roman Empire?  Why did Rome fall?

Thursday, September 17^th

Textbook:  Pavlac, “Imperium Romanum,” 53-66

Primary Sources:

Pliny the Elder, “The Grandeur of Rome,” from Natural History, 75 CE

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/pliny-natihist-rome.html

Sharepoint:

1) “The Fayoum Portraits

2) “Roman Architecture”

***Third Quiz due by September 19th**

Early Christianity

Question:  What is the relationship between Christianity and Judaism?  How did Christianity define orthodox belief?

Tuesday, September 22^nd

Textbook:  Pavlac, “The Revolutionary Rabbi,” 67-81

Primary Sources:

1) The Gospel According to John

http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=44941529

2) The Gospel According to Mary

http://www.gnosis.org/library/marygosp.htm

3) Early Church Councils (excerpts):  The Nicene Creed 325, A.D.; The Definition of the Council of Chalcedon, 451 A.D.; and the Second Council of Constantinople, 553 A.D.

http://www.uvawise.edu/history/wciv1/councils.html

***Topic for Paper Due***

Byzantium and Barbarians

Question:  What was the relationship between Rome and its successors (the Frankish Kingdoms and Byzantium)?  How did the "idea of Rome" give legitimacy to the new states?  What changes to Roman political, social and economic orders to the new kingdoms adopt?

Thursday, September 24^th

Primary Sources:

1) Sharepoint: Byzantium and Barbarians

Growth of Islam

Question: What accounts for the remarkable growth of Islam in the medieval world?  How did the emergence of Islam change the way Europeans conceived of the world?

Tuesday, September 29^th 

Primary Sources:

1)  Readings from the Glorious Qu'ran 1,47

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/koran-sel.html

2) From the Sunnah

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/sunnah-horne.html

***Second Microtheme Due***

Library Session

Thursday, October 1^st

First Midterm Exam

Tuesday, October 6^th

Carolingian Europe

Question:  How was "Christendom" created?  How did Charlemagne organize his empire?

Thursday, October 8^th

Textbook:  Pavlac, “Medieval Muddle,” 81-95

Primary Sources:

1) Einhard, “The Life of Charlemagne,” (excerpts), c. 817-830

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/einhard1.html

Sharepoint:

1) Medieval Art

Rise of the Papacy and Monastic Reform

Question: What accounts for the power of the Catholic Church in the Medieval world (trace its genealogy)?  What institutions were the challengers to its power?

Tuesday, October 13^th

Textbook:  Pavlac, “Medieval Muddle,” 95-112

Primary Sources:

1) Gregory VII, Dictatus Papae, 1090

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/g7-dictpap.html

***Third Microtheme Due***

***Fifth Quiz due by October 17th***

Commercial Revolution

Question:  How did the Commercial revolution transform the Medieval world?  What new classes emerged in its wake?

Tuesday, October 20^th

Textbook:  Pavlac, “Medieval Muddle,” 112-118

Primary Sources:

1)  Excerpts from the Book of Margery Kempe, late 1430s

    a)  "The Birth of her first Child and Her Vision"

        http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/kempe1.htm

    b)  "Her Pride and Attempts to Start a Business"

        http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/kempe2.htm

    c) "Margery and her Husband Reach a Settlement"

        http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/kempe3.htm

    d) "Pilgrimage to Jerusalem"

        http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/kempe4.htm

***Preliminary Bibliography Due***

Crusaders and Pilgrims

Question:  What role did the movement of peoples (through crusades and pilgrimages) have on the development of the idea of "the west?"

Thursday, October 22^nd

Primary Sources:

1) Urban II, Speech at Council of Clermont according to Fulcher of Chartres, 1095

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/urban2-fulcher.html

2) Soloman bar Samson, The Crusaders in Mainz, May 27, 1096

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1096jews-mainz.html

Crisis: Plague, Heretics Jews and Rebellion

Question:  How did the presence of "outsiders" (Jews and Heretics) allow for the creation of a unified west? 

Tuesday, October 27^th

Primary Sources:

1) The Confession of Agimet of Geneva, , October 20, 1349; Jacob von Königshofen (1346-1420); Chonicle;  The Epitaph of Asher aben Turiel, Toledo, Spain, 1349

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/1348-jewsblackdeath.html

2) "The English Peasant Revolt" from Froissart's Chronicles, 1381

http://www.uvawise.edu/history/wciv1/civ1ref/peasvolt.htm

***Thesis Statement / Outline Due***

Humanism and the Renaissance

Question:  What is humanism?  How was it a challenge to the established powers of Medieval Europe?

Thursday, October 29^th

Textbook:  Pavlac, “Making the Modern World,” 119-129

Primary Sources:

1)  Leonardo da Vinci, The Painter and Linear Perspective, c.1490

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_1/leonardo.html

Sharepoint:

1) "Leonardo da Vinci  Sketches"

2) "Renaissance Art"

***Fourth Microtheme Due***

Reformation

Question:  How did the Protestant Reformation and the Wars of Religion remake Europe?  What was the impact of the Scientific Revolution in transforming the worldview of those in Europe?

Tuesday, November 3^rd

Textbook:  Pavlac, “Making the Modern World,” 129-150

Primary Sources:

1) Martin Luther, 95 Theses, 1517

http://www.uvawise.edu/history/wciv1/95thes.html

2)  Martin Luther against the Peasants

http://www.historyguide.org/earlymod/peasants1525.html, 1525

Science and Discovery

Question:  How was the scientific revolution a challenge to traditional ways of understanding the world?  What role did the voyages of discovery play in this transformation?

Thursday, November 5^th

Textbook:  Pavlac, “Liberation of Mind and Body,” 151-159

Primary Sources:

1)  Bartolome de Las Casas, A Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies, 1542

http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bdorsey1/41docs/02-las.html

2) The Crime of Galileo: Indictment and Abjuration of 1633

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1630galileo.html

Absolutism and Enlightenment

Question:  How was Absolutism an answer to the chaos of the European 16th Century?  How did it lead to the development of the European state system?  How did it seek to arrange the word around it?  How did the Enlightenment challenge traditional societal organization?  How did it change the way in which people understood their place in the world?

Tuesday, November 10^th

Textbook:  Pavlac, “Liberation of Mind and Body,” 159-166

Primary Sources:

1) Duc de Saint-Simon, The Court of Louis XIV (excerpts),

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/17stsimon.html

2) Voltaire, A Treatise on Toleration, 1763

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/voltaire.html

3) J. S. Bach, Fugue No. 4: C Sharp Minor, 1747

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~tas3/wtc/i04.html

Second Midterm Exam

Thursday, November 12^th

French Revolutions

Question: Whose Revolution was the French Revolution?  What were its causes and effects?  What role did new social classes have to play in its development?  How did they each seek to organize newly revolutionary France? What role did nationalism play?
Tuesday, November 17^th

Textbook:  Pavlac, “Liberation of Mind and Body,” 166-182

Primary Sources:

1)  Declaration of the Rights of Man

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/rightsof.asp

***Fifth Microtheme Due***

Industrial Revolutions

Question: Whose revolution was the Industrial Revolution?  How did the Industrial Revolution remake European Society?  How did it change the place of Europe in the World?

Thursday, November 19^th

Textbook:  Pavlac, “Mastery of the Machine,” 183-206

Primary Sources:

1) Friederich Engles, "Industrial Manchester," from The Conditions of the Working Class in England, (excerpts) 1844

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1844engels.html

***Rough Draft with Writing Center Stamp Due***

The Long 19^th Century: Imperialism

Question: What were the motivations for European imperialism in the 19^th century? What role did imperialism, racism and nationalism have to play?  What did European imperialism look like on the ground in Africa?

Tuesday, November 24^th

Textbook:  Pavlac, “The Westerner’s Burden,” 207-214

Primary Sources:

1) Rudyard Kipling, The White Man's Burden, 1899

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/Kipling.html

Sharepoint:

1) Europe in Empire, Empire in Europe

The Long 19^th Century: Nationalism

Question: What factors contributed to the development of European nationalism?  What forms did it take?  What was its impact on the traditional European state system?  What impact did it have across the world? What is the "logic of the nation-state"?

Tuesday, December 1^st

Textbook:  Pavlac, “The Westerner’s Burden,” 214-229

Primary Sources:

1) Johann Gottfried von Herder, Materials for the Philosophy of the History of Mankind, (excerpts) 1784

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1784herder-mankind.html

The Long 19^th Century: Civilization and its Discontents

Question: How did the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat seek to reorganize the world around them in the 19^th Century?  How did they seek to define and organize social class?  What were the results of these processes?  Thursday, December 3^rd

Primary Sources:

1)  Sigmund Freud, Civilization & Die Weltanschauung, 1918

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1918freud-civwelt.html

2)  Friedrich Nietzsche, “The Parable of the Madman,” in The Gay Science, 1882

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/nietzsche-madman.html

World War and Crisis of Civilization

Question: How did World War I complete the 19^th Century process of creating European nation-states?  What was the war’s impact on the culture of the interwar years?  What was the war’s impact on interwar politics?

Tuesday, December 8th

Primary Sources: 

1)  British World War I Poetry

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1914warpoets.html

Review for Final

Thursday, December 10^th

***Final Paper Due***