May 22, 2000
HISTORY 1300: WESTERN CIVILIZATION I
Second Summer Term 2000
MTWTF 10:00-11:50 Holden Hall 126
TEACHER
John Howe
Office Hours: MTWTF 1:00-2:00, and by appointment, in 143
Holden Hall
Telephone: 742-3589
E-Mail: john.howe@ttu.edu
Web: http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/howe/
PURPOSES OF THE COURSE
To acquire a general knowledge of Western Civilization from its origins to the mid seventeenth century: its great leaders and innovators; its forms of political organization; and its artistic literary, philosophical and religious achievements. To learn the origins of our contemporary civilization. To acquire self-knowledge through increased understanding of peoples and cultures different from, yet related to, our own.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Required Texts
Jackson Spielvogel. Western Civilization, 4th ed., v.
1 (2000)
Primary source texts taken from the World-Wide Web.
Required Reading
Specific reading assignments for each class are listed in the
Reading and Lecture Schedule, just ahead of the class date
by which they should be completed. Each assignment is the subject
of the following lecture or discussion. Read so that you arrive
in class prepared to explain, praise, criticize, and question.
The assignments are manageable if read on schedule, but quickly
become overwhelming if neglected.
Class Attendance
Successful completion of this course requires regular
attendance. In the classroom difficult reading assignments are
interpreted and contextualized; additional subject matter is
introduced; and audio-visual materials are used. Part of the
course grade is based on class participation, and you cannot
participate if you are not present. Summer school classes proceed
so rapidly that absences are especially damaging. If you cannot
attend 80% or more of the scheduled classes, you should not be
enrolled.
Examinations
Midterm tests are scheduled for Thursday July 20 and
Wednesday August 2. Each will include multiple-choice questions,
identifications, a single essay (to be selected from two or more
choices), and perhaps map work. If, for good reason, a test is
missed, a make-up test may be taken at 2:00 pm on Monday, Aug 7.
Students receiving a grade below "C" on a midterm
should meet with the teacher to discuss it (this will be part of
the class participation grade). The final examination, Thursday
August 15 at 11:00-1:30, will feature multiple-choice and
identification questions on the material covered since the second
midterm, and several essay questions (to be chosen out of six or
more alternative questions) covering the material of the entire
course. Bring blue books.
Necessary Accomodations
Any student who, because of a disabling condition, may
require some special arrangements in order to meet course
requirements should contact the instructor as soon as possible so
that the necessary accomodations can be made.
GRADING
The course grade will be computed as follows: 40% from the midterm tests (that is, 20% from each); 10% from a documentary source analysis; 10% from class participation; and 40% from the final. The class participation grade is computed on the basis of attendance, class preparation, and class contributions by dividing students up at the end of the semester into three groups: 1) outstanding; 2) generally average; and 3) significantly below acceptable standards. In computing the course grade, the first group gets the class participation component credited as an `A'; the second group has these points dropped out (so they neither help nor hurt); and the third group has them credited as an `F'.
READING AND LECTURE SCHEDULE
Tu July 11 Introduction / Humans before Civilization
Spielvogel xxiii, 1-16; Code of Hammurabi (18th cent. BCE)--write out source analysis; Cuneiform Proverb
W July 12 Civilization Arises / Mesopotamian Civilization
[W July 12 Last Day for Drop / Add ]
Spielvogel 16-31; Hymn to the Nile (c. 2100 BCE) --write out source analysis; The Palette of Narmer; The Rosetta Stone
Th July 13 Egyptian Civilization
Spielvogel 32-54; TIME Magazine (December 18, 1995) Volume 146, No. 25: Are the Bible's Stories True? ; Genesis: The Creation Story; Exodus: 19, 20, 21; Isaiah: 44 and 45
F July 14 The Hebrews / Near Eastern Empires
[F July 14 Last day to drop a course and receive a full refund.]
Spielvogel 55-77; Herodotus on the Battle of Thermopylae (5th cent. BCE); Illustrations of hoplite and naval warfare; Xenophon on the Spartan War Machine (c. 375 BCE)
M July 17 Greek Civilization
Spielvogel 78-82; Sophocles' Antigone (441 BCE)
Tu July 18 Classical Greece / Greek History, Drama, Games, Art
Spielvogel 82-90; Plato's Apology of Socrates (post 399 BCE); Plato's Allegory of the Cave (early 4th cent. BCE); Aristotle's Politics
W July 19 Greek Philosophy / Greek Daily Life
Study for test; Spielvogel 91-97; Plutarch's Alexander (abbreviated) (1st cent. CE)
Th July 20 Test No. 1 / Alexander
Spielvogel 97-120
F July 21 The Hellenistic World / The Rise of Rome
Spielvogel 120-38; The Twelve Tables (451-450 BCE); Polybius on Rome at the End of the Punic Wars (mid 2nd cent. BCE)
M July 24 The Roman Republic
Spielvogel 138-66; Juvenal's Satire III: Against the City of Rome (late 1st / early 2nd cent. CE); Letters of Roman Soldiers (1st/2nd cent. CE); Eutropius (4th cent. CE) on the Reign of Marcus Aurelius (16l-180CE)
Tu July 25 The Fall of the Republic / The Principate
Spielvogel 167-85; Pliny the Younger's Correspondence Concerning Christians (c. 110 CE); Galerius and Constantine: Edicts of Toleration (311/313 CE); The "Vincentian Canon" (434 CE)
W July 26 Christianity and the Later Roman Empire
Spielvogel 185-208; Tacitus's Germania, excerpts; Sozomen (d. c. 450 CE) on the Foundation of Constantinople (324 CE)
[W July 26 Last day to declare pass-fail intentions. Last day to drop a course and receive an automatic W.]
Th July 27 The Heirs of Rome: the Latin West, the Greek East, and Islam.
Spielvogel 209-36; Einhard's Life of Charlemagne (c. 829CE)
F July 28 Carolingian Empire / Birth of Europe
Spielvogel 237-65; Why did the Ancients not Develop Machinery?; Fulbert of Chartres on Feudal Obligations (c. 1020 CE)
M July 31 Western European Civilization Develops
Spielvogel 266-80; Anselm of Bec / Canterbury (d. 1109) on God's Existence; Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274) Summa Theologiae (excerpts); Medieval Students' Songs (10th-12th cent.)
Tu Aug 1 12th-Century Renaissance / Rise of Universities
Study for Test; Spielvogel 280-95
W Aug 2 Test No. 2 / Medieval Architecture / The Rise of the State
Spielvogel 296-325
Th Aug 3 Later Middle Ages
Spielvogel 326-61; Pico della Mirandola On the Dignity of Man (excerpt) (1487); Erasmus In Praise of Folly (1511): excerpts 1, 2, 3, and 4
F Aug 4 Renaissance
Spielvogel 362-86
Martin Luther's Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1519); King Henry VIII of England's Act of Supremacy (1534)
M Aug 7 Reformation
[ M Aug 7 at 2:00 pm Make-Up Exams]
Spielvogel 386-415; Francis Xavier's Letter from Japan to the Society of Jesus in Europe, 1552
Tu Aug 8 "Counter-Reformation" and Wars of Religion
Spielvogel 415-444
W Aug 9 The Nations and Economy of Early Modern Europe
Study for Final
F Aug 11 11:00-1:30 FINAL EXAMINATION