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HIST 101 – Modern Western Civilization. Sections 003 and 007
Dr. Ken Kirkland
Fall Semester 2011 TR 12:30 – 1:45 Aylesworth C111 (Section 007) TR 3:30-4:45 Clark A101 (Section 003) Office : Clark C Office hours: TR 2:00 – 3:00 and by appointment Phone : 720-939-7290 (cell) E-mail : [email protected]
This syllabus is for both sections of the course. Although the meeting times and places are different, the content, textbooks, weekly schedules, and course assessments are identical for both courses. I’m not on campus on Monday, Wednesday or Friday; please feel free to e-mail me or call my cell when I’m not available on campus. There is a graduate assistant assigned to each section; please be sure you know which section you are in before you contact your GTA.
Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTA)
Section 007: Jenny Deichman
Phone : 303-884-
Section 003: Samantha Arbeiter
Thoughts on History
“I think you will like history, as I liked it when I was your age, because it deals with real persons and everything in their lives; seeing all the men and women of the world come together in society to work, to struggle and to better themselves cannot help but please you more than anything in the world”. Antonio Gramsci, writing from Fascist prison to his son Delio, 1935.
“History is series of arguments to be debated, not a body of data to be recorded or a set of facts to be memorized. Thus controversy in historical interpretation – over what an event actually means, over what happened at an occurrence called “an event”, and over how best to generalize about the event – is at the heart of its value.” Robin W. Winks
Contents
Required texts: .................................................................................................................... 2
Course Objectives: .............................................................................................................. 2
Grading method: ................................................................................................................. 2
Turning in papers and exams. ............................................................................................. 4
Deadlines and Grades. ........................................................................................................ 4
Attendance .......................................................................................................................... 4
Class behavior: .................................................................................................................... 4
Academic Integrity.............................................................................................................. 4
RamCT ................................................................................................................................ 5
Course Outline .................................................................................................................... 5
Guidelines (Rubric) for Critical Book Review ................................................................... 6
Guidelines for Take-Home Essay Questions ...................................................................... 8
Required texts:
Coffin, Judith and Stacey, Robert, Western Civilizations, Second Brief Edition, Volume 2, New York: W.W.Norton, 2009. ISBN:978-0-393-93236- Wiesner, Ruff, and Wheeler, Discovering the Western Past, Volume II (Sixth Edition), New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008. ISBN:978-0-618-76611-
Course Objectives:
HIST 101 provides a broad overview of the changes in European civilization during the period from the end of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) to the present. In particular, I will be focusing on the growth of royal absolutism in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the changes in worldview that came about during the Enlightenment, the French Revolution and its aftermath, the rise of industrialization in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the impact of nationalism and socialism on nineteenth century liberal society, and the growth of European imperialism. In the last part of the course, we will focus on the origins and impact of World War I, and the resultant growth of Fascism, Nazism, and Communism, leading up to WWII, including some discussion of the Holocaust. We will then focus on postwar European society up through the collapse of the Soviet Union, including the growth of the European Community.
Grading method:
In-class group projects. There will be eleven small group class discussions around the readings from Discovering the Western Past. In addition, there will be a required group discussion following the showing of the film Night and Fog on December 1. These will be followed by a short written assignment from the group summarizing the results of the discussions. This assignment will be turned in at the end of the class period. Your class participation grade will be based on the results of these projects. Since they constitute 25% of your grade, it will be impossible to get a good grade for the semester without regular attendance and participation. The dates for these projects are listed on the class schedule below; for example, the discussion over Chapter 2 (royal absolutism) will be on Thursday, September 8. Your groups will have about 45 minutes to complete the discussion and the written assignment; the discussion will typically take place during the latter part of the class session. The discussion must focus on answering the questions for that chapter, using the documents in that chapter to support your answer. The discussion questions will be available on RamCT a few days before the discussion takes place. You may make up a missed discussion by following the instructions posted on RamCT (on the page where the discussions are available). Make-ups are to allow for illness or unavoidable absence; they are not a substitute for attendance and participation. Therefore, you may not make up more than two of the discussions without my prior written approval. Critical Book Reviews. Each student will complete two critical book reviews on topics related to the course. I must approve the choice of book before you complete the review, unless you choose a book suggested by the textbook or from the reading list. The due dates for these reviews will be staggered over the semester (that is, not all of them will be due at the same time). Details on how to write the reports are in the rubric below.
Turning in papers and exams.
Exams and term papers are due by the end of the class period on the date indicated on the syllabus. You may also turn in papers at the history department office (Clark B356) or e-mail them to me, as long as they reach me prior to the deadline. If you e-mail assignments, you must attach the file to your message. When you e-mail the document, please include your name and the assignment in the title of the file, such as “John Smith Critical Book Review Number One.doc”. I will always send you a reply if you e-mail me an assignment; if you don’t get one within 24 hours, assume that the e-mail did not go through and contact me to resend it.
The file must be in a format I can read, or I will count it as late. I can read documents produced in WordPerfect, Microsoft Works, or Microsoft Word 2007 (and earlier versions).
Deadlines and Grades.
I recognize that there will be circumstances when, for legitimate reasons, you will be unable to make a deadline. However, if you cannot turn your assignments in by the due date, you must contact me ahead of time to make alternative arrangements. If you turn in an assignment late without making prior arrangements, then I will reduce your grade for that assignment by 10% for each calendar day it is delayed.
Attendance
Exams will be based on lectures, text readings, and class handouts. It will be difficult to get a good grade without attending class regularly, taking good notes, and participating in class activities.
Class behavior:
This is a college class, and students are expected to behave accordingly. The instructor and your fellow students are sensitive to noise and rude behavior. Please be respectful of them and avoid carrying on cell phone conversations, talking in class, noisily eating food, and the like. On the other hand, please don’t be shy about asking questions during or after class if something is not clear to you.
Academic Integrity
This course will adhere to the Academic Integrity Policy of the Colorado State University
General Catalog, and the Student Conduct Code. You must include and sign the following
Honor Pledge in all written assignments. [Note: for book reviews, the pledge is included in
the required scoring rubric]
HONOR PLEDGE: "I have not given, received, or used any unauthorized assistance on this assignment."
Plagiarism – the copying of language, structure, ideas, or thoughts of another, and
representing them as one’s own without proper acknowledgement – is strictly prohibited.
Plagiarism will result in sanctions ranging from receiving a zero for the assignment through
failing the course; the University may take additional disciplinary action. I will give you a
grade of 0 for any assignment that you plagiarize, even if the plagiarism is only part of what
you turn in. If you receive a 0 grade, you will not have an opportunity to make up the
assignment. Remember that paraphrasing or changing a few words can still be plagiarism. I
will report plagiarism to the appropriate University authorities. Simply put, do not quote
other people’s work unless you put it in quotation marks and provide the source from which
you took it.
RamCT
This class will be supplemented by the use of RamCT. I will use RamCT to post the syllabus, exams, due dates for book reviews and other class handouts, as well as to provide Web links for various course topics. Generally speaking, I will post most lectures on RamCT before they are delivered in class (although I often revise them, so check to be sure you have the most recent version). The discussion questions will always be posted a couple of days prior to the discussion. You will also be able to access your grades for each assignment as they are completed. If you expect to do well in the course, you should be logging on to RamCT at least two or three times a week.
Course Outline
The following outline shows the general topics to be covered by the course, the chapter readings from Western Civilizations: (the main textbook) which you should have completed to keep pace with lectures, discussions and exams, and the days on which we will have discussions from the Discovering the Western Past book. In both cases, the schedule shows when the reading should be complete; in the case of discussions, it also shows when we will do the class discussions.
Note: The following schedule is subject to change; I will provide updates in class and post them on RamCT as circumstances change.
Month Day Topic Area Western Civilizations
Discovering the Western Past: Assignments for group projects
Due Dates
August 23 Introduction and Class Organization; Religious and Political Wars 25 The Continent Chapter 14 30 England September 1 Chapter 15 Book review due dates posted on RamCT 6 Louis XIV and absolutism 8 Science and Enlightenment
Chapter 16 2
13 Spread of the Enlightenment
Chapter 17
15 Dual Revolutions: Political and Economic
Chapter 18 3
20 22 French Revolution and Napoleon
Chapter 19 4
27 29 5 October 4 Chapter 20 6 Liberalism, nationalism, and socialism and 1848
Chapter 21 6 First Exam due
11
Any memoir or work of military history that focuses primarily or exclusively on American experiences, even if they are in a European location, such as Band of Brothers. Any book that focuses primarily or exclusively on non-European history, such as American or Asian topics. There is nothing wrong with those topics, but they are not the subject matter of this course.
A critical book review is a close and reflective reading of a book on a topic related to the course subject matter. “Critical” does not mean that you must be negative about the book, but it does mean that you are thoughtful in your review. The critical book review must include the following elements (for each element, the maximum number of points – out of 100 – which can be awarded, follows the item). Your review must be at least four full pages, but not more than eight pages, double-spaced. If you think you need additional pages to do the topic justice, contact me for approval first.
Important Note: If you are reviewing a primary source, such as an autobiography or memoir, or a work from the time period, follow the directions in the rubric listed below for a primary source. If you don’t know the difference between a primary and a secondary source, or you are not sure into which category the work you have chosen falls, check with me first before writing.
Begin with a listing of the book’s author, title, and publication information, as though you were listing the book on a “Works Cited” page. Use Chicago/Turabian style; see http://lib.colostate.edu/research/style.html for details). (5)
Why did you choose this book to read? How did you select this rather than some other book? (7)
Identify the topic of the book, and summarize its contents and conclusions. (35)
If your book is a primary source, follow the directions in part a); if your book is a secondary source, follow the directions in part b). If you don’t understand the difference, check with the professor or the graduate TA before you write the review. a) What does this book tell you about the period of the past in which it was written? (10) b) What are the author’s qualifications to write the book? Frequently you may find this information in a forward, afterward, or brief biography of the author included in the book. If that information is not available, try a Google search of the author’s name. What might lead you to believe (or not) that the author is a trustworthy source of information on the topic? (10)
If your book is a primary source, follow the directions in part a); if your book is a secondary source, follow the directions in part b). If you don’t understand the difference, check with the professor or the graduate TA before you write the review. a) How does this book help you to understand this period of the past better?(10) b) Does the author have a particular approach to the subject? For example, is a biography of a person trying to show something in particular about that person’s life or career? Is the author attempting to make an argument, or persuade the reader of a particular approach or interpretation of the events or persons that he/she is describing? (10)
If your book is a primary source, follow the directions in part a); if your book is a secondary source, follow the directions in part b). If you don’t understand the difference, check with the professor or the graduate TA before you write the review.
a) Every author has a particular view or approach to the subject matter she or he is describing. What is the approach of this author? How do you know?(10) b) If there is a thesis or an argument to the book, how convincing is it? Why (or why not) do you find it convincing? (10)
What kinds of evidence does the author use to support the points he or she is trying make in the book? (10)
Did reading the book change your view of the topic that the book covers? What is different about how you understand the subject after having read the book? (8)
How does the approach taken in the book compare to what you learned about the subject from the textbooks, lectures, or class discussions in this course? If we have not yet covered this topic in this course, how does this book compare with what you have learned about this subject elsewhere?(5)
Guidelines for Take-Home Essay Questions
Your take-home essay exams will be graded according to the following criteria. The exams will be graded on a 100 point scale, with 100 being a perfect score. The first four criteria are each worth 25 points. If all four are done successfully, you should have a perfect score. However, please note that even a perfect score will be reduced if you have factual errors, excessive grammar and spelling mistakes, or if your exam is late without letting me know in advance, as discussed in points five through seven.
Essays should be four to eight pages in length (double-spaced); if you think you need more length than that, contact me for approval before you turn it in. You should be able to answer the questions using the information in the textbooks and the lecture notes (and perhaps information from your book reviews) without doing any outside research. However, if you do use any outside sources, be sure to footnote them and list them on a “Works Cited” page at the end of your essay. If you quote any source, be sure to footnote it. If your quote is from one of the textbooks, just use an in-text citation such as “Coffin & Stacey, page 185”; otherwise, follow the Chicago/Turabian style for notes and citations. (http://lib.colostate.edu/research/style.html)
IMPORTANT NOTE ON SOURCES : If you want to use Internet sources, you need to use them with care, since they vary widely in reliability. In particular, YOU MAY NOT USE WIKIPEDIA AS A SOURCE; I WILL TAKE POINTS OFF IF YOU DO. Because Wikipedia is written by amateurs, and because anyone can change the information at any time, it is not a reliable source of accurate information, particularly where modern history is concerned. In general, the closer you get to the present in modern history, the less accurate and the more partisan the articles tend to be.
- Focus on the question. Generally, the questions require you to consider an interpretation of historical information. Read the question carefully to be sure that you have answered the question which is being asked. If you are not sure you understand a question, ask about it in class or consult with me or the GTA before you turn in your examination.
- Answer the entire question. In many cases, a question may have multiple parts. Be sure that you address every one of them in your essay.
- Be specific. Don’t make broad generalizations without providing specific examples to support your generalizations; if you say that a certain period underwent a change from X to Y, follow that with a sentence that says “For example…” If the question asks you to
