Aug 26 - Salisbury University



World Civilizations 1500 to the present

History 102, Salisbury University, Spring 2005

MW 3-4.15, Henson 101

Professor: Kristen Walton

Office Hours: MW 11-11.50 and by appointment

Office Location: 386 Holloway Hall

Phone: x36502

E-mail: kpwalton@salisbury.edu

Course Description:

Why a course on World Civilizations?

This course is about the history of World Civilizations. During the semester, we will face the task of covering 500 years of history – and we will be studying Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. Obviously, we cannot cover such a chronologically and geographically diverse subject in great depth. We will, however, look at some aspects of World Civilizations in greater detail than other aspects. But we will also demonstrate that history is not simply about dates. The study of history involves literature, economics, religion, politics, science, anthropology, art, theater, international relations, law, and almost any subject you can study here at Salisbury University. The goal of this class is to integrate many different subjects in order to demonstrate some of the reasons why our society has developed into what it is today. In addition, this class aims to show you the importance of critical thinking and various examples of subjective thought.

Course Requirements:

Assessments:

EVERYONE:

Geography quizzes (4) 20% Mid-term examinations (2) 12.5% Each

Cumulative final examination 20% Class Participation 7.5%

Class Presentation 7.5%

Option 1: 7-9pp Research Paper 20%

Option 2: 2 of 3 3-5pp reaction Papers 20% (7.5%, 12.5%)

Your class grade will include one in class presentation that must involve the use of at least one outside book/article related to the day’s assignment. In addition, your presentation will require use of the “smart classroom” via power point or another style of supplementation. The dates for the examinations are firm. I rarely grant extensions for papers. If you have any problems with the examination or the paper due dates, please speak with the Professor in advance of said date. There will be NO extensions on the day. You will always find me much more reasonable when you give me advance notice. All assignments are due as noted on the syllabus. If we will be discussing a topic on a particular day, I will specify the exact reading for that day the class before. I expect each of you to arrive prepared for class and to support each other. Participation means active, not passive “citizenship” in the class. Class attendance will count toward the participation grade. More than three absences during the semester will result in your grade lowering by a full grade (ie. An “A” will become a “B" and each additional absence after 3 will continue to lower your grade). You will note that class participation is 15% of your grade. This will include discussion on documents and possible periodic 1 page analyses of documents to be turned in to the professor.

The due dates for the papers and exams are noted on the course schedule. In addition, your reading assignments are given by the week. Make CERTAIN you have completed the readings before the Thursday class.

For Study assistance for the Map quizzes: I will be using the following web sites for blank maps and those from which you will need to know the information:





Writing Across the Curriculum

Learning to write is one of the most important skills you can learn at college. As a result, this course, in conjunction with Writing Across the Curriculum, will require writing from each and every one of you in the forms of papers, essay exams (there will be NO multiple choice exams), and class notes and periodic exercises. Please utilize my office hours if you have any questions about the class.

There are many sources available for your use via the internet, the library here on campus or the library at College Park, via interlibrary loan. The Library can help you if you need assistance ordering a book from a different library. I may periodically send out emails to you with websites including primary source or other interesting material. I may include this as REQUIRED reading for the course, so make certain you check your email regularly.

The most significant tip I have: do not turn in the first drafts of your papers. That means you need to outline your ideas, write them down, and revise (and revise) them. A first draft is not a final draft. I will be looking for well-written papers with solid content. Conveying ideas in a precise manner is one of the most important aspects of history and other fields. You must cite the sources you use – including e-texts and web-based information, as well as traditional forms of published information. I will be looking for well-written papers with solid content. Do not turn in the first draft of a paper as your final draft. I will be happy to look over papers handed in at least a week before the due date if you have concerns about the work. Conveying ideas in a precise manner is one of the most important aspects of history and other fields.

For your papers, I require you to use either footnotes or endnotes and follow the form denoted by Kate Turabian in the Chicago Manual of Style. In addition, I expect all of your papers and essays to have a Thesis statement and a solid argument. If you use option 1, your long research paper will require the use of at least 3 library secondary sources. You will be required to turn in a topic with a thesis statement and a bibliography in advance of the due date of the paper. If you do not turn in your topic for pre-approval, your grade will automatically be deducted by at least one grade.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

The best learning environment is one based on mutual respect and trust. However, the desire to achieve a good or passing grade without doing the necessary work may tempt some students to engage in acts of "academic dishonesty," including the following:

(1) Plagiarism: presenting as one's own work, whether word for word or in paraphrase, the words or ideas of a website or another author. All sources of information used must be properly cited.

(2) Cheating on exams, tests, and quizzes, including copying from others, the wrongful giving or receiving of unauthorized exam material, and the use of illegitimate sources of information (e.g., "cheat sheets");

(3) Unsanctioned collaboration with other individuals in the completion of course assignments, including examinations;

(4) Falsifying data and use of fraudulent methods in laboratory, field work, and computer work;

(5) Falsifying excuses for non-attendance or completion of assignments.

While some students may try to rationalize or justify these acts as expedient, they are wrong and there are no mitigating circumstances to excuse them. Individuals who engage in academic dishonesty damage the learning environment and their own integrity and character. If you are unclear about what constitutes academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, please ask: ignorance is no excuse. Discovery of academic dishonesty results in stiff penalties for the offender, including a failing grade for the assignment in question and probably a grade of F for the course. The maximum penalty at Salisbury University for plagiarism is possible expulsion from the entire USM system, so for your own sakes, DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. The university catalogue and student handbook provide further details.

Required Readings:

Brummet, et al. Civilization Past and Present

Bernal Diaz, The Conquest of New Spain

Adam Hochschild, King Leopold’s Ghost

Elizabeth Fernea, Guest of the Sheik

SYLLABUS

Week One, 1/26: Introduction

Reading: NONE!

Lectures: General Overview.

PART I: The Age of Exploration

Week Two, 1/31 – 2/2: China Before Exploration Europe on the Eve of Exploration

Reading: Brummet, Chapter 14 (concentrate on China, pp. 374-382), Brummett, Chapter 17

Lectures: Why did Exploration occur?, Fall of Constantinople, Prester John, The Portuguese and turn to America

• Wednesday 2 February. Short Quiz on geography of Europe

Week Three, 2/10 – 2/12: The European Exploration of the Atlantic World: Africa and America

Reading: Brummet, Chapter 17; Bernal Diaz, entire Book (by Thursday)

Lectures: Columbus, Diaz and the Spanish “discovery” of America. The Mission.

Week Four, 2/14: The Clash in America: Conquest and Religion (No Class, 16 February: Option 2 Work on Diaz Papers, Option 1, work on research)

Lectures: The Mission

Week Five, 2/21 – 2/23: The Age of Reformation

Reading: Brummet, Chapter 16;

;

; (Skim, this one is long)

Lectures: The Protestant Reformation, The Catholic Reformation, 16th Century England & Scotland (Henry VIII, the wives, Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots).

• DUE OPTION TWO: Monday 21 February 3 page paper on Bernal Diaz on ONE of the following questions (ALL should be ready to discuss the book)

o What does Bernal Diaz think of the Conquest of New Spain? What are his opinions of the indigenous people? What does he tell you about the early Mexican civilizations? With your general knowledge of European conquest from class and the book, do you think Diaz’s ideas were typical? Why or why not?

o Bernal Diaz attributed the successful Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire, in part, to superior Spanish morale.  Was he justified in this view ? What was the role of Ethics and Religion in the Conquest according to Bernal Diaz? How do the Europeans explain their religion to the Aztecs and how does Diaz describe the native religion?

o Think of Bernal Diaz as an author. Who was his audience (to whom was he writing his account?) Why was he writing it? Do you think his story was colored at all by knowledge of him and author and of his audience? Can you give any examples of where his writings become almost propaganda for his own beliefs?

• DUE OPTION ONE: Monday 21 February - paper topics for approval (include thesis statement and three (3) books you will use from the library).

Week Six, 2/28 – 3/2: The Muslim Empires and India

Reading: Brummet, Chapter 13

Lectures: The Ottomans, the Safavids, and the Mughals

* Monday 28 February, Short Quiz on the Geography of Asia

PART II: The Age of Colonization

Week Seven, 3/7 – 3/9: Europe in Upheaval and Enlightened Thought: the 17th and 18th

Centuries

Reading: Brummet, Chapters 18 & 19

Lectures: The 30 Years War, English Civil War, Scientific Revolution and beginnings of

Enlightenment

Week Eight , 3/14 – 3/16: Enlightenment & American Revolution

Reading: Brummet, Chapter 21, pp. 592-599;

(the Maryland Toleration

Act

Lectures: Enlightenment thought to Revolution: Scotland, France and the American colonies. Exam Review.

• MIDTERM EXAM 1: 1500-1789, Wednesday 16 March.

WEEK NINE: SPRING BREAK: NO CLASS

PART III: The Age of Empire

Week Ten, 3/28-3/30: The French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution

Reading: Brummet, Chapter 22, pp. 621-end, Chapter 23, 24 (skim)

Lectures: The Push of the Industrial Revolution around the world: and its social impact. The rise of Romantic Nationalism, Napolean and his vision of Empire, 1848.

Week Eleven, 4/4-4/6: EMPIRE and Imperialism I: Africa and China

Reading: Brummet, Chapter 25, Chpt 26, 728-731

Lectures: The Scramble for Africa & European Imperialism; Opium Wars in China: opening the Chinese Nation

• Monday 4 April. Short Quiz on the geography of Africa.

• DUE OPTION TWO: Wednesday 6 April - 3 page paper on King Leopold’s Ghost, answering one of the following questions:

o Hochschild writes that Leopold “found a number of tools at his disposal that had not been available to empire builders of earlier times.” What new technologies and technological advances contributed to Leopold’s exploitation of the Congo? Compare what you have learned in this book about the situation in the Congo with the earlier processes of colonization we have discussed. What was similar and what was different? Why did the differences occur?

o Hochschild quotes Roger Casement as insisting to Edmund Morel, “I do not agree with you that England and America are the two great humanitarian powers. . . . [They are] materialistic first and humanitarian only a century after.” What evidence supports or refutes Casement’s judgment? Would Casement be justified in making the same statement today?

o “Imperialism in its purest form may cause pain in the short term in darkest Africa, but in the long term will bring light to the jungles and the natives will thank us for the benefits that ensue: first, bringing Christianity to a heathen population otherwise destined to Hell; second, we will bring modern commerce, with all of its material benefits; finally, we will introduce sound governments and bring an end to the constant warfare that plagues those unfortunate people.”

Discuss this quotation with specific reference to the situation described in King Leopold’s Ghost. You must develop a specific argument that considers the ideal of imperialism as reflected in the above quote, with King Leopold’s version of imperialism in theory and in reality in the Congo.

Week Twelve, 4/11 – 4/13: EMPIRE and Imperialism II: Japan and India

Reading: Brummet, 690-714, 757-766;

Lectures: , Japan and the growth of empire, conflict in the far east

British India: the empire at work: collision of Islam, Hindu, Christian, et al, Mahatma Gandhi.

• DUE OPTION ONE: Wednesday 13 April – Research Paper

PART IV: THE INTERNATIONAL WORLD: the 20th century

Week Thirteen, 4/18 – 4/20: Latin America and dictators

Reading: Brummet, Chapter 21, 587-592; 599-end; Chapter 27, 748-52; Chapter 34, 993-end

Lectures: Growth of Nationalism in Latin America; the rise of authoritarianism, and the growth of Marxism. Questions of the conflict in Colombia

• Monday 18 April. Mid Term Exam 2: The Nineteenth Century

Week Fourteen, 4/25- 4/27: Two World Wars

Readings: Brummet, Chapters 28, 29 and 31

Lectures: World War I and World War II.

• Monday 25 April. Short quiz on the geography of Latin American.

Week Fifteen, 5/2 – 5/4: The Rise of Communism, the Cold War and American Imperialism

Readings: Brummet, Chapter 32-33

Lectures: The results of the Russian Revolution to Glasnost in 1988 and its effects. American Cultural imperialism, Dr. Strangelove.

Week Sixteen, 5/9-5/11: Conclusion: To The 21st Century: The Middle East sand South Asia

Readings: Brummet, Chapter 34, 970-993; Fernea, entire book

Lectures: The Arab-Israeli conflict. What does the middle-eastern world mean to us? India, Pakistan and the Hindu-Islamic conflict. Exam Review.

• DUE OPTION TWO: before the exam – BY 16 May, 3.15pm (you might want to turn it in on the last day of class - 3 page paper on The Guest of the Sheik on ONE of the following questions (ALL should be ready to discuss the book)

o What does Elizabeth Warnock Fernea’s book tell you about the role of women in Iraq during the pre-Saddam era? How were these women, with no apparent outward role in society, helping to form a modern Middle East?

o What was the tribal structure of the village where Fernea was living? Fernea was writing in the middle of the 20th century. When first looking at the book, and Fernea’s accommodation in a mud hut, etc, it appears that she was living in a pre-modern time. From reading further, that perception can change. Did her experience demonstrate a culture that was “modern” in your mind or was it still more “medieval?” Why do you think it was one or the other?

o Although this book was written about pre-Saddam Iraq, how does it help you to understand the current situation in the country?

*FINAL EXAM: Monday 16 May, 3.15pm. Location to be discussed in class.

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