Dr.
Doug Campbell, Office: LC- 320
Office
Hours
docampbell@nvcc.edu
The
best way to get in touch with me outside of class is through email,
which I check several times a day during business hours. If you need to
meet with me in person, making an appointment is always a good idea,
even if you want to meet during my office hours. While I am usually in
my office during office hours, sometimes I may briefly be away from
desk to make
copies, check my departmental mail, meet with colleagues, etc.
Making an appointment is the most effective way to ensure you
won't have to wait.
You just happen to be lucky enough to have enrolled in a class on the
history of western civilization. Seriously. History is
enormously interesting, and I love teaching it. If
I do my job correctly, you will love learning about it. And
of course, not only is history fascinating, but it's also valuable in
an intellectual sense. Learning about how people lived in the
past can help broaden your horizons, making your outlook less parochial
and more cosmopolitan. It's sort of like traveling to a
foreign country without the discomfort of a long, uncomfortable plane
ride. History, of course, can also inform your understanding of the
present by showing you the deeper roots of problems and trends in the
contemporary world. And finally, a well-taught history course
is chock full of practice in all sorts of useful skills that employers
are interested in, such as critical thinking, analyzing documents, and
crafting well-written arguments based on evidence. So history
can be interesting, can enrich your intellectual life, and make you
more
money. What could be more awesome?
One
thing to keep in mind with this course, however, is the fact that
learning is not a spectator sport. You can't just sit back
passively and expect to get anything near the full benefit of this
class. You need to be actively engaged in your own
education. I certainly have to play my part, and I
promise to do my best to present an interesting and dynamic class which
offers you all sorts of opportunities to learn cool stuff.
The actual learning is your job, though. To put it another
way, I can cook the most delicious banquet imaginable, and set the
table in the most attractive way possible, piling it high with all
sorts of fabulous delicacies. But in the end, you're the one
who actually has to eat the meal. So if you're going to take
this class, I'll ask you to make a conscious decision to engage in all
of the opportunites available to you, and to commit to coming to all of
the class sessions, to participating in an active and thoughtful manner
in all of our class discussions, to completing all of the assigned
readings, and to submitting all of the required assignments.
If you do, I promise it will be worth your while. Your place
at the table is set, and you are invited....
Stuff
the College makes me include:
Course
Description
Examines
the development of western civilization from ancient times to the
present. Part I of II. Lecture 3
hours per week.
General Course Purpose
Surveys
the general history of the Western world from about 3000 BCE to 1600 CE
and allows students to
reach a basic understanding of the characteristic features of the
Western world's early historical development
in that span of time. Students will learn about some of the important
political, economic, social, intellectual,
cultural and religious changes that shaped the development of the West
from earliest times.
Course
objectives
Upon
completion of the course, the student will be able to:
- Establish a chronology of historical events in the Western
world before 1600 CE.
- Explain the changing geopolitical structures of the Western
world up until 1600 CE.
- Define the importance of key individuals and developments
in Western civilization before 1600 CE.
- Identify the social, economic and political forces at work
in the evolution of early and medieval Western history.
- Recognize and describe the significance of some of the
cultural achievements of ancient and medieval Western civilization.
- Analyze complex historical sources and materials and reach
conclusions based on interpretations of those materials.
Course
Prerequisites: None
NOTE:
This is a hybrid course, so approximately 50% of your
work will
involve online materials and activities. This means you must
have
convenient, regular access to an internet-enabled device to
successfully complete this course, and you should plan on spending at
least as much time completing online viewing assignments and discussion
board conversations as you do on the "in person" parts of the class.
Our primary goal is to investigate what it means to be human by looking
at what humans were like in the past. To that end, this class is going
to use several themes as "lenses" through which to examine the human
past. The themes are:
Religion: What is
religion? What role does it play in human societies? Is religion an
essential part of being human?
Government: What are
the origins of human governments? What are the various forms
that government has taken over the centuries? Which forms work best?
Which are worst?
Gender: Are
different social roles for men and women essential or arbitrary? How
have human opinions on gender, marriage, and sexuality changed over
time?
Social Class:
Are
inequalities in wealth and power inherent, appropriate parts of human
life or evils to be overcome? On what basis should wealth and
power be allocated?
There
are of course plenty of other lenses through which to look at the past,
but these are a good start and should give plenty of interesting
questions to examine for one class.
There
are no books you need to purchase for this class. We will be making
use, as much as possible, of Open Educational Resources (OER) which are
available online for free.
Even
though we have left the more traditional paper textbook-oriented model
of a history class behind, however, this course still requires you to
do a great deal of reading, writing, and, above all,
thinking. You should take the course readings seriously, and
make sure to keep up with the reading assignments described below in
the Class Schedule.
You
will especially need to make sure to complete all of the readings
labeled as "Primary Sources" in the schedule for a given week before
you come to class that week, because we will usually be discussing
those.
It
doesn't matter whether you choose to complete the readings using an
internet-enabled electronic device or you prefer to print them out and
read them the old fashioned way. No matter how you do it though, you
should consider all of your readings carefully. Taking notes on them,
marking the most important passages, and jotting down any
questions you might have is highly encouraged.
Your
overall grade for the class will consist of the following
elements. Any student who misses more than 2 consecuative
weeks of
class without notifying the instructor with a valid and documented
excuse may be administratively withdrawn from the course by the
professor. Any
student who fails to complete more than one of the required assignments
may be administratively withdrawn from the course by the professor. No
work for the course will be accepted
after Dec. 15-- No exceptions!
Scores
will be posted on Blackboard, and will be accompanied by general
comments about the strengths and weaknesses of your work. If you would like a more detailed
description of aspects of the assignment which could be improved, just
ask me and I will be happy to provide one.
Grading
Scale
Points
|
Final
Course Grade |
900-1000 |
A |
800-899 |
B |
700-799 |
C |
600-699 |
D |
599
and Below |
F |
NOTE:
The
Grade Center in the course's Blackboard page may indicate that your
point total is "out of" a certain number of points, or that your grade
is equivalent to a certain percentage. Please pay no attention to any
of that! The only thing that matters in determining your
grade
for the class is the total number of points you have earned in
comparison to the grading scale listed above.
Guidelines
for Conduct During Class Meetings
Disruptive Behavior:
Please be considerate. Disruptive behavior will not be
tolerated.
Private conversations during lecture or class discussions, ringing
mobile phones, texting, sleeping, or walking into class late or out of
class early all distract and disturb your instructor and your
classmates, and will count against your participation grade.
Repeated instances of rude behavior may result your removal from the
classroom. If you have a question or a comment on
the
course material, please raise your hand to be recognized in order to
share it with the class.
Electronic Devices:
The
use of electronic devices is permitted in classes only with the
approval of the professor, and with the understanding that such devices
are to be used only for class-related purposes. Class is not
the
time to browse the internet, send or read email, use social media or
game. Electronic devices may be stored by the professor at his
discretion at the front of the room for the duration of the class
meeting if it seems like they are becoming an obstacle to student
learning.
Abuse:
Any student who seems to be under the influence of alcohol or
intoxicating drugs, or who is abusive or violent will be referred to
campus police immediately.
Make-Ups:
For exam sessions, make-ups will not be given other than in the case of
a genuine emergency with appropriate documentation (ie, emergency room
documents, court summons, etc.) Missing class due
to not
feeling
well, not being able to get a ride, having to work, and the like are
not genuine emergencies. Please plan
ahead!
Accommodations:
Students requiring special accommodations for assignments or exams
should have the appropriate forms from the Disability
Support Service
(DSS). Forms should be given to me no fewer than
7
days before the date the assignment or exam requiring the accommodation
is due, and preferably at the very beginning of the semester.
College
Closings: If the
College is closed because of
inclement weather or some other emergency on a day on which class
normally meets, I may substitute some sort of online assignment for
that particular class session. It is the your responsibility to check
the course's Blackboard page and your College email account in a timely
manner in order to receive information on the substitute assignment and
when it is due.
Guidelines
for Written Work
Formatting: Papers
should be double spaced, using
12 point Times New Roman font and one inch margins. All
papers
must be word processed and submitted through Blackboard as files in
.doc, .odt, .pdf, or .rtf format (No .pages format submissions, please!
Click here
for instructions on submitting assignments). E-mail
submissions will not be
accepted. See this rubric
for a more detailed description of how you will be graded.
Style and Grammar:
All of your work for this class must present a
main argument or thesis which addresses the question(s) posed by the
assignment, should support that argument with evidence, and should be
written in grammatical and stylistically correct English.
Make sure to proofread and use spell-check. For
information on writing papers for this class, make sure to read my Tips
for History Papers page. You also might want to
consult the following handy websites:
NVCC
Loudoun's Writing Center
Patrick
Rael, "Avoid
Common Mistakes In Your History Paper"
Steven
Kreis, "Writing
the Short Essay"
Citations:
You MUST
include a formal citation any time you refer to a specific
passage in a text, even if you do not quote the text
directly.
The required method for citing sources in this class is the Chigago
Manual of Style's
format, which is the standard for the discipline of
history.
According to this format, at the end
of
any sentence or paragraph drawn from a specific part of a source, you
insert superscript number which corresponds to a footnote at the bottom
of the page with the appropriate
bibliographic information. Number your footnotes
consecutively. Consult the
previous
web link for more detailed information on citations in this format.
You
also might find this video on "Inserting
Chicago Style Footnotes and
Endnotes Using Microsoft Word" helpful.
EVERY
PAPER you complete for this class should include a bibliography at the
end
listing all of the sources you consulted (even if the list includes
only one source). You bibliography page does not count toward
the
page length of your assignment.
Plagiarism:
Any student caught plagiarizing or cheating in this course will be
subject to appropriate disciplinary action, including at a minimum no
credit whatsoever for the assignment or exam in question (No
exceptions!!!). Particularly flagrant
instances of
cheating or multiple instances of plagiarism will result in a grade of
"F" for the course. Procedures for disciplinary measures
and appeals are outlined in the NOVA
Student Handbook.
Please
note that even copying a sentence or two from another source without
citing it is enough to trigger a plagiarism penalty.
Likewise,
changing a word here or there from content which you copy is still
plagiarism. Your work should be entirely in your own words
except
for the passages which you quote and appropriately cite.
For
a bit more discussion on why you will probably get caught if you try to
use the web to plagiarize, see "How
Dumb Do They Think We Are?" by Jonathan Malesic.
All of your papers for the class will be checked for plagiarism by
SafeAssign software.
Late Work:
Late papers and projects will be accepted for one week after the due
date with a one
letter grade penalty. After one week, late papers and projects will no
longer be
accepted. Late discussion board posts or exams will not be
accepted at all.
Guidelines
for E-Mail Communication
The
easiest way to contact me outside of class is through e-mail.
In
order to receive a response to your message, however, your e-mail must
contain the following elements, which are all part of the basic
etiquette for professional correspondence:
- Your
full name, the name of the class, and the day and time when it meets in
the title of your message.
- Appropriate
salutations
and signatures (for example, you should begin your message
"Dear Professor," or "Dr. Campbell," and conclude with your name).
- Correct
grammar and punctuation.
Messages sent using "text-ese" or rude or abusive
language will be ignored (b/c it makes u look ignorant d00d)!
I
have on
average between 150-200 students a semester, so you need to provide me
with as much information as possible if you want a timely answer to
your message.
Please
allow at least 48 hours before following up. If you haven't
received a response within a couple of days, however, feel free to nag
me.
Description of Course Elements |
Attendance and
Participation
Attendance Policy:
Given the fact that participation is part of your grade, your
attendance is expected at every class meeting. You are
allowed
one unexcused absence for the semester. You will only receive
credit for attending a class session if you are present when I take
roll at the beginning of class. More than one absence without
a
valid excuse will affect your grade for the course. Students
who
miss more than 2 consecutive weeks of class without notifying the
instructor with a valid and documented excuse may be administratively
withdrawn from the course.
Preparedness: You
should make sure that you have completed the assigned readings and any
required assignments BEFORE you walk into the first class meeting that
week,
especially the readings labelled as "Primary Sources."
You may be asked to discuss both readings and
assignments, so you should have access to them during class either by
bringing hard copies or through the use of any appropriate electronic
device (NOTE: Smartphone screens are too small to really be useful for
this purpose-- use a laptop or a tablet).
Participation:
A portion of your grade will be determined by the degree to which you
participate in the class discussions on the discussion readings (see
Course Schedule).
You should come to class each
session
having
completed all the required readings and ready to discuss
them. I
reserve the right to give unannounced quizzes on any reading
material for the week. Please make sure to adhere to the guidelines for class conduct.
Behavior which distracts me and your classmates will count against your
participation grade.
Over
the course of the semester, you should complete at least 8 short
discussion board posts and responses, which are worth 25
points each. If you choose to complete more than the required 6
postings, you will receive extra credit for each extra one you
complete. Late
discussion board posts are not accepted.
There are complete descriptions of each of the discussion
prompts in
the Course Schedule,
but
each should be about half a page long, should
present a main argument or thesis which addresses the question(s) posed
by the prompts, should support that argument with evidence, and
should be written in grammatical and stylistically correct English.
Your post must make it clear that you have watched the
assigned video. Generally, you are also asked to respond to at least
two of your
classmates' posts within 24 hours of the due date for the initial post.
Your responses should contain some sort of substantial
comment ot
follow up question relevant to the post in question (Simply responding
"I agree!", "Me too", and the like do not count as substantial
responses). Please follow
the guidelines
for written work in this class.
Assignment |
Due
Date |
Introduction DIscussion Board Post
|
August 24 |
"Guns, Germs, and Steel" Discussion Board Post |
August 31 |
"Life
and Death on the Nile" Discussion Board Post |
September 14 |
Biblical Archaeology DIscussion Board Post |
September 21 |
Greek Democracy Discussion Board Post |
September 28 |
Julius Caesar Discussion Board Post |
October 12 |
New Testament Discussion Board Post |
October 26 |
Medieval Lives Discussion Board Post |
November 16 |
Conquest Discussion Board Post |
December 7 |
Reflective Discussion Board Post |
December 14 |
Hammurabi
Document
Analysis
Paper
Read
the Code
of Hammurabi, and then write a paper at least two
double-spaced pages long which answers the following question: "What
does this document tell us about attitudes toward gender and social
class in
ancient Babylon?"
You
should make sure to refer to or quote specific examples from the
document in order
to support your arguments, and to cite them using Chicago-format
footnotes.
Please follow the guidelines
for written
work in this class. See this rubric
for a more detailed description of how you will be graded.
Plato and
Deuteronomy Comparative
Analysis Paper
Read
the Excerpts
from the Book of Deuteronomy (5, 9, 12-13, 21-22)
and Plato's Euthyphro,
and then write a paper at least two double-spaced pages long which
answers the following question: "According to Socrates in Euthyphro, what is the nature
of piety (ie, holiness, religious ethics) ?
What do you think Socrates would have to say about the vision
of religious ethics in the Book of Deuteronomy? In what ways
did Greek philosophy and ancient Jewish monotheism seem to have
approached religious ethics differently?" Make
sure especially to reference the famous Euthyphro Dilemma: "Is the
pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious
because it
is loved by the gods?”
You
should make sure to refer to or quote specific examples from the
documents in order
to support your arguments, and to cite them using Chicago-format
footnotes.
Please follow the guidelines
for written
work in this class. See this rubric
for a more detailed description of how you will be graded.
You should select a website dealing with the topic you are using for
your
Reseach Paper
and compare it with an article on the
same basic subject from a history-focused
scholarly journal (see below
for more detailed information on how to find a scholarly journal
article). Websites
should contain orignal content, and cannot be primary source documents,
encyclopedia/Wikipedia articles, or
reprints of articles published elsewhere. These two
sources must be approved by the professor before you can proceed any
further with this assignment. Your
proposed sources for the Source Criticism Paper should be
uploaded as part of the Prospective Bibliography for the Research Paper using this
form.
Make
sure to check the professor's feedback on your Prospective Bibliography
to see if your sources were approved, or if you need to
resubmit the form.
Once
your sources are approved, you should read them and then, in a paper at
least two double-spaced pages long, write a comparative analysis
addressing the following main question: "Which of these two
sources would be most useful to scholar researching this topic?"
Your analysis also ought to
consider the following secondary questions:
- Is the
author of each source identified? If so, what is his or her
level of expertise with the subject matter?
- What
is the main argument of each source?
- Does each
source specify its evidence or sources of
information? If so, what sorts of evidence are cited?
- Given what
you know about the subject matter from the rest of your research, how
reliable and accurate is each source?
- What are the
relative strengths and weaknesses of each source?
You should mention the
title of the website and the title of the article, the name of the
journal, and the name of the author of the scholarly journal article in
the introduction of your paper. You should
also include the full bibliographic citations for each in a
bibliography page.
Please follow
the guidelines
for written work in this class. You
do not need to include footnotes for this assignment unless you quote
either of your two sources directly, or you consult
some source
other than the sources you are analyzing. See this rubric
for a more detailed description of how you will be graded.
How To Find A Scholarly Journal Article:
A
scholarly journal is a periodical which contains research-based
articles and reviews by established scholars in a given field.
These sorts of journals are geared towards a professional or
academic audience, and are intended to serve as an intellectual
resource rather than to earn a profit for the publisher. In
order
to have an article published in a scholarly journal, an author
must submit it to the editorial board of the journal first.
The
editors then will have the prospective article reviewed by other
scholars in the field. Only an article which passes through
this
process of evaluation by recognized experts ("peer review") can be
published in a scholarly journal. All scholarly journal
articles
meticulously document their sources of information and contain ample
foot or endnotes. While some scholarly journals make some or
all
of their content available on the web, a genuine scholarly journal is
also always published in paper form so it can become part of the
collections of research-oriented libraries. Consult the NOVA
Library's page on scholarly journal articles for more
information on what distinguishes a scholarly journal from other sorts
of periodicals.
Just
a few examples of some of the most prominent scholarly journals dealing
with ancient or medieval history include The American Historical Review, The
Journal of Ancient History, The Journal of Roman Studies, Greek, Roman,
and Byzantine Studies, Classical Antiquity, Clio, The Medieval Review,
Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies, Renaissance
Quarterly, The
Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, and Past and Present (This
is not a complete list-- there are many, many more!). Please
note that magazines like History
Today, National
Geographic Magazine, and American History certainly
contain interesting material, they are intended for a popular audience
rather than a professional academic one, and hence do not qualify as
scholarly journals.
Not
too terribly long ago, the only place one could go to access a
scholarly journal was an academic library. These days,
however,
many journals allow readers to access their contents online. The best
place to start is JSTOR,
a service which provides the full text of articles from several hundred
different scholarly journals. You can use JSTOR for free by
accessing it through the NVCC Library's site.
You
can access JSTOR from the NOVA library's homepage. Go to http://www.nvcc.edu/library/
Click on
the
"Articles" tab;
then
click
"Databases by Subject";
the
click
"History (HIS)";
then
click
"JSTOR" and login with the same id you would use to access My NOVA.
Once
in JSTOR,
you should select the "advanced search" option, scroll down to "Narrow
by Item Type" and click the "Articles" box, and then scroll down again
to "Narrow by discipline and/or publication title:" and click the
"History" box.
Then plug in your search topic and see what comes up.
You also
might want to consult the Research
Guide for this class prepared by the College research
librarians.
You should
select a scholarly
monograph (ie, a book written on a specialized topic by a
recognized scholar) dealing with the topic you are using for your
Reseach Paper.
This book cannot be an encyclopedia, a sourcebook, a
children's
book, or a collection of essays or historical documents. The book you have chosen must be
approved by the professor before you can proceed any further with this
assignment.
Your
proposed scholarly monograph should be
uploaded as part of the Prospective Bibliography for the Research Paper using this
form.
Make
sure to check the professor's feedback on your Prospective Bibliography
to see if your scholarly monograph was approved, or if you need to
resubmit the form.
Once your scholarly monograph is approved, you should read it and then,
in a paper at least two double-spaced pages long,
write book review addressing the following main question:
"How useful would this book be to scholar researching
this topic?" Your analysis also ought to
consider the following secondary questions:
- Who is the
author, and what is his or her
level of expertise with the subject matter?
- What
is the author's main argument ?
- What
specific sorts of evidence are cited to support the argument?
Are any primary sources cited?
- How
successfully does the evidence support the author's argument?
- Is the book
clear and well-written?
- Are there
any other weaknesses?
Please
note that you should definitely not comment on whether you found the
book entertaining or boring. I certainly hope you enjoyed the
book, but whether you did or not is not actually relevant to a
consideration of how useful the author's work might be to scholars and
researchers.
The
title of your paper should be the full bibliographic citation of the
book you are reviewing (author,
title, publisher, year,
pages) in Chicago
format. See
the following links for more infromation on how to write a scholarly
book review.
How
to Write a History Book Review
Writing
a Book Review
To
find an appropriate scholarly mongraph, I would recommend that you
consult the NOVA
library's website. You can easily order any book
from any NOVA campus' library and have it delivered to the campus of
your choice. There are also quite a few books available as
e-books as well.As a NOVA
student you have borrowing privileges at GMU’s
libraries. To check
items out you must have a valid
NOVACard and a copy of your registration for the current semester.
For more information, visit the GMU Circulation webpage.
Visit the GMU
Library website to search
for
titles.
You
also might want to consult the Research
Guide for this class prepared by the College research
librarians.
Please follow
the guidelines for
written work in this class. You do not
need
to include footnotes for this assignment unless you quote the book
directly, or you consult some other source. See this rubric
for a more detailed description of how you will be graded.
As
the capstone of your work in the course, you will complete a
Research Paper which is at least 4 double-spaced pages long, and which
draws together all of the skills you have acquired over the course of
the semester.
Research
Question:
Your
paper should attempt to answer a specific question relevent
to the subject matter of the coursewhich
deals with one or more of the themes of
the course (religion, government, gender, and social class) and discuss
how it/they have changed over time.
The
themes themselves are too broad to be the focus or your paper, so your
topic should narrow the focus down in some way (For example, the topic,
"What was religion in Western Civilization like?" is too
broad). On the
other
hand, I would like you to pick a topic that allows you to examine
changes over a considerable span of time and across several different
historical societies. Here are some sample research questions as
examples.
You are
free
to pick one of these or suggest your own. As a
reminder, you will
also have to pick two of the ancient or medieval societies listed below
to examine for the question.
- How did religion influence government and vice versa?
(themes: religion and government)
- What did marriage customs reveal about gender roles in
the past? (theme: gender)
- What role did slavery play in past social and economic
systems? (theme: social class)
- How did ancient religion transition from polytheism to
monotheism? (theme: religion)
- What were the lives of peasants like in the
past? (theme: social class)
- What were the lives of the upper class like in the
past? (theme: social class)
- How did government work in the past, and from where did
its authority derive? (theme: government)
- What were women's lives like in the past, and how much
say did women have in how those lives were lived? (theme:
gender)
- What role did religion play in justifying the insitution
of slavery in the past? (theme: social class and religion)
- How accepted were same-sex relationships in the past?
(theme: gender)
- What role did the military play in government in the
past? (theme: government)
- What did ancient or medieval atheletics reveal about
ideals of masculinity in the past? (theme: gender)
- What role did women play in religion in the past? Was
religion liberating or restrictive for women?(theme: relgion)
- How much of an impact did wealth have on government in
the past?
Did the wealthy rule, or good the poor also have some power? (theme:
social class)
- How did religion and philosophy interact in past
societies? Were
they in competition or did they compliment one
another? (theme:
religion)
In
addition to selecting a research question, your paper should also deal
with at
least two of the following ancient or medieval societies:
- Ancient Mesopotamia (including Sumeria, Babylonia, Assyria,
etc.)
- Ancient Egypt
- The Persian Empire
- Ancient Israel
- Classical Greece (including the various city-states such as
Athens, Sparta, Macedon, etc.)
- The Roman Republic and Empire
- The Byzantine Empire
- The Islamic Empire
- Medieval Europe (including France, England, the Vikings,
the Holy Roman
Empire, etc.)
Proposed
paper
topics
should be sent to the professor by June 13. Any topic
changes
later in the semester must likewise be approved by the professor.
Sources:
In terms
of evidence, you should feel free to draw from
sources
you have already considered for your other course work. At a
minimum, however, your paper must refer to and correctly cite:
- At
least 5 Primary
Sources (either online or in print)
- At
least 1 Scholarly
Journal Article (you learned about these in your Source
Criticism Paper)
- At
least 1 Scholarly
Monograph (you will have read and reviewed one for your Book
Review Paper)
- At
least 5 Other Secondary Sources (either online or in print)
Here are a few links to online
collections that include primary source documents:
- World
History Sources. Browse
by region or time period, or
type your topic in the Search box. When viewing results of your
search, the "F" icon represents primary source documents.
From George Mason University.
- Ancient
History
Sourcebook (Fordham University). A "classroom
usable"
sourcebook of copy-permitted primary sources and material for Ancient
history and civilization courses.
- Medieval
History
Sourcebook (Fordham University). This is an online
source book of
copy-permitted, primary source material for Medieval Studies. It is
the largest online resource of medieval and Byzantine textual
sources.
- The Avalon
Project. A variety of primary documents from
4000 BCE to the modern era. From Yale University Law School.
- World
Digital Library - Library of
Congress. The World Digital Library (WDL) is a
project of the U.S. Library of Congress, and makes available on the
Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant
primary materials from all countries and cultures.
You
should make sure to refer to or quote specific examples from the
sources in order
to support your arguments, and to cite them using Chicago-format
footnotes. Please follow
the guidelines
for written work in this class. See this rubric
for a more detailed description of how you will be graded.
The
relevant due dates and point worth of the various elements of the
Research Paper are as follows:
Research
Paper Element |
Description |
Points |
Due
Date |
Topic
Proposal |
You
should fill out and submit this form
describing the research question which you would like to
examine, which theme(s) you will be
examining, and the two ancient or medieval societies on which your
paper will focus. |
5 Points |
Sept.
14 |
Prospective
Bibliography |
You
should fill out and submit this form,
which includes a list of all of the sources which you intend
to use in your paper.
|
40
Points |
Oct.
14 |
Thesis
Statement Draft |
You
should
submit a draft of your thesis statement for the paper. The
statement should clearly and specifically state the main argument(s)
which you intend to
make in your research paper. Your thesis draft does not need
to be any longer than a single sentence, but itmust be submitted at least 48
hours before your Finished Research Paper in order to receive credit. |
5 Points |
Nov.16 |
Finished
Research Paper |
You
should submit a final draft of at least 4 double-spaced pages which
advances a clear main argument regarding your topic, and which supports
that topic with specific evidence drawn from the primary and secondary
sources listed in your bibliography. |
150
Points |
Nov.
30 |
There
are two exams for
this course which are each worth 50 points and which will be taken
online outside of class. The
Midterm Exam deals with material from the first half of the course and
the Final Exam deals with material from the second half. Each
exam will feature a 10 item Map Quiz and 20 multiple choice questions,
and an essay. You will have 120 minutes to complete each exam
For the Map Quiz, you will be given a list of ten locations from the
following list and asked to place them on a blank
map of the Western World.
Baghdad |
Nile
River |
Sumer |
Constantipole |
Athens |
Sparta |
Aachen |
Florence |
Rome |
Greece |
Mediterranean
Sea |
Alexandria |
Carthage |
Jerusalem |
Babylon |
Persepolis |
Danube
River |
France |
Black
Sea
|
Mecca |
Italy |
London |
Judea |
Spain |
Arabia |
Rhine
River |
Norway |
Paris |
Vienna |
Scotland |
Volga
River |
Spain |
Hungary |
Tunisia |
Medina |
Russia |
You
are allowed to use your notes for these exams. Any books,
articles, or online materials you use for the essay MUST be
appropriately cited, however.
Good Luck
Week 1 |
In Person August 23:
|
|
Online
this Week: |
Required Introduction Discussion
Post, Due by 11:59pm, Aug. 24 |
You
should post an introduction on the
appropriate class discussion board.
- Your introduction should
include a brief description of your background, interests outside of
class, and how the course will help you to achieve your goals in
life.
- You should also pick the one of the cognitive
biases described in the readings for Week 1 and discuss why think you
are particularly susceptible to it.
- Then you should also read all of the postings
by your classmates
and respond to at least 2 of them.
Students who do not complete this assignment may be withdrawn
from the
course. |
|
Week 2 |
In Person August 30:
|
|
Online
this Week: |
Videos to Watch: |
"The
Agricultural Revolution: Crash Course World History #1,
(2012, 11:00 min.)"
"Guns,
Germs, and Steel: Out of Eden,
(2004, 54:19 min., requires MyNOVA login to view). " |
Guns, Germs,
and Steel Discussion Post, Due by 11:59 pm, August 31. |
Write
a post of at least 100 words answering the
following questions. "According to Jared Diamond in 'Guns,
Germs, and
Steel: Out of Eden,' what factors best explain the greater prosperity
of the Fertle Crescent in comparison to New Guinea? Do you find his
argument
convincing? How is the topic relevant to a discussion of the
origins
of Western Civilization?" and post it to the appropriate class
discussion board.
Your
post must make it clear that you have watched the assigned video. Then
you should also read all of the postings by your classmates
and respond to at least 2 of them in some substantial way. |
|
Week 3 |
In Person September 6: |
|
Online
this Week: |
|
Assignments
to Complete: |
|
Week 4 |
In Person September 13: |
|
Online
this Week: |
Videos to Watch: |
"Thebes,
Part 1: Life on the West Bank of the Nile (2009, 26:47 min.,
requires MyNOVA login to view)"
"Thebes,
Part 2: Death on the West Bank of the Nile (2009, 27:24 min.,
requires MyNOVA login to view) "
|
Life and Death on the Nile
Discussion Post, Due by 11:59 pm, Sept. 14
|
Write
a post of at least 100 words answering the
following questions: "After viewing 'Thebes Parts 1 and 2,'
describe at least two interesting things you learned about Egypt which
relate to the themes
of the class (religion, government, gender and social class).
Why
did you find these things intriguing?" and post it to the
appropriate class
discussion board.
Your
post must make it clear that you have watched the assigned video. Then
you should also read all of the postings by your classmates
and respond to at least 2 of them in some substantial way.
|
|
Assignments
to Complete: |
Topic Proposal for the Research
Paper due by 11:59
pm, Sept. 14 using this form.
Make sure to check the professor's feedback on Blackboard to
see
if your topic has been approved, or if you need to resubmit this
assignment.
|
|
Week 5 |
In Person September 20: |
"The Origins
of Monotheism"
|
Primary Sources to Read Before
Class: |
Excerpts
from The Book of Genesis (1-3, 6-8, 22);
Excerpts
from the Book of Deuteronomy (5, 9, 12-13, 21-22).
|
Secondary Sources to Read Before
Class: |
Campbell, "Ancient
Religion," "Evolution
Toward Monotheism, "Israelite
Religion;"
Kreis,
The
Akkadians, Egyptians and the Hebrews."
Damen, "Akhenaten
and Monotheism," "The
Old Testament and Its Authors."
|
|
Online
this Week: |
Videos to Watch: |
"Did
King David's Empire Exist?: The Bible's Buried Secrets, Part I"
(2011, 52:23 min., requires MyNOVA login to view)
"Did
God have a Wife?: The Bible's Buried Secrets, Part II" (2011,
51:51 min., requires MyNOVA login to view)
|
Biblical Archaeology
Discussion
Post, Due by
11:59 pm,
Sept. 21
|
Write
a post of at least 100 words answering the
following questions: "After viewing 'Did King David's Empire
Exist?: The Bible's Buried Secrets, Part I,' how well do the findings
of archaeology match the content of the Bible? Should the
Bible be used as a source to study ancient history? Why or
why not?" and post it to the
appropriate class
discussion board.
Your
post must make it clear that you have watched the assigned video. Then
you should also read all of the postings by your classmates
and respond to at least 2 of them in some substantial way.
|
|
Week 6 |
In Person Septmeber 27: |
"Classical
Greece"
|
Primary Sources to Read Before
Class: |
Excerpts
from the poetry of Sappho
of
Lesbos, c. 630
BCE;
Aristotle
on the Good Wife
BCE |
Secondary Sources to Read Before
Class: |
Damen,
"Archaeology:
Troy and Heinrich Schliemann;"
Kreis,
"Homer
and the Greek Renaissance, 900-600BC," "The
Athenian Origins of Direct Democracy," "Classical
Greece, 500-323BC;" "
Greek Thought: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle," "From
Polis to Cosmopolis: Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World,
323-30 B.C. "
Kreis, "Early
Roman Civilization, 753-509BC," "
Republican Rome, 509-31BC," "Augustus
Caesar and the Pax Romana," "
A Brief Social History of the Roman Empire,"
"The
Decline and Fall of Rome," "Byzantine
Civilization,"
Damen,
"Roman
Cults and Worship;"
"The
Fall of Rome: Facts and Fictions;" "Architecture:
Culture and Space," |
|
Online
this Week: |
Videos to Watch: |
The
Greeks: Crucible of Civilization-Part 1, (1999, 45:56 min.,
requires MyNOVA login to view)
The
Greeks: Crucible of Civilization-Part 3, (1999 40:41
min., requires MyNOVA login to view) |
Greek Democracy Discussion Post,
due by 11:59 pm, Sept. 28
|
Write
a post of at least 100 words answering the
following questions: "Based
on the circumstances described surrounding the rise of Athenian
democracy in 'Crucible of CIvilization, Part 1,' what are some of the
advantages of rule by the people as a system of government.
Based
on the events described in Part 3, what are some of the advantages and
drawbacks of
democracy?" and post it to the appropriate class
discussion board.
Your
post must make it clear that you have watched the assigned video. Then
you should also read all of the postings by your classmates
and respond to at least 2 of them in some substantial way.
|
|
Week 7 |
In Person October 4: |
"Greek Culture and the Hellenistic
Era"
"Christianity and Islam" |
Primary Sources to Read Before
Class: |
Plato, Euthyphro.
This is not
the easiet source to read. You might wish to consult this outline,
which does a good job of succinctly summarizing some of what is
discussed in the dialogue.
|
Secondary Sources to Read Before
Class: |
Kreis,
"
Greek Thought: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle," "From
Polis to Cosmopolis: Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World,
323-30 B.C.,"
Kreis,
"
Christianity as a Cultural Revolution," "The
Church Fathers: St. Jerome and St. Augustine,"
"Islamic
Civilization;"
Damen,
"Early
Christianity and the Church," "The
Nature and Triumph of Islam;"
Campbell,
"Early
Monotheism;" |
|
Online
this Week: |
|
Assignments
to Complete: |
|
Week 8 |
In Person October 11: |
|
Online
this Week: |
Videos to Watch: |
The
Roman
Empire. Or Republic. Or...Which Was It?: Crash Course World History #10
(2012, 12:25 min.)
Rome:
Rise of an Empire. 3. Julius Caesar, (2008, 44:50 min.,
requires MyNOVA login to view)
|
Julius Caesar Discussion Post,
due by 11:59 pm, October 12
|
Write
a post of at least 100 words answering the
following questions: "After viewing 'Rome: RIse of an Empire 3. Julius
Caesar,' what are the circumstances that allowed Caesar to assume
control of the Rome? Do you think he thought he was destroying the
Republic or saving it? Are any of these lessons relevant to the modern
American republic?" and post it to the appropriate class
discussion board.
Your
post must make it clear that you have watched the assigned video. Then
you should also read all of the postings by your classmates
and respond to at least 2 of them in some substantial way.
|
|
Assignments
to Complete: |
Prospective Bibliography for the Research
Paper due by 11:59
pm, Oct. 14 using this form.
Several of the sources you propose here will also be used for the Source Criticism Paper
and the Book Review Paper.
Make sure to check the professor's feedback on Blackboard to see if
your sources have been approved, or if you need to resubmit this
assignment.
|
|
Week 9 |
In Person October 18: |
|
Online
this Week: |
|
Assignments
to Complete: |
|
Week 10 |
In Person October 25: |
|
Online
this Week: |
Videos to Watch: |
From
Jesus to Christ, Part 2, (PBS, 1998, 51:09 min.)
From
Jesus to Christ, Part 3, (PBS,1998, 51:10 min.) |
New Testament Discussion Post,
Due by 11:59 pm, October 26 |
Write
a post of at least 100 words answering the
following questions: "After Watching 'From Jesus to Christ, Part 3,'
how clear a picture of the life of the historical Jesus can we get from
the New Testament documents? How are these documents useful
for understanding Christianity?" and post it to the
appropriate class
discussion board.
Your
post must make it clear that you have watched the assigned video. Then
you should also read all of the postings by your classmates
and respond to at least 2 of them in some substantial way. |
|
Week 11 |
In Person November 1: |
|
Online
this Week: |
|
Assignments
to Complete: | |
Week 12 |
In Person
November 8: |
|
Online
this Week: |
|
Assignments
to Complete: |
|
Week 13 |
In Person
November 15: |
|
Online
this Week: |
Videos to Watch: |
The
Dark
Ages...How Dark Were They, Really?: Crash Course World History #14
(2012, 12:07 min.)
Medieval
Lives: The Peasant (2004, 29:11 min.)
Medieval
Lives: The Monk (2004, 28:51 min.)
Medieval
Lives: The Damsel (2004, 29:11 min.)
Medieval
Lives: The Knight (2004, 29:09 min.) |
Medieval Lives
Discussion Post, Due by 11:59 pm, Nov.16 |
Write
a post of at least 100 words answering the
following questions: "After viewing the various 'Medieval
Lives' videos, describe at
least two interesting things you learned about medieval Europe which
relate to
the themes
of the class (religion, government, gender and social class).
Why did
you find these things intriguing?" and post it to the
appropriate class
discussion board.
Your
post must make it clear that you have watched the assigned video. Then
you should also read all of the postings by your classmates
and respond to at least 2 of them in some substantial way. |
|
Assignments
to Complete: |
Thesis
Statement Draft for the Research Paper
due by 11:59 pm, Nov. 18. You should submit a draft of
your thesis statement for the paper. The
statement should clearly state the main argument(s) which you intend to
make in your research paper. Your thesis draft does not need to be any
longer than a single sentence. |
|
No Class November 22
(Thanksgiving)
Week 14 |
In Person November 29: |
"The Crusades
and the High Middle Ages" |
Primary Sources to Read: |
Urban
II
(1088-1099): Speech
at Council of Clermont, 1095, Five versions of the
Speech;
Geoffrey
Chaucer, "Prologue"
from The Canterbury
Tales |
Secondary Sources to Read: |
Kreis,
"The
Medieval World View,"
"The
Holy Crusades," "The
12th Century Renaissance,""Heretics,
Heresies and the Church" "Aquinas
and Dante," "Satan
Triumphant: The Black Death," "In
the Wake of the Black Death."
Damen,
"The
Crusades and Medieval Christianity;" "Man
and Disease: The Black Death."
|
|
Online
this Week: |
|
Assignments
to Complete: |
|
Week 15 |
In Person December 6: |
|
Online
this Week: |
Videos to Watch: |
The
Renaissance: Was it a Thing? - Crash Course World History #22
(2012, 11:32 min.)
The
Renaissance, Reformation, and Beyond: Towards a Modern Europe
(1997, 24:52 min., requires MyNOVA login to view)
Columbus,
de Gama, and Zheng He! 15th Century Mariners. Crash Course: World
History #21 (2012, 10:37 min.)
Guns,
Germs, and Steel: Conquest (2004, 54:49 min., requires MyNOVA
login to view)
|
Conquest Discussion Post, Due by
11:59 pm, Dec. 7 |
Write
a post of at least 100 words answering the
following questions. "According to Jared Diamond in 'Guns,
Germs, and
Steel: Conquest,' what factors best explain the European conquest of
the Americas? Do you find his argument
convincing? Why or why not?" and post it to the appropriate class
discussion board.
Your
post must make it clear that you have watched the assigned video. Then
you should also read all of the postings by your classmates
and respond to at least 2 of them in some substantial way. |
|
Week 16 |
In Person December 13: |
|
Online
this Week: |
Reflective Discussion Post, due
by 11:59 pm Dec. 14 |
Describe
one thing that you think was helpful about the course, and one
thing that you think could be improved. Then describe one
thing that
you did well in your work for the class, and one thing about
your work
that you would like to improve in the future. You are encouraged to
respond to your classmates' posts as well.
|
|
Assignments
to Complete: |
|