History 112

History 112

World Civilization since 1600

Dr. Doug Campbell, docampbell@nvcc.edu
Office Hours In LC-320: Mondays 11 am-12:30pm, Wednesdays, 10-11am ,or by appointment.
Office Hours via Zoom Appointment: Tuesdays, 12-1:30 pm, Thursdays, 6-7pm;
Email me at least 24 hours in advance to schedule an appointment if you need to consult during office hours.

Note: This is a "Hybrid" online class, which means that half of the class sessions will be conducted on Thursday evenings at 7 pm through a synchronous Zoom session, while the other half will feature asynchronous online activities such as online documentary viewings and discussion board posts which can be completed at any point before the specified due date.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, NOVA and the state of Virginia mandates everyone wear face coverings while indoors on campus for everyone's safety. Free masks are available at the campus Parking and NOVACard office. You are also encouraged to take advantage of one of the several safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19 which help protect both you and those around you. NOVA also offers a $250 incentive for all vaccinated students, and a $75 incentive for booster vaccinations. Thanks for your help!

Welcome

Themes

Readings

Grading and Due Dates

Expectations

Description of Course Elements

Course Schedule

Welcome to History 112

You just happen to be lucky enough to have enrolled in a class on the history of the world. 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 fun, 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 opportunities 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

Surveys Asian, African, Latin American, and European civilizations from the ancient period to the present. Part
II of II. Lecture 3 hours per week.

General Course Purpose

Surveys the general history of the world from about 1600 CE to the present and allows students to reach a
basic understanding of the characteristic features of the world's historical development from 1600 CE to the
present. Students will learn about some of the important political, economic, social, intellectual, cultural and
religious changes that shaped the development of the world’s civilizations in this period of time.

Course objectives

Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:

Establish a chronology of historical events in the world since 1600 CE. (Addresses general education objectives C and D under information literacy.)
Explain the changing geopolitical structures of world civilizations up until 1600 CE. (Addresses general education objective A and E under culture and social understanding.)
Define the importance of key individuals and developments in world civilizations since 1600 CE. (Addresses general education objective C and D under information literacy.)
Identify the social, economic and political forces at work in the evolution of the world’s modern civilizations. (Addresses general education objectives A and E under cultural and social understanding.)
Recognize and describe the significance of some of the cultural achievements of world civilizations since 1600 CE. (Addresses general education objective C under culture and social understanding.)
Analyze complex historical sources and materials and reach conclusions based on interpretations ofthose materials. (Addresses general education objectives A and B under communication and objective d under critical thinking.)

Course Prerequisites: None

Themes

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:

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?

Race: What is race? Are the supposed distinctions between racial groups real or simply imagined? Why has racial thinking played such a significant role in the modern era? To what extent has racism served to justify prejudice and social inequality?

Social Class: Are inequalities in wealth and power an inherent part of human life or an evil 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.

Readings

You must have access to the following text:

Peter von Sivers, Charles A. Desnoyers and George B. Stow, Patterns of World History, volume 2, brief 4th edition, Oxford University Press, 2020, ISBN 9780197517048.
Previous editions of this textbook cover similar material and are probably an acceptable substitute, but students using older editions do so at their own risk.

We will be making use of various free online readings on a weekly basis. Make sure to regularly consult and keep up with the reading assignments described below in the Class Schedule.

Course readings should be completed BEFORE you log into the class for which they are assigned. It is especially important to read the primary sources assigned each week. Taking notes on them, marking the most important passages, and jotting down any questions you might have is highly encouraged.

Grading and Due Dates

Your overall grade for the class will consist of the following elements. No work for the course (other than the Final Exam) will be accepted after May 1 -- no exceptions!

Scores will be posted on Canvas, 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.

Course Element	Points	Due Date
Attendance and Participation	10%	Every Class Session
Discussion Board Posts	15%	Every Week
Source Criticism Paper (2 pages)	10%	Source Proposal due February 20 Finished Paper due February27
Imperialism Paper (2 pages)	10%	March 6
Midterm Exam	5%	March 20
Annotated_Bibliography, Part 1	10%	April 3
Annotated_Bibliography, Part 2	10%	April 10
Final Project	25%	Topic Proposal Due February 13 Finished Project Due April 29
Final Exam	5%	May 5

Grading Scale

Percentage	Final Course Grade
Above 90%	A
80-89%	B
70-79%	C
60-69%	D
Below 60%	F

Expectations

You will need access to the internet and word processing software for this class. You should be familiar with using Canvas (the College's learning management system) in order to submit assignments and view your grades, and you should regularly check announcements posted to the course Canvas page and your NOVA email account, which are the only ways I have of getting in touch with you outside of class.

Guidelines for Conduct During Class Meetings

You are responsible for being present and attentive during class. Late arrival to class may result in being marked as absent for the class session.

Disruptive Behavior: Please be considerate. Disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. Private conversations during lecture or class discussions 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.

Announcements: If there is something I need to communicate to the class, I will post an announcement to the course Canvas page. It is the your responsibility to check the course's Canvas page and your College email account in a timely manner in order to receive information on the substitute assignment and when it is due. You should adjust the settings of your Canvas account to make sure that you are promptly notified.

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 the appropriate College authorities.

Course Content Warning: Lectures and course materials may contain disturbing content, including, but not limited to: violence, sexual assault, war crimes, genocide, mental or physical illnesses or disabilities, discrimination or persecution on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and/or sexual orientation, etc. If you have been personally impacted by one or more of these topics and suffer from PTSD, please email the professor if you would like prior notification of lectures containing discussions of the effecting topics.

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.

Guidelines for Written Work

Formatting: All written work should be double spaced, using 12 point Times New Roman font and one inch margins. All papers must be word processed and submitted through Canvas as files in .doc, .odt, .pdf, or .rtf format (no .pages format files, please). 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/Turabian 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 a footnote at the bottom of the page with the appropriate bibliographic information. Consult the previous web link for more detailed information on citations in this format. You can also check out sites like Citation Machine or EasyBib, which can help you format footnotes or entries for your bibliography pages.

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!!!). Procedures for disciplinary measures and appeals are outlined in the NOVA Student Handbook. Particularly flagrant instances of cheating or multiple instances of plagiarism will result in a grade of "F" for the course.

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 Turnitin software.

Late Work: Late papers and assignments will receive a one letter grade late penalty. The Attendance and Participation activities associated with our class meetings and the Discussion Board posts depend on your active interaction with your classmates, and cannot be completed late.

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:

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.
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 two 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. Please note that you should definitely not come to class if you suspect you may have an infectious illness. Let me know and I can excuse the absence-- thanks!

Preparedness: You should make sure that you have completed the assigned readings and any required assignments before you walk into the class meeting that week. 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.

You are expected to treat your fellow students with respect and a spirit of generosity and good-will. If you have a problem with one of the other students that you are unable to resolve on your own, please contact the professor for guidance and assistance.

Group Leadership

Discussions in smaller groups will be a frequent feature of the class. At least 2 times over the course of the semester, each student will serve as the leader of their group for class discussions. The group leader is responsible for noting which group members are present and participating in the discussion, and should help guide the group's conversation so that the form associated with that particular discussion has been completely filled out. The group leader will also share the group's findings with the rest of the class, if applicable, for that particular class session. Finally, the group leader should also turn in the appropriate completed form through Canvas at the end of the class session, and should submit a brief paragraph describing what they did to prepare and how they helped to facilitate the discussion.

Discussion Board Posts

In addition to the class sessions, every week students will be asked to view various online video lectures and documentaries, and to participate in a series of online discussion boards.

Accessing the videos. Many of the videos are accessible through the NOVA Library website. If the link supplied does not work when you click it, log into MyNOVA, then go to the the NOVA Library's webpage list of video databases, click on "Video On Demand" and search for the title of the video you need to watch.

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 or follow up question relevant to the post in question (Simply responding "I agree!", "Me too", and the like do not count as substantial responses). You may miss up to 2 online discussion posts without penalty this semester. Please follow the guidelines for written work in this class.

Discussion	Due Date
Introduction Discussion Post	January 23
Mayan Discussion Post	January 25
Mughal India Discussion Post	February 1
Enlightenment Discussion Post	February 8
Revolution Discussion Post	February 15
Industrialization Discussion Post	February 22
Imperialism Discussion Post	March 1
Great War Discussion Post	March 15
Communism Discussion Post	March 22
Nanking Massacre Discussion Post	March 29
Nuclear Weapons Discussion Post	April 5
Cultural Revolution Discussion Post	April 12
Rwandan Genocide Discussion Post	April 26

Imperialism Paper

Read the excerpts from F.D. Lugard's The Rise of Our East African Empire (1893) and Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth (1961) , and then write a paper at least two double-spaced pages long which answers the following questions: "According to Lugard, what were the main benefits of European imperialism in Africa, and who were its beneficiaries? How did Fanon believe that European imperialism worked and how did he think those living under colonial rule should respond? How do you think Fanon would respond to Lugard's claims of European benevolence?" You should make sure to have a clear thesis statement, to refer to 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, and make sure to check the "Tips for History Papers" page before turning in your final draft. See this rubric for a more detailed description of how you will be graded.

Source Criticism Paper

You should select a website dealing with the topic you are using for your Final Project and compare it to a scholarly article written within the past 50 years 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). Then in a 2 page, double-spaced paper write a comparative analysis of the two articles as sources of historical information. Websites should contain original 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 for approval using this form. Make sure to check the professor's feedback to see if your sources were approved, or if you need to resubmit the form.

Once your sources are approved, you should write a paper at least two double-spaced pages long with a main argument which answers this major question: "Which of these sources is more useful to a scholar researching this particular subject?" Your analysis also ought to address the following secondary questions:

Is the author of each article identified? If so, what is his or her level of expertise with the subject matter?
What is the main argument of each source? (note, this is not the same thing as a simple description of the subject matter-- what is the author trying to say about this subject?)
Does each article specify its evidence or sources of information? If so, what sorts of evidence are cited?
Given what you know about the subject matter from reading your textbook and attending class, how reliable and accurate is each article?

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, and make sure to check the "Tips for History Papers" page before turning in your final draft. See this rubric for a more detailed description of how you will be graded.

How To Find A Scholarly Journal Article:

This video walks you through the process of finding a scholarly journal article using the NOVA Library and JSTOR: 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 modern world history include The American Historical Review, The Journal of World History,The Journal of African History, Modern Asian Studies, The Journal of Near Eastern Studies, The Journal of Latin American Studies, The Journal of Modern History, Central European History, The Russian Review, French Historical Studies, Historische Zeitschrift, Journal of British Studies, and Victorian Studies (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. Log into My NOVA and then go to http://www.nvcc.edu/library/

Click on "Research Databases by Subject";
the click "History (HIS)";
then click "JSTOR"

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.

Annotated Bibliography (Parts 1 and 2)

An annotated bibliography is an organized list of sources. It differs from a straightforward bibliography in that each reference is followed by a paragraph length annotation. The Annotated Bibliography is part of your Final Project. You should provide annotations for the sources that will then be used in the Final Project. Sources should be directly related to the Final Project’s topic. Annotations should be a brief paragraph (about 100 words) long.

Part 1 of your Annotated Bibliography should include:

At least 5 Primary Sources (either online or in print). For primary sources, you should be looking for documents which were originally written during the time period you are trying to study. While architectural or archaeological remains certainly do qualify as primary sources which can be used by scholars to reconstruct the past, they are problematic for an assignment like this. Written documents from the past should be your focus!

For each of the Primary Sources in Part 1 your annotation should include:

Bibliographic information according to Chicago style.
The name and background of the author, if known.
The date the document was originally written, if known.
The author’s purpose in writing the document and its historical context.
Any bias displayed by the author.
The significance of the document (ie, how are its contents important to an understanding of the topic?)

See the description of the Final Project below for a list of sites to begin finding relevant primary sources.

Part 2 of your Annotated Bibliography should include:

At least 5 Secondary Scholarly Sources, including:

At least 1 Scholarly Journal Article (you learned about these in your Source Criticism Paper)
At least 1 Scholarly Monograph (A book length scholarly study by one author)
For the other 3 secondary sources, you should use high quality scholarly sources, and avoid using the textbook, encyclopedia articles, or anonymously authored websites.

For each of the Secondary Sources in Part 2 your annotation should include:

Bibliographic information according to Chicago style.
The name and scholarly background of the author (education, publications, university appointments, etc.)
The author’s main argument (note, this is not the same thing as a simple description of the subject matter-- what is the author trying to say about this subject?).
The specific types of evidence used to support the author’s main argument (are they primary sources? Scholarly secondary works?)
How successful/convincing is the author’s argument?

Please follow the guidelines for written work in this class.

Final Project

The capstone assignment for this class is the Final Project. For this assignment you should select one of the following option. No matter what option you choose, you will need to produce the equivalent of 6 double spaced pages worth of text (approximately 1250 words), and to draw upon at least 5 primary source documents (text, not images) and 5 scholarly secondary sources. See below for more detailed descriptions of what each option requires:

A Research Paper

A “Day In The Life” Video

A Travel Log Website

Do Your Own Thing (If You Can Convince Me): You can also propose your own format for a Final Project, but you will need to explain why you think this particular format is interesting and a good way to discuss your particular topic. If I agree, I will approve the proposal; if not, you will need to pick one of the other Final Project formats. The format also will need to meet the same requirements as the others in terms of both page length/word count and number and types of sources used. Power Point or other slide-based presentations are extremely boring, and definitely will not be approved.

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). Your primary sources should be roughly evenly divided between the two societies which you are examining.
At least 1 Scholarly Journal Article (you learned about these in your Source Criticism Paper)
At least 1 Scholarly Monograph (essentially a book by a scholar focused on one narrow historical subject relevant to your research topic)
At least 3 Other Secondary Sources (either online or in print)

For primary sources, you might consult the following resources (some of these sites also contain secondary sources as well):

Directory of World History Primary Sources

The World Digital Library
The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy.
Cambridge Digital Library.
Hanover Historical Texts Collection.
Finding World History Sources.
The Women's Library at LSC.
The Modern History Sourcebook.
The African History Sourcebook.
The East Asian History Sourcebook.
The Indian History Sourcebook.
The Islamic History Sourcebook.
The Jewish History Sourcebook.
The Women's History Sourceboo k.
The Victorian Web.
Women in World History
German History in Documents and Images.
Marxists Internet Library.
Asia For Educators (Primary Sources on China, Japan, Korea, South Asia, and South East Asia)
Seventeen Moments In Soviet History

The relevant due dates and point worth of the various elements of the Final Project are as follows:

Final Project Element	Description	Due Date
Proposal	You should submit a Final Project Proposal using the relevant link in Canvas which describes the option and topic. You may not turn in an Annotated Bibliography or a finished Final Project without getting your Topic Proposal approved in advance.	Feb. 13
Annotated Bibliography, Parts 1 and 2	You should submit a bibliography of the sources which you intend to use for your Final Project. The bibliography should include at least 5 primary sources (historical documents from the past) and 5 scholarly secondary sources (including at least one scholarly journal article and one scholar monarch). Each source should be accompanied by a brief paragraph of analysis (See the Annotated Bibliography assignment description for more detailed information).	Part 1: April 3 Part 2: April 10
Finished Final Project	You should submit a Final Project using the appropriate link on the course Canvas page. See below for complete descriptions of the various Final Project Options.	April 24

Research Paper Option:

For this option you will write a Research Paper which is 6 double spaced pages (approximately 1250 words) long, and which draws upon and correctly cites at least 5 primary source documents (text, not images) and 5 scholarly secondary sources.Your paper should attempt to answer a specific question relevant to the subject matter of the course which deals with one or more of the themes of the course (race, government, gender, and social class) and discuss how it/they have changed over time. Your topic cannot primarily deal with American history.

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 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, "Gender in World History" is too broad). Here are some sample research questions. You are free to pick one of these, modify one of these to deal with another region, or to suggest your own. Note that you should be thinking not just in terms of questions which interest you, but also about what sorts of sources you can find in languages which you read. It's no good to come up with a fascinating topic on which you are unable to find evidence.

What role did religion play in reinforcing racism during the imperial age? (theme: race)

How have attitudes toward sex and sexuality changed in Africa during the past century?(theme: gender)

What does the rise of spectator sports in Europe between 1900-2000 reveal about ideals of masculinity? (theme: gender)

What was life like under communism behind the Iron Curtain, 1945-1989? (theme: government)

What are the political roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? (theme: race, government)

What role did economic inequality play in the origins of political revolutions in 19th century Latin America ? (theme: government and social class)

What was working class life like in Britain during the Industrial Revolution? (theme: social class)

How and why did Fascism become popular in Interwar Europe? (theme: government and race)

Was the Vietnam War primarily about Cold War issues or was it a war on national liberation? (theme: government)

What role did racism play in justifying Western imperialism? (theme: race)

What role did Anti-Semitism play in leading to the rise of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust? (theme: race)

What factors explain the Japanese attempts to conquer large parts of Asia during the 1930s and 1940s?(theme: government)

How have women's lives in the Middle East changed over the course of the 20th century? (theme: gender)

How did feminism change the way women lived in modern France? (theme: gender and government)

What was the impact of Enlightenment ideas on the Haitian Revolution? (theme: government)

To what extent were Marxist ideas important to the decolonization movements in Africa during the 20th century?(theme: government and social class)

“Day In The Life” Video Option:

For this version of the Final Project you will need to choose a time period and region relevant to some aspect of the subject matter of this class. Then select three different people to portray. They can be either specific individuals from history, or different types of people (ie, from different social classes, professions, nationalities, ethnicities, genders, etc.). Your topic cannot primarily deal with American history.

Once your characters have been approved, you should craft a video of approximately 5 minutes (so 15 minutes total), where each character introduces themselves and discusses what their daily life is like. Consider discussing topics such as the character’s work, living conditions, family relationships, food, political and social opinions, etc. The idea is to provide as vivid, interesting, and historically accurate portrayal as possible. Feel free to use appropriate accents or slang if you like. You can use friends or family members in your videos if you like, as long as you are the one who writes the script.

Important stuff that you shouldn’t forget:

Your video should advance a clear, specific argument or thesis about what the lives of the three people portrayed reveal about the particular era in which they lived.

You also should include a list of all of your sources at the end of the video.

All final project videos must be posted on YouTube or Vimeo. You must upload the link for the instructor to grade. Do not set your video to “private” or select any other access restrictions. It must be public for the instructor to grade.

In order to receive a grade for the Final Project, you must submit your written script and a link to the video using the appropriate link in Canvas.

Here are some suggestions for software to use when editing your videos:

iMovie

Movie Maker

Final Cut Express

Camtasia

WeVideo

Travel Log Website Option:

For this version of the Final Project you will need to choose a time period and region relevant to some aspect of the subject matter of this class. Then select at least five specific geographic sites or events to discuss. These can be specific buildings or monuments, neighborhoods, dwellings, shops, taverns, battles, revolutions, speeches, spectacles, festivals, ceremonies, etc. Your topic cannot primarily deal with American history.

Once your choice has been approved, you should craft a written narrative in which you visit each of the sites in turn, describing what you witness at stop along your journey. Make sure to mention what you see, hear, small, taste, do, etc. The idea is to provide as vivid, interesting, and historically accurate portrayal as possible. It is up to you whether you adopt the persona of a traveler from the time period in question, or travel back in time in some manner. You’ve got a lot of leeway here-- be creative!

Your finished product should be in the form of a website which is posted online, and which is viewable by anyone. The website should be a visually interesting as possible, and should include a variety of (correctly sourced and cited) images and/or maps.

Important stuff that you shouldn’t forget:

Your Travel Log website should advance a clear, specific argument or thesis about what the sites visited and/or events witnessed reveal about the nature of life at that particular place and time in history.

You also should include a list of all of your sources somewhere in the website.

The website should be publicly viewable, and should not require a password to access.

In order to receive a grade for the Final Project, you must submit the weblink for your Travel Log website as well as a .pdf, .doc, or .rtf file containing the text of your Travel Log (so it can be checked for plagiarism) using the appropriate link in Canvas.

Here are some suggestions for free public web hosting for your website:

Google sites

Blogger

Wix

Weebly

WordPress

TravelDiaries

Exams

There are two unproctored exams for this course which are to be completed at home and submitted through Canvas. You can use any notes, course readers, or other resources you wish as long as you cite them (simply listing the bibliographic information or web address at the end of the question is sufficient-- no need to include footnotes). No more than half of your examples should be drawn from Western or United States history. All of your responses should be in your own words rather than quoted from other sources. If you use any additional sources without citing them, you will not receive any points for the exam.

Midterm Exam. You should submit a file through Canvas with your responses to the following questions:

1) Time Line (10 Paragraphs): Provide a Time Line which lists in chronological order what you think are the ten most important events in the history of the world from 1500-1900. No more than half of your examples should be drawn from Western or United States history. Each item on your Time Line should be a paragraph long and should contain the following information:

What happened.

When it happened (approximate dates are okay).

Why it happened.

The major Consequences of the event.

How the event helps us understand what life was like in the past.

2) Theme Analyses (4 Paragraphs): Select and describe four important events, changes, or developments from World History from 1500-1900, one for each one of the four class themes (government, race, gender and social class). Each one of your four theme analyses should be a paragraph long, and should refer to a specific primary source document we have read for the class. Again, make sure to think about causes, consequences, and context for each.

Final Exam. You should submit a file through Canvas with your responses to the following questions:

1) Time Line (10 Paragraphs): Provide a Time Line which lists in chronological order what you think are the ten most important events in the history of the world after 1900. No more than half of your examples should be drawn from Western or United States history. Each item on your Time Line should be a paragraph long and should contain the following information:

What happened.

When it happened (approximate dates are okay).

Why it happened.

The major Consequences of the event.

How the event helps us understand what life was like in the past.

2) Theme Analyses (4 Paragraphs): Select and describe four important events, changes, or developments from World History after 1900, one for each one of the four class themes (government, race, gender and social class). Each one of your four theme analyses should be a paragraph long, and should refer to a specific primary source document we have read for the class. Again, make sure to think about causes, consequences, and context for each.

Course Schedule

NOTE: The assigned readings in Von Sivers, Desnoyers and Stow's Patterns Of World History are much heavier in the first half of the course than in the second half. You should use the comparatively lighter load in the latter part of the course to work on your Final Project.

Week 1

Thursday, January 20.	Watch "Is History B.S.?" On Cognitive Biases: Confirmation Bias, The Backfire Effect (This contains salty language. Feel free to read the classroom version if you prefer to avoid that), The Texas Sharpshooter Fallac y, The Dunning-Kruger Effect. Von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow, Chapter 16
Hybrid Activities This Week:	Introduction Discussion Post, due January 23: 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 this week (confirmation bias, the backfire effect, the Texas sharpshooter fallacy, or the Dunning-Kruger Effect) 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.
Assignments to Complete:	Read through the entire syllabus, and submit the Introduction Assignment by 11:59 pm on August 29 using the appropriate link under "Assignments" in the class Canvas page. Make sure to check the feedback you received to see if you need to resubmit it.

Week 2

Thursday, January 27:

Zheng He and Columbus

Discussion Source: List of Zheng He’s Expeditions (1431)

Watch Was Columbus B.S.?

Read Von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow, Chapter 15

Hybrid Activities This Week:

Indigenous America

Watch "Engineering an Empire: The Maya" (1997, A&E 43:52, Also available in the NOVA Library's "Film's On Demand" Database)

Maya Discussion Post Due January 25: Watch "Engineering an Empire: The Maya" and then write a post of at least 100 words answering the following questions: "What were the major engineering achievements of Mayan civilization? Why did that civilization begin to decline?" 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

Thursday, February 3: Early Modern Empires and Ethnic Minorities	Discussion Source: Glückel of Hameln, Excerpts from The Memoirs of Glückel of Hameln (1719) Read Von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow, Chapter 16, 20
Hybrid Activities This Week: Mughal India	Watch "The Other Side of the Taj Mahal: Treasures of the Indus" (2015, BBC 44:09, Requires MyNOVA login to view in the NOVA Library's "Film's On Demand" Database )" Mughal India Discussion Post Due February 1. After watching "The Other Side of the Taj Mahal: Treasures of the Indus," write a post of at least 100 words answering the following questions: "How did the Islamic government of the Mughal Dynasty change India (identify at least 2 specific things)? Were these changes mostly positive or negative for India, and why?" 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.
This Week:	February 3 is the last date to drop the class with refund.

Week 4.

Thursday, February 10: The Atlantic System	Discussion Source: Excerpts from King Afonso of Congo, Letters on the Slave Trade (1526) Watch Was the Atlantic Slave Trade B.S.? Read Von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow, Chapter 19
Hybrid Activities This Week: The Enlightenment	Watch "Changes in Society: Heroes of the Enlightenment (2012, BBC 52:26, Requires MyNOVA login to view in the NOVA Library's "Film's On Demand" Database)" Enlightenment Discussion Post Due February 8. After watching "Changes in Society: Heroes of the Enlightenment," write a post of at least 100 words answering the following questions: "What sorts of political principles did the Enlightenment support, and what specific effects did those principles have on 18th century society? Were those principles in conflict with the use of slave labor in the New World? Why or why not?" 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:	Project Proposal for the Final Project due February 13. Make sure to check the professor's feedback on Canvas to see if your topic has been approved, or if you need to resubmit this assignment.

Week 5

Thursday, February 17: The Haitian Revolution	Toussaint Loverture's Saint-Domingue Constitution of 1801 Watch Was The Haitian Revolution B.S.? Von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow, Chapter 22, 23.
Hybrid Activities This Week: An Age of Revolutions	Watch Was The French Revolution B.S.? Watch "Revolution (1998, TVA 53:02, Requires MyNOVA login to view in the NOVA Library's "Film's On Demand" Database)" Revolution Discussion Post Due February 15. After watching "Revolution" and the other materials for this week, write a post of at least 100 words answering the following questions: "What is a revolution? Why is the idea of revolution so attractive to people in the modern era? What dangers are inherent in revolutions?" 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:	Source Proposal for Source Criticism Paper due February 20. Make sure to read the directions for the Source Criticism Paper in the syllabus CAREFULLY before filling out the form. Also, you might want to watch this video: How to Find a Scholarly Journal Article

Week 6

Thursday, February 24: Special Insert Class on Nationalism and Ukraine
Hybrid Activities This Week:	Watch "Why the Industrial Revolution Happened Here (BBC, 2013, 51:44, Requires MyNOVA login to view in the NOVA Library's "Film's On Demand" Database)" Industrialization Discussion Post Due February 22. After watching "Why the Industrial Revolution Happened Here," write a post of at least 100 words answering the following questions. "According to the filmmakers, why did industrialization begin in England rather than somewhere else? Do you find the argument made in this documentary convincing? Why or why not?" 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:	Source Criticism Paper due February 27. (Your sources MUST be approved by the instructor before you turn this in).

Week 7

Thursday, March 3: Industrial Working Conditions and Marxism	Watch Was The Industrial Revolution B.S.? Watch How Can You Tell If A Website Is B.S. Or Not? "The Life of the Industrial Worker in Nineteenth-Century England" (1832) Women Miners in the English Coal Pits (1842). Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, excerpts from The Communist Manifesto (1848). Von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow, Chapter 25, 26
Hybrid Activities This Week: Imperialism in Asia	Watch "Making a Fortune: Empire—A British Chronicle" (Open University, 2012, 58:26, Also available in the NOVA Library's "Film's On Demand" Database) Imperialism Discussion Post due March 1. After watching "Making a Fortune: Empire—A British Chronicle", write a post of at least 100 words answering the following questions. "How well do the justifications made by the British for their colonial empire abroad described by F.D. Lugard in The Rise of Our East African Empire fit with the profit motives described in the video?' Which set of motivations (profit or doing good) seems to be the most important in the British drive to establish a colonial empire? Why?" 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:	Imperialism Paper due March 6

March 10, Spring Break- NO CLASS

Week 8

Thursday, March 17: Imperialism in Africa	Watch Was The English East India Company B.S.? F.D. Lugard in The Rise of Our East African Empire Von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow, Chapter 24, 27
Hybrid Activities This Week: The Coming of the Great War	Watch World War I: The Death of Glory (History Channel, 1997, 49:59, Also available in the NOVA Library's "Film's On Demand" Database) Great War Discussion Post, Due March 15. Write a post of at least 100 words answering the following questions: "After watching the videos on World War I, how was World War I different from previous wars? Which of the causes of the war seemed to be the most important? Why did the war end up being so long and bloody?" Your post must make it clear that you have read the assigned sources and watched the assigned videos. 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:	Midterm Exam due March 20

Week 9

Thursday, March 24: The Consequences of World War I	Watch Was World War I B.S.? Discussion Reading: Robert Graves, Excerpts from Goodbye To All That (1929); Report on the Deportation of Armenians from Zeitun, July 21, 1915 Watch Was The 1918 Influenza B.S.? Read Von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow, "The Great War and Its Aftermath" and "New Variations on Modernity: The Soviet Union and Communism" in Chapter 28
Hybrid Activities This Week: Communist Movements	Watch "1893-1945: Against the Tide-Mao's Early Years" (Online Productions, 2009, 1:00:54, Requires MyNOVA login to view in the NOVA Library's "Film's On Demand" Database) and Was The Russian Revolution Of 1917 B.S.? Communism Discussion Post, Due March 22. Watch "1893-1945: Against the Tide-Mao's Early Years" and rite a post of at least 100 words answering the following questions: "How well do you think Mao's Communist Movement in China matched the ideas of Karl Marx which you learned about earlier in the semester? Was the 20th Century Communism in the Soviet Union and China the fulfillment of Marxism, or a betrayal of it? Why?" Your post must make it clear that you have watched the assigned videos. Then you should also read all of the postings by your classmates and respond to at least 2 of them in some substantial way.
This week:	Last day to withdraw from the class without grade penalty is March 26

Week 10

Thursday, March 31: Fascism	Discussion Reading: Adolf Hitler, Excerpts from Several Speeches (1923, 1930, 1932) Watch Is Fascism B.S.? Read Von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow, "New Variations on Modernity: Supremacist Nationalisms in Italy, Germany, and Japan" and "Putting It All Together" in Chapter 28
Hybrid Activities This Week: Japanese Imperialism	Read Survivor's Testimonies from the Nanjing Massacre of 1937-1938 Watch Was The Meiji Restoration B.S.? and "Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire, Part 1" (Discovery Channel, 2011, 43:40) Nanking Massacre Discussion Post, Due March 30. After watching "Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire, Part 1," write a post of at least 100 words answering the following questions: "What were Imperial Japan's foreign policy goals as it expanded its influence in the 1920s and 1930s? How did these goals contribute to Japan's invasion of China and its conduct on Nanking in 1937? " Your post must make it clear that you have read the assigned sources and watched the assigned videos. 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:	Annotated Bibliography Part 1 due April 3

Week 11

Thursday, April 7: World War II	Watch Is Modern Anti-Semitism B.S.? Elie Wiesel, Excerpts from Night (1960) Read Von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow, Chapter 29
Hybrid Activities This Week: The Nuclear Age	Watch "The Bomb" (PBS, 1:51:55, ) Nuclear Weapons Discussion Post due April 5. After watching "The Bomb", write a post of at least 100 words answering the following questions: "How did the Cold War influence the development of nuclear weapons? Did nuclear weapons make the Cold War more dangerous, or might their destructive potential have helped keep the Cold War from going 'hot?'" 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:	Annotated Bibliography Part 2 due April 10

Week 12

Thursday, April 14:

Decolonization and Partition in India

Discussion Reading: Sarojini Naidu, Excerpts from Several Speeches (1917, 1918, 1946)

Hybrid Activities This Week:

Mao In Power

Watch "1958-1969: Not a Dinner Party-The Cultural Revolution" (Online Productions, 2005, 1:00:53, Requires MyNOVA login to view in the NOVA Library's "Film's On Demand" Database)

Cultural Revolution Discussion Post due April 12. After watching the materials for this week, write a post of at least 100 words answering the following questions: "Why did the Cultural Revolution occur in China? What happened and who were the primary targets? What responsibility did Mao bear for the violence which occurred?" 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 13

Thursday, April 21: The Cold War Latin America	Discussion Reading: Excerpts from the Memoir of Rigoberta Menchú (1984) Watch Was The CIA Coup In Guatemala In 1954 B.S.?
Hybrid Activities This Week:	Just work on wrapping up the Final Project. No hybrid assignment this week.
Assignments to Complete:	Final Project due April 29

Week 14

Thursday, April 28: The 21st Century	Watch Was the End of the Cold War B.S .? Watch Is Globalization B.S.? Demet Demir, Filipa de Souza Award Address (1997) Read Von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow, Chapter 31
Hybrid Activities This Week: Post-Colonial Blues In Africa	Watch "Ghosts of Rwanda" (2011, PBS, 1:56:29, Also available in the NOVA Library's "Film's On Demand" Database) Rwandan Genocide Discussion Post due April 26. After watching "Ghosts of Rwanda", write a post of at least 100 words answering the following questions: "What factors led to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda? Did the Western powers bear any responsibility for what occurred? Why or why not?" 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:	Final Exam Due May 5