HIS
101: Western Civilization: Ancient-Medieval
Fall 2007
Professor: Dr. Mark Smith msmith@albertson.edu (Office:
Sterry Fourth Floor Phone: 459-5313)
MWF 1-2 Strahorn 106
SYLLABUS
Course Objectives: The purpose of the General Graduation
Requirement in Civilization is to convey essential knowledge of the basic
dimensions of Western or World culture, society and politics. The primary
objective of this requirement is to lay a twofold foundation: a broad factual
foundation consisting of the people, ideas and events that have shaped the
world, and a sound foundation in historical methodology -- the interpretation of
evidence and the analysis of the interrelationships among people, ideas, events,
and the environments in which they exist.
Texts:
The Western
World. [WW]
Drake et al., Laws, Gods and Heroes
(xeroxed source book). [LGH]
The Epic of Gilgamesh.
The Bible, New
Revised Standard Version.
Sophocles, The Three Theban
Plays.
Plato, The Trial and Death of
Socrates.
Beowulf
Procedure:
1) Reading and Quizzes: Much of the reading for this course will consist of translations of ancient works--some of the best and most important books ever written. Enjoy them and be sure to keep up. Barring divine intervention, we will follow the reading schedule religiously. Consistency will pay rich dividends. Frequent quizzes will help you reap them. In addition to reading quizzes, you will be expected to demonstrate a knowledge of ancient geography on a map quiz: 9/17.
2) Class time: Most of our time together will be devoted to lectures and discussions based upon your reading. Discussion requires attendance, preparation and participation. All three will therefore weigh considerably in your final grade.
3) Exams: To evaluate your facility with historical analysis, we will
have three exams in class:
i. Practice
Midterm to be held on 9/28
ii. Midterm on
11/9
iii. Final: TBA
There will be no make-up exams
without prior permission from the instructor.
4) Office Hours: I will be available in my office by appointment. Drop in and visit me sometime.
5) ADA Compliance: Students who have special conditions as addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act and who need any test or course materials to be furnished in an alternative format should notify me immediately. Reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate the needs of these students.
7) Honor Code: All students will be expected to abide by the ACI Honor Code and pledge all work. The text of the Honor Code reads:
Albertson College of Idaho is a community of integrity; therefore, we, the students, seek to promulgate a community in which integrity is valued, expected, and practiced. We are honor bound to refrain from cheating, stealing, or lying about College-related business. We are obligated to examine our own actions in light of their effect on the community, and we are responsible to address any violations of these community standards.
All course work submitted for evaluation is pledged with the student's signature: I pledge that this work was completed with academic integrity.
Grading:
Class participation and quizzes: 20%
Practice
Midterm:
10%
Midterm:
30%
Final:
40%
Reading Assignments
WW=The Western
World; LGH = Laws, Gods, and Heroes
Week:
1
WW: Beginnings of West. Civ; LGH Prologue, ch. 1,2; Epic of
Gilgamesh
2 WW: Ancient Egypt; LGH ch. 3
3 WW: Levant,
Mesopotamia, Emerging Powers; Hebrew Bible Selections
4 WW:
Early Greece; Archaic Greece; LGH ch. 4; Sophocles, Antigone
5
WW: Classical Greece; LGH ch. 5; Plato, Trial and Death of
Socrates
6 WW: Alexander and Hellenistic World; LGH ch. 6
7
WW: Rise of Roman Republic; Late Republic; LGH ch. 7,8
8 WW:
Height of the Roman Empire
9 WW: Rise of Christianity and Late
Roman Empire; New Testament Selections
10 WW: End of Antiquity;
LGH ch. 9
11 WW: Rise of Byzantium and Islam; LGH ch. 10;
Beowulf
12 WW: Monasticism and Carolingian Empire; LGH ch. 11,
Epilogue, Postscript
Course Schedule
I.
Prolegomena
9/7 Of
Dusty Books and Broken Pots
10 From
Slime to Civilization: The Neolithic Revolution
12 Western
Civilization in the Near East? Myth and History **Discussion:
Gilgamesh
II. The Ancient Near East
14 The
Land between the Rivers **Discussion: Hammurabi
17 Egypt:
Gift of the Nile Map Quiz
19 Empires
21
Gods
and More Gods **Discussion: Descent of Ishtar, Enuma Elish,
Egyptian Hymns.
24 "You
shall have no other gods before me." **Discussion: Hebrew Bible
Selections
26 The
Chosen **Discussion: Job (LGH)
28 Practice Midterm;
Crete,
Mycenae and the Age of Bronze
III.
Greece
10/1 Hellas:
The Polis and the Individual **Discussion: The Iliad
3 Sparta
vs. Athens: Eunomia and Isonomia
**Discussion: Tertaeus
5 Athens:
an Age of Gold? **Discussion: Pericles' Funeral Oration
8
Science
and Sophistry **Discussion: Antigone and Sophists (in Plato and
Thucydides)
10 Philosophia
**Discussion: Plato, The Trial and Death of Socrates, Allegory of the
Cave
12 Big
Al **Discussion: Plutarch's Alexander, Demosthenes,
Isocrates
15 Greek Art
17 Mind and Body in the Greek World
19 Study Break
BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK
IV. Rome
31 Viva
Roma ** Discussion: Aeneid, Livy, Claudius,
Aelius
11/2 Res
Publica **Discussion: Polybius
5
The
Late, Great Republic **Discussion: Cicero, Plutarch's Caesar,
Juvenal
7 Midterm Review
9 Midterm
12 Princeps
Senatus Augustus **Discussion: Res Gestae
14 Imperium
Romanum
and the Fall of an
Empire
16
Christmas
**Discussion: New Testament Selections
19 Christus
Victor **Discussion: LGH, ch. 9
23 Give Thanks
26 Church
and State, East and West **Discussion: LGH, ch. 10
28 Barbarians...
30
...and
More Barbarians **Discussion: LGH, ch. 11
12/3 "There
is no God but Allah..."
5
Carolus
Magnus **Discussion: Life of Charlemagne
7 The
Wild, Wild West **Discussion:
Beowulf
Final: Tuesday, Dec. 11, 8:30 AM
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