Download history 110b - California State University, Fullerton

Dr. Nancy Fitch
Fall 2007
Section 7, Schedule # 14022
TTH 2:30-3:45
H 110
Office: Humanities 820M
Office Phone: 714-278-2964
Office Hours: TTh 12:00-2:00 and by appointment
E-mail: [email protected]
My Web Site: http://faculty.fullerton.edu/nfitch/ [When you click on World
Civilizations since the 16th Century, it will get you to the class website. There is also a
Blackboard site that this class will use for discussion only. You can access it through
your student portal. Instructions on how to get to it are indicated on the class website at
the above address.]
HISTORY 110B
WORLD CIVILIZATIONS SINCE THE 16TH CENTURY
**[NOTE 1:
THIS CLASS WILL NOT USE PLUS/MINUS
GRADING]
**[NOTE 2: I WILL NOT ACCEPT PAPERS SUBMITTED VIA
EMAIL OR IN ANY ELECTRONIC VERSION (IE VIA
BLACKBOARD)]
REQUIRED READING: Available at the Little Professor Bookstore. A map to the
store will be provided.
--Howard Spodek, The World’s History, Third Edition, Vol. II (Prentice-Hall, Inc, 2006).
[Available at Little Professor Bookstore—Please be sure to get the Third Edition and the
Second Volume.] NOTE: This edition contains a CD-Rom with primary sources.
We will use these primary sources in class, so be sure you get the CD with your copy
of the text. [I will put a hard copy of the documents on reserve in the Library.]
There will be one mid-term and one-final exam. The mid-term will cover the first part of
the class; the final will cover the last part of the class. The exams will consist of broad
questions designed to get you to bring the course material together as well as some
identifications. I will give you study questions in advance so that you can structure your
studying around them. Both examinations will be in class exams. Except in
extraordinary circumstances, there will be no make-up examinations.
There will also be one paper due based on primary sources found on the Spodek CD.
Because it is so difficult to discuss things in a large class, additionally, you will be
required to post at least two MEANINGFUL entries on the class Bulletin Board or
(preferably) to respond to two of the entries of other students. I will not count routine
questions about class format, but will count anything related to course content. To make
these posts useful for you, it will be helpful to ask for clarification of main points that you
don’t understand or to help other students understand something better that you know, but
they do not. In a class as large as this one, everyone comes to class with different
backgrounds. Some of you know more about some countries or cultures than others.
Some of you may know more about the country you are from than I do. All of you bring
different disciplinary backgrounds to the class, so don’t be afraid to ask questions or offer
information. The point of this exercise is to help you help each other learn the material.
Note that you should identify yourselves in the posts, so that I can count them, but
anonymous posts are okay. This activity will be worth 5% of your grade. [Note: 1 post
is worth a D, the 2 posts will be worth a C, 3 posts will get you a B, and 4 posts will get
you an A.]
Summary:
Mid-Term: 40%
Paper: 10%
Bulletin Board Discussion: 5%
Final: 45%
Total: 100%
Tuesday, August 21
1. Introduction: Why Are Some Countries Rich and Others Poor? Why
Does World History Matter?
Thursday August 23
2. Columbus’s World – The Significance of Southernization
A. Winds, Currents, and the Technologies of Early Trade
B. Xheng He and the Ming Treasure Ships
C. Arab and African Traders
D. Did Africans Discover the Americas?
E. Europe on the Periphery of the World Economy
F. The Ecological and Medical Impact of Global Encounters
Required Reading
Spodek, 388-414, 421, 438-447
CD 14.5: “Christopher Columbus”
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Tuesday, August 28, Thursday, August 30
3. The Clash of Cultures: Europeans in the Americas
A. The Conquest of Mexico
B. The Conquest of Peru
C. Controlling the Conquered
Required Reading
http://faculty.fullerton.edu/nfitch/nehaha/index.htm
Spodek, pp. 452-458
CD 14.9: “The Prospects of Christian Conversion: Saint Francis Xavier”
Tuesday, September 4
4. Capitalism and Empires: New Economics/Old Politics
A. What is capitalism and why is it important?
B. “Pyramid-Shaped” societies, dynasties, empires, diasporas, and nationstates
Required Reading
Spodek, “The Expansion of Europe and the Birth of Capitalism,” pp. 451-453,
465 (“Weber and Tawny on Religion and Capitalism”), 466-469, 471-472
Spodek, “The Nation State,” pp. 472-473
Spodek, “Demographic Changes in a New Global Ecumene, 1300-1750,”
pp. 486-487, 508-514
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Thursday, September 6
5. The Rise of Islamic Empires in the Middle East, Europe, and India
A. The Rise of the Ottoman Empire (Centered in Modern Day Turkey)
B. The Safavid Empire (Persia/Iran)
C. State and Society in India
Required Reading
Spodek, “Ottomans and Mughals,” pp. 476-477
Spodek, “The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1700,” pp. 500-502
Spodek, “India: The Mughal Empire, 1526-1707,” 502-505
Spodek, “Safavid Persia, 1400-1700,” pp. 505-506
CD 8.9: “Shiism and Caliph Ali: Controversy Over the Prophetic
Succession”
CD 12.1: “Sunni versus Shi’ite: ‘We Exhort You to Embrace the True
Faith!”
CD 12.2: “Suleyman ‘the Lawgiver’ and the Advantages of Islam: Oigier de
Busbecq
CD 12:3: “Women in Ottoman Soceity” Oigier de Busbecq
CD 12:4: “The Ottomans: Empire-builders at the Crossroads of Three
Continents”
CD 12:5: “The Safavid Shi’ite Empire of Persia”
CD 12:6: “Shah Abbas the Great: The Resurgence of the Persian Empire”
CD 12:7: “Moghul Apogee: Akbar the Enlighted”
Tuesday, September 11
6. Pyramid Shaped Societies and Economic Development in China
A. State and Society in Ming and Qing China
B. Chinese Economic Development: Harnessing Internal Resources,
Exporting Manufactured Goods
Required Reading
Spodek, “Ming and Qing Dynasties in China,” pp.477-481
Spodek, “China: The Ming and Manchu Dynasties, 1368-1750,” p. 507
CD: 2.4: “Confucius: Analects”
CD 16.1: “Matteo Ricci, Journals”
CD 16.2: “Dynastic Change in China Tears a Family Apart”
CD 16.3: “Ceremonial for Visitors: Court Tribute”
CD 16.4: “Taisuke Mitamura, The Palace Eunics of Imperial China”
CD 16.5: “Letter to King George: China and Great Britain”
CD 16.6: “Japan Encounters the West”
CD 16.7: “The Laws for the Military House (Buke Shohatto), 1615
(The Tokugawa ‘Hostage’ System)”
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Thursday, September 13
7. Religion and the Scientific Revolution
A. The Scientific Revolution in Western Europe from Copernicus to Newton
B. Resistance to the New Learning in the Western and Non-Western Worlds
Required Reading
Spodek, “Intellectual Revolutions in Science and Philosophy,” pp. 526-531
CD 17.1: “The Heliocentric Statement (ca. 1520): Nicolaus Copernicus”
CD 17.2: “’I Think, Therefore, I Am’: Discourse on Method (1637)”
CD 17.3: “’I Learn and Teach from the Fabric of Nature’: On the Circulation
of the Blood (1628)”
CD 17.4: “Isaac Newton”
CD 17.5: “Francis Bacon”
Tuesday, September 18
8. Science and Technology in Europe, the Middle East, and China
Required Reading
http://faculty.fullerton.edu/nfitch/history110b/scitech.html
Spodek, “How Europe Surpassed China Economically and Militarily,” p. 479
CD 8.7: “Islamic Science and Mathematics”
Thursday, September 20
9. Africa Before and After the Slave Trade
A. The Mali and Songhai Empires and the Trans-Sahara Trade
B. The Swahilli Trading States
C. Central African Kingdoms
D. The Impact of Slavery in Africa
Required Reading
Spodek, “Trade in Sub-Saharan Africa,” pp. 397-400 (reread)
Spodek, “Portugal’s Empire” pp. 458-460
Spodek, “Africa, 1652-1912,” pp. 617-620
CD 11.1: “Mansa Musa: The “King Who Sits on a Mountain of Gold”
CD 11.2: “The Cities of the Zanj and the Indian Ocean Trade”
CD 14.1” “Kilwa, Mombasa, and the Portuguese” Realities of Empire”
CD 14.3: “The Portuguese in Africa and India: Duarte Barbosa”
CD 15:2: “’Our Kingdom is Being Lost’: Nzinga Mbemba (Afonso I)”
CD 15.4: Commerce, Slavery, and Religion in North Africa”
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Tuesday, September 25
10. Slavery and the Formation of an Atlantic World
A. The Impact of Slavery in Saint Domingue (Haiti)
B. The Impact of Slavery in Brazil
C. The Impact of Slavery in the United States
Required Reading
Spodek, “The ‘New Europes,’” pp. 486-490
Spodek, “Slavery: Enforced Migration, 1500-1750,” pp. 494-499
Spodek, “Haiti: Slave Revolution and the Overthrow of Colonialism,
1791-1804,” pp. 547-548
Spodek, “The Abolition of Slavery and the Slave Trade,” pp. 548-550
CD 15.3: “Olaudah Equiano, The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus
Vassa, The African”
CD 15.5: “Thomas Nelson, Slavery and the Slave Trade of Brazil”
Thursday, September 27
11. The European Intellectual Revolution: “The Enlightenment”
A. The Chinese Influence on the Enlightenment
B. Enlightenment and Politics
C. Enlightenment and Economics
D. Enlightenment and Slavery
E. Enlightenment and “The Woman Question”
Required Reading
Spodek, “The Birth of Human Rights in the Age of Enlightenment,
1649-1830,” pp. 520-526
Spodek, “England’s Glorious Revolution, 1688,” pp. 531-533
Spodek, “The Philosophes and the Enlightenment in the Eighteenth Century,”
pp. 533-536
CD 17.6: “On Universal Toleration: Voltaire”
CD 17.8: “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations:
Adam Smith”
CD 17.9: “What Is Enlightenment? (1784) Immanuel Kant
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Tuesday, October 2
12. The Enlightenment and the American Revolution
A. The Emergence of Democratic and Republican Ideas in the 13 Colonies
B. The U.S. Constitution and Its Influence
(1) The Idea of Representation and Protecting Interests
(2) The Idea of a “Bill of Rights” Protecting Individuals
C. Who Gained? Who Lost?
(1) Traditional Elites, the Middle Class, Urban Workers, and Farmers
(2) Native Americans; African-Americans, free and slaves
(3) Women
Required Reading
Spodek, “Revolution in North America, 1776,” pp. 536-539
CD 18.4: “Declaration of Independence: Revolutionary Declarations”
Thursday, October 4
13. The French Revolution and Its Impact
A. The Ideas of the French Revolution
B. The Terror
C. Napoleonic Reforms
D. Who Gained? Who Lost?
(1) The Aristocracy and Traditional Elites, The Middle Class
(2) Urban Workers
(3) Peasants
(4) Slaves, Jews, Protestants, and Actors
(5) Women
Required Reading
Spodek, “The French Revolution and Napoleon, 1789-1812,” pp. 539-547
CD 18.2: “The Ideal Absolute State (1697): Jean Domat”
CD 18.3: “The Sighs of Enslaved France (1690): Pierre Jurieu”
CD 18.5: “’What Is the Third Estate?’ (January 1789): The Abbé Sièyes”
CD 18.6: “The Tennis Court Oath (June 20, 1789)
CD 18.7: “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen”
“Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Citizen” (to be provided)
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Tuesday, October 9
14. Latin American Independence Movements
A. The Haitian Revolution
B. Simón Bolivar Strikes from The North
C. José San Martin Strikes from The South
D. The Mexican Independence Movement
E. Latin American Independence Movements: Reform or Revolution?
F. Who Gained? Who Lost?
(1) Creoles and Peninsulares
(2) The Middle Class
(3) Mestizos
(4) Amerindians; Black Latin Americans, Free and Slave
(5) Women
Required Reading
Spodek, “Haiti: Slave Revolution and the Overthrow of Colonialism,
1791-1804, pp. 547-548
Spodek, “The End of Colonialism in Latin America: Independence and
Disillusionment, 1810-30,” pp. 550-557
Thursday, October 11
**MID-TERM EXAMINATION**
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Tuesday, October 16
15. Industrialization, Nationalism, Darwinism, Social Darwinism, and NeoColonialism
A. Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
B. Racism and Darwinian Ideas in Europe and the United States
C. Japanese Social Darwinism
D. Imperialism and Neo-Colonialism in Asia, Africa, and Latin
America
E. Imperialism and Neo-Colonialism: Who Gained? Who Lost?
(1) The Traditional Elites in Western and Non-Western Societies
(2) The Bourgeoisie, Peasants, and Urban Workers
(3) “Peoples of Color”
(4) Women in Western and Non-Western Cultures
(5) Western and Non-Western Values and Cultures
Required Reading
Spodek, “The Industrial Revolution: A Global Process, 1700-1914,”
pp. 561-595
Spodek, “Nationalism, Imperialism, and Resistance: Competition among
Industrial Powers, 1650-1914,” pp. 597-640
Primary Sources on the Industrial Revolution
CD 19.1: “Sybil (1845) Benjamin Disraeli”
CD 19.2: “Women Miners in the English Coal Pits”
CD 19.3: “Sadler Report: Child Labor”
CD 19.4: “A Defense of the Factory System (1835): Andrew Ure”
CD 19.5: “The Chartist Demands (1838)”
CD 19.6: “Luddism: An Assault on Technology”
CD 19.7: “Utopian Socialism (1816): Robert Owen”
CD 19.8: “Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels”
Primary Sources on Nationalism and Imperialism
CD 20.1 “Program of the Serb Society of National Defense
[Narodna Odbrana]”
CD 20.2: “Irish National Identity and Destiny: Three Views”
CD 20.3 “Fustel de Coulanges, ‘What is a Nation?’ A Reply to Mr.
Mommsen, Professor in Berlin”
CD 20.5: “The Scramble for Africa”
CD 20.6: “Rudyard Kipling: ‘The White Man’s Burden’”
CD 20.7: “Francisco Garcia Calderon, ‘The North American Peril’”
Karl Pierson (To be provided)
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Thursday, October 18
16. The Chinese and Japanese Responses to Western Imperialism
A. Chinese Resistance to Western Ideas
B. Western Companies Gain Control of Chinese Industry
C. British India, Opium, and the Opium Wars
D. Japanese Transformation and Industrialization
E. Japan Becomes an Imperialist Power in Korea, Taiwan, and China
Required Reading
Spodek, “China, 1800-1914,” pp. 544-549
Spodek, “Japan: From Isolation to Equality, 1867-1914,” pp. 582-590
Spodek, “Japan: Fragile Superpower,” pp. 659-661
CD 21.1 “Lin Tse-his [Lin Zexu] Letter of Moral Admonition to
Queen Victoria”
CD 21.2 “Use the Barbarians to Fight the Barbarians” (1842):
Wei Yuan”
CD 21.3: “’Why Are Western Nations Small and Yet Strong?’:
Feng Guifen”
CD 21.4: “The Treaty of Nanking: Treaty of Peace, Friendship,
Commerce, Indemnity, etc”
CD 21.5: “The Abdication Decree (1912): Long Yu”
CD 21.7: “President Fillmore, ‘Letter to the Emperor of Japan’”
CD 21.8: “Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905, Imperial Rescript”
Tuesday, October 23
17. How Technology Changed the Face of War
A. Technology, Industry, and Warfare
B. Wartime Technology and the Rise of Interventionist States
C. Women’s Rights Movements and the War
Required Reading
Spodek, “Scientific and Technological Creativity,” pp. 649-655
Spodek, “The Ottoman Empire,” pp. 661-663
Spodek, “World War I, 1914-1918,” pp. 663-672
CD 22.1: “The Horror of Battle”
CD 22.2: “Slaughter of the Somme”
CD 22.3: “World War I: A Frenchman’s Recollections”
CD 22.4: “The Perversion of Technology: War in ‘No-Man’s Land”
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Thursday, October 25
18. The Consequences of the War in the 20th and 21st Century
A. Creating a Hostile Germany
B. The Making of Modern Eastern Europe
C. The Making of the Modern Middle East
Required Reading
Spodek, “The Ottoman Empire,” pp. 661-663 (again)
Spodek, “World War I, 1914-1918,” pp. 663-672 (again)
CD 22.5: “Sir Henry McMahon, Letter to Ali Ibn Husain”
CD 22.6: “The Balfour Declaration”
CD 22.7: “Woodrow Wilson, ‘Speech on the Fourteen Points’”
Tuesday, October 30, Thursday, November 1
19. The Russian Revolution and the Soviet Union as a 20th Century Power
A. Russian Backwardness
B. The Failures of the Czarist Regime
C. The Russian Revolution
D. The Formation of the Soviet Union
E. Lenin’s Plans for Russia’s Future
F. The Stalin Era
(1) The Great Famine
(2) The Great Terror
G. Who Gained? Who Lost?
(1) The Traditional Ruling Class
(2) The Middle Class and the “New Class” (Communist Party
Elite)
(3) Urban Workers
(4) Peasants
(5) Ethnic Minorities in the former Russian Empire
(6) Women
(7) The Revolutionary Ethos
H. The Commonwealth of Independent States (Russia) Today
Required Reading
Spodek, “The Russian Revolution,” pp. 672-678
CD 23.1: “The Bolshevik Seizure of Power (November-December
1917)”
CD 23.2: “Nadezhda K. Krupskaya, ‘What a Communist Ought to
Be Like’” (Lenin’s wife)
CD 23.4: “Nadezhda Mandelstam, Hope Against Hope”
(on the Great Terror)
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Tuesday, November 6
20. Hitler and the Rise of Nazi Germany
A. Eugenics, Degeneration, and the Construction of a Race-Based
State
B. Why Men and Women Found Fascism Fascinating
Required Reading
Spodek, “Germany” pp. 687-690
CD 23.6: “Adolf Hitler”
Thursday, November 8
21. Nazi and Japanese Expansion and the Outbreak of World War II
A. Hitler’s War Aims
B. The Munich Crisis and Appeasement
C. The Nazi-Soviet Pact
D. The Japanese Occupation of China
E. Hitler Conquers Much of Europe
F. Japanese Designs on Southeast Asia and the Philippines
G. The Betrayal of “Friends”: Hitler Invades the U.S.S.R.
H. Japan Moves into Southeast Asia
I. Japan Bombs Pearl Harbor
J. The U.S. Enters the War
Required Reading
Spodek, “Japan,” pp. 690-692
Spodek, “The Descent Toward World War,” pp. 692-710, 715-722
CD 24.1: “Kita Ikki, Outline for the Reconstruction of Japan”
CD 24.2: “Japanese Imperialism”
CD 25.1: “Adolf Hitler, The Obersalzberg Speech”
CD 25.3: “The Rape of Nanjing”
CD 25.5: “’Tojo Makes Plea of Self Defense’”
Tuesday, November 13
**Primary Source Based Paper Due**
22. 20th Century Genocide: The Holocaust and the Nanjing Massacre
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Thursday, November 15, Tuesday, November 27
23. Consequences of the War in Europe and Asia
A. How the End of the War Created the “Cold” War
B. The Development of Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race
C. How the Cold War Transformed International Revolutions
(1) The Chinese Revolution
(2) The Korean Revolution
(3) The Vietnamese Revolution
(4) The Making of Modern India and Pakistan
(5) Independence Movements in the Middle East and Africa
Required Reading
Spodek, “Cold War and New Nations,” pp. 725-763
Spodek, “China and India,” pp. 767-803
Primary Sources on the Chinese Civil War
CD 24.3: “Mao Tse-Tung: Report of an Investigation into the
Peasant Movement in Hunan”
CD 24.4: “’How to Be a Good Communist’ (1939): Li Shaoqi”
CD 24.5: “The New Communist State (1940-1950)
CD 24.6: “’From the Countryside to the City’ (May 1949):
Mao Zedong”
CD 24.7: “The Failure of the Nationalist Government:
The American Assessment (1949)”
Primary Sources on the Cold War
CD 26.1: “The Soviet Victory: Capitalism versus Communism
(February 1946): Joseph Stalin”
CD 26.2: “’An Iron Curtain Has Descended Across the Continent’
(March 1946): Sir Winston Churchill
CD 26.3: “The Truman Doctrine (March 1947): Harry S. Truman”
CD 25.4: “The Marshall Plan (June 1947): George C. Marshall”
CD 26.5: “Korea: The Thirty-Eighth Parallel”
CD 26.6: “General Douglas MacArthur, Report to Congress, April
19, 1951: ‘Old Soldiers Never Die’”
CD 26.8: “’The Victory of Communism Is Inevitable!’”: Speech
To the 22nd Communist Party Congress (1962): Nikita
Krushchev
CD 27.7: “Views of a Viet Cong Official”
CD 27.8: “An American Prisoner of War”
**TUESDAY, NOV. 20 AND THURSDAY, NOV. 22 – THANKSGIVING BREAK
–NO CLASS**
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Thursday, November 29, Tuesday, December 4, Thursday December 6
24. Historical Perspectives on the Contemporary World
A. The Question of Human Rights
B. Why Are Some Countries Rich and Others Poor?
C. The Pacific Rim and the Global Economy of the Twenty-First
Century
D. Where Are We Heading in the New Millenium?
E. Religious Fundamentalism and the Modern World
Required Reading
Spodek, “Evolving Identities 1979-Present,” pp.804-839
Spodek, “Regional Identities and the Twenty-First Century,”
pp. 843-879
CD 28.1: “’The Struggle of My Life’” (1961): Nelson Mandela”
CD 28.5: “Alain Destexhe, Rwanda and Genocide in the
20th Century”
CD 28.6: “Declaration of Human Rights”
CD 29.3: “Ethnic Cleansing in Northwestern Bosnia: Three
Witnesses”
CD 29.4: “Deng Xiaoping, A Market Economy for Socialist
Goals”
CD 29.6: “Saddam’s Invasion of Kuwait: Two Rationales”
CD 29.8: “Henry A. Myers, ‘Now in the 21st Century”
Thursday, December 13 2:30-4:20 p.m.
FINAL EXAMINATION
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Course Learning Goals and a Discussion of Why Study History?
Many students ask the question, “why do I have to take a world history course”? This is
a good question. There are many answers. The most important is that in order to
understand the world we live in today, one must understand how developments from the
very distant past have profoundly shaped our present world. The world history course is
also designed to provide you with a common intellectual experience by broadening your
understanding of ideas and values drawn from different strands of our own culture and to
increase your understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity and the process of
cultural interaction.
Other students often ask the question, “what is world history?” This is another good
question. When we study world history we want to look at the history of humanity—
human experience. We do this by examining specific events and processes, but not
necessarily all civilizations. Successful world histories will provide a big picture and
include ideas of comparison, syncretism, looking at alternative worldviews using primary
sources as well as themes that demonstrate common and divergent experiences.
In other words, I do not believe that history is simply the memorization of facts about the
past. For this reason, I do not give multiple-choice examinations. I want you to develop
the ability to see the big picture, to think about causation, and to understand that history is
not about “facts” because historians often disagree over what the “facts” are. To be a
good historian, you need to use geographic skills, write analytical historical essays,
employ problem solving, identify problems, and challenge history (that includes
challenging the text and me). Historical knowledge, like other kinds of knowledge, is not
a fixed, finite body of information but something that is in flux. As historians (and
students) ask new questions about the past, new insights are gained.
To help you better understand what skills and knowledge you should have by the end of
the course, we have developed learning goals for all General Education Courses.
GE Learning Goals for the “Development of World Civilizations”
The two semester “Development of World Civilizations” sequence (History 110A and
110B) are required for all undergraduate students as part of CSUF’s lower-division
General Education (GE) core curriculum. The philosophy behind the GE program is
outlined below:
General education is central to a university education, and should enhance
students’ awareness of themselves in a complex universe, drawing upon
multiple points of view. As a result of general education experience,
students should acquire knowledge of diverse disciplinary and cultural
perspectives and skill in comparing, contrasting, applying, and
communicating effectively these perspectives in tasks considered
appropriate to particular courses.
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In addition to these general objectives, there are specific GE learning goals for the
“Development of World Civilizations” sequence:
1. To understand holistically the origins and historical development of world
civilizations within a global context.
This goal calls on us to “think globally.” Only by looking at all aspects of
world civilizations together (politics, economy, society, culture) can we
develop a “holistic” understanding of human experience. Only by
exploring patterns of development across cultures (e.g. “within a global
context”) can we begin to understand how and why world civilizations
evolved as they did.
2. To describe and analyze critically the reciprocal influence of Western and nonWestern institutions, values, and ideas.
This goal requires that we resist Eurocentrism. Instead of focusing
exclusively on how non-Europeans adopted, adapted to, or rejected
Western institutions, values, and ideas, we must look too, at how nonWestern institutions, values, and ideas influenced the West.
3. To recognize the forces that contributed to the particular development of
diverse societies and shaped our present world.
This goal asks us to look within societies to understand the forces that led
each to develop differently from the others. In addition to pointing out
common patterns among societies, then, we must also pay attention to
what makes each society unique, examining as we do so the complexities
that evolved with internal cultural and ethnic diversity.
4. To recognize and understand the contributions of ethnic and gender groups to
past and present societies in contexts of accommodation and resistance.
This goal requires us to look beyond the “history of the winners” and
“Great Man” history by incorporating the experience of women and of
minority groups.
5. To understand and describe critically major political, economic, intellectual,
and cultural themes recurring throughout the history of the world.
This overarching goal compels us to develop a broadly comparative,
thematic approach to our study of world civilizations.
ADDITIONAL LEARNING GOALS FOR THIS SECTION OF HISTORY 110B:
1. To understand the historical origins and impact of ideas of human rights and
popular sovereignty.
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2. To understand the impact of modern science and technology on world
civilizations.
3. To understand how historians make arguments from historical evidence:
a. To understand the difference between primary and secondary sources and to
understand how to use them to interpret an historical event
b. To identify the short-term and long-term significance of historical events
c. To understand how things have changed over time.
HOW DO I KNOW WHAT MY GRADE MEANS?
Your grades on the exams and paper will be based on three major, closely related
criteria:
1. Use of relevant class material, including readings, lectures, discussions, and
films.(evidence)
2. Expression of ideas in a clear, concise, and engaging prose (style)
3. Development of an argument or point of view that is pertinent to the issue at hand and
that has breadth, coherence, and insight (interpretation)
These criteria will translate into grades as follows:
A: excellent in all three areas. Offers an insightful argument based on ample, sound
evidence.
B: good. Strong in all three areas or notable strengths in one balanced by weaknesses in
another.
C: average. Adequate performance in one or more areas offset by serious weakness in
others that leaves presentation fragmented, unclear, or narrow.
D: poor. Notable problems in all three areas. Remedial work needed to improve
substantive understanding or basic communication.
F: unacceptable. Serious flaws in all three areas.
No evident engagement in the assignment.
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Grades will be based on the plus/minus grading system as follows:
100%
93-99%
90-92%
87-89%
83-86%
80-82%
77-79%
73-76%
70-72%
67-69%
63-66%
60-62%
59% and below
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
If you do not understand the basis of the grade you received or if you disagree with the
assessment, please speak with the professor. Wait at least 24 hours after receiving the
grade to re-read professor comments and reflect on the evaluation. Please act within a
couple of weeks of the return of the exam.
CLASS RULES
Attendance: Class attendance and participation is required, and it is impossible to pass
the class without attending. If you must miss class, it is best to get class notes from a
classmate. The PowerPoint presentations are nothing more than outlines of what is
covered in class.
Late Assignments: For each day that an assignment is late, it will be reduced by 5
percentage points (half a grade).
Courtesy during class: It is disruptive to others to arrive late to class or leave early.
Please don’t do it. If you know that you will have to leave class early, explain the
situation to the instructor and sit near the door so that you can exit as quietly as possible.
Please turn off all cell phones, beepers, or any other wireless device that may make noise
during class. I will confiscate your device if it rings in class.
Academic dishonesty: Any evidence of cheating or plagiarism will result in a zero on
the assignment. I also report all incidents of plagiarism to the Dean of Judicial Affairs
for further university procedures that can result in expulsion. . Plagiarism is stealing the
words, ideas, or thoughts of another person and treating them as your own. Students
sometimes plagiarize from books and web sites (by using the author’s words without
quotation or attribution), and they also can plagiarize from each other. Changing a word
or two in a sentence is not enough to avoid plagiarism. For example if you wrote in your
exam, “It is important to note that changing a word or two in a sentence is still not
enough to avoid plagiarism,” you would be committing plagiarism yourself. If you have
any questions about plagiarism, please see the professor.
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Modifications to the Syllabus:
I reserve the right to modify this syllabus as needed throughout the semester. If there are
significant changes, I will issue a new syllabus.
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