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H113 Western Civilization to 1500 Fall 2007 Tuesday, Thursday 1:30-2:45 p.m. (ET 131) 4:30-5:45 p.m. (KT G29)
Office Hours: TR –3:00-4:15 p.m. and R – 10:50-11:50 Office: CM201 (481-6696) History Office: 481-6686
Required Texts
McKay, Hill and Buckler, A History of Western Society, vol. A (8th ed.) Bring the text to class each day.
Study Guide No. 1 (Chapters 3, 4, 5) Study Guide No. 2 (Chapters 6, 7, 8) Study Guide No. 3 (Chapters 9, 10, 11) Study Guide No. 4 (Chapters 12, 13)
COURSE DESCRIPTION: OBJECTIVES OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL IN HISTORY
Knowledge of History If you complete History H113 successfully, you will have learned about the early background of Modern Western Civilization through reading, discussion, analysis, and film; you will know something about (1) the geographical setting and (2) the historical development of western political and governmental organization from the city-states of antiquity to the absolutist and constitutional nation-states of early modern times; about (3) the role of religion, education and ideas in early western societies, (4) their roles in the formation of cultural values and in the transmission of those values to later ages; about (5) the social role of women, rural workers, priests, nobles, and urban dwellers in ancient and medieval history; about how (6) the higher arts reflect the setting and values of the society in which they were created and, thus, about how they become an immediate and vital contact with earlier societies separated from the modern age by time. Finally, a student who successfully completes this course will comprehend (7) how the study of history can help to understand the world more fully, to acknowledge its debt to past developments, to visualize its potential, to understand and accept human diversity. Skill in History
As the Core Curriculum is presently construed, H113, Western Civilization to 1500, partially fulfills the requirements of Area III: The Individual, Culture and Society. Academic objectives of historical knowledge and skill, acquired in this course, H113, correspond to several objectives of General Education. On completion of H113, students might be able: to speak and write more precisely, clearly, and accurately about history; to read, listen actively, reason empirically, and formulate and assess arguments about historical topics more successfully; and to compare and evaluate historical arguments from diverse sources more objectively.
In addition, students will be able to understand the nature and differences of individuals, institutions, cultures and societies during the course of Western Historical development. They should also be able to explain how modern scholars and students know about social and behavioral patterns in past cultures, how scholars and students gather information, formulate and analyze theories about the past, and apply that information in written and oral communication. To a lesser degree, students will be able to understand how historians collect, analyze, and quantify historical information in order to understand important social and economic subjects in history.
Grading and Attendance Policy In order to assess how well a student has acquired knowledge of history and skills in historical analysis, a student’s grade will be determined in the following way:
Grading System
Essay The out-of-class essay is assigned on a separate instruction sheet, linked to this syllabus. This essay is to be turned in on the date due, 16 October, as stated in the syllabus. A late essay is lowered one full letter grade during the first week after the due date, that is, up to 23 October. After that date, a late essay is lowered two full letter grades up to 30 October. After 30 October, the essay grade becomes an F; no further essays will be accepted. In addition, the final course grade will be lowered one full letter grade (for example, from a B to C, or a C to a D, etc.).
In-Class
Exams
Attendance is required during all exams. These include the three, 30-minute exams during the semester and the one-hour final exam during the Final Examination Week.
A student may be excused from an announced exam only by an arrangement made well in advance of the examination day, normally at least one week’s time; the cause must be medical or family emergency.
Each 30-minute exam will contain 25 multiple-choice questions. The study guide for each exam, linked to the syllabus, offers all the exam questions in an interrogative format. Students, who earn either an A or A- grade on the three in-class exams during the semester, will receive a half-grade bonus to the course grade (For example, if a student has a final grade of B+ AND scored three A or A- grades on the three in-class exams, their ultimate final grade will be an A-).
Final Exam
The Final Exam, date, place, and time noted on the syllabus, is a one-hour exam of fifty multiple-choice questions. Twenty-five questions will cover material in chapters 12 and 13. A study guide to questions from those chapters is linked to the syllabus. In addition, twenty-five questions, selected from Exams I, II, and III, will also be included on the Final Exam. All questions from Chapters 3 to 11 will be identical to those on the earlier exams, and correspond to the interrogative question on the study-guides for those exams. About eight questions will be drawn from each earlier exam
Unannounced quizzes During the semester eight unannounced quizzes will be given over the reading assigned in the eleven chapters in the text. The quizzes will contain ten, simple, true-false statements about the contents of one chapter in the text, and will be given only after the discussion of the chapter has begun in class. The eight quizzes total 80 points, but the grading scale for the quiz grade will be set at 70 points. That means each student has 80 points to make one 70-point grade. The quiz can be given at any time during the class period (though normally, it will be given near the end of the class period); only by arrangements made well in advance, can there be a make-up quiz. In most situations, there are no make-up quizzes.
Attendance
and Grading Supplement
No grade is awarded for attendance. However, attendance is taken every day class meets. Students, who have a perfect attendance record, or one cut, will earn an addition to the course grade of one-half a decimal in a grading system based on 12: A+ is 12, F is 0. Thus a B- is 7, a C is 5, and so on, beginning with D-, which is one. A hypothetical course average might be a 6.5 after computing all grades: essay, exams, and quiz grades. Perfect, or nearly perfect, attendance would turn that average into a 7.0. The final course grade would rise from C to B on a twelve-point scale. In this grading system it is necessary to reach the minimum average to earn the grade. The two exceptions to this rule are A and D. Averages above 9.5 may be considered for a class grade of A at the discretion of the teacher. The lowest passing average grade is 1.5.
Make-up Exam Policy Students, who miss an exam, for whatever reason, can make up the missed exam within six days of the exam date; the penalty for missing the exam without excuse is one full letter grade. After six days, the penalty is two full letter grades. The academic course ends with the Final Exam during Final Examination Week.
All assigned work—the essay, exams, and quiz grade—must be completed or accounted for to pass this course.
Missing one or more quizzes will mean that the quiz grade may be lower than expected. But a student will have a quiz grade. However, the essay and exams must be completed or accounted for by everyone. No recording devices are permitted in the classroom without special permission.
Assignments, essay and exam dates should be approximately follow this outline.
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