HONORS 135 Ancient & Medieval History
Prof. Pavlac
HONORS 135 Ancient & Medieval History |
Prof. Pavlac
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| (3 credits) Fall 2019 |
ConciseWesternCiv.com |
8 |
What does it mean to be a member of Western civilization? This survey of history up to the Baroque period around 1650 can help answer that question. This course is a survey of the main stages of Western Civilization, with an emphasis on concepts, forces, ideas, events, and people that have shaped our western society up to the 17th century. In coordination with other classes on art, literature, philosophy, and theology, this class will emphasize the political, social, and economic constraints and opportunities faced by the founders of Western culture.
The Citizenship cluster promotes critical awareness and engagement with today’s complex global issues. Courses in this cluster emphasize the study of the world through its history, cultural diversity, and contemporary economic, political, and social contexts. Language instruction and study abroad experiences help students bridge academic study with the skills and habits of mind needed to face the challenges of our increasingly interdependent world. The aim of the cluster is to foster social responsibility in our students and prepare them to act in service to the common good. Students completing this cluster should have an enhanced sense of their identity as citizens of a global community.
A student successfully completing a course in History will be able to
Courses is the history category are designed to give students a broad-based introduction to the subjects and practices of history. These courses develop skills essential to contemporary global citizenship. History fosters engagement with diverse perspectives, encourages critical analysis of complex and competing sources, develops empathy, and builds careful and effective argumentation. History courses offered in this category of the core are introductions to various fields of historical study. These courses emphasize engagement with and interpretation of primary historical texts alongside modern historical studies. Students will build understandings of change over time, the importance of historical context, and causal factors influential in historical development.
Review the academic honesty policy concerning cheating and plagiarism, differing levels of violations, and your moral, ethical, and legal obligation only to submit work completed by you yourself in the Student Handbook <https://www.kings.edu/life_at_kings/dean_of_students/student_handbook>, as determined by the professor, instances will be reported to the Academic Integrity Officer, and
The readings are intended to provide you with important factual and
background information before class, a basis for discussion during class, and to
be used as review and reference works afterwards.
Please obtain the
following textbooks (preferably clean, unmarked-up copies, because you will mark them up as described below):
for more help with the text.Before class, you will read according to the class schedule, below. In all
of your classes, you should prudently mark up, underline, highlight, and
otherwise annotate your texts as you study. For this class, you are required to
do so.
You should critique the textbook as you study. While you are reading,
use one or more highlighters or pens to mark up portions of the text. You might
use marks similar to those used by the professor in his assessment of your own
assignments, found here.
You might consider different colors for (a) historical facts, terms, dates, (b)
important points or details, or (c) key explanatory phrases and sentences (d)
significant quotes or lines. You might write comments
in the margins about the following points:
Be sure to answer the review question at the end of each section in the Concise Western Civ
text by writing in your book (or on a removeable note). For the Aspects text, while you are required to read the specific sources listed on the class schedule, you must also read and mark up the introductory material for each chapter (timeline, themes, key events) and the introduction for each source you are required to read. You might think out and write answers to the "Consider this:" questions at the
end of each section in the Aspects text.
Carefully reading and
noting texts is so important that the instructor applies two methods of
evaluation:
First, quizzes may be given. Quizzes are open book, so you may
copy your answers from your notes onto the quiz sheet. Use your own
words: language similar to the texts may be plagiarism.
Second, you are
required to turn in your textbooks at each exam; then the instructor will
evaluate how well you have marked them up and answered review questions.
Bring your Concise Survey and
Aspects textbooks to each class. The Machiavelli book only needs to be
brought to the class when it will be discussed. Ask questions about about
your texts. We will discuss them. After class, regularly through the semester,
you should review your class notes and compare them with the texts.
If
you have a used textbook that has been already marked up or some other problem with obtaining a textbook, see
the instructor within the first two weeks of classes so that solutions can be
found for your use of the textbook and subsequent evaluation. At the end of the
second week the instructor will examine your books to see how marked-up they
are.
Participation and attendance are necessary because lecture and discussion provide the essentials for achieving class goals and objectives. Thus a portion of your grade (about 20%) will depend on your in-class performance, aside from graded quizzes, exams, and papers. You are required to attend each class, arrive on time, remain attentive, maintain proper classroom decorum, respond to questions, and participate in discussion and small-group activities.
You are encouraged to take notes. Student are also responsible for carrying out discussion, providing answers to questions about material in your readings, and bring up knowledge from other classes and experiences. You can also contribute to discussion by asking questions. Since mature engagement with our society's past and present problems and controversies requires knowledge about the world today, students are expected to be informed about significant current events.
During class electronic devices may only be used for tasks and information relevant to the classroom activity and may not distract you or other students. Only with the instructor's permission may class be recorded, only to be used for your own study, and the recordings must be erased after the final exam.
Disabilities, Accessibility, and Inclusive Learning: King’s College is committed to ensuring that all students can participate fully in the King’s experience, and therefore to creating an inclusive learning environment for all students. King’s views disability as an aspect of human diversity, and continually works with students, faculty, and staff to identify environmental and attitudinal barriers and to improve accessibility on campus and in our online platforms. Therefore, if you have physical, sensory, psychological, or learning disabilities, we would like to support your access to course materials through reasonable accommodations. Please contact the Disability Services Coordinator, in the Academic Skills Center, at the beginning of the semester regarding King’s policies and procedures for documenting and accommodating differing abilities (see Services for Student with Disabilities in the Student Handbook or the King’s College Academic Skills Center website, <https://www.kings.edu/academics/support/skills_center>, for more information). King’s respects your right to keep disabilities confidential and requires faculty to maintain confidentiality while they work with you and other offices to ensure these accommodations.
Any student who has any possible impediment to class participation and requirements should meet with the instructor within the first two weeks of classes to establish available accommodations.
If, at some point during the semester, you must discontinue the course, whether due to poor performance, illness, or some other cause, be sure to follow proper procedures for withdrawal through the Registrar.
Several minor written assignments (a paragraph to one page in length) may also be required as reflections and reactions to class discussion and projects (10 points each).
Since participation and class attendance are necessary, if you miss a class
you must complete an Absentee
Assignment (see below) so that the instructor may evaluate
whether some learning has taken place (see below).
If you arrive at class
late, after attendance is taken, you must personally request that the absence be
turned into a tardy mark; otherwise an Absentee
Assignment (see below) may be
required. Students who need to leave a class early, except for an emergency,
should notify the instructor before class begins.
Missing a class falls
into two categories, excused or unexcused, either of which requires submission
of an Absentee
Assignment (see below).
1. Excused absences are due to
college activities, an emergency, or extended illness. They require a
notification by the appropriate College official (coach, director, etc.). If you
know in advance, you should consult with the instructor about making up/turning
in missed work; otherwise contact the instructor as soon as possible after your
return. They should have no negative impact upon your grade.
2. All
other absences, for whatever reasons, are unexcused, but do not require any
written documentation. More than a few will lower the class participation
portion of your grade.
After any absence, you are also responsible for requesting any hand-outs and already-returned assignments from the instructor, or borrowing notes from other students.
If you miss any quizzes and/or in-class writing or activity projects due to an excused absence, you may make them up with the explicit permission of the instructor, who may require any equivalent assignment. If you have turned in an absentee assignment you will receive the class average of the scores for that assignment.
If you miss an exam, you do not need to complete an Absentee Assignment, but contact the instructor as soon as possible to schedule a make-up for the exam. You may take a missed exam only at the discretion of the instructor.
A few unexcused absences or a make-up exam should not significantly lower your grade. Always, your health is your first priority. If you are sick, stay away from class, and seek proper treatment and rest before returning to class.
Since participation and class attendance are necessary, if you miss a class you must complete an Absentee Assignment
so that the instructor may evaluate whether some learning has taken place.
For an Absentee Assignment, you
are to write a no-more-than-one page essay (in
proper presentation format), though without a Bibliography) covering that day's reading or discussion topic.
These papers are ungraded, without points, and not returned; yet failure to
complete Absentee Assignments will significantly lower your grade, perhaps
resulting in failure of the course.
Deadlines: The assignment(s) should be
turned in to the instructor at the beginning of the next class after you return.
You will take two exams: one on the assigned date in the class schedule and the other as to be scheduled during finals week. The final exam is comprehensive, covering material since the beginning of the course.
Exams will consist of short answers and longer essays demanding your understanding of the course material through logical presentation of facts and explanation of historical trends. Questions will be drawn from the weekly Question classes on the class schedule, those throughout Aspects and CSWC and from the sample questions are listed at: URL: <http://staff.kings.edu/bapavlac/HNRS/135study1.html> for the midterm and at URL: <http://staff.kings.edu/bapavlac/HNRS/135study2.html> for the final. Additional questions may be worked out in class before the exams.
To study for exams, you should regularly (at least once a week) review your class notes. You should also compare and contrast these notes with your textbook and with the issues and trends emphasized in the class description, section I. You will turn in your textbooks during exams to be evaluated by the instructor on how well they have been marked up and noted (10 points each text for each exam).
EVALUATING RULERS
You are to write one six-to-seven page essay which
evaluates whether a ruler should be considered as "good" or "bad." (5+25+100+15 points)
Purpose:
Historians often hold different, even conflicting, views about political leaders
in the past. Researching in order to evaluate a leader should provide you a
better understanding of how historians approach facts and form opinions. You will manage
information, evaluate different historical opinions, analyze arguments, organize
your thoughts and present them in a clear written form in order to better
understand the historical study of personality and leadership.
PART ONE: CHOICE
You must sign up on the list as posted on the professor's office door by the date listed in the
class schedule (0 points).
Only one student per section per choice; first come first served. You can review the possible choices. Before you choose, you should do some basic research about the ruler to see if you can find enough information (see below) and whether you are sufficiently interested in the subject.
PART TWO: PRELIMINARY RESEARCH
You need to get started doing research early. Doing this portion of the project will help (worth 5 points) you begin to gather information to understand your subject.
To do this assignment, it is recommended that you follow this procedure:
1. Be sure you have chosen a proper topic.
2. Start to research the person/event well in advance of the due date. Start to determine what specific grounds or ideologies you will use for evaluation.. We will be visiting the Corgan Library to review its resources.
3. History research requires sources.
Remember, there are three kinds of
sources. For this assignment you will need a minimum of
- one tertiary source:
from Britannica Online. Bring a photocopy of the article to class on the due date.
- three secondary
book or journal article (scholarly, written by professional historians and
published by reputable presses) which closely examines the person or his/her times; Bring the books to class on the due date.
- and one primary source (which you
may access via electronic or printed republished versions). Bring a photocopy of the first page of that source to class on the due date.
4. Start to cite properly.
If you have any doubts about the appropriateness of your sources, please see the instructor early..
5. Turn in a written assignment on the date listed in the class schedule.
The title page will have your choice as the paper title (the name of the ruler); a second Bibliography page
will list at least one tertiary source from Britannica Online (connect
from the library here, three books which are a modern professional academic biography/history secondary
source, and a possible primary source covering the person/subject. Bring the books to class.
PART THREE: DRAFTING RESEARCH
This portion of the project (worth 25 points), builds on the foundation you have already laid.
To do this assignment, it is recommended that you follow this procedure:
1. Find more sources. Refer to a minimum of
- two tertiary sources:
your Britannica Online source from the previous assignment AND one from a printed book from the Reference section of the library, including encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries. The Concise textbook and Webpages may be cited, but does not count as one of the required two sources.
- five professional secondary sources (scholarly, written by professional historians and published by
reputable presses) which closely examines the person or event, three of which must be a printed book;
- and two primary sources (which you
may access via electronic or printed republished versions). Only one may be from the Aspects book, and all should be found in their full complete edition.
2. Cite properly. This assignment will be evaluated both on the quality of references and the accuracy of bibliographic formatting.
3. Based on your sources, pull together the main points you wish to emphasize and an overall point of view.
4. Turn in, as listed in the class schedule.
PART FOUR: PRESENTING RESEARCH
This portion (115 points) is the culmination of your written assignment.
To do this assignment, it is recommended that you follow this procedure:
1. Write a careful essay of six-to-seven pages of text (not counting title page and bibliography) whose thesis argues the good and bad qualities of your chosen ruler. The quality and use of your research from sources will
substantially influence the evaluation of your essay be sure to use them in
the body of your paper. The instructor is largely interested in the historical
arguments on one side or the other, and one paragraph must be devoted to explaining the other point of view. You must clearly state the criteria by which you are judging your ruler (how do you define the good or bad qualities on which you make your evaluation). Most major points should be devoted to specifics. Be
sure to place ruler in historical context, focusing on how things used to
be before, the historical
process of change, and/or how this event or person's
life still affects us today. DO NOT GIVE A STRAIGHT BIOGRAPHY. Avoid almost all biographical matter except how it might give evidence to prove your points. Support all your assertions with proper reasoning
and/or details drawn from your sources, properly cited.
2. Write drafts of your paper. Rest, review, and revise repeatedly. You might use the
Writing Center.
3. Prepare a four-minute long oral report (15 points) which you will present to class when you turn in the paper.
4. Turn in a final draft as listed in the class schedule (100 points). Include a revised bibliography after the text pages (do not include the pages with choice, thesis, or photocopies from previous assignments).
You earn your grade through work done for this course. It is your responsibility to understand why you have achieved a certain grade and what steps you can take to maintain or improve your grade.
For your protection, in case of errors in recording, you should keep copies of all exams and assignments until you have received official notice of your final grade. Any and all materials done for this course may become the property of the instructor, who may use them for assessment, evaluative, scholarly, or research purposes.
For more information on grades, see your Student Handbook and the college catalog.
Your final grade will be based on a percentage (above 90%=A, 80-90%=B, etc., with borderline grades earning "+" or "-") of the sum of the assignments. Different assignments will be worth certain point values.
Completing assignments on time is an important aspect of your course
work. You yourself must hand in each
due assignment at the beginning of class on the
dates
as listed in the schedule, or
as soon as possible after an absence.
The grade of any assignment you turn
in late will lose at least 10% after the beginning of the first class, 20% after
the second, and 35% after the third. No late papers will be accepted after the
last day of class, resulting in a zero for any such assignment.
Most important, this course and your entire education should be about learning to be a better human being, not merely earning grades and fulfilling requirements. The grades and requirements, however, are imperfect means toward that noble end. Please consult with the professor about how you can succeed.
Should the College cancel classes, still work according to the schedule below, until otherwise instructed by the instructor.
Should the College have a compressed schedule, still do the work according to the schedule below, until otherwise instructed by the instructor. Class meeting time under the Compressed Schedule is for the 9:30 section 11:00-11:50 am and for the 11:00 section Noon-12:50 pm.
| date | topic | readings | |
| Aug 27* | Orientation | *9:30 section meets 9:15-10:15; 11 section meets 11:45-12:45 | |
| Aug 29 | Week 1 History |
CSWC, How to Use this Book, Chap. 1 Aspects: Preface |
| Sep 3 | Week 2 Prehistory and Middle Eastern Civilizations |
What is the difference between civilized and barbarian? CSWC,
Chap. 2, 3 |
|
| Sep 5 | How Is Civilization
worthwhile? Textbook Check |
| Sep 10 | Week 3 Greeks |
What varieties of government did the Greeks offer? CSWC, Chap. 4 Evaluating Rulers, Part One: Choice DUE |
|
| Sep 12 | How did the Greeks balance communal versus individual responsibility? |
| Sep 17 | How did Roman regimes change? CSWC, Chap. 5 |
||
| Sep 19 | Week 4 Early Rome |
Library Visit |
| Sep 24 | Week 5 Christianity |
How did Christians manage to convert Romans? CSWC, Chap. 6, pp. 121-136 |
|
| Sep 26 | Is Christianity a Beneficial Belief System? |
| Oct 1 | Week 6 Later Rome |
How did the Roman Empire collapse in the West?
CSWC,
Chap. 6, 136-144 Evaluating Rulers, Part Two: Preliminary Resarch DUE |
|
| Oct 3 | What Caused the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West? |
| Oct 8 | Week 7 Midterm Exam |
Exam | |
| Break |
| Oct 15 | Week 8 Early Middle Ages |
How did the West manage to survive? CSWC, Chap. 7 |
|
| Oct 17 | How do Belief, Violence, and Promises Interact to Create Effective Government? |
| Oct 22 | Week 9 High Middle Ages |
How did forces of Church and State relate? CSWC, Chap. 8, pp. 169-192 |
|
| Oct 24 | Were the Crusades a Holy War? |
| Oct 29 | Week 10 Late Middle Ages |
How did medieval institutions begin to fail? CSWC, Chap. 8, pp. 192-209 |
|
| Oct 31 | Should the papacy should be supreme? Evaluating Rulers, Part Three: Drafting Research DUE |
| Nov 5 | Week 11 Renaissance |
How did the West rediscover classical antiquity?
CSWC, Chap. 9, pp. 211-229 |
|
| Nov 7 | Is the Educational Concept of the Renaissance Still Relevant? |
| Nov 12 | Week 12 The Reformation |
How did the Western Latin Church fracture? CSWC, Chap. 9, pp. 229-243 |
|
| Nov 14 | Were Protestant Reforms Good for Christianity? |
| Nov 19 | Week 13 | How did the Europeans engage the rest of the world? CSWC, Chap. 9, pp. 243-254 | |
| Nov 21 | Age of Discovery and Colonization | Did Columbus's Voyages Have a Positive Impact on World History? |
| Nov 26 | Week 14 | Machiavelli, The Prince (and other sources in the assigned edition written by him): DUE | |
| Break |
| Dec 3 | Week 15 |
Evaluating Rulers, Part Four: Presenting Reseach DUE |
|
| Dec 5 | last class | Review |
| Mon Dec 9, 10:15am and 1pm |
FINAL EXAM |
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Although the syllabus presents the basic content and requirements of the course, the professor reserves the right to change anything (e.g. assignments, point values, topics, due dates, grading policy, etc.), at any time, at his discretion. All these requirements, remember, are to help you to learn.
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URL: http://brianpavlac.org/teach/HNRS135.html Site built, maintained & Copyright © MMXXII by Brian A. Pavlac Last Revision: 2022 February 1 |