HIST1123: Institutions and Ideas of World Civilization II - History

HIST1123: Institutions and Ideas of World Civilization II
Section 010
Instructor: Dr. Thomas Goldstein
Spring 2012 Office: Old Main 419
KIMP0210
Office Hours: W 1 pm – 3 pm or by appt
Tu-Th 9:30-10:50 am
Email: tgoldst@uark.edu
Office Phone: 5-5704
Course Overview and Objectives:
This course focuses on the history of major world civilizations from the year 1500 to the
present. Covering over five hundred years, we will examine the diversity of human
experiences and the ways in which the past has shaped the world we now inhabit. We will
proceed in a roughly chronological manner through five stages of history: the rise of the
Atlantic world and global economy, 1500-1750; the age of revolutions, 1750-1850;
imperialism and world wars, 1850-1950; decolonization and nation-building, 1950-1991;
and (briefly) the contemporary world, 1991-present. At each turn, we will explore the
most important developments in various areas of the world.
The goals of this course are simple. First, to present a basic chronology of major events,
ideas, and people from world history from about 1500 to the present. Second, to help you
think historically about our modern world and your role in it as an informed citizen. Third,
to introduce you to a variety of ethnic and cultural perspectives that shaped how various
groups of people developed and continue to shape the world in which we live. And fourth,
to sharpen your analytical and communication skills through reading, writing, and
examinations, skills that will help you continue to be engaged and critical participants in an
increasingly global society well after you leave this classroom.
With any survey class, we need larger themes to help organize our knowledge, so the
guiding themes of this course will be as follows:
1. The challenges and opportunities caused by the increasing interconnectivity of the
modern world in terms of economic, social, political, and cultural connections
2. The impact of western and non-western ideas and ideals on societies around the
world
3. Competing models of state-building
4. How various people have sought to define their identity in a rapidly changing world
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Readings
The following books are required for this course. They are available for purchase at the
Arkansas campus bookstore. You may find these books cheaper online at any of a number
of sites (e.g., half.com, abebooks.com, amazon.com), but it will likely take a week or more
for the books to arrive (so order them soon).
• Jiu-Hwa L. Upshur et al., World History, Since 1500: Volume II, 5 th edition (Cengage)
• Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)
• Marjane Satrapi, The Complete Persepolis (Random House)
There will be additional smaller readings available via our class blackboard website.
NOTE: You are to complete the assigned reading by the beginning of class on the day on
which it is listed in the schedule of classes below.
Requirements and Grading
Lectures:
Much of the information you will receive will come from lectures. Information from
lectures will be used in constructing the midterm and final and will also help “set the scene”
for your readings and provide context to help you write your papers.
Attendance:
Attendance is required for this course. You may miss up to four (4) classes for any reason
without consequences, but beyond that, you will lose 0.5% off your final course grade for
each additional absence. For instance, if you miss eight classes (four more than permitted),
you will earn a 2% deduction in your final grade. Also note that arriving late to class three
times will be considered as one unexcused absence. If you have perfect attendance for the
semester, you will receive a 1% bonus for your overall course grade.
If you need to miss a class for a legitimate reason (medical or otherwise), you must
provide documentation as far in advance as possible. This means that if you miss class
because you are feeling a little under the weather but do not have a doctor’s note, the
absence will not be excused. In other words, you must document every absence if you
want it to be excused.
Reading quizzes:
At the beginning of class on days labeled “discussion” below, we will have a brief reading
quiz. These quizzes are designed to test whether you have read the assigned material. If
you have read the material carefully, taken notes, and thought critically about it, you should
do fine. If you have rushed through the readings without taking notes or critical reflection,
you will do poorly. At the end of the semester, I will drop your lowest quiz score. There
will be no make-ups for quizzes, so if you miss a quiz, it will count as your dropped score.
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Paper:
In late March, you must compose a 4-5-page essay comparing the assigned readings.
Specific questions to be answered will be provided in advance of the paper’s due date.
Exams:
There will be two exams in this course, each consisting of a mixture of term identifications,
objective components, and essay questions. The questions will all be drawn from lecture
and the course readings and will cover both larger themes and more specific details. A
terms list will be distributed one week prior to the exams to aid your studying.
Grading:
Quizzes
15% (average of your highest five quiz scores)
Paper 25%
Midterm 25%
Final exam 35%
Rules and Policies
Blackboard Website:
The primary means of communication and the distribution of information for this class will
be through our course blackboard website. To this end, you should check our site regularly
for updates, assignments, paper guides, and grades. I will also post course powerpoints
here. If you are having difficulties accessing our class blackboard site, let me know ASAP.
Laptops:
Laptops will be permitted in this class but if they become a distraction for you or your
fellow students, you will not be permitted to use them. In other words, don’t let me catch
you playing Angry Birds on your iPad lest you want me to confiscate it so I can play Angry
Birds (but only AFTER lecture).
Classroom Behavior:
You are expected to be in class on time, pay attention in lecture, turn off your cell phone,
and refrain from disruptive behavior (talking, surfing the internet, texting, eating loudly,
passing notes, sleeping, reading the newspaper, practicing semaphore, etc.). Failure to do
so could lead to you being asked to leave the classroom, which would mean an unexcused
absence counted against your grade.
Late assignments:
Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day listed below in the course
schedule. I will accept late assignments, but out of fairness to the other students who
meet the deadlines, your paper will be graded down by half a letter grade (for example
from 85 to 80) for every twenty-four-hour period for which it is late. Computer failure,
printer jams, or limited computer access are not legitimate excuses for late assignments.
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Communication:
E-mail is an efficient, reliable, and useful form of communication, but it is also a highly
impersonal way of getting in touch with someone. For professional correspondences, it is
important that you personalize an e-mail message as much as you can in order for it to
come across as polite, courteous, and professional. One of the best ways is to make sure
that you address an e-mail like you would a normal letter; use “Dear Dr. Goldstein,” or “Hi
Dr. Goldstein,” before you begin the rest of your e-mail. End it by saying “Thanks, The
Situation” or “Best regards, Snooki.” These little touches, so easy to do but so often
forgotten in the rush to press “send,” go a long way to making your e-mails much more
pleasant, personal, and courteous.
More generally, communication with the instructor is expected in any situation that may
affect your ability to fulfill course requirements. All such communication is the
responsibility of the student.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional use of someone else’s words or ideas without
explicitly citing it as such. It is strictly prohibited at Arkansas and is something I take very
seriously. Besides, it usually takes more effort to plagiarize than to do the assignment
honestly, so it’s not worth risking your academic career for an assignment worth only a
small percentage of your grade. If you are caught plagiarizing on any of your assignments, I
am required to report it, so don’t do it.
Seriously – don’t.
If you are unsure what constitutes plagiarism, ask me or see Arkansas’s guide to paper
citation: http://libinfo.uark.edu/reference/citingyoursources.asp.
Schedule of Classes
* Reading available via the course blackboard site
Part I: The Rise of the Global Economy and Atlantic World, 1500-1750
Week 1
1/17 The Conquest of the Americas and the Dawn of the Global Age
1/19 The Protestant Reformation and Religious Warfare in Europe
Read: Martin Luther documents*; Upshur et al., World History, 474-491
Week 2
1/24 The American Empires and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Read: Bartolomé de las Casas, “The Devastation of the Indies”*; Upshur, 491-508
1/26 Discussion: The Experience of Slavery
Read: Slave trade documents*
Quiz #1
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Week 3
1/31 The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
Read: “Salon Life”*; Upshur, 580-605
2/2 The Muslim Empires, 1500-1800
Read: Upshur, 451-463, 513-537
Week 4
2/7 Early Modern China and Japan
Read: Upshur, 537-575
2/9 Discussion: Early Modern Global Connections
Read: Early modern documents*
Quiz #2
Part II: The Age of Revolutions, 1750-1850
Week 5
2/14 The Enlightened Despots of Eastern Europe
Read: Frederick the Great, “Essay on the Forms of Government”*; Upshur, 605-611
2/16 The American Revolutions
Read: Upshur, 611-629, 669-672
Week 6
2/21 The French Revolution and Napoleonic Europe
Read: 647-665
2/23 Discussion: The Enlightenment Revolutions
Read: Read: Enlightenment revolutions documents*
Quiz #3
Week 7
2/28 The Industrial Revolution
Read: “Leeds Woolen Workers Petition,“ “Letter from Leeds Cloth Merchants”*;
Upshur, 629-641
3/1 Industrial Society and the Birth of Modern Ideologies
Read: Upshur, 665-669, 672-715
Week 8
3/6 Midterm exam
Part III: Imperialism and World Wars, 1850-1950
3/8 European Imperialism in Asia and Africa
Read: Upshur, 719-750
Week 9
3/13 The First World War
Read: Upshur, 750-767
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3/15 Discussion: Perspectives on Imperialism
Read: Imperialism documents*
Quiz #4
Week 10
3/20 No class: Spring Break
3/22 No class: Spring Break
Week 11
3/27 The Russian Revolution and Stalinism
Read: Upshur, 815-826
3/29 The Great Depression and the Rise of Hitler
Read: Upshur, 767-782, 856-866
Course paper due
Week 12
4/3 The Second World War
Read: Atomic bomb documents*; Upshur, 866-893
4/5 The Holocaust
Week 13
4/10 Discussion: Surviving the Holocaust
Read: Holocaust documents*
Quiz #5
Part IV: Decolonization and Nation-Building, 1950-1991
4/12 The Cold War
Read: “The Truman Doctrine” and speech by Andrei Zhdanov *; Upshur, 930-950
Week 14
4/17 Decolonization in Africa and Asia
Read: Upshur, 788-815, 911-923
4/19 Discussion: Tourism as Neo-Imperialism
Read: Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place
Quiz #6
Week 15
4/24 The Slow Decline and Rapid Fall of the Communist Bloc
Read: excerpt from Vaclav Havel, The Power of the Powerless*; Upshur, 950-971
4/26 Arab Upheaval: Nationalism, Fundamentalism, and Revolutions
Read: “Iran’s New Revolutionaries”*; Upshur, 923-930, 980-986
Week 16
5/1 Discussion: The Iranian Revolution
Read: Marjane Satrapi, The Complete Persepolis
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Part V: The Contemporary World
5/3 Globalization and Its Discontents
Read: Upshur, 971-980, 986-1012
Final Exam: Thursday 5/10 8:00-10:00 am
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