HISTORY 206 (2): Western Civilization III, 1815 to Present

Winter 2005

CRN: 13508 (5.0 units)

Class meets MWF, 11:00 A.M. - 12:25 P.M. in SCI-180 (Time Block E)

 

Instructor: Mark Baker

Office: 303F Faculty Towers

Telephone: (661) 665-6833

email: mbaker2@csub.edu

I am most easily accessible via email, but phone is fine too.

 

Office hours: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, 1-3 P.M.

 

Course Description:

The CSUB calendar defines this course as the third course in the Western Civilization survey sequence covering the period from about the French Revolution to the present. Clearly, this is an ambitious task, not an easy course at all, but certainly an essential one. We are going to try to cover the basic outline of the rise of what is sometimes called Western Civilization. More books have been written on this subject than most of us could read in a lifetime. In this course we will be simply trying to get some sense of the historical processes that have combined to create the western world. How did this world come to be, and how did it come to dominate the rest of the world economically, politically, ideologically and (some would argue) culturally? Time is limited; we are already in a hurry. If you wish to do well in this course, you must keep up with the readings and attend classes regularly.

 

Course Learning Objectives:

By the end of the course students will (hopefully) be able:

  1. To identify and define the most important events, people and processes of the transformation of the western world over the last two centuries.
  2. To research and write a concise history paper on a given topic.
  3. To evaluate a historical document critically and to describe how this document might be used in writing history.
  4. To think more critically about history, how it is written and interpreted.

 

Required Reading:

Ø       John P. McKay, Bennett D. Hill and John Buckler, A History of Western Society: Volume C: From the Revolutionary Era to the Present, 7th ed. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003). ISBN: 0618170537 [hereafter McKay].

Ø       Marvin Perry, Joseph Peden, and Theodore Von Laue, Sources of the Western Tradition, 5th ed. Volume II (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003). ISBN: 0618162283 [hereafter Perry].

Ø       Henrik Ibsen, A Doll's House (Dover, 1992; originally published in 1879). ISBN: 0486270629

Ø      Elie Wiesel, Night (Bantam, 1982). ISBN: 0553272535

 

 

Course Requirements:

Percent

Assignments

20

Midterm Examination: consisting of short objective questions, document questions, maps, and one essay. Midterm Exam will be held on 31 January 2005! Click here to see Midterm Study Guide.

 

25

Term Paper: 4-5 pages DUE 28 February 2005!! CLICK HERE TO SEE TERM PAPER ASSIGNMENT.

Click here for Tips on writing the Term Paper!

 

10

Participation: Not simply coming to class, but taking an ACTIVE part in group activities, asking and answering questions. Students will also lose participation points for rude behavior in class.

 

15

Five 1-2-page, biweekly in-class Reflection Essays based on the readings and lectures. Click here to see Scoring RUBRIC for Reflection Essays. To see a sample Reflection Essay click here!

 

30

Final Examination: consisting of short objective questions, document questions, maps, and essays. Final will be held on 16 March 2005, 11:00 A.M.–1:30 A.M.! Click here to see Final Exam Study Guide.

 

Reflection Essay: Every other week students will be required to write a 1-2 page essay in class, reflecting on the readings and lectures of the past two weeks. The goal of this exercise is to get students to write about what they are learning on a regular basis and to encourage them to keep up with the readings. It is crucial that in your essays you refer specifically to the readings. Scoring RUBRIC for Reflection Essays.

 

Class Format: Our classes will include lectures, group work, and class discussion and video presentations. It is very important that you do the reading assignments before class. I will presume that you have read the historical background. Instead of trying to cover all the subject matter in the reading, I will focus on important themes, points and controversies. This will make much more sense to you if you have carried out the required reading.

 

Very important rules*:

  1. Late papers will be accepted, but one-third of a grade per day will be deducted.
  2. Make up examinations will be permitted only with written verification of medical or personal emergencies.
  3. No incompletes will be given that do not conform to CSUB policy.
  4. Each student should read in the catalogue (p. 57) CSUB policy on Academic Integrity, cheating and all forms of plagiarism. A grade of F is required in proven instances of cheating and plagiarism.
  5. You MUST check your email account on a regular basis in order to do well in this course. I very frequently send out email messages about upcoming events concerning the course, as well as handouts and other course materials. If you are not in the habit of checking your Runner email regularly, you had better start, or else have your Runner email forwarded to whatever email address you do use regularly.
  6. Be on time for class; if you need to leave class early, please let me know in advance.
  7. The classroom is a public forum for dialogue. Hence, all electronic communication devices (especially cell phones and pagers) must be turned off during class.

 

*Students unable to comply with any of these guidelines should see me personally and immediately to discuss their reasons.

 

Course Outline:

*Readings are to be completed before class on the day on which they are listed. By my calculation there are about 500 pages here to read over a ten-week period (50 pages per week). Students should plan to spend at least SEVEN HOURS per week outside of class time reading these pages and taking notes on them (You might think of this reading and note-taking as the lab for this course).

 

3 January 2005

Introduction to the syllabus, course and the topic: For the Basic Dates that we went over in class today, click here: the Main events

 

5 January 2005

The French Revolution

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 21, pp. 691-720 (30 pages)

 

7 January 2005

Napoleonic Europe and the Congress of Vienna

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 23, pp. 755-761 (5 pages)

Perry: Chapter 4, pp. 98-107 (10 pages)

**FIRST IN-CLASS REFLECTION ESSAY ON READINGS AND LECTURES**

Scoring RUBRIC for Reflection Essays

To see a sample Reflection Essay click here!

 

10 January 2005

Industrial Revolution and its spread: Why England? Why Europe?

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 22, pp. 725-53 (29 pages)

 

12 January 2005

Peasants in Europe

*Reading:

Perry: Chapter 5, pp. 128-145. (18 pages)

 

14 January 2005

The Rise of Nationalism: Poland, French and American Revolutions

*Reading:

Omer Bartov, The Nation in Arms: Germany and France, 1789-1939, History Today (September 1994), pp. 27-33. (Available on reserve in Stiern Library or click here to go to article via EbscoHost)

 

19 January 2005

The Impact of Industrialization and Urbanization

Karl Marx and Class Struggle

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 23, pp. 761-766 (6 pages); Chapter 24, pp. 787-812 (26 pages)

Perry: Chapter 7, Marx and Engels, pp.183-189, Chapter 8, pp. 199-207 (15 pages)

 

21 January 2005

European Nationalism. Unification of Italy

Click here to see map of the Unification of Italy

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 25, pp. 823-833; 838-846 (18 pages)

 

**SECOND IN-CLASS REFLECTION ESSAY ON READINGS AND LECTURES**

Scoring RUBRIC for Reflection Essays

To see a sample Reflection Essay click here!

 

24 January 2005

European Nationalism. Unification of Germany.

Click here to see map of the Unification of Germany

*Reading:

Perry: Chapter 6, pp. 157-169 (13 pages)

 

26 January 2005

European colonialism and imperialism

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 26, pp. 855-882 (28 pages)

 

28 January 2005

Empires of a different kind? The Habsburgs and Romanovs

 

31 January 2005

**MID-TERM EXAMINATION!! Click here for Study Guide

2 February 2005

Late 19th-century Imperialism

*Reading:

Perry: Chapter 9, Rhodes pp. 242-244, Chamberlain, pp. 244-246, Pearson pp. 246-48 and Meinertzhagen, pp. 260-264. (10 pages)

 

4 February 2005

Movements for the political, educational and legal equality of women

*Reading:

Perry: Chapter 8, Mill, Pankhurst, Goncourt Brothers, and Wright and pp. 218-228. (11 pages)

 

**THIRD IN-CLASS REFLECTION ESSAY ON READINGS AND LECTURES**

Scoring RUBRIC for Reflection Essays

 

7 February 2005

DISCUSSION: Gender and the Rise of Separate Spheres

*Reading:

Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House (originally published in 1879), entire play.

 

9 February 2005

Origins of the Great War, 1900-1914

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 27, pp. 887-895 (9 pages)

Perry: Chapter 11, pp. 301-306 (6 pages)

 

11 February 2005

The Great War, Front, Home and Total War

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 27, pp. 895-904. (10 pages)

Perry: Chapter 11, Remarque, Sassoon and Owen pp. 307-314. (7 pages)

 

14 February 2005

Revolutions in the Former Russian Empire

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 27, pp. 904-910. (7 pages)

Perry: Chapter 11, pp. 323-326 (4 pages)

 

16 February 2005

Versailles and the Post-War settlement

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 27, pp. 911-919 (9 pages)

Perry: Chapter 11, Wilson, Clemenceau, and the German Delegation, pp. 315-322. (8 pages)

Click here to see summary of WWI military losses

 

18 February 2005

Video: The Fatal Attraction of Adolf Hitler, Part I

 

**FOURTH IN-CLASS REFLECTION ESSAY ON READINGS AND LECTURES**

Scoring RUBRIC for Reflection Essays

 

21 February 2005

Totalitarianism of the Right

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 29, pp. 953-971 (18 pages)

 

23 February 2005

Totalitarianism of the Left

*Reading:

Perry: Chapter 13, Hitler, pp. 360-364 and Koestler, pp. 383-385 (8 pages)

 

25 February 2005

Origins of the World War II: Appeasement or Aggression?

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 29, pp. 971-975 (5 pages)

Perry: Chapter 13, Chamberlain and Churchill, pp. 397-401 (5 pages)

 

28 February 2005

Video: Fatal Attraction of Adolf Hitler, Part II

 

**TERM PAPER ASSIGNMENT DUE!!!

CLICK HERE TO SEE TERM PAPER ASSIGNMENT.

Click here for Tips on writing the Term Paper!

 

2 March 2005

World War II

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 29, pp. 975-987 (13 pages)

Perry: Chapter 13, Holocaust, pp. 421-431. (11 pages)

 

4 March 2005

DISCUSSION: The Holocaust and its Legacies

*Reading:

Elie Wiesel, Night (1982), entire book

 

 7 March 2005

The Cold War in Europe, Origins and first decade

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 30, pp. 989-1006 (17 pages)

Perry: Chapter 14, pp. 453-463 (10 pages)

 

**FIFTH IN-CLASS REFLECTION ESSAY ON READINGS AND LECTURES**

Scoring RUBRIC for Reflection Essays

9 March 2005

The Rise of Europe and the ‘West’

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 30, pp. 1006- 1013 (7 pages)

 

11 March 2005

American Popular Culture and Americanization of the Globe

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 30, pp. 1013-1021 (9 pages)

 

14 March 2005

The End of the Cold War, the Soviet Union and even History?

*Reading:

McKay: Chapter 31, pp. 1027-1041 (15 pages)

 

 

**Final Examination: Wednesday, 16 March 2005, 11:00 A.M. - 1:30 P.M. in

SCI-180

Click here to view and print Final Examination Study Guide

 

Please note that this syllabus is tentative and subject to change depending upon the needs of the class.

 

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