MONTGOMERY
COLLEGE
A North Harris Montgomery Community College
HIST 2321 / World Civilizations to 1500
Dr. J. Ross-Nazzal / Fall 2005
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
This course examines the history of human societies from the earliest evidences of ancient peoples until
contact between European and western hemispheric cultures at the end of the fifteenth century.
Consideration is given to all major cultural regions in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and India, East
Asia, Africa and Latin America. Emphasis is placed upon comparative aspects of history, and upon
interactions among the major cultural regions.
CREDIT: 3.0 hours, transferable to any 4-year institution in the state of Texas
PREREQUISITES: College level reading and writing.
ADA STATEMENT: If you require reasonable accommodations because of a physical, mental, or
learning disability, please notify the instructor of this course within the first two weeks of the term.
PURPOSE
History 2321 studies the broader questions and trends in world history.
COURSE OUTCOMES
Upon successful completion of this course, you will need to identify key events, people, institutions, and
trends in the history of the major world cultures prior to 1492; Describe the critical interactions among the
major world cultures prior to 1492; Explain the role of economic, political and cultural factories in the
development of human society; Compare and contrast the development of each major world cultures prior
to 1492 with the development of the others; and, Assess the impact of the historical development on
contemporary issues.
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Politics: How were people governed and what were the relationships
between the governed and the government?
Ideas: How did intellectual history develop? How were intellectual
ideas transmitted from civilization to civilization?
Economics: Examine the various economic systems from their
inceptions.
Gender: What were the roles, duties, obligations, and significances
of the family, children, men, and women in world civilizations?
Society: How did class manifest itself? What was the significance of
class on world civilizations?
Culture: Examine the particular cultures of the major world
civilizations, how they changed over time, and how cultures were spread
from civilization to civilization.
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8.
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12.
Religion: Examine the creation, development, and maturation of the
world's great religions to include Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism,
Christianity, and Islam. How have these religions (tenets and actions)
impacted history?
Environment: How have the ebbing and flowing of history impacted
the environment and how has the environment impacted history?
Migration: People have moved from one place to another, sometimes
peacefully and sometimes violently, thus we need to examine not only the
reasons behind migration but also the impact on the indigenous
populations; cultural conflict; it is called "contact zones" in world
historiography.
Science: Examine the developments in science; compare and contrast
scientific developments and usages among various civilizations.
Technology: Examine the developments in technology; How has
technology impacted civilizations? Compare and contrast technological
developments and usages among various civilizations
Individuals: History is more than trends or groups. History is
people and thus specific people must always be examined from the great
leaders and thinkers to the average person affected by the great leaders
and thinkers. People's actual words, whenever possible, must be examined
and analyzed, as opposed to talking about specific people.
PLAGIARISM AND CHEATING
In the event of cheating or plagiarism you will receive an “F” in the course.
Hand in your competed plagiarism exercise no later than the first day of the second week of class. The
assignment is located on my web page.
CONTACT
Instructor:
Office:
Office Hours:
Email:
Web page:
Required texts:
J. Ross-Nazzal, Ph.D.
A220L; 936-273-7057
I will read and respond to my email during my office hours.
jrn@nhmccd.edu
http://ppl.nhmccd.edu/~jross-nazzal/
Duiker, World History (Comprehensive), 4th edition.
Schlesinger, et al, Global Passages (Vol. I)
Polo, The Travels of Marco Polo
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This semester is an in-depth, intensive, over-arching survey of major world civilizations from their origins
to 1500 stressing and interpreting social, cultural, intellectual, religious, economic and political
developments of and among European, African, Middle Eastern, Asian, and Amerindian societies and
their contributions to humankind with an emphasis on East-West interaction.
ATTENDANCE
Life is too short to repeat in lecture what is available to you in the textbooks, thus relentless attendance is
required. If you miss a few days you truly miss a lot because the lectures are tightly integrated. In other
words, you will have a harder time understanding later lectures if you miss the earlier ones.
While I lecture, you must take copious and meaningful notes. Please do not just jot down the few words
that appear on the PowerPoint slides as those are merely the most generalized outline and I place them
there usually to keep me on track.
Do not interrupt the class by arriving late or leaving early as neither will be tolerated. Please do not enter
the classroom late or leave early as it is both rude and a distraction to the rest of us. I will not stop
lecturing in order for me to go to the bathroom, get a cup of coffee, or make/take a phone call thus I
expect that you will also not interrupt the class by walking out in the middle of class or by arriving late.
In the event a student misses class, she or he is still responsible for all material covered in class and all
announcements made in class.
NO CELL PHONES. I will not interrupt the class by answering, text-messaging, or otherwise checking
my cell phone and thus neither will you.
GRADING
Grading. There are several different types of graded assignments this semester and to include
Communications Notebook (20%), Paper (20%), Debate (20%), Writing Assignments (20%), Cultural
Assignment (10%), Participation (10%).
Communications Notebook. You will communicate each week with a university student in Japan and/or
China. We will provide one question for you and you will then come up with two more questions to ask
the foreign students. You will create a notebook that includes a copy of the emails that you send, the
responses from the students, and notes on your thoughts and feelings on the interaction. This notebook
will be collected and graded twice throughout the semester.
Paper. You will write a paper drawn on what you learn in this class using only the books assigned for this
class based upon East-West relations. The paper will be eight pages, double-spaced, using CMS citations.
Debate. Marco Polo’s seminal work is an accurate depiction of Chinese society. The debate will take
place when you are scheduled to take the final exam.
Cultural Assignment. You will attend one Asian cultural production (for example theatre, music, dance, a
festival, parade, art exhibit, movie, et cetera) this semester. There are plenty of free events on campus and
throughout the community so do not feel that you have to spend money. Draft a two-page (minimum)
response/critique/description to the cultural event. Attach a cover sheet that has your name, the date and
title of the event, as well as the location of the event. None of the information on the cover sheet will be
found on the response/critique/description. This assignment is due no later than November 30th. This
assignment is worth 100 points, or 10% of your final grade.
Writing Assignments. Four of these to help them with the research paper.
Participation. I except that you will come to class having read the assigned material and prepared to
discuss the major themes with your colleagues and myself. ALWAYS bring your Schlesinger text with
you and be prepared to present to the class the one document that you selected to read for each day.
Grade Scale: Percentage
Points
100-90
1000-900
89-80
899-800
79-70
799-700
Grade
A
B
C
69-60
699-600
D
Extra Credit. Do not ask for extra credit. Complete all work in accordance with the specifications. Hand
in the assignments when they are due. Thus, you will not need “extra” credit.
Grades. The grade of A reflects excellence. The A paper/work offers a well-focused and organized
discussion appropriate to the instructor's assignment, reflects critical use of relevant materials, and
demonstrates effective and formal writing requirements. Papers/work must demonstrate outstanding
efforts to identify varied pertinent sources, to employ those materials critically in the text of the papers,
and to provide error-free citations of those resources.
The grade of B represents an effort beyond satisfactory and indicates the paper/work was completed in an
appropriate and competent manner and, in general, demonstrates a strong attempt at original and critical
analysis, writing, and research. The B paper/work may contain a number of minor errors of grammar or
citation, and its thesis or its conclusions may be undeveloped or too weakly supported.
The grade of C indicates that the paper/work was done in a satisfactory or appropriate fashion and
represents the average work expected for university courses. The presentation is organized around a
central idea with arguments supported by relevant examples. The paper/work is structured into correctly
written paragraphs and sentences. Although fulfilling the assignment, the C paper/work may exhibit one
or more weaknesses including, but not limited to, errors of punctuation and grammar, imprecise or
incorrect word use, inaccurate or uncritical use of materials, occasional inconsistency of organization or
development, and lack of direct relevance of the selected research materials to the topic.
The grade of D indicates that the paper/work may have a poorly defined topic or thesis, lack clear focus or
organization, and contain unsupported generalizations or conclusions. Research support is inadequate, not
clearly relevant, or improperly documented. A less-than-minimal research effort is evident. The
paper/work may also suffer from numerous or major formal writing errors.
The grade of F indicates that the paper/work is not clearly relevant to the assignment and that its topic and
thesis are poorly focused or defined. The paper may display inadequate organization or development,
unsupported generalizations, and nonstandard formal features (including language usage, sentence
structure, paragraphing, and so on). Research support is absent, inadequate, or irrelevant to the
assignment.
A Final Thought on Grades. Getting good grades are easy. All you have to do is keep up with the
readings, attend class relentlessly, take proper notes in class, review your notes on a regular basis, and put
forth your most concerted efforts in regards to the out of class assignments. No one has more control over
your grades than yourselves. You will do well (i.e., pass) if you decide that studying is what is important
and thus you take the necessary steps to do well.
Date Topic/Assignment
08/24 Introduction
08/26 In the Beginning . . .
08/31 Ancient Near East/India
09/02 Ancient China
09/07 Greeks
09/09 Greeks
09/14 Romans
09/16 Romans
09/21 EXAM I: Chs. 1-5
09/23 Pre-Columbia America
09/28 Islam and Byzantium
09/30 Islam and Byzantium
10/05 Ancient Africa
10/07 Ancient Africa
10/12 Southern Asia
1
2
Read/Due
Take Copious Notes
Pay Scrupulous Attention
Ch. 1 (D)1
Ch. 1 (S)2
RQ#1
E.C. Writing Assignment Due
Ch. 2 (D)
Ch. 2 (S)
RQ#2
Ch. 3 (D)
Ch. 3 (S)
RQ#3
E.C. Writing Assignment Due
Ch. 4 (D)
Ch. 4 (S)
Ch. 4 (D)
Ch. 4 (S)
RQ#4
E.C. Writing Assignment Due
Ch. 5 (D)
Ch. 4 (S)
Ch. 5 (D)
Ch. 4 (S)
E.C. Writing Assignment Due
MAP QUIZ #1
Bring Your Essay, blank paper, and pens.
Ch. 6 (D)
Ch. 6 (S)
Writing Assignment #1 Due
RQ#5
Ch. 7 (D)
Ch. 7 (S)
Ch. 7 (D)
Ch. 7 (S)
Writing Assignment #2 Due
RQ#6
Ch. 8 (D)
Ch. 7 (S)
Ch. 8 (D)
Ch. 7 (S)
Writing Assignment #3 Due
MAP QUIZ #2
RQ#7
Ch. 9 (D)
Ch. 8 (S)
RQ#8
(D) is the Duiker text, World History; read the entire chapter, unless otherwise noted.
(S) is the Schlesinger text, Global Passages; select and read just one (1) document each day, unless otherwise noted.
10/14 Tang – Mongols
10/19 Tang – Mongols
10/21 Japan, Korea, and Vietnam
10/26 Japan, Korea, and Vietnam
10/28 Europe – Early Middle Ages
11/02 Europe – Early Middle Ages
11/04 EXAM II: Chs. 6-12
11/09 Europe – Late Middle Ages
11/11 Europe – Late Middle Ages
11/16 Columbian Exchange
11/18 Cultural Clash
11/23 Muslim Empires
11/30 Muslim Empires
12/02 Miscellaneous Ramblings
Ch. 10 (D)
Ch. 8(S)
Writing Assignment #4 Due
Ch. 10 (D)
Ch. 9 (S)
RQ#9
Ch. 11 (D)
Ch. 9 (S)
Writing Assignment #5 Due
Ch. 11 (D)
Ch. 9 (S)
RQ#10
Ch. 12 (D)
Ch. 10 (S)
Writing Assignment #6 Due
Ch. 12 (D)
Ch. 10 (S)
MAP QUIZ #3
RQ#11 (Extra Credit)
Bring Your Essay, blank paper, and pens.
Ch. 13 (D)
Ch. 10 (S)
Ch. 13 (D)
Ch. 10 (S)
Writing Assignment #7 Due
RQ#12 (Extra Credit)
Ch. 14 (D)
Ch. 14 (S)
Writing Assignment #8 Due
Ch. 14 (D)
Ch. 14 (S)
Writing Assignment #9 Due
RQ#13 (Extra Credit)
Ch. 15 (D)
Ch. 12 (S)
Ch. 15 (D)
Ch. 13 (S)
Writing Assignment #10 Due
RQ#14 (Extra Credit)
Handout
MAP QUIZ #4
RQ#15 (Extra Credit)