HUM 2051: CIVILIZATION I
Ancient through Medieval
Fall 2014
Dr. Perdigao
class time: M W F 12:00 pm
office hours: M W 3:00-4:30 pm
and by appointment
office: 626 Crawford
phone: 321-674-8370
email: lperdiga@fit.edu
website: my.fit.edu/~lperdiga
Required Texts:
Sarah Lawall, The Norton Anthology of Western Literature, 9th edition, volume 1
(Norton; ISBN: 9780393933642)
Marvin Perry, Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, 10th edition
(Wadsworth/Cengage; ISBN: 9781111831721)
John Gardner, Grendel (Vintage; ISBN: 9780679723110)
Course Objectives:
The course presents a survey of the career of western civilization from its origins in the ancient Near East to the
European Renaissance. Emphasis is given to the close reading and interpretation of primary sources that reflect
the intellectual and historical changes in society.
Policies and Procedures
Grading:
Responses
Presentation
Quizzes
Midterm Exam
Final Essay
Final Exam (Wednesday, December 10 from 1-3 pm)
20%
10%
10%
20%
20%
20%
A response consists of a 1-2 page (250-500 words) reflection on a section of the course. While the responses are
not formal essays, you must demonstrate knowledge of the readings and the relationships between the texts we are
discussing. There will be four three responses during the semester.
For the presentation, you will choose a text that we are discussing in class. Your task is to provide a new way of
reading that text, either by offering another text as a lens through which you can highlight the text’s main issues
or by developing an approach to the text via research into the historical moment or ideas. Ultimately, you are to
go beyond summarizing the text to offer a more comprehensive approach. You will have 10-15 minutes (for an
individual or a pair) for your presentation. If you select a scene from a film as a companion text, keep the scene to
about 5 minutes so that you have time to discuss your close reading.
A quiz will focus on the day’s assigned reading(s). The quiz may be announced the day before class or be a “pop
quiz.” As a result, regular attendance is mandatory; make-up quizzes are unlikely.
The final essay consists of at least 4 pages written in MLA format and includes a works cited page. The essay
must be typed; use a standard 12-point font (about 250-300 words per page).
For responses and the final essay, students are required to submit their papers to www.turnitin.com on the
assigned date; failure to submit the paper to turnitin.com and/or to turn in the hard copy in class on the
due date will lead to a failure of the assignment. Our class ID is 8389845 and the password is Buffy.
Academic Dishonesty will be handled in accordance with the School of Arts and Communication policy.
Cheating and plagiarism will result in failure of assignment and/or failure of course and will be reported to the
Dean of Students and recorded in your permanent student file. Dishonest conduct may lead to formal disciplinary
proceedings. Be certain that you are familiar with Florida Tech’s academic dishonesty policy. You can find more
information about plagiarism and properly citing material at http://www.fit.edu/current/documents/plagiarism.pdf.
Cell phone policy: If your phone rings, if you try to make an outgoing call or text messages are sent or received
(translation: basically any variation of playing with your phone when you should be paying attention), you are
responsible for bringing pizza (or an acceptable alternative) to the following class.
Attendance is required. Absenteeism and tardiness will adversely affect your final grade. If you miss more than
10% of the classes, you run the risk of failing the course. You are responsible for all of the work that you miss.
Informed in-class participation demonstrates your engagement with the readings and is reflected in your final
grade.
I. Ancient Near East
8/18
Introduction
8/20
Chapter 1: The Ancient Near East: The First Civilizations (Perry 4-30)
Ancient Mediterranean and Near East Literature (3-21)
8/22
The Hebrew Bible; Genesis 1-3, 4, 6-9, 11 (110-126)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
8/25
Chapter 2: The Hebrews: A New View of God and the Individual (Perry 31-47)
Genesis 12, 17, 18, 21, 22, 25, 27, 37, 39-45 (126-135; 139-149)
II. Greece and the Hellenic World
8/27
Chapter 3: The Greek City-State: Democratic Politics (Perry 48-71)
Homer (181-188), The Iliad Book I (189-204), Book VI (205-215)
8/29
Homer, The Iliad Books XVIII, XXII, XXIV (243-290)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
9/1
Labor Day—no class
9/3
Homer, The Odyssey Books I-IV (291-344)
9/5
Homer, The Odyssey Books V-IX (344-397)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
9/8
Homer, The Odyssey Books X-XII (397-436)
9/10
Homer, The Odyssey Books XIII-XVI (436-485)
9/12
Homer, The Odyssey Books XVII-XX (485-536)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
9/15
Homer, The Odyssey Books XXI-XXIV (536-581)
9/17
Chapter 4: Greek Thought: From Myth to Reason (Perry 72-100)
Ancient Athenian Drama (603-608)
Aeschylus, Agamemnon (609-636)
9/19
Aeschylus, Agamemnon (636-660)
Screening of O Brother, Where Art Thou?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
9/22
Back to the Polis (Perry, Chapter 3)
9/24
Aristophanes, Lysistrata (782-804)
Response #1 due in hard copy and to turnitin.com
9/26
Aristophanes, Lysistrata (804-820)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
9/29
Lysistrata
10/1
Plato (821-825), The Apology of Socrates (handout)
10/3
No class
___________________________________________________________________________________________
10/6
Plato, from The Republic Books VI and VII (The Sun, the Divided Line, and the Cave) (handout)
10/8
Plato
10/10
Midterm exam
___________________________________________________________________________________________
10/13
Columbus Day—no class
III. Rome and Christianity
10/15
Chapter 5: The Hellenistic Age: Cultural Diffusion (Perry 101-116)
Chapter 6: The Roman Republic: City-State to World Empire (Perry 117-139)
10/17
Chapter 7: The Roman Empire: A World-State (Perry 140-169)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
10/20
Virgil, The Aeneid Book I (977-1002)
10/22
Virgil, The Aeneid Book II (1002-1024)
Response #2 due in hard copy and to turnitin.com
10/24
Virgil, The Aeneid Book IV (1025-1044) and Book VI (handout)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
10/27
Virgil, The Aeneid Books VIII and XII (1044-1089)
10/29
Chapter 8: Early Christianity: A World Religion (Perry 170-195)
The Bible: New Testament
Luke 2, Matthew 13, Matthew 27- 28 (1135-1152; 1152-1154; 1159; 1161-1163)
Chapter 9: The Heirs of Rome: Byzantium, Islam, and Latin Christendom (Perry 198-226)
IV. Early Medieval World
10/31
Beowulf (1230-1250 [top])
___________________________________________________________________________________________
11/3
Beowulf (1250-1276 [top])
Response #3 due in hard copy and to turnitin.com
11/5
Beowulf (1276-1305)
11/7
Beowulf
Chapter 10: The High Middle Ages: Vitality and Renewal (Perry 227-253)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
11/10
Beowulf
V. Later Medieval World
11/12
Chapter 11: The Flowering of Medieval Culture: The Christian Synthesis (Perry 254-272)
Dante, Inferno Cantos I-VI (1595-1620)
11/14
Dante, Inferno Cantos VII-XV (1620-1651)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
11/17
Dante, Inferno Cantos XVI-XXV (1651-1686)
11/19
Dante, Inferno Cantos XXVI-XXXIV (1686-1719)
11/21
Dante, Inferno
Chapter 12: The Late Middle Ages: Crisis and Dissolution (273-289)
___________________________________________________________________________________________
11/24
Inferno
11/26
Thanksgiving—no class
11/28
Thanksgiving—no class
___________________________________________________________________________________________
12/1
Re-assessments
12/3
Conclusions
___________________________________________________________________________________________
12/10
Final exam (1-3 pm)
Final essay due