Chabot College
Fall 2010
Course Outline for History 1
HISTORY OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION TO 1600
Catalog Description:
1 - History of Western Civilization to 1600
3 units
Origin and development of civilization in the Mediterranean and its expansion into Europe - the Near
East, Greece, Rome the Middle Ages, Renaissance and the Reformation. 3 hours.
[Typical contact hours: 52.5]
Prerequisite Skills:
None.
Expected Outcomes for Students:
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
1. identify the growth of Mediterranean culture from the dawn of history through the reformation,
including the interaction of religious, political, economic and cultural development;
2. analyze and appreciate the history of the Renaissance through the Reformation, and the Age of
Exploration, including the interaction of religious, political, economic, and cultural developments.
Course Content:
1. The Ancient Civilizations
a. Egypt - the achievement of stability
b. Mesopotamia - the search for order
c. Israel - a chosen people
d. Persia - empire and religion
e. Overriding considerations of religion and economics as forces of
stability and of change
2. Classical Civilization: Greece and Rome
a. Greek City States in the Early age - Homer; Athenian democracy - emphasis on values:
philosophy, drama and citizenship
b. Hellenistic culture
c. Rome - the Republic - its development, stagnation and decay: literature, government,
traditions, and values. The Empire: Caesar, Augustus and the development of the imperial
system, its stagnation and decay: philosophy, literature, and values
3. The rise of Christianity and Islam and their impact on the west.
4. The Byzantine Empire
5. The Middle Ages
a. Charlemagne - the quest for Empire
b. Feudalism and the medieval economy - the growth of the city
c. Chivalry, the Crusades, and Islam
d. The spirit of the Church - Augustine and Thomas Acquinas
e. The Gregorian Church and the Holy Roman Empire
f. The Germanic invasions and the new Germanic States
g. Development of the National State
h. Intellectual synthesis, Dante
6. The Renaissance
a. New emphasis on the role of the individual - humanism
b. Government - a state of chaos, Machiavelli - the Prince
c. Achievements in the fields of art and literature: Michelangelo, da Vinci, Raphael, Titian,
Rembrandt, Erasmus, etc.
d. Emphasis on the past, rather than the future
7. The Reformation
a. Status of Roman Catholic Church - the "Renaissance Papacy"
Chabot College
Course Outline for History 1
Fall 2010
Page 2
b. Heroes and Heretics - Albigensians and Wycliffe and Hus
c. Martin Luther
Ulrich Zwingli
John Calvin
Thomas Cranmer
d. The Church of England and Henry VIII
e. The Counter Reformation
8. The Age of Exploration
a. Portuguese and Spanish maritime voyaging
b. The Columbian Moment
c. Impact of the New World
d. Change from a Mediterranean center of power to an Atlantic World
Methods of Presentation:
1. Lecture-discussion
2. Student reports
3. Appropriate Audio-Visual materials
Assignments and Methods of Evaluating Student Progress:
1. Typical Assignments
a. Assigned reading and class discussion
b. Three or four essay examinations of 1500-2000 words each
c. Regular attendance
2. Methods of Evaluating Student Progress
a. Essays
b. Midterm exams
c. Quizzes on assigned reading
d. Grades A through F according to performance
e. Final Exam
Textbook(s) (Typical):
Lynn Hunt et al, The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures, Volume I, to 1740. Third Edition.
Bedford/St. Martin’s, Boston, 2009.
Marvint Perry et al, Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, Volume I, to 1789. Ninth
Edition. Houghton Mifflin, New York, 2009
Special Student Materials:
None.