San Francisco State University
History Department
HIST 110-2: Western Civilization I
Spring 2016
Instructor: John Sewell
Email: jssewell@sfsu.edu
Class Location: HSS 310
Class Meetings: Monday 4:10 PM to 6:55 PM
Office: SCI 265A
Office Hours: Monday 1:30 to 2:30 or by appointment.
Course Description
The course is a selective examination of the history of several linked cultures in Europe, the
Middle East, and North Africa from the paleolithic era through the Renaissance and
Reformation. Class meetings will primarily consist of lecture, though there will be opportunities
for discussion as well. Students will be expected to read a variety of primary and secondary
sources, master their content, and reflect on them critically. In the process, they will learn about
the principle figures and events within these historical narratives and gain an understanding of
the forces and processes shaping those narratives.
Assignments and Grading
• Quizzes (1/3 of Grade): Most class meetings will include a brief quiz on the assigned
readings. For any particular quiz, all of the assigned material will be fair game, from the first
week of class to the readings assigned for that day. However, I will always prioritize the most
recent material. Only your top ten results will count toward your final grade.
• Midterm Essay Exam (1/3 of Grade): Half way through the term, you will complete and
submit a take-home essay exam. The exam will consist of a few short essays addressing the
main themes of the course. More detailed instructions will follow as the due date approaches.
• Final Essay Exam (1/3 of Grade): At the end of the semester, you will complete and submit
another take-home essay exam. The exam will be similar in format to the midterm.
Required Textbooks
Joshua Cole and Carol Symes, Western Civilizations: Their History & Their Culture, Volume 1,
Brief Fourth Edition (New York: W. W. Norton & Company). ISBN: 9780393265347
Andrew George (translator), The Epic of Gilgamesh, (London: Penguin Books, 1999) ISBN:
9780140449198
Seamus Heany (translator), Beowulf: A New Verse Translation (New York: W. W. Norton & Co,
2001). ISBN: 9780393320978.
Richard Wunderli, Peasant Fires: The Drummer of Niklashausen (Bloomington and
Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1992). ISBN: 9780253207517
Throughout the course, I will make additional readings available online, in class, or both.
Schedule
All reading selections must be completed by the class meeting for which they are listed, though
you may find finishing them earlier to be more helpful.
1. Monday 2/1--Introduction to the Course
• No readings or assignments
2. Monday 2/8--The Dawn of Civilization
• Read Cole and Symes, Chapter 1
• Read Gilgamesh, front matter
3. Monday 2/15--Civilizations of the Near East 1
• Read Gilgamesh, pages 1-100
4. Monday 2/22--Civilizations of the Near East 2
• Read Cole and Symes, Chapter 2
• Read Gilgamesh, pages 101-221
5. Monday 2/29--Ancient Greece
• Read Cole and Symes, Chapter 3
6. Monday 3/7--Hellenistic Civilization
• Read Cole and Symes, Chapter 4
7. Monday 3/14--Rome
• Read Cole and Symes, Chapter 5
8. Monday 3/21--Spring Break
• No class meetings, readings, or assignments
9. Monday 3/28--Late Antiquity
• Read Cole and Symes, Chapter 6
• Midterm Exam Due Friday, April 1, 5:00 PM
10.Monday 4/4--The Heirs to Rome
• Read Cole and Symes, Chapter 7
• Read Beowulf, front matter, pages 1-88
11.Monday 4/11--Early Middle Ages
• Read Cole and Symes, Chapter 8
• Read Beowulf, pages 89-213
12.Monday 4/18--High Middle Ages I
• Read Cole and Symes, Chapter 9
13.Monday 4/25--High Middle Ages 2
• Read Cole and Symes, Chapter 10
• Read Peasant Fires, pages 1-71
14.Monday 5/2--Later Middle Ages
• Read Cole and Symes, Chapter 11
• Read Peasant Fires, pages 72-150
15.Monday 5/9--Exploration
• Read Cole and Symes, Chapter 12
16.Monday 5/16--Renaissance and Reformation
• Read Cole and Symes, Chapter 13
17.Monday 5/23--Final Exam
• Midterm Exam Due Monday, May 23, 5:00 PM
Additional Policies
• Some class communication may take place by email. Please check your email account
regularly. I will check mine at least once per weekday and once per weekend.
• I will accept late take-home exams. However, the grade for late submissions will be penalized
3 points per day that the exam is late.
• Unless there is a major extenuating circumstance, you will not be able to make up missed
quizzes. If you miss a quiz or come to class after a quiz is over, that quiz will be recorded as a
zero and will hopefully be one of the low scores that I discard.
• If you are entitled to special accommodations for taking exams or completing other
coursework, please contact me as soon as possible so that we can make arrangements.
• Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and will result in
failure for the relevant assignment and a report to the administration.