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COURSE INFORMATION SHEET
Course Title: HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION I
HST 105
Course No.
Credit Hours
Faculty Name:
Semester:
Spring 2009
Office: Egan G 11B
Classroom:
Cosmas and Damian, G-16
Phone:
Class Meeting Days:
Tuesday
Class Meeting Time:
6:00-8:40 PM
Thursday, 8:30- 9:30
AM
Email:
Office
Hour(s):
Dr. Matt O’Brien
mobrien@franciscan.edu
Monday, 1-3 PM
Tuesday, 2-4 PM
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Course Description:
HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION I provides students with an appreciation and an
understanding of how the four great traditions—the classical civilizations of Greece and
Rome, Judaism, and Christianity—formed Western civilization. The course begins over
four millennia before the birth of Jesus Christ with the ancient Near and Middle East
background to Western civilization in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley. It ends
with the shattering of European unity and the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.
(Humanities Core) 3 credits per semester.
Course Strategy:
This course will offer an introduction into ancient and medieval history with an
emphasis on Europe. It will begin with the dawn of civilization and finish with the
events leading up to the Protestant Reformation. We will discuss a wide array of topics,
from prehistoric archeology to medieval culture, with a particular focus on the
development of religious understanding during this period. This will include the
distinctive origins of the Judaism and Christianity, as well as the development of Church
structure and doctrine over the centuries. Our ultimate intent will be to better recognize
the significance of these events in our own lives, grasping the true importance of
historical understanding in the constantly changing contemporary world.
In addition to covering a wide range of material, this course will involve the development
of critical thinking skills. The introductory level of the course presumes no previous
college-level instruction in modern history, but our engagement with the materials will
take place at a higher level than mere memorization as students pursue a deeper
understanding of the events that have shaped their faith. The resulting skills of
evaluation and comparison will remain indispensable tools for the student long after the
completion of this course.
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Texts/References:
The main textbook for this course will be Jackson Spielvogel’s Western
Civilization: A Brief History, Comprehensive Volume. We will also use the Learning
Management System (LMS) for optional readings, class announcements, and exam
preparation.
CORE Goals:
Upon completion of the Core curriculum, the students should be able to…
CORE Goal
Measure (If addressed in this course)
*Evaluate their place in the world in
Exams (especially the objective sections)
relationship to the natural world, to human
society, and to God.
*Communicate effectively.
Class discussion
*Reflect on the relationship between faith
Exams (especially the essay portion), as
and reason.
well as class discussion.
PROGRAM Goals:
At the completion of the program, students will be able to…
Program Goal
Measure
1. Students will know basic historical
Objective portions of exams.
events of Western and American
Civilization.
2. Students will become familiar with
Class discussion and exam essays.
historiography and historical methods of
research.
3. Students will use historical methods to
Class discussion.
read and evaluate primary and secondary
sources critically.
4. Students will be able to present research Essay questions.
findings in an articulate, coherent, and
logical manner, supported by evidence.
COURSE Learning Objectives:
At the completion of the course, students will be able to…
Course Goal
Measure
Understanding the basic components of
Exams and discussion
human civilization
Learning the respective contributions made Exams and discussion
by several ancient cultures, as well as
understanding the interrelationships among
these societies
Commentary on Delivery:
The reading assignments and class lectures will be complementary rather than
redundant. It is crucial to keep up with the reading schedule: you will need to understand
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the material covered in the text in order to follow and participate in our lectures and
discussions.
Course Lectures and Reading Schedule:
Week One (January 13): INTRODUCTION AND PREHISTORY
Study Questions:
1) What evidence do we have of prehistoric settlements?
2) What role did culture and religion play in early civilizations?
Reading: Spielvogel, First two sections of Chapter 1
Week Two (Jan. 20): MESOPOTAMIA AND ANCIENT EGYPT
Study Questions:
1) What were the similarities between these two river civilizations?
2) How did physical circumstances make for differences?
Reading: Spielvogel, Rest of Chap. 1
Week Three (Jan. 27): SEMETIC CULTURE AND HEBREW CIVILIZATION
Study Questions:
1) How did the Israelites distinguish themselves from other Semitic
people?
2) How did their historic experience influence their religion?
Reading: Spielvogel, Chapter 2
First Map Quiz, Tuesday, January 27.
Week Four (February 3): ANCIENT GREECE AND CLASSICAL ATHENS
Study Questions:
1) What were the differences among the cities of Archaic Greece?
2) How did Athenian thinking change during the Classical period?
Reading: Spielvogel, Chapters 3 and 4
Week Five (Feb. 10): ATHENIAN EMPIRE
Study Questions:
1) What factors brought the poleis together as a single nation?
2) How did imperialism affect Athens and Greece?
First Midterm Exam on Tuesday, February 10.
Week Six (Feb. 17): HELLENISM
Study Questions:
1) What was the philosophical legacy of Athens?
2) What were the roots of Roman civilization?
Week Seven (Feb. 24): EARLY ROME AND THE REPUBLIC
Study Questions:
1) What were the differences between Etruscan rule and the Roman republic?
2) What were the virtues of Roman republicanism?
Reading: Spielvogel, Chapter 5
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Week Eight (March 3): THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Study Questions:
1) How did imperialism affect the Roman republic?
2) What was the impact of the various reform movements?
Reading: Spielvogel, Chapter 6
Week Nine (Mar. 10): EARLY CHRISTIANITY
Study Questions:
1) How did Christianity change the Roman Empire?
2) What factors led to the “collapse” of the Roman Empire?
Second Midterm Exam on Tuesday, March 10.
Week Ten (Mar. 24): THE FALL OF ROME AND THE EASTERN EMPIRE
Study Questions:
1) Who were the barbarians?
2) What happened to the Eastern Empire?
Reading: Spielvogel, Chapter 7
Week Eleven (Mar. 31): THE RISE OF ISLAM AND THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES
Study Questions:
1) Compare Islam and other Semitic religions.
2) What was the Carolingian Renaissance?
Reading: Spielvogel, Chapter 8
Week Twelve (Apr. 7): THE CRUSADES AND THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
Study Questions:
1) What were the signs of Christian civilization in the 10th and 11th Centuries?
2) What was the problem between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy?
Reading: Spielvogel, Chapter 9
Second Map Quiz on Tuesday, April 7.
Week Thirteen (Apr. 14): THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH
Study Question:
1) How did the Church address popular religious needs in the Middle Ages?
Week Fourteen (Apr. 21): NATION-STATES AND THE LATE MEDIEVAL CRISIS
Study Questions:
1) What factors caused the instability of the 14th century?
2) How did this redefine political and religious authority?
Reading: Chapter 11
Week Fifteen (Apr. 28) THE RENAISSANCE
Study Questions:
1) What were the ancient and immediate origins of the Renaissance?
Reading: Spielvogel, Chapter 12
Final Exam on Tuesday, May 5, 6:00-8:00 P.M.
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Expectations:
The vast array of chronological periods and historical themes makes class
attendance a crucial and irreplaceable aspect of this course. Lectures will not merely
summarize the reading assignments, but they will instead build upon them for
conclusions that incorporate other areas of knowledge. Therefore, attendance is
mandatory and will be counted toward your grade. Students will be allowed one
unexcused absence (3 hours total). Each additional missed hour will result in a deduction
of 1 point from your grade (based on a 100-point scale), and no make-up quizzes will be
administered for unexcused absences.
Furthermore, students will be expected to arrive in class prepared. This means
that tardiness will result in a .5-point deduction from your grade. Students will also be
expected to have completed the required readings BEFORE each class. Lectures will
assume a familiarity with the assigned materials and lack of preparation will certainly
doom class discussion exercises. There will also be ample time for questions on the
readings and lectures. Such inquiries are indicative of intellectual engagement and will
be have a beneficial effect on participation grades.
In order to provide a classroom environment that facilitates and encourages
student involvement with the material, inconsiderate behavior will not be tolerated. Late
arrivals, distracting chatter, and early departures are not only disruptive, they are
disrespectful to the other members of the learning community. All cell phones, text
messengers, pagers and other electronic devices should remain off during class. Any
problems will have a negative impact on the offending student’s participation grade.
Cheating/Plagiarism:
A student who cheats on any test or plagiarizes a paper shall fail the course and
have a memorandum of this action placed in his or her file. If a student repeats this
action, dismissal will result, with the action so noted in the student’s permanent record.
ADA Statement
Any student who feels he or she may need an accommodation based on the impact
of a disability should contact me privately to discuss his or her specific needs. Please
contact Rose Kline, the director of Student Academic Services at 284-5358 or visit Egan
Hall room 105C to coordinate reasonable accommodations for students with documented
disabilities.
Grading Policies:
The instructor reserves the right to make minor adjustments in the grading scale,
but generally test scores fit into these categories:
A: 96-100
C: 74-76
A-: 92-95
C-: 70-73
B+: 88-91
D+: 67-69
B: 84-86
D: 64-66
B-: 80-83
D-: 60- 63
C+: 77-79
F: 59 or below
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Assignments:
We will have three (non-cumulative) examinations, each of which will be worth
25% of the final grade. There will also be two map quizzes, which will each count for
7.5% of the course grade. Finally, class participation will account for 10% of the final
grade.