History 212
Modern Western Civilization
Spring 2015
Maryann E. Brink, Ph.D.
McCormack 4-629
H: 781-826-7980 O: 617-287-6886
maryann.brink@umb.edu
OFFICE HOURS FOR SPRING 2015: MWF 11-12 & by appt.
CENGAGE HELP:
1-800-354-9706 (regular business hours)
cengagebraincom
Description:
This course traces the major political, economic, and cultural changes
that have shaped Western society from about 1600 to the present. Emphasis
is given to the critical analysis of primary source materials. One of the great
things about being an historian is that you can do it from day one…. but it can
take a lifetime to get really proficient at it.
Format:
Each unit will introduce and expand upon the material in the textbook
and website; posted comments and cross-posts will allow for in-depth
analysis of the primary materials you are reading. Plan to spend about 7-10
hours per week on the assignments (this includes reading the assigned
material, analyzing the documents or working through the material at the
Cengage website and posting your responses and essays as well as crossposting comments on your colleagues’ postings.
IMPORTANT: You will use two sites for this course: Blackboard Learn
at UMB for all of your postings and also the Cengage website which is linked
to your textbook (PLEASE NOTE: while Cengage has places in the CourseMate
where you can answer questions and email them to your professor, we will
NOT be using them. All posting will be to the UMB Blackboard site).
Occasionally I will have you look at other online material. Those URLS will
appear in the assignment pages for that unit. MAC users: you may find that
Cengage works best with the Firefox or Google Chrome browsers (available
free) rather than Safari.
Required text: (available at UMB Bookstore):
Gavin Lewis, WCIV Vol. 2: Since 1300. Wadsworth/Cengage, 2013.
ISBN: 10:1111342547
IMPORTANT: This ISBN number is for a textbook that includes an
access card to CourseMate, which contains a number of online materials that
you will need to complete this class successfully, , which includes the
WESTERN RESOURCE CENTER. You may purchase this book & supporting
material at the UMB bookstore or online from Cengage. If you use an
alternate source, be sure to check that you have the textbook bundled with
the additional materials. If you have purchased a book form another source
and it does not contain the CourseMate material, you may go to the Cengage
website and purchase it separately. Cengage will also sell you an e-copy of
this textbook if you prefer it to a hard copy.
Cengage’s website is located at cengagebrain.com and their helpline is
1-800-354-9706.
Once you have your book, create your Cengage account, log in and
familiarize yourself with the site. Again, MAC users: you may find that
Cengage works best with the Firefox or Google Chrome browsers (available
free) rather than Safari.
Contacting me:
Certainly we will get know each other well as we exchange ideas and
information on class and online. If, however, you are confused, or have
personal issues that crop up, let me know. If you have any particular learning
style that needs to be accommodated and that you would like to talk about,
feel free to call me…the sooner the better so that we can make the necessary
arrangements with the Ross Center to solve whatever needs to be addressed.
My office and home phones are above (I’d give you my cell, but I live in a
dead zone on the South Shore in an old farmhouse…signals can be spotty).
Generally I will be at home on Tu-Th for the period of the course. Requirements:
The weekly calendar below lists the readings from your textbook and
the CourseMate material of the general topics we will cover. You can use this
calendar to plan your textbook and document reading. Each unit of the
syllabus lists what you need to do for that unit and what topics I expect you
to post on and when. There will be three longer essays during the course. You
will have advance notice of these.
Grades:
Each comment/cross comments you post will get a score of up to 12
points. Your three longer papers (they will be equivalent to 4-5 typed,
double-spaced pages, about 1000-1250 words) will be graded in the
traditional ABC format. Your longer papers will count 15% each toward your
total grade. Your posted comments, both original and in reply to others’ and
my comments will count 45% of your total grade. The final 10% of your
grade will be based upon a final self-evaluation of the course and your overall
performance in class. ATTENDANCE IS REQUIRED. Frequent tardiness,
absence or late or missing assignments mean that you should not expect to
pas the class.
While the Blackboard site has an included online grade book, my
experience has been that it is best if I email you a report on your grade for
each unit and each paper as I correct them…points and letters don’t really
explain how to improve your work. It is important then that you make sure
you can receive email from your UMB email address:
yourname001@umb.edu. I will be posting all grade information ONLY to
those addresses.
N.B. ALL assignments must be completed in order to receive a grade
(in other words, if you are taking the class pass/fail you CANNOT pass based
on a percentage. You MUST complete ALL assignments to pass the course).
Academic integrity is the cornerstone of your education and an obligation to
yourself, your colleagues and your instructors and particularly to those
whose lives you will be studying. Enrollment in this course assumes you are
familiar with the statement on Academic Honesty in the Student Handbook.
The following schedule is based on the university calendar. I have
tried to schedule due dates not to coincide with cultural and religious
holidays; if I missed any, let me know the first week of class and I can arrange
an extension or make-up for you. If you have any long-planned family
obligations that may cause scheduling problems, again, please let me know at
once so we can arrange for you to make up any work you may miss. If you
have a personal or family emergency, please let me know as soon as you are
able, again so we can plan how best you can work around the issue and
complete the course. Having said that, a bachelor party in Vegas is not a
reason not to post your material on time (a former student's excuse!).
Reading and Assignment Schedule: Your readings and assignments
are below and are also listed unit by unit in the course session section of
Blackboard. You must complete ONE unit each week for this class. Each unit
contains a short statement expanding on the concept(s) for the unit and
suggests some ways for you to work through the material to complete the
exercises. Historians are actually very limited in the kinds of questions they
can ask. Who, what, when, where: these are the factual questions historians
try to answer before answering why and how, which are interpretive
questions. The combinations, however, are infinite; each question may lead
to another. You will work through the assignment and post your responses to
the material. You will also make at least two cross-comments for each unit on
the material posted by the others students in the class.
DUE DATES: I have organized the units as Monday assignments each
week. Generally, your postings for the Monday assignment must be made by
midnight Sunday; occasionally the schedule may shift (around holidays,
spring break, etc.), so check the dates each week. Let me know right away if
you feel overwhelmed. There are plenty of strategies for conquering the
clock.
CHECKLIST: Here is a checklist for your posts and cross posts. If you
make sure ALL your assignments cover each of these points, you will go a
long way toward assuring a good grade!
Posting Checklist:
1) Did I have a topic sentence that answered the question or
addressed the issue? Did I draw a conclusion at the end of my post?
2) Did I give at least two examples, using evidence from the assigned
readings?
3) Did I check to make sure that my post was clearly written in
complete sentences and organized into paragraphs? Did I spell check?
4) Did I cite my sources (here, just mention the name of the relevant
document of page of the textbook. You will not need to do outside research
for this course)?
Cross-post checklist:
1) Does my opening sentence state whether I agree or disagree with
the post?
2) Do I mention the evidence the other student used and add my own
examples, using evidence from the readings, either in support or not?
3) Do I explain myself clearly and respectfully? Did I spell check?
4) Do I cite my sources (for this class it can be fairly informal; page
citation for the textbook, title or author of document if from CourseMate)?
Grading Guidelines:
The following is a breakdown of how your weekly posts will be
scored; each assignment can earn up to 12 points. (the longer papers will be
graded in the traditional ABC format).
Analysis (up to 6 points):
0-2 points: Needs Improvement: Covers the basics, but doesn’t
incorporate the books or documents, provides no analysis.
3-4 points: Meets Expectations: Covers material and uses books and
documents to support a basic analysis of the topic.
5-6 points: Exceptional: Uses books and documents to provide
examples and a detailed analysis of the topic.
Style (up to 3 points per assignment):
0-1 point: u cn do btr!
2 points: Attention to organization and argument.
3 points: Uses rhetoric and evidence to persuade the reader. Attention
to grammar and spelling (I do not deduct for obvious typos, but do use your
spell check).
Follow-up cross posts (up to 3 points per assignment):
0-1 point: “ I agree” is not enough!
2 points: Explains your reaction and your view.
3 points: Explains your view(pro or con) and uses evidence to
support it.
So, the content of your post can earn up to 6 points. The style of your
post can earn you up to 3 and your follow-up posts can earn up to 3
points. Figure as follows: 12=A 11=A- 10=B+ 9=B 8=B- 7=C+ 6=C 5=C-,
etc. Your longer papers are more involved and each will have detailed
instructions as well as a separate grading rubric. If you would like more
detailed information on grades I have assigned, please email me privately--I
can discuss grading generally, but I cannot comment publicly on individual
grades. While there is a grade book attached to the Blackboard, I find it more
useful to email you a brief comment with your grade. You should also be
aware that in matters of grades my main goal is improvement. If you are
doing significantly better later in the course, great! That's where your final
grade will lie. If you go up and down, then I will average. You will always
have a chance to re-do an assignment if you have trouble with it, provided it
is posted on time to begin with.
COURSE UNIT OUTLINE:
UNIT 1: Introduction- Begins January 26; post by midnight, Feb.
1.
Post any comments or questions to the General Questions page by Jan. 30.
I will always post a beginning and end date for each unit. The learning
objectives are adapted from those appearing at the beginning of each chapter
of Lewis. This week, since we are just starting, spend Tuesday and
Wednesday getting acquainted with your textbooks and course materials.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) To explore Blackboard, your Textbook & CourseMate material &
make sure you are at home with the on line technology for the class.
READ: Lewis, Introductory material. Learn how your textbook
interacts with CourseMate. Try one of the ‘test your knowledge before you
read this chapter’ features. Notice that you can listen to a synopsis of any
chapter.
ASSIGNMENT:
1) Post any comments or questions you have about the textbook or
the on line technology to the appropriate discussion list.
________________________________________________________________________
UNIT 2: Absolutism: Begins Feb. 2; post by midnight, Feb. 8.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) To explain the rise of Absolute Monarchies during the seventeenth
and eighteenth Centuries.
2) Describe the wars and Revolution in the British Isles during the
seventeenth & eighteenth centuries and outline the rise of limited monarchy
that resulted from this upheaval.
READ: Lewis, Chapter 18 Restructuring Kingdoms: Absolute and
Limited Monarchy 1600-1700. You may notice that we are starting a few
chapters into the textbook. That is because at UMB this course begins after
Columbus. There is much debate in the historical academic community as to
when the course should begin, when it should break (1300? 1500? 1700?), or
even whether it makes sense to teach it at all! We will discuss these issues in
class. That historians disagree about these issues should give you confidence
to state your own views…always supported by evidence of course!
ASSIGNMENT: Your textbook gives you a short version of the English
Bill of Rights of 1689 (p.343). After you read the chapter and this document,
get hold of a copy of the text of the American Declaration of Independence
(just Google it!) and then, in a post of 250-500 words explain, using examples
from each document, how much the Americans relied on the English Bill of
Rights when constructing their own Declaration and why. Once you have
completed and posted your own response, comment on at least two other
posts by your colleagues.
_______________________________________________________________________
UNIT 3: Scientific Revolution & Enlightenment. Begins Feb. 9;
post by midnight Feb. 15. As you begin this unit, consider that the history
of science is often not the history of the science or technology that turns out
to have worked, but of all the ideas and experiments that turned out
wrong…the hardest part of studying history is to remember that no one then
knew what would happen next, or what would turn out to be most
important.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) To review the Scientific Revolution and to relate it to the
Enlightenment worldview.
2) To understand how the rulers of Central and Eastern Europe use
Enlightenment ideas in their governments and whether these efforts proved
successful.
READ: Lewis, Chapter 19. In the CourseMate/Western Resource
Center, read through the History Unbound unit titled The Scientific
Revolution, 1500-1700.
ASSIGNMENT: The conclusion of the assigned unit states that among
others, the legacy of the Scientific Revolution includes the following: 1) the
increasing presence of an attitude of mechanization toward the processes of
Nature, 2) an increasing attitude of mechanization toward the creation of
knowledge, enshrining the process of rationalism and empiricism that would
become the hallmarks of modern western thought and 3) a depersonalization
and desacralization of natural knowledge. Using examples for the textbook
and the materials in the Western Resource Unit, explain in an essay of 250500 words what the writer means by these three statements. How do you
think they grow out of the ideas of absolutism that you studied in the last
unit? (Hint: make sure you have checked the definitions of mechanization,
rationalism, empiricism and desacralization) Once you have completed and
posted your own response, comment on at least two other posts by your
colleagues.
______________________________________________________________________
UNIT 4: Enlightenment and the French Revolution. Begins Feb.
16; post by midnight, Feb. 22. REMINDER: NO CLASS ON MONDAY FEB.
16, PRESIDENTS' DAY.
This unit’s assignment is your first longer (10001250 word) assignment. You will be dealing with the topic of Terror in the
French Revolution. Terrorism is something we hear and think about a lot
today, but it is not new. The Western Resource Unit that is the basis of your
essay will consider what scholars would call ‘state-sponsored terrorism.’
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) Describe the stages of the French Revolution from the overthrow of
the Old Regime through the formation of the Directory.
2) To know some of the reasons for Napoleon’s rise and fall and his
impact on European power politics.
3) Be able to describe the conservative reaction to revolutionary
events and Enlightenment thinking.
READ: Lewis, Chapter 20 and Chapter 21 to page 4010. In the
CourseMate/Western Resource Center, work through the History Unbound
unit titled The Order of the Day: Terror in the French Revolution, 1792-1794.
ASSIGNMENT: Your first extended paper (about 1000-1250 words in
length) is on the History Unbound Unit named above. Read the unit through
carefully, as well as the following documents from the list at the end of the
unit.
1) The Constitution of 1793: read the Introductory “Declaration of the
Rights of Man and Citizen.”
2) The Decree establishing the Levee en Masse.
3) An Answer to an Impertinent Question: “ What is a Sans-culotte?”
4) The Law of Suspects.
5) The Decree Establishing Worship of the Supreme Being.
Your assignment is to evaluate how the documents above represent
the adaptation of Enlightenment political ideas to the realities of the French
Revolution, and particularly to demonstrate how they were used in the
various phases of the Terror (there are four phases, as you will see when you
read the unit). YOU DO NOT NEED TO CROSS POST FOR THE LONGER
PAPERS. BE SURE TO CITE YOUR SOURCES & POST YOUR PAPER AS TEXTNOT AN ATTACHMENT!
_______________________________________________________________________
UNIT 5: The Industrial Revolution and its Impact on Government
and Society. Begins Feb 23; post by Mar. 1.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) Trace the spread of liberal democracy and nationalism in Europe in
the mid-nineteenth century.
2) Trace the Rise and Spread of the Industrial Revolution across
Europe.
3) To understand some of the ways that government and labor
challenged or cooperated with corporate power.
READ: Lewis, finish reading Chapter 21 (from page 410 on) and read
Chapter 22. In CourseMate, locate and read the following: Burke, Reflections
on the Revolution in France (part 1); Karl von Clausewitz, On War; Klemens
von Metternich, excerpts from Memoirs.
ASSIGNMENT: Now that you have read the following (accessible from
CourseMate): Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (part 1); Karl
von Clausewitz, On War; Klemens von Metternich, excerpts from Memoirs, in
a short essay of 250-500 words, outline what you imagine their reactions
would be were they writing about the Enlightenment and, especially, the
spread of liberal democracy over the course of the nineteenth century. Once
you have completed and posted your own response, comment on at least two
other posts by your colleagues.
_______________________________________________________________________
UNIT 6: Imperialism and its Consequences. Begins Mar. 2; post by
midnight Mar. 8
We are going to work on imperialism for this unit and then
switch back to social responses in unit 7. Your second longer paper
assignment will be easier to do once you have read the material on the
changing nature of European populations as the result of internal European
migration and also Europeans moving to the various colonies their
governments established.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) Explain the various reasons European nations pursued imperial
policies.
2) To look at the partitioning of Africa and also of colonization in Asia.
3) To identify the successes and failures of these imperial policies.
READ: Lewis, Chapter 23. In CourseMate/Western Resource Center,
in the History Unbound Section, scroll down to the unit titled European
Imperialism, 1880-1900: Theory, Practice and Discourse
ASSIGNMENT: In the CourseMate/Western Resource Center, in the
History Unbound Section, scroll down to the unit titled European
Imperialism, 1880-1900: Theory, Practice and Discourse and read through it
carefully. Pay special attention to the activities of Henry Morton Stanley. In a
short essay of 250-500 words, explain why he took the long way around to
rescue the Emin Pasha. What do you think this tells you about the way
African exploration was viewed by Europeans? Once you have completed and
posted your own response, comment on at least two other posts by your
colleagues.
________________________________________________________________________
UNIT 7: Jack the Ripper: A Window into Victorian London. Begins
Mar. 9; post by midnight Mar. 15.
No, you won’t solve the mystery of who he was in the longer paper
you will write for this unit, but use the murders as a window into the life of
late Victorian London and the rise of social media.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) Describe various approaches to solving the social issues of the new
urban societies of late nineteenth-century Europe.
2) Explain how writers and artists responded to the changes in the
social order.
3) Look at the ways the rise of literacy and cheap newspapers made
possible a media revolution.
READ: Lewis, Chapter 23. In the CourseMate/ Western Resource
Center, scroll down to the History Unbound Unit titled Journey in Darkest
England: Jack the Ripper and Victorian London.
ASSIGNMENT: This History Unbound unit is introduced by the
following statement:
“This module explores the historical events and context surrounding
the series of murders in late Victorian London attributed to the figure of Jack
the Ripper. By situating these crimes in their proper historical setting, the
module provides an introduction to the features of London in 1888,
illustrating important aspects of urbanization, industrialization, the changing
face of journalism, social reform efforts, and municipal engineering.”
In an essay of 1000-1250 words, put these crimes in their proper
historic perspective. You must include three of the five features of London
life listed in the quotation above in your paper. Your evidence must be drawn
from both the unit AND at least three of the documents in the main document
list for the unit. You should NOT do any outside research for this paper.
Remember----your job here is NOT to solve the crimes, but to use them as a
lens to look at social issues in Victorian England. You do not need to cross
comment on this assignment.
_______________________________________________________________________
week.
Week of Mar. 16: SPRING BREAK! Stay safe and see you next
s________________________________________________________
UNIT 8: The Great War. Begins Mar. 23; post by midnight Mar. 29.
Your textbook calls this WWI, which is fine, but only in light of what
happened next. I use Great War here because it is helpful to remind ourselves
that the people involved in it called it that…they didn’t know WWII was going
to happen!
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) Trace the developments leading to World War I.
2) To consider some of the ways the imperial policies and secret
treaties of the late nineteenth century contributed to the outbreak of
hostilities.
READ: Lewis, Chapter 25 and, in the CourseMate/World Resource
Center, work through the History Unbound unit titled The Origins of World
War I.
ASSIGNMENT: In History Unbound unit is an exercise called “do I go
to war?” that allows you to role-play any of the five principal powers
involved in the initial stages of the War (the U.S. did not enter until much
later). Play through all five Powers and then, in a short essay of 250-500
words, choose two Powers and explain whether you believe their rationale
for entering the war was or was not sound. Once you have completed and
posted your own response, comment on at least two other posts by your
colleagues.
________________________________________________________________________
UNIT 9: The Inter-War Years and Eastern Revolutions. Begins
Mar. 30; post by midnight Apr. 5.
Hint: Make sure you know the differences among communism,
socialism and fascism…this will make your assignment this week much easier
& will make you more informed than many talking heads on network and
cable news today.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) Trace the rise of communism in Russia
2) Compare and Contrast Fascism in Germany and Italy.
3) Explain how European responses to Depression were different
from those in the United States.
READ: Lewis, Chapter 26, In your Western Resource Center, locate
and read the excerpts from Marx & Engels, the Communist Manifesto, the
Treaty of Versailles and Hitler’s speech of 2/1/1933 (just after he became
Chancellor of Germany).
ASSIGNMENT: You know from your reading on the industrial
revolution and the changing nature of European society in the nineteenth
and early twentieth century that both communism and fascism tried to
appeal to different social groups within countries and also across national
lines. In a short essay of 250-500 words, discuss some of the specific appeals
that Hitler and Mussolini, as well as Lenin and Stalin made to their citizens.
Using specific examples, try to account for how each leader tried to use his
political perspective to appeal to the public.
________________________________________________________________________
UNIT 10: The Second World War. Begins Apr. 6 post by midnight
Apr. 12.
Reading and viewing information about the holocaust can be
traumatic, but the conditions that led up to the events you are reading about
his week are still with us as the experiences of Cambodia, the Balkans and
Rwanda and So. Sudan make clear. If you have a personal reason why this
assignment might pose a problem, please speak to me privately by Apr. 8 and
we can arrange an alternate assignment.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) To understand the collapse of the Versailles settlement.
2) To trace the rise and fall of the fascist world order.
READ: Lewis, Chapter 27. In the CourseMate, locate and read the
following: Wannsee Conference (excerpts); the Nuremburg Trials (excerpts).
View footage of the liberation of labor camps at the U.S. Memorial Museum of
the Holocaust website (you don’t need to watch much…it’s wrenching
viewing) at the following site:
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005131.
ASSIGNMENT: Using the material you have read to date in the class,
as well as the material for this unit, explain the extent to which you think that
previous European policies about race and ethnicity helped to set the stage
for the Holocaust in a short essay of about 250-500 words. Once you have
completed and posted your own response, comment on at least two other
posts by your colleagues.
_______________________________________________________________________
UNIT 11: Reconstructing Europe. Begins Apr. 13; post by
midnight Apr. 19.
This unit will also be the topic of your last longer paper for the class.
You will be looking at the early days of the cold war and the ways the United
States and European nations tried to avoid repeating what they saw to be
mistakes made in the World War I settlement.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) To describe the emergence of the Cold War and trace its evolution
until the 1970s
2) To trace the process of decolonization after World War II.
3) To examine the Marshall Plan as the primary statement of
American efforts to secure a democratic Europe and prevent the spread of
communism or the re-emergence of fascism after World War II.
READ: Lewis, Chapter 29 and, in the CourseMate/Western Resource
Center, find the History Unbound unit titled Reconstructing Capitalist Europe,
1945-1960: The Marshall Plan.
ASSIGNMENT: Once you have done the reading and worked through
the unit on the Marshall Plan, Your objective, in an essay of about 1000-1250
words, is to explain the origins and goals of the Plan and to evaluate whether
or not it was ultimately successful. Your paper may want to take into
consideration the Plan’s relationship to meetings such as the Bretton Woods
or Potsdam conferences, new institutions such as the International Monetary
Fund and NATO, as well as the reactions of some of the European countries
who participated in or benefited from the Plan. Be sure to include quotations
from some of the documents in the unit to support and illustrate your
arguments. Do not neglect to take account of the emerging Cold War and
reaction of Iron Curtain countries in your essay. You do not need to cross
comment on this paper.
_______________________________________________________________________
UNIT 12: The Sixties and Seventies. Begins Apr. 20; post by
midnight, Apr. 26. REMINDER: NO CLASS ON MONDAY APR. 20,
PATRIOTS' DAY.
One important history lesson that is easy to overlook is how time is
relative. A person born in 1965 and who will turn 50 this year was born less
than 50 years after the end of WWI and only 20 years after the end of WWII.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) Describe attitudes and goals in the 1960s, especially in Europe.
2) Examine the acceleration in the shift in gender perceptions
relations in the sixties and seventies.
3) To compare and contrast Third World responses to Western power
in the post colonial era.
READ: Lewis Chapters 30 & 31.
ASSIGNMENT: Once you have read the chapters in Lewis, interview
one or two people you know well who were at least teenagers (no upward
limit) in the 1960s or the 1970s. Ask them their memory of two or three of
the events that are mentioned in your text and post a short essay of 250-500
words outlining their responses. Once you have completed and posted your
own response, comment on at least two other posts by your colleagues.
_______________________________________________________________________
UNIT 13: End of the Cold War. Begins Apr. 27; post by midnight,
May 3.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) Analyze the present-day notion of the world as forming a single
international community.
2) To look at the world economy after the end of the Cold War.
READ: Lewis: Chapter 32.
ASSIGNMENT: Once you have read Chapter 32, review your work on
the Marshall Plan and write a short essay of 250-500 words explaining to
what extent post-World War II institutions like the United Nations and the
International Monetary Fund and the European Union play a role in
determining a ‘single international community.” Once you have completed
and posted your own response, comment on at least two other posts by your
colleagues.
_______________________________________________________________________
UNIT 14: The West and the Rest. Begins May 4; post by midnight
May 10 (but DO NOT NEGLECT YOUR MOTHER ON SUNDAY TO WRITE
THIS.......PLAN AHEAD!).
Last semester we began by examining how
historians think about the beginning of history. Now we conclude by
thinking about how far into the contemporary world historical analysis can
truly be useful. This week's reading will give you an opportunity to do some
'applied history'...that is, applying some of the ideas and information you
have learned over the past year to the modern world.
Learning Objectives:
1) To understand the basics of the Modern Global Economy
2) To examine the limits of Western Leadership in the post-colonial
world.
READ: Lewis: Chapter 33.
ASSIGNMENT: Many of the issues that appear in Chapter 33 we have
met before: nationalism and territorial disputes, arms races, terrorism,
economic instability. Once you have read the chapter, pick one of the topics
it covers that interests you. Pretend you have been asked by the President
what to do about it. In an essay of 250-500 words detail the issue and your
advice, using evidence from material you have learned over the past
semester, to support your view. Once you have posted your essay, comment
on at least two others. _________________________________________________________________________
Unit 15: Conclusion. Begins May 11; post by midnight May 13.
ASSIGNMENT: *********Post a 250-300 word self-assessment of how
your views of history have or have not changed as a result of the course by
Wednesday, May 13. If you have any pre-approved make-up work to do,
please have that in by Friday, May 15 as well. I will finish up grades and get
them onto WISER as soon as possible. Enjoy the summer!