HONR 210A: Honors Seminar: World Civilizations to 1500
Paper and Class Discussion Guide
HONR 210A: Honors Seminar: World Civilizations to 1500
Fall, 2008
INSTRUCTOR: PROFESSOR BRUNELLE
Schedule #
MW 10-11:15 am LH 315A
Office Hours: MW, 2:30-4:30, M, 6-7, or by appointment.
Office: H 710E
Tel.: (714)278-7045
Fax: (714)278-2101
email: gbrunelle@fullerton.edu
Web Site: http://faculty.fullerton.edu/gbrunelle
Required Reading:
Recommended Reading:
Jerry H. Bentley, Herbert F. Ziegler, Traditions and Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past, vol. 1, "From the beginnings to 1500," (New York: McGraw Hill, 2007). It is assumed that you have some background in world history from high school before entering this course. If you find yourself lost in the readings, I highly recommend that you consult one of these basic textbooks on reserve to obtain the background you need!
Description
This course is an integrative, holistic introductory survey of the historical development of civilization within a global context. It explores the impact of Western institutions and ideas upon non-Western societies and cultures and the influence of non-Western cultures and peoples upon Western societies and cultures.
You will investigate the ways in which different civilizations encountered and experienced each other in the pre-modern world. Because of the problem of the availability of primary sources in English, often the course readings will focus on the contacts between European and non-European cultures from a European point-of-view. Wherever possible, however, we will also look at non-European encounters and the non-European perspective, because Asians and Africans especially developed many economic and cultural contacts with each other as well as with Europeans. Topics will include the spread of Islamic culture to parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe, the complex relationship between the Muslim and Christian cultures, the Mongol conquest of Asia, Chinese expansionism in Southeast Asia, Indian Ocean trade, and the European conquest of the New World. The thematic focus will be on the various ways in which cultures coexist or mingle through adaptation and syncretism, or resist peacefully or violently outside influences.
Prerequisite: Enrollment in the University Honors Program.
The course will meet the General Education Goals for category IIA
Learning Goals
The goal of this course is to provide students with an integrative, holistic introductory survey of the historical development of civilization within a global context. Specifically, it will explore the impact of both Western institutions and ideas upon non-Western societies and cultures and of the influence of non-Western cultures and peoples upon Western societies and cultures. It is designed to provide students with a common intellectual experience by broadening their understanding of ideas and values drawn from different strands of our own culture and to increase their understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity and the process of cultural interaction.
Requirements and Assessment
This class will combine lecture with small group and whole class discussions of the readings. If students are not prepared to discuss the readings in class, they will also be unprepared to discuss them on the exams. The readings will appear on the exams! Moreover, is a student falls behind in reading, he or she will be likely to feel confused in class, as lectures and discussions will build from and presume a prior reading of, rather than reiterate, the material found in the assigned readings. Readings are assigned on a weekly basis and should be completed by the beginning of the week in which they are to be discussed in class.
Because reading comprehension and writing are essential skills for students of history (or anything else, for that matter) in addition to the essay exams, students will write four short papers (four to five pages, meaning at least four full pages) in which they will discuss the readings assigned for four different weeks. I will hand out a style sheet and instructions for the paper and instructions for discussion leaders early in the semester.
Finally, students will also have three essay exams. There will be no make up exams!!! Instead, I will drop the lowest grade among the three exams. Your third exam will be held at the date and time of the final exam, 12-1:50 pm on Monday, December 11. Exams will consist of several essay questions based on texts and readings and worth 30 to 45 points each. Students who do poorly on the first test are strongly advised to meet with me for some suggestions as to how to study for the exams.
Grades: Exams = 40% (20% each – lowest grade of three dropped)
Papers = 60% (15% each)
Your third exam will be held at the date and time of the final exam, Monday, December 15, 12-1:50 pm.
I will be using +/- grades this semester, according to the following scale:
97-100 = A+ 87-89 = B+ 77-79 = C+ 67-69 = D+
93-96 = A 83-86 = B 73-76 = C 63-66 = D
90-92 = A- 80-82 = B- 70-72 = C- 60-62 = D-
Below 60 = F
Makeup Exam Policy: Remember: there will be no make up exams. I will drop the lowest grade on one exam. If you must miss more than one exam, plan to drop the course. Please do not show up after the exam requesting a make up.
Please Note: Regular attendance is required for success in this class. Attendance will be taken. Students with more than three unexcused absences will lose five percent of their final grade for each additional class missed.
Honor Policy
Students may work together to discuss the readings and prepare for exams. All work performed for a grade in the class should be the student’s own, however. CSUF policy on Academic Integrity (see UPS 300.021) will be followed.
Link to the University’s policy on academic dishonesty:
http://senate.fullerton.edu/PDF/300?UPS300-021.pdf
Additional Information
Information about students’ right to accommodations for documented special needs via the Disabled Student Service Office, UH 101, (714) 278-3117can be found at www.fullerton.edu/disabledservices/;
Topics and Reading Assignments
Week 1/August 25, 27: Introduction. Pre-history and the beginnings of human contacts.
Reading: The Human Web, p. 1-40.
Week 2/September 1, 3: Peripatetic humans and the role of contacts and encounters in human history and progress – analytical categories. Required reading: Bentley, Old World Encounters, chapter 1.
Please note: September 1 is Labor Day – no class!
Week 3/September 8, 10: The ancient world and regional cross-cultural contacts: Egypt and the Middle East. Reading: Basil Davidson, African Civilization Revisited, pp. 54-59, "Establishing a Covenant with the Chosen People," from the Book of Deuteronomy, excerpted in Overfield, The Human Record, pp. 58-61 and The Human Web, chapter 3.
Week 4/September 15, 17: The ancient world, its empires, and the spread of world religions. China and India, and Buddhism. Reading: "Gupta India as viewed by a Chinese Monk," excerpts from Faxian’s Travels in India and Ceylon," from Overfield, The Human Record, pp. 164-172.
Week 5/September 22, 24: The ancient world, empire and regional cross-cultural contacts: Greece and Rome. Reading: Bentley, Old World Encounters, chapter 2 and Hourani, Arab Seafaring, chapter 1.
Week 6/September 29, October 1: First exam during the first class of the week. The ancient and medieval world and the spread of world religions. Christianity and its competitors in the Roman Empire, and the Christian and non-Christian roots of kingship and political order in the Germanic West.. Reading: Bentley, Old World Encounters, ch. 3.
Week 7/Oct. 6, 8 : A new religion and its spread; Islam in the Middle East and Africa. Reading: Hourani, Arab Seafaring, chapters 2 and 3.
Week 8/Oct. 13, 15: The travels of Ibn Battuta in the Dar-al Islam. Reading: Dunn, The Adventures of Ibn Battuta, first half.
Week 9/Oct, 20, 22: Ibn Battuta in Africa, the empire of Mali, and the pilgrimage of Mansa Musa. Reading: Dunn, The Adventures of Ibn Battuta, second half. Also, "African Kindoms and Islam," ch. 29, from Documents in World History, in your reader, and Al Omari, "Mali in the Fourteenth Century," from Davidson, African Civilizations Revisited, pp. 91-97, online.
Week 10/Oct. 27, 29: The Mongol conquests: a second wind for the Silk Road and the spread of Islam into Asia. Reading: Bentley, Old World Encounters, chs. 4.
Week 11/Nov. 3, 5: Second Exam during the first class of the week. Europeans and the Other: The first medieval travels to Asia. Reading: Ringrose, Expansion and Global Interaction, ch. 1, pp. 1-28.
Week 12: Nov. 10, 12: Mongols and European travels to Asia continued. Reading. Dawson, Mission to Asia, all.
Week 13: November 17, 19: Europeans and the Other: Europe, Islam and the Crusades. Reading, Ringrose, Expansion and Global Interaction, ch. 2 pp. 29- 62.
Note: Week of November 23-29 is Thanksgiving recess!
Week 14/ December 1, 3: Europeans and the Other: Europe and Africa. Ringrose, ch. 3, "A New Kind of Society," and Bentley, Old World Encounters, ch. 5.
Week 15/Dec. 4, 6: Europeans and the Other: Europe and the New World. Reading: Ringrose, ch. 4, "Three American Empires," pp. 97-128.
Week 16: Your third exam will be held at the date and time of the final exam, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 12-1:50 pm.