I. Description:

Where did our culture come from? This course on Western Civilization can help answer that question. We will survey the main stages of Western Civilization, with an emphasis on concepts, forces, ideas, events and people that have shaped our society up through the 19th century. In other words, we will examine, through lectures and discussion of readings, how our ancestors and the creators of our culture handled nature, ordered government, structured society, produced wealth, expressed ideas in word and form, and conceived the ultimate meaning of life, the universe and everything.  

II. Purpose:

A. Mission Statement:

This Core Curriculum requirement is a course in the Civilization category.

This class is an important part of your education!  Civilization courses are designed to explore in some depth the complex dimensions of our world and the cumulative experience of the past, to provide an understanding of how yesterday influences today and the outlook for tomorrow. We study the major developments of Western peoples until the 20th century because most of the problems and institutions of contemporary society have distinguishable roots in the historical past. Moreover, because of the physical and material expansion of the West in the modern period, many of these forms  (capitalist industrial manufacturing, the nation-state system, etc.) have become global in nature.

We offer this course as part of your general education requirements because it is important for educated citizens to be familiar with the main stages of Western Civilization and recognize it as an expanding force which produced important forms of political, social, and economic organization. You should understand that most of the structures within which we order our lives are products of this evolution. Historians believe that past human behavior can be studied scientifically and that social scientists can improve our understanding of people in the present.

Further, whatever your major or career goals may be, throughout your lives you will be deluged with information, opinion, and interpretations about events which you should be able to evaluate critically. Answering questions and solving problems by critical analysis -- not just memorization of data -- is a basic goal of education. Information is just the raw material in this process and, though rational analysis must be based on factual data, memorizing tidbits of information is not an end in itself. Our real goal is to develop concepts which give order and meaning to the raw material of our recorded past. Doing this requires comprehension beyond minimal factual details of past events. Major emphasis will be on patterns, themes, and concepts against which the factual data must be understood.

We hope that upon successful completion of this course you will have improved your understanding of world civilizations and become a more perceptive judge of the data, opinions, interpretations and explanations continuously offered to you. This process, indeed, should last your whole life, since (paraphrasing the observation of the distinguished professional historian Carl L. Becker from 1931) "Ultimately, every person is their own historian."

B. Objectives for the student:

1. To be familiar with the main stages of civilization as an expanding force that has produced important forms of political, social, economic and cultural organization which are our common heritage.
2. To identify major events, persons and ideas that contributed to the development of Western (including American) and non-Western attitudes and institutions.
3. To develop concepts which give meaning and order to the raw material of our recorded past.
4. To identify and analyze significant problems and situations as they relate to the continuing issues of contemporary life.

C. Goals for the student:

1. To improve understanding of the major events which have influenced the modern world.
2. To be an intelligent consumer and evaluator of information about world events.
3. To develop a global perspective which recognizes the political, economic and cultural interdependence of all nations.
4. To understand the influence of the past on contemporary events and problems or, in other words, to develop Historical Mindedness.

D. General Learning Outcomes for the student:

In addition to the more content-related objectives described above, this course has some general liberal-learning goals of developing academic skills. It is expected that successful completion of this course will help you improve your ability:

1. To manage information, which involves sorting data, ranking data for significance, synthesizing facts, concepts and principles.
2. To understand and use organizing principles or key concepts against which miscellaneous data can be evaluated.
3. To differentiate between facts, opinions and inferences.
4. To frame questions so as to more clearly clarify a problem topic or issue.
5. To compare and contrast the relative merits of opposing arguments and interpretations, moving between the main points of each position.
6. To organize your thoughts and communicate them clearly and concisely in written form.
7. To obtain practice in selecting and presenting information and arguments within a restricted environment, especially the limitations of time in exams.

III. General Requirements

A. Academic Honesty

Be aware of the academic honesty policy concerning cheating and plagiarism, and your moral, ethical and legal obligation only to submit work completed by you yourself.  For more information see <www.kings.edu/history/honesty.html> and <Help stop Plagiarism!>.  

B. Reading:

You will need to purchase a textbook, as explained by the instructor in class.  The text provides you with important factual and background information to be read and worked on before class and to be used for review and reference afterwards.

Before class, you will read the text according to your printed syllabus. You should prudently mark up, underline, highlight and otherwise annotate your text as you study.  Bring the textbook to class.  After class, regularly through the semester, you should review your class notes and compare them with the text's versions of the material.  

The instructor will give quizzes to test your reading and comprehension and for review. 

C. Class Participation & Attendance:

Participation and attendance are necessary because lecture and discussion provide the essentials for achieving class goals and objectives. Thus a portion of your grade will depend on your in-class performance and presence, aside from graded quizzes, exams and papers..  You are required to attend each class, arrive on time, remain attentive, maintain proper classroom decorum, and respond to questions. You are encouraged to take notes and ask questions.

Several minor written assignments (a paragraph to one page in length) will also be required as reflections and reactions to class discussion and projects.

The instructor will regularly take attendance. Absences due to college activities, emergency or extended illness may be excused by the appropriate college official. You should consult with the instructor about making up missed work in advance or as soon as possible after your return.  Other absences are unexcused and will lower the class participation and quiz portions of your grade. After any absence, you are responsible for requesting hand-outs and already returned assignments from the instructor or borrowing notes from other students. If you miss an exam, contact the instructor as soon as possible. You may take a missed exam only at the discretion of the instructor. Whether absences are excused or not, you may not get a higher grade than the percentage of classes attended.

A student who arrives at class late, after attendance is taken, must personally request that the absence be turned into a tardy mark. Students who need to leave a class session early, except for medical emergency, should notify the instructor before class begins.

All students who have a learning disability, physical handicap and/or any other possible impediment to class participation and requirements should schedule an appointment with the instructor within the first two weeks of classes to discuss available accommodations.  With the instructor's permission, lectures may be recorded for your own study, although the tapes must be erased after the exams.

If at some point during the semester you must discontinue the course, due to poor performance, illness or some other cause, be sure to follow proper procedures for withdrawal. 

D. Exams:

You will take a minimum of three exams.  The exams are comprehensive: each exam may cover material since the beginning of the course.   The final exam is taken during finals week, scheduled at the same time as with other sections of CORE Civilization courses (not according to the normal weekly time of meeting).  Please consult the final exam schedule when it is released by the registrar. 

All exams will consist of objective questions testing recall based on historical geography and maps and essays demanding your understanding of the course material through logical presentation of facts and explanation of historical trends.

To study for the exams you should regularly, at least once a week, review your class notes, and refer to the study questions linked below. You should also compare and contrast these notes with your textbook and with the issues and trends emphasized in the class description. 

D. Written Assignments:

You will have two-three formal written assignments of totaling 12-to-15 pages.   Your instructor will provide information about the goals, procedures, and topics of these assignments. 

Be sure to conform to the instructor's required style of citation.  presentation guidelines, and use Turabian/Chicago Manual of Style format (see Corgan Library <http://www.kings.edu/frames/tb_frames/library.html> and click on "Citing Sources" or Corgan Library Study Guide #11 or http://www.kings.edu/library/PDF%20Files/studyguide11.pdf) for bibliography and citations.  

E. Deadlines:

Completing assignments on time is an important aspect of your course work.  You yourself must hand in each assignment at on time.

Your instructors will explain their individual policies on their syllabi.

IV. Grading Policy:

Click here for parameters of evaluation and grading.

You earn your grade through work done for this course.  It is your responsibility to understand why you have achieved a certain grade, and what steps you can take to maintain or improve your grade.  You are encouraged to consult with the instructor during office hours or by appointment both before and after exams and written assignments.  
For your protection, in case of errors of recording, you should keep copies of all exams and assignments until you have received official notice of your final grade.  Any and all materials done for this course may become the property of the instructor, who may use them for assessment, evaluative, scholarly, or research purposes. 
Your final grade will be based on a percentage (above 90%=A, 89-80%=B, etc.) of the sum of the assignments. Different assignments will be worth certain point values, as described by your instructor.  

Although syllabi present the basic content of courses, the instructors reserve the right to change anything (e.g. requirement, topics, assignments, due dates, grading policy, etc.) at their discretion.

Primary and Secondary online Sources for Western Civilization