SBU HIS 1113.

The roots of modern Western civilization from the dawn of agricultural society in the Middle East to the eve of modern times in Western Europe. Prerequisite: none.

Instructor: Harlie Kay Gallatin, Ph.D.
Fall 2000 Bolivar Campus
Southwest Baptist University
Go to the Table of Contents.

What follows is the Fall 2000 hypertext Classroom Syllabus for this course.
Student's wishing a hard copy of the Syllabus and Classroom Policies documents may

1. Log directly to URL http://www.sbuniv.edu/~hgallatin/hg1113gn20.html and print this Syllabus document, and ...
2. They should also log to URL http://www.sbuniv.edu/~hgallatin/hgsylpol.html and print out the Classrom Policies document.

If you have questions or comments about this material you may relay them by e-mail to Harlie Kay Gallatin.

Table of Contents

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COURSE PROSPECTUS

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

General

This is the first course in the series, Our Historical Heritage, offered by the Department of History and Political Science. These freshman and sophomore courses considered together in sequence give a chronological panorama of the mainstream of challenges and achievements in Western Civilization from its foundations to the end of the twentieth century. Although any one of these courses may be utilized to meet the University's general education requirement in history, these courses also count toward a major or minor in history or a major in social science education. Indeed, courses in the Our Historical Heritage series, listed below, constitute the recommended minimum foundation of training in history for teacher certification in the field of secondary social studies. The courses, listed by catalog number and title, are as follows:

HIS 1113. Introduction to the History of Western Man.
HIS 1123. Western Man From the Renaissance to the 20th Century.
HIS 2213. History of the United States to 1865.
HIS 2223. History of the United States, 1865 to 1945.
HIS 2233. History of the United States since 1945.

The student who expects a university education to provide him or her with a basic knowledge of the historical development of our society from the beginning of civilization to the present time must plan to take all five of these courses in the Our Historical Heritage series. None of these courses overlaps the others more than is necessary to provide continuity; each course makes a vital contribution to the total picture of our heritage.

The academic courses labeled "history" and typically offered in universities today are the result of research into a multi-faceted and complex subject matter, the activity of human society as a whole within any carefully defined context of time and space. While the discipline of history seeks to understand and describe the unique and specific events, the social science disciplines look for universal patterns or paradigms in human behavior. The typical freshman-sophomore university "history" course reflects something of an amalgam between the unique, specific developments generated by the study of history and the general patterns provided by the social sciences. The study of such "history" provides the student with a number of insights into the human condition, the strengths and weaknesses, the challenges and achievements of some unique group of humans.

Today's average high school graduate has acquired a much fuller appreciation for and understanding of the "history" of the United States when compared to their knowledge of almost any other part of "history". Of all those possible "histories" the most important if not necessarily the most poorly known deals with the peoples of Western Eurasia in the pre-modern period. Indeed, the ancient and medieval periods in the development of Western civilization have frequently been neglected or distorted. One reason that particular "history" remains very important in the curriculum of a Christian University at the beginning of the twenty-first century is that Western civilization has been the primary vehicle for the development of Christianity and for its spread among non-Western civilizations in modern times. We must remember that Christianity emerged two thousand yeas ago at a point when the prevailing civilization was already very elaborately built on cultural foundations tracing back another three thousand years. For these reasons, HIS 1113, Introduction to the History of Western Man, which deals systematically with the history of Western civilization in the pre-modern period, is one of the most vital and useful offerings in Our Historical Heritage appropriate for most university freshmen.

The common goal of this and every other history course is to have the students who complete it able to demonstrate that they possess as a result a better-informed perspective of human activity based on increased historical knowledge. Recognition of historical trivia or even selecting the correct words to complete a valid statement about a piece of trivia is, of course, never to be confused with true historical knowledge. This confusion is tantamount to mistaking a single brick for a high-rise office building! A more valid demonstration of historical knowledge would be for the student to formulate in oral or written form an understandable account of some event or development with reference to its historical context, a context within the scope of the course. This account will be constructed by selecting and joining logically and chronologically several otherwise trivial and relatively meaningless pieces of data to express something larger and much more meaningful than the trivial details out of which it is constructed.
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This course, Introduction to the History of Western Man, has been designed as a planned learning experience entailing a systematic examination of selected historical data spanning from the period of the earliest agricultural villages in the Middle East to the brink of modern times in Western Europe. This experience not only offers the student valuable historical knowledge but also reinforces certain understandings, attitudes and intellectual skills.

Understandings

The student will come to enjoy a more detailed understanding of the potential problems and alternative courses of action facing contemporary Western Civilization by means of the study of comparable conditions, actions and their results in the pre-modern societies treated in this course. The student will improve his understanding of the sequence of cultural achievements forming the course of Western civilization.

Attitudes

The student will discover that this course, as well as other university history courses, will foster a maturing appreciation for the values of accurate, readily available historically based knowledge for the fully educated citizen today.

While no reputable historian will venture to engage in long-range, detailed predictions about the future of Western Civilization, the person who is historically knowledgeable will almost always find himself better prepared to anticipate the future consequences of present conditions even though his judgment is based merely on book knowledge rather than personal experience. The Introduction to the History of Western Man allows the student to observe the rise and fall of civilization over several thousands of years. Consequently, the student can attain the vantage point of an informed historical perspective from which to evaluate the present and contemplate the variety of possible futures mankind may experience.

This learning experience will require the exercise of many intellectual skills common to university work in any subject. For example, reading comprehension and written composition will play basic roles. Clear, logical thinking is also appropriate, particularly chronological and logical sequencing.

Unraveling and understanding the complexity of any historical event, however commonplace and simple it may seem, requires the exercise of special intellectual skills. These intellectual skills are the components of historical thinking or historical analysis. For example, logic requires that every event or thing must have a cause, but the trained historian attempts to identify and trace many different dimensions of causation relative to each and every historical event. Many of these different types of causation relate to one or more specialized intellectual skills which the historian uses to the degree that he or she has mastered the skill and so far as the sources allow. In order to understand (i.e. make sense of) any historical event as many as possible of the pieces of historical information (factual data) pertinent to each causative dimension needs to be discovered, brought together and synthesized in a coherent and understandable way.

The basic causal dimensions of any and all events in history may be expressed as follows along with appropriate inquiry clues.

The quintessential component in this intellectual activity is the disciplined historical imagination. The more disciplined (i.e., educated) a person's historical imagination the more readily that person will both comprehend and delight in the great variety of meanings to be drawn from a single event whether in the past or the present. That student not only remembers and recognizes the trivia--he or she understands it historically, and that is the goal of every offering in history.

RESOURCE MATERIALS

Required Textbook Reading

Students will be responsible for daily reading assignments listed in the Study Guide.

Syllabus

In addition to the assigned textbooks the most important resource for the student is the Classroom Syllabus and Study Guide. It includes all rules, regulations, directions, and assignments for the course. Each student is held responsible for the assignments and instructions.

Study Aids and Supplemental Materials

The teacher-prepared study aids and other supplementary materials have been designed to enhance and supplement the textbooks and syllabus. Those that are available on line are linked to this page.
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Library Resources

In the last analysis, knowledge of historical facts is for the most part based solidly on written records that have survived into the present. Sometimes archaeological or other non-literary evidence supplements the written record. Nevertheless, the knowledge of the history of mankind rests on a truly vast amount of literary data surviving in almost every language and every form of writing known to men since the invention of writing! The average university textbook in history represents an unbelievably abbreviated summary of the known facts and current understandings pertaining to the limited time and place being studied. It would be reasonable to say that the average history textbook is perhaps minuscule in comparison to a tiny snowflake on the top of the mountain range of records! Certainly, no textbook has any claim to absolute accuracy even with regard to the small part of history it discusses. Textbooks are tools to make history more manageable for beginners. The more of history they attempt to summarize the more superficial and misleading they may become. The student must constantly be reminded of the rich and varied literature that constitutes the real documentation of history. The University Library has acquired through the years a very respectable collection of books dealing with numerous facets of the history surveyed in this course.
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REQUIRED EVALUATION PROCEDURES

Classroom Management, Attendance and Grading Policies

Click here to view policies regarding classroom management, class attendance, grading and special needs consideration in all classes offered by this instructor.

The determination of final grade in this course utilizes the accumulation of points related to performance on various instruments of evaluation described below.

Quizzes

Short quizzes will be utilized almost every class period in this course to encourage consistent preparation. The central focus of these short quizzes is on the daily reading assignment. Typically, these quizzes will be given either at the beginning of the class period, or sometimes at the end. When a quiz is given at the beginning of the period, students who arrive more than three minutes late will not be allowed to take the quiz. Each daily quiz is worth 25 points; however, only the four highest quiz scores earned during each unit of the course will be counted toward the final grade.

Scheduled Examinations

There will be a total of four scheduled examinations, that is, a scheduled examination worth 200 points after each of the three units of this course and a scheduled final examination worth 200 points. Out of the four scheduled examinations only the three exams with the highest scores will count toward the final grade.

Unit Examinations

The unit examinations will evaluate the student's general knowledge of the historical facts, concepts and processes which have been treated in the unit. Both textbook assignments and lectures will be resources for these exams. Each Scheduled Unit Exam will consist of writing the answer to a single synthesis question worth 120 points and three (at 26 1/3 points each) or four identification/definition items (at 20 points each).

"Blue Book Examination" booklets are required for the unit examinations. These may be secured at the University Bookstore. The student's Blue Book (with the Name, Subject, and Date blanks filled in!) must be delivered to the instructor by or before the beginning of the examination period.

One synthesis question from the three or four synthesis questions listed for the unit will be randomly assigned to each student at the beginning of the scheduled examination class period. Students should study all the questions for the Unit in preparation for the scheduled exam. If you choose to write on a question other than the one assigned, there will be a twenty percent (20%) penalty. Plan to write from two to five "Blue Book" pages bringing together in your own words what you have understood from the pertinent sections of the assigned readings and the lectures. Be sure you do not leave part of the answer out; pay particular attention to the geographic area covered and the time frame as well as to facets of development mentioned in the question. It is good to remember that no matter how narrowly a question appears to be focused, its answer depends upon the whole fabric of historical development surrounding the events in question.

The identification/definition items will be drawn from the reading and lectures of the unit. A dozen or so items will be listed from which the student may select the required number. When addressing these items remember to include some treatment of the following dimensions if appropriate. Who? What? When? Where? With Whom? Why? and So What? Generic, dictionary-like definitions that while technically correct, reflect little understanding of the meaning and utilization of the term in the context of the current unit of study will earn points comparable to a C grade or less.

Final Examination

The brief final examination will focus on the entire course. It will be a short objective or short answer type of exercise. Items from earlier quizzes will not be repeated on the final; although, of course, some of the same historical data will be covered.

Basis of Final Grade

The final course grade will be based on an adjusted cumulative total of the scores of quizzes and exams.

• Total of the three highest (out of the four) Scheduled Examination scores.
• Plus the total of four highest quiz scores from each of the three units.
• Minus any penalty-scores not subtracted elsewhere.
• Equals the adjusted cumulative total score.

Click here for a description of the procedural formula for translating your adjusted cumulative score to a letter grade.

UNIT SYNOPSES, LECTURE TOPICS, EXAMS

AND ASSIGNMENTS

Unit I

CIVILIZED MAN IN EARLY ANTIQUITY:

The Middle East Cradle

SYNTHESIS EXERCISE TOPICS FOR UNIT ONE

For mid-unit review  . . . .  and  . . . .  the scheduled unit exam.
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See comments above under Scheduled Examinations.

1. Discuss and distinguish between the concepts of culture and civilization. List and describe the significant cultural developments (changes) which took place during the approximately 5000 years archaeologists understand to have occurred between the appearance of the earliest (first) agricultural villages and the appearance of the earliest (first) civilized societies in the ancient Near East.

2. Identify and discuss the several important peoples and/or states we have studied and some of the significant achievements in the area of the Tigris-Euphrates basin spanning the approximately 2000 years from the time of Early Dynastic Sumer down to 1200 BC. Compare or contrast their achievements at a couple of different points in time with that of Egypt, the Indus Valley and/or Crete and the Aegean coastlands.

3. The 850 year period between 1200 and 350 BC divides conveniently at 750 BC. For that part of the period before 750 BC, when the major cultural advances were made in the lands situated between Egypt and the Tigris-Euphrates basin, name and characterize the major peoples and/or states in that restricted area as well as their noteworthy accomplishments. After 750 BC a series of great expansive states or empires developed covering a much larger area. Outline briefly the history of the rise and fall of those empires and discuss the achievements of one of them.

4. Note and discuss those achievements and characteristics of the Greek (Hellenic) peoples (between 750 BC and 350 BC) which make them stand out for us so strongly as our cultural forefathers, foreshadowing both our strengths and our weaknesses. How did their achievements compare or relate to those achievements elsewhere to the East at that time?

Unit One Daily Assignment Schedule

Fall 2000

Unit II

WESTERN CIVILIZATION IN LATE ANTIQUITY:

The Dominance and Passing of the Greco-Roman Epoch.

This unit starts with the glorious career of the great Macedonian king and world conqueror, Alexander. It examines an approximately 1100 year period focusing on what scholars agree is the pinnacle of all civilized achievement in antiquity, the pax Romana (Roman peace). The pax Romana prevailed during the first two centuries of the Christian Era. Most significant for many of us, of course, is the association of this time period with the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and the writing of the New Testament. At a slightly later time in the second century AD the frontiers of Roman rule stretched from middle England to the Persian Gulf, but thereafter during the following 500 years the Empire withered in strength and size. All the Western European regions fell into the political and economic control of the military class, most of whom were of recent immigrant stock originating from the uncivilized non-Roman lands in north-central and eastern Europe. Eventually these barbarian tribes had straggled into Western Europe and settled. Unwisely, the Roman government allowed the political and economic control to pass into the hands of the barbarian minority. Soon they organized autonomous regional kingdoms within the western territory formerly ruled by Rome. Next, other equally barbaric tribes, originating in Arabia, conquered all the southern and extreme eastern regions of the Empire from Spain to Mesopotamia. Hence, by 800 AD the territory once united under Roman sway was divided into three relatively isolated and independent cultural regions. One was the eastern and southern area were Arabic was the language of government and culture. Another consisted of the central region where Greek was the dominant language. It is the westernmost of the three, the western barbarian area where Latin was the civilized language, that is most closely related to subsequent Western development. However, it cannot be denied that both the other regions have left their mark on our way of life also.
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SYNTHESIS EXERCISE TOPICS FOR UNIT TWO

For mid-unit review  . . . .  and  . . . .  the scheduled unit exam.
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1. What is meant by "hellenistic civilization" in its most general sense? [Hint: That's the way the instructor used it.] Discuss how this concept helps explain the historical period covered in this unit. What value, if any, does this concept have with regard to an understanding of our present-day civilization?

2. Summarize the history of the outstanding religious developments in the Mediterranean world during the last 350 years before Christ and contrast it with the religious developments in the first 350 years after Christ. Include important religious attitudes and practices as well as institutions and government policies.

3. There are at least two fascinating and somewhat surprising developments covered in this unit that, at face value, seem to demand some explanation. First, how could a backward, little, insignificant, frontier town like Rome conquer the whole Mediterranean world? Secondly, and directly related to the previous part of the questions, how could such an unlikely dominion over such a vast and diverse area survive as long as it did? How would you explain these obvious successes? Support your explanation with examples and illustrations from Roman history.

4. In the western third of the territory once incorporated in the Roman Empire the overall level of cultural attainment declined in the third through the seventh centuries AD. More and more as this time went by the Christian Church seemed to be the one outstanding institution in that area. The Church stood for and preserved the most vital surviving vestiges of former Greco-Roman civilization and kept alive the clearest memories of the earlier glories of the Roman Empire. Discuss why these developments occurred. What advantages and/or disadvantages did the Church experience because of this development?

Unit Two Daily Assignment Schedule

Fall 2000

Unit III

WESTERN CIVILIZATION IN POST-ANTIQUITY:

Western Europe Advances Toward Her Modern Role

as World Leader.

The Western European cultural region of Unit II was, in 800 AD, the most backward and lacking in civilization of any of the surviving parts of the Late Roman Empire. By 1475 AD, however, when the coverage of this course breaks off, Western Europe was supporting and exporting a highly advanced and expanding indigenous civilization. Unit III focuses on Western Europe's gradual transformation from a region of cultural chaos and darkness into the most advanced and aggressive civilization on this planet. This nearly seven century period of development would make possible the great adventures of exploration and imperialism, both political and economic, which were to come after 1475 AD and eventually make modern Europe the master of the civilized world. This so-called medieval period has sometimes been deliberately over-simplified or romanticized by earlier generations of scholars, but this course will help to correct some of the romantic nonsense about a "feudal system" that continues to confuse the educated public. The role of Christianity, the Catholic Church and, in particular, the Papacy must claim the student's attention as, perhaps, the most important cultural and institutional force in medieval Europe. The economic, political and intellectual development of medieval society dramatically challenged the supremacy and leadership of the Church in the thirteenth century.
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UNIT THREE SYNTHESIS EXERCISES

For mid-unit review  . . . . . and  . . . . the scheduled unit exam. 
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1. Trace the ups and downs in the prolonged (850 to 1475) struggle between the Christian Church and secular powers for the leadership of Western European society in the Middle Ages. Show how and why secular institutions gained advantage over the church between 850 and 1050, then seemed to lose the struggle from about 1075 to 1275 and, finally, what developments made it possible for the secular institutions to regain substantial leadership by 1475. Name some of the outstanding opponents at key points in the struggle.

2. Write an essay illustrating and supporting the proposition that it was in the period of the Middle Ages when the first flourishing achievement of a civilization native to Northwestern Europe appeared. Suggest what you believe are the particular achievements that best show how elaborate and sophisticated the civilization had become. Remember, too, that present-day American civilization is a direct heir of the civilization that developed and flourished in Europe beginning in the Middle Ages.

3. Discuss the role or function of individuals belonging to each of the four major social categories of Medieval society--clergy, nobility, bourgeoisie, villagers. Show how an individual in any particular category was dependent upon individuals from all the other categories. In dealing with the topic be sure to discuss vassalage, seigneurialism, and suzerainty in their appropriate connections.

Unit Three Daily Assignment Schedule

Fall 2000

URL: http://www.sbuniv.edu/~hgallatin/hg1113gn20.html

© 2000
All Rights Reserved, by

Harlie Kay Gallatin, Ph.D.

Southwest Baptist University

Department of History and Political Science

Departmental Web Pages
Harlie Kay Gallatin, Departmental Webmaster

Last modified 5 December 2000.
Links modified 15 May 2004.