Western Civilization                                                                                          510:101, Sec. 01

Verbrugghe                                                                                                                     Armitage

Summer, 2007                                                                                                      8:00-10:40 AM

 

Syllabus

 

Required Readings Available at the Bookstore:

Spielvogel, Western Civilization, vol. 1, (6th, 2005) ISBN 0-534-64603-4= Spielvogel.

Required Readings Available over the Internet (for URLs see Schedule below)

          Book of Job

          Plato’s Apology of Socrates

          Gospel According to Luke

          Suetonius’ Life of Augustus

          From the Quran, Suras 1 (Al-Fâtihah), 4 (An-Nisa’), 8 (Al-Anfal), 47 (Muhammad), 113 (Al-Falaq)

          Einhard’s Life of Charlemagne

          Joinville’s Life of Louis IX

          Machiavelli’s The Prince

          Selections from Saint Simon’s Memoires (handout in class)

Reference works available in the Robeson library, which may be of help and interest:

The Times Atlas of World History                                              Ref G1030 T54 1979

Times Atlas of the World                                                            Ref G1021 T55 1985

An Encyclopedia of World History                                            Ref D21 L27 1968

Anchor Bible Dictionary                                                            Ref BS440.A54 1992

Larousse Encyclopedia of Ancient and Medieval History        Ref O59 L373

Oxford Classical Dictionary (2nd. ed)                                      Ref DE5 O9 1970

Dictionary of the Middle Ages                                                   Ref D114 D5 1982

The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium                                         Ref DF521.O93 1991

A Popular Dictionary of Islam                                                   Ref BP40 N48 1992

Articles in Encyclopedias can also clarify some matters.

 

My home page is http://crab.rutgers.edu/~verbrugg/, which under courses for 510:101 has this syllabus.

 

Goals of the Course

 

This course is a structured study of Western Civilization from its very beginnings (say 3,500 BC) to the death of Louis XIV of France (AD 1715). Our goals are three: 1. to become familiar with the geography of the homeland of Western Civilization, 2. to understand the historical divisions or periods historians make in their efforts to offer interpretations of the past, and 3. to have a knowledge of the sequence of events, which brought about these different divisions or periods of history.

 

Basis for the Determination of Final Grade:

 

          There will be 7 Map Exercises, 8 Quizzes, and 4 Essay Examinations. Stated policy is that late Map Exercises will not be accepted and that there are NO make–up Essay Examinations or Quizzes. This policy is easily vitiated, if you are going to have to miss turning a Map Exercise in on time or taking a Quiz or Essay Examination when scheduled because of absolutely unavoidable circumstances. Courtesy and I, however, demand that you notify me beforehand or in an unforeseen and unforeseeable situation as soon as possible afterwards (NOT just the next time you happen to be in class) in person, by phone, or by e-mail so that arrangements can be made to make up the map assignment, quiz, or essay examination you unavoidably missed.

          My office is 313 in Armitage Hall; my office phone number is 225-6075; my internet e-mail address is Verbrugg@camden.rutgers.edu (please, put “Western Civilization” in the heading to alert me). I will be available for questions or consultation each class day from 7:30 to 8:00 AM and again after class from 11:00 to 11:30 AM. If these times are not convenient, arrangements can be made for a mutually agreed upon time for meeting.

            I expect the reading assignments to be done for the class day they are assigned. A good rule of thumb is that for every hour of class, two hours of preparation are necessary.

          A number grade will be given for each of the 7 Map Exercises, for the 8 Quizzes, and for the 4 Essay Examinations. The average of the 8 Quizzes will count as 40% of the final grade, the average of the four Essay Examinations will count as 50% of the final grade, and the average of the 7 Map Exercises will count as the remaining 10%. The resulting figure will have the following letter grade correspondence:

                                100 - 90   = A

                                  89 - 80   = B

                                  79 - 70   = C

                                  69 - 60   = D

                                  59 -   0   = F

 

Schedule of meetings, assignments, and examinations (all reading assignments are to be completed before class that day):

 

May 29            The Ancient Near East—The Bronze Age and Iron Age

 

May 30            The Ancient Near East—The Bronze Age and Iron Age

Spielvogel, Chapters 1 and 2

Book of Job = http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/job-rsv.html

Also http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/RsvBJob.html

                        Map Exercise 1 Due

 

May 31            Quiz 1 on Chapters 1 and 2

                        Map Exercise 2 Due

                        The Greeks

                        Spielvogel, Chapter 3

Plato’s Apology of Socrates = http://eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/apology.htm

 

June 4              QUIZ 2 on Chapter 3

                        The Hellenistic Age

                        Spielvogel, Chapter 4

                        FIRST ESSAY EXAMINATION

 

June 5              Map Exercise 3 Due

                        The Romans - the Republic and the Empire

                        Spielvogel, Chapters 5 and 6

                        Life of Augustus = http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/suet-augustus-rolfe.html or http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/suetonius-augustus.html

                        Gospel According to Luke = http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=LUKE+1

 

June 6              Quiz 3 on Chapters 4, 5, and 6

                        Rome’s Heirs

                        Spielvogel, Chapter 7

                        Quran, Suras 1 (Al-Fâtihah), 4 (An-Nisa’), 8 (Al-Anfal), 47 (Muhammad), 113 (Al-Falaq)= http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/

 

June 7              Map Exercise 4 Due

                        The Early Middle Ages

                        Spielvogel, Chapter 8

Einhard’s Life of Charlemagne = http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/einhard.html

                        SECOND ESSAY EXAMINATION

 

June 11            Quiz 4 on Chapters 7 and 8

                        The High Middle Ages

                        Spielvogel, Chapter 9

 

June 12            Map Exercise 5 Due

                        The High Middle Ages

                        Spielvogel, Chapter 10

                        Joinville’s Life of St. Louis = http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/WedLord.html

 

June 13            Quiz 5 on Chapters 9 and 10

                        Map Exercise 6 Due

                        The Late Middle Ages

                        Spielvogel, Chapter 11

 

June 14            The Late Middle Ages/Renaissance

                        Spielvogel, Chapter 12

                        Machiavelli, The Prince = http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/machiavelli-prince.html

                        THIRD ESSAY EXAMINATION

 

June 18            Quiz 6 on Chapters 11 and 12

                        The Reformation

                        Spielvogel, Chapter 13

 

June 19            Map Exercise 7 Due

                        Triumph of the National Secular State

                        Spielvogel, Chapter 14

 

June 20            Quiz 7 on Chapters 13 and 14

                        Absolute Monarchy and Limited Monarchy

                        Spielvogel, Chapter 15

                        Saint Simon’s Memoires Chapters 72 (LXXII) through 78 (LXXVIII)

 

June 21            Quiz 8 on Chapter 15

                        Absolute Monarchy and Limited Monarchy & the Scientific Revolution

                        Spielvogel, Chapter 16

                        FOURTH ESSAY EXAMINATION