Note: Cole/Symes is mostly used to prepare you for class; read this and any additional sources assigned. Please come prepared with questions, but you don’t need to bring the books to class (unless otherwise notified).
A printable version of the syllabus is available upon request.
Week 1: Introduction: What is History?
19 March:
- Syllabus Overview
- Brainstorm
- What is History?
- What is the West?
- What is the World?
- What is Civilization?
Week 1: The Highly Fertile Crescent
21 March:
- To read in full before class:
- Cole/Symes pages 3-17 (stop at Egypt)
- Hammurabi’s Code (1-100)
- Homework due in class:
- Gilgamesh
- Answer these questions and bring hard copy to next class for Epic of Gilgamesh
- Gilgamesh
Week 2: Toward Empire, Defining Humanity: Egypt
26 March:
- To read in full before class:
- Cole/Symes pages 17-29, 33-35
- To Read (SKIM) Before Class:
- Chronologies: There are myriad competing “high, middle, and low” chronologies for Egyptian history. See under Mesopotamia above from some links on these issues.
- In-Class Exercise on Satire of the Trades
Week 3: Putting It Together: Indo-Europeans
2 April:
- To read in full before class:
- Cole/Symes pages 36-57
- To Read (SKIM) Before Class:
- In class: Lost Cities of the Ancients: The Dark Lords of Hattusha
- Answer:
- What happened to them, and what caused an empire built to last forever to vanish so completely from history?
- List 5 reasons, after watching the film, that you believe, made the Hittites one of the most astonishing and ingenious empires of the ancient world.
- How did the Hittites empire rival those of Egypt and Babylon?
- Answer:
Week 3: Rockin’ Democracy
4 April:
- To read in full before class:
- Cole/Symes pages 59-85 (do not read “The Challenges of the Persian Wars” – 72-74)
- To Read (SKIM) Before Class:
Week 4: Rockin’ Democracy, continued
9 April: CLASS CANCELLED
11 April:
- Here is the information for today’s class.
Week 5: Mediterranean Fight Club AND Alexander Paves All the Roads to Rome
16 April:
- For class, read my lecture notes, watch Beyond the Movie: Alexander the Great, and answer the attached questions.
- Alexander the Great Lecture Notes
- Greece and Southwest Asia, 300 BC:
Ever wonder how Alexander earned the nickname, “The Great”? 1st, there was Alexander, and then there were all the other generals who came after him and suffered from “Alexander-envy.”
The film Beyond the Movie: Alexander the Great is a documentary produced by the National Geographic Society that tells the story of Alexander, the Greek-Macedonian who conquered Persia and spread Greek culture throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. This is a fascinating story of a larger-than life person who changed the world.
Project Credit: To get credit for watching this film, download the movie worksheet attached here and submit filled in worksheet.
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To watch the movie, click on the following link:
- Answer the following questions and bring to class on Thursday:
- To read in full:
- Cole/Symes
- Chapter 4
- Cole/Symes
- To Read (SKIM) Before Class:
Week 5: Toward Empire: Rome, How It Worked
18 April:
- To Read in Full
- Cole/Symes, Chapter 5
- To Skim & Be Prepared to Discuss:
- Virgil’s Aeneid
- Ovid’s Metamorphosis
- Livy, “Romulus and Remus” and “The Rape of Lucretia”
- Excerpts from Cicero’s 12 Tables
- Polybius, “Rome at the End of the Punic Wars” from his Histories
Historical Analysis Assignment #2– due today
- You must place your document in this folder no later than 6pm today.
- REMINDER: For everyday it is late 5 points are taken off per day.
- To Read: Ancient Rome Lecture Notes
- To watch: Agora and answer Agora Discussion Questions before next class
-
Agora/Available on: There is a 7-day free trial using Prime, so I suggest that option (just cancel the trial after you watch the film)
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Week 6: The Islamic Heartland
23 April:
- To Read in Full
- Cole/Symes, pages 172-177 (Islam)
- To Skim & Be Prepared to Discuss:
- To Read: Introduction to Islam and The Five Pillars of Islam
- To Do: The History of Islam – Exercise
Week 6: The Mediterranean & Beyond: Byzantium
26 April:
- To Read in Full
- Cole/Symes, Chapter 6 and pages 165-171
- To Skim & Be Prepared to Discuss
- Historical Analysis Assignment #3 – due in class today
Week 7: The Not Really Dark Ages
30 April:
- To Read in Full
- Cole/Symes, pages 178, 184-192, Chapter 8, 232-235
- To Skim & Be Prepared to Discuss
_______________________________
To read in class: Introduction to the Middle Ages
Class Exercise: The Crusades
(If you weren’t in class on Thursday, please email me ASAP for instructions – gretchenbeasley08@gmail.com)
Week 7: The Fair to Middlin’ Ages & The Black Death
2 May:
- To Read in Full
- Cole/Symes, Chapter 9 (except 232-235) and Chapter 10
- To Skim & Be Prepared to Discuss:
- Historical Analysis Assignment #4 – due in class today
Week 8: Putting Empire Together – The Renaissance
7 May:
- To Read in Full
- Cole/Symes, Chapters 11 and 12
- To Skim & Be Prepared to Discuss:
- Niccolò Machiavelli
- Jacob Burckhardt
- Erasmus
- Sir Thomas More
Week 8: Pulling Empire Apart – The Reformation
9 May:
- To Read in Full
- Cole/Symes, Chapters 13
- To Skim & Be Prepared to Discuss:
- Final Projects due in class
