HIST 142 Western Civilization 2
Course Objectives | Textbook Information | Methodology and Assignments | Primary Source Readings | Western Civilization Links | Current or Most Recent Syllabus | Current or Most Recent Class Schedule (pdf file) | WebTycho Login
Western Civilization 2 is a survey of the history of western civilization (primarily Europe, but also North America) from the Thirty Years War up to the present.
Among the many subjects we will address are the development of western political and economic structures such as the nation state, mercantalism, and capitalism, the French Revolution, Napoleon, romanticism, the revolutions of the 1830s and 1840s, German and Italian unification, the effects of modernization and modern philosophy (Marx, Darwin, Einstein, usw.), racism, colonialism, totalitarianism, and the Cold War.
Course Objectives:
Students will attain an introductory understanding of modern Western history at a college level. Just as importantly, they will come to understand history not merely as a series of dates, names and events, but as a science - a field of human inquiry in which knowledge is neither arbitrary nor set in stone.
Students will learn to communicate on historical issues competently and coherently. Writing assignments and discussions will help hone the academic, social, and technical skills necessary to succeed in other areas of higher education and in public and professional life.
By looking at the recent past, it is hoped that students gain an appreciation for both the continuities and changes in human experience over time.
More specifically, students will
- be able to describe the major developments and trends typical for modern European history,
- be able to distinguish between primary and secondary sources and read them critically,
- sharpen their research and writing skills by writing on a topic of their choice, deepening their historical knowledge in the process,
- and develop their communication skills and historical knowledge by formulating opinions about historical issues and their importance for understanding humankind and western society today.
Textbook
Mortimer Chambers, Barbara Hanawalt, Theodore K. Rabb, Isser Woloch & Raymond Grew, The Western Experience, 10th Edition, McGraw Hill, 2010.
There will, however, also be short weekly readings taken mostly from outside of this text. See Sources.
Methodology and Assignments:
Class Participation
My teaching philosophy emphasizes student participation in the creation of knowledge. In this class, I take that approach very seriously. The weekly units are not centered on the textbook, which serves as a backdrop and reference work for students, but around other texts, usually short primary sources. Every week, I introduce one, two or three short primary documents from history. Students then read the sources and discuss them with the other students in the class. Students are encouraged to approach the sources critically and form their own opinions about what the source means and how it contributes to our knowledge of the past.
Some sources are chosen because of how they shed light on the daily life and customs of past societies. Others are chosen because of how they reflect attitudes about different aspects of life: politics, social class, gender roles or religion, for example.
Furthermore, especially in broad survey courses like this one, I also take the subversive power of history seriously. That means that we will, as a class, "historisize" things that are often considered outside of history. For this class that means we will look critically at religion, explore the historical origins of the nation state, and openly discuss controversial issues such as colonialism, anti-clericalism and racism. Confronting students with the subversive power of knowledge is an extremely important aspect of education.
Research Paper
Students will be required to write a short research paper. I will consult with you in and out of class about choosing an appropriate topic. In the online class, there will be a special conference in the online classroom especially for helping students through this assignment. I will also read any work submitted early and suggest improvements. If you have never written a research paper before or have had difficulty doing so, please consult my Research Guide. My standard Policy on Research Papers outlines my general expectations.
Memmorial Assignment
A highlight of the course is the opportunity to produce and publish original historical research. Each student investigates a war or genocide memorial and submits photographs, a descrption and an analysis of it. Full instructions for this unique assignment are online at sites-of-memory.de.
Exams
As per UMUC policy, there will also be a midterm and a final exam, one of which will be proctored at a UMUC education center.
Source Readings:
As Mark Hatlie has not yet taught this course on line and is scheduled to do so beginning in March, this list of source readings is still under construction.
Early Modern History
- James I on the Divine Right of Kings (offsite)
- Louis XIV on Kingship. This reading is available on page 594 of the textbook.
- The Edict of 1626 (offsite)
- d'Alembert on Diderot's Encyclopedia (offsite)
- Emmanual Kant: What is Enlightenment?. This reading is on page 673 of the textbook.
- Thomas Pain: Of the Religion of Deism Compared with the Christian Religion (offsite)
Revolutions
- Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) (offsite)
- The Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790)(offsite)
- Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Citizen (1791)(offsite)
- Spreading the Revolution (1792) - This reading is available in the classroom.
- Levee en masse (1793)(offsite)
The 19th Century
- Prussian Reform Edict (1807)(pdf)
- The Holy Alliance (1815) (offsite)
- Excerpts from the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (pdf)
- Marx and Engels on the Family (pdf), another excerpt from the Communist Manifesto (offsite)
- Mazzini on Nationality (1852)(pdf)
- Spencer on Social Darwinism (1857) (offsite)
- Tsar Alexander's Emancipation of the Serfs (1861)(pdf)
- Abraham Lincoln: Emancipation Proclamation (1862) (offsite)
- Mikhail Bakunin: Against the State. An excerpt is availabe in the textbook, page. 939.
- Pope Leo XIII: excerpts from the 1891 Rerum Novarum (pdf)
- Excerpt from Mazzini's writing on nationality, 1852 (pdf)
The 20th Century
Western Civilization Links
Primary Sources
The history sourcebooks at Fordham university are the best online place to look for primary documents on western history.
- The Ancient History Sourcebook has primary sources and other rescources on everything from the origins of mankind up to late antiquity, including material on the origins of Christianity.
- The Medieval History Sourcebook has primary sources and other resources on everything from the fall of Rome up to the Reformation and the Age of Exploration.
- The Modern History Sourcebook has primary sources and other resources on everything from the Reformation up to the present, including topics such as pop culture and postwar religious developments.
- The Avalon Project at Yale University is very good for primary sources from western history, although not as extensive as the history sourcebooks above.
- The Bible Gateway is the best online resource I have found on biblical texts. It has a missionary purpose and does not include related items such as the apocryphal books or pagan sources. Nor does it include scholarly commentary on the passages. But it offers a wide range of possible translations in English and numerous other languages and is thus not tied to a particular denomination or interpretation.
- The Brooklyn College History Department has put together an image bank of pictures from the modern age.
- The Art Images for College Teaching webpage has free images of various themes from western history.
- Guantanamo Testimonials Project
Lectures and other Secondary Sources
- Gerhard Rempel, a professor at Western New England College has posted his lectures on western civilization online. They cover lots of subjects, from "Moses and Homer" up through the middle ages.
