History 210-01 (CRN 11285)
Tue and Thu 7:45-9:50am
DDH 03E
Office: Faculty Towers 201A
Instructor: Dr. Schmoll
Office Hours: Tue and Thu 10-12:30
…OR MAKE AN APPOINTMENT!!!
Office Phone: 654-6549
Course Description:
This course is the first part of the CSUB History Department’s
World History survey series. Explores the emergence of world civilizations and the
development of religion, politics, economy, society, and culture in Mesopotamia,
Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe. Stresses the formation, maintenance, and
collapse of individual societies and the encounters between people of different
societies to the early modern period. (GE C3)
As you look over the weekly schedule, you will also notice that
there is a THEME OF THE WEEK listed before each week. This does not mean that
the themes listed will be absent in other weeks. What it means is that we will
focus our study of world history on that theme during that week. In general, we
will discuss the theme of the week on Tuesday and the reading on Thursday.
Hence, plan to read the chapter for each Thursday class.
Course Learning Objectives:
Student
Learning Outcomes:
At
the end of the course you will
• Acquire
a basic knowledge and understanding of human history, society, and culture up
to circa 1200 AD;
•Be
able to address at a basic level, how and why certain key features of the
physical, and natural factors, events, expressions,
needs, wants, aspirations, and relationships propelled changes in world
history;
•Develop
a basic level of skills necessary for success as a student and as a
future
professional for the 21st century;
•Develop
rudimentary problem-solving skills individually and in a team-work setting; and
•Be
able to conceptualize and make broad-based connections within history and where
appropriate across the Discipline.
Key Questions for the Course:
1.How
did we emerge as Humans?
2. What
factors and discoveries brought stability and plenty in our food supplies?
3. What
factors led to the agricultural revolution and what impact did it have on us as
humans?
4.How
and why writing was developed?
5.Explore
some of the most riveting historical developments related to our search for
order and its codification in society?
6.How
and why did we discover the waging of conflicts?
7.
What tied us together as early humans?
8.How
did we discover the importance of meaning in history and why?
9.Why
did we discover religion?
10.What
kinds of religions and spiritual ways did we cultivate to make sense of our
historical existence and our material security and well being?
11.
How and for what purpose was monotheism developed in human history?
Required
Reading:
Robert
Strayer, Ways of the World, Volume I . New York: St. Martin’s
Press, 2008. ISBN 0312452888.
We
will also have regular readings on the blog. Those will be announced in class.
The Blog:
Go to history210winter2015.blogspot.com
You need to sign in to this blog this week. You will also have short readings on the blog. I will announce these in class.
COURSE
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES:
The Midterm and Final:
We will go over the midterm and final
exams later, but one consideration as you move through this course is this:
both exams value your thinking on paper. You will be asked to recall
information, to relate detail that you learned by paying close attention to
reading and to class, but more than that you will be asked to make a contribution,
to add your own unique perspective to the story. WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN I ASK
YOU TO ARGUE SOMETHING? Start to answer that question from day one…even as we
read this together in class right now. Every lecture you hear will contain a
set of assertions that are not found in the text. These lectures are my attempt
to create an original argument; they model for you how to make an argument in
history. After all, who cares if you can recall a bunch of historical data?
Well, I care. But the history of “what” is what turns many of us against
history. You will be asked to take a stance, to use the information you learn
in an argumentative context. The past is an argument that we make together here
in class in the present.
The Paper:
This essay is around 3-4 pages, typed, double-spaced. You will
turn it into turnitin.com and bring a paper copy to class. This assignment is
due on February 24. It will be turned in to turnitin.com.
You will
be writing about one of an ancient wonder. I will hand out specific guidelines in
class, but for now, begin to wonder about how public monuments impact social
life. Think about that question in relation to one of the following monuments:
Borobodur
Angkor Wat
Tikal
Reading
Questions: Each week, you will prepare at least two
questions based on your reading of the chapter for that week. This MUST BE
TYPED and handed in at the start of each Thursday class. Here is what this
looks like in the schedule below: CHAPTER 1 READING AND READING QUESTION DUE.
Your question may focus on any element within the reading that interests you,
confuses you, catches your eye, or makes you wonder for any reason. You may not
turn these in online or late.
Crash Course Videos: Each week, I will post a crash course
video on the blog. All you have to do is go there, watch them, and write a two sentence or so response to the video.
Attendance: Just to be clear, to succeed on tests and papers you really
should be in class. That’s just common sense, right? To pass this class, you may not miss more than two classes. If you
miss that third class meeting, you are missing 15% of the quarter. You cannot
do that and pass.
Reading: How should you read our book?
How many of you love reading? I did not read a book until I was 18, so if you
have not yet started your journey on this ever widening path, it’s never too
late. In any course, there’s no substitute for reading. Theorist Jim Moffett
says that “all real writing happens from plentitude,” meaning that you can only
really write well about someone once you know about it. Reading is one way to
know—not the only, by any means! I want you to have experiences with great
texts. For these ten weeks, diving wholeheartedly into the course reading is
vital. Remember to read in a particular way. As reading expert and UCSB
professor Sheridan Blau has argued, “reading is as much a process of text
production as writing is.” Reading involves revision? Does that sound silly? As
you read, think about the different ways that you understand what you read.
Most importantly, when you read, think about the words of E.D. Hirsch, who says
that we look at what a text says (reading), what it means (interpretation), and
why it matters (criticism). Hey, but if you are in a history course, aren’t you
supposed to be reading for exactly the number of miles of trenches that were
dug in World War One, how many railroad workers died from 1890 to 1917, or what
the causes of the Great Depression were? Anyway, the answer is yes and no.
There are two types of reading that you’ll do in college. As the literary
goddess theorist Louise Rosenblatt explains, there is aesthetic reading, where
you are reading to have an experience with the text, and there is efferent
reading, where you are reading to take away information from the text. You do
both types all the time. Think about a phone book. You have probably never
heard someone say of a phone book, “don’t tell me about it, I want to read it
for myself.” Reading a phone book is purely efferent. In this course you will
practice both types of reading. I have chosen texts that you can enjoy
(aesthetic) and that you can learn from(efferent). I want to see and appreciate
the detail in our reading, but in this course I’ll give you that detail in
class lectures. In the reading, it’s much more important that you read texts
that will live with you forever and to inspire you to think more thoroughly
about your world. As you read, you should be working hard to create meaning for
yourself. As Rosenblatt asserts, “taking someone else’s interpretation as your
own is like having someone else eat your dinner for you.”
How fast should you be
reading? With our text, I expect you to move through fairly quickly. I will
model this for you in class, but basically, you should be looking for a key
piece of information from ach section. Take notes on it, but do not take such
copious notes that you slow your reading to a snail’s pace. Instead, let your
note taking help the reading go faster. Again, I will model this in class. The
text will guide our in class discussion, and you will have it with you. So be
sure you have read it for each Thursday class.
Being Prompt: Get to class on time. Why does that matter? First, it sends the
wrong message to your principal grader(that’s me). As much as we in the
humanities would like you to believe that these courses are objective (at what
time of day did the Battle of the Marne begin?), that is not entirely the case.
If you send your principal grader the message that you don’t mind missing the
first few minutes and disturbing others in the class, don’t expect to be given
the benefit of the doubt when the tests and papers roll around. Does that sound
mean? It’s not meant to, but just remember, your actions send signals. Being
late also means that someone who already has everything out and is ready and is
involved in the discussion has to stop, move everything over, get out of the
chair to let you by, pick up the pencil you drop, let you borrow paper, run to
the bathroom because you spilled the coffee, and so on. It’s rude. There’s an
old saying: better two hours early than two minutes late. Old sayings are good.
So, what are the consequences of persistent tardiness? What do
you think they should be? Remember that 10% participation? You are eligible for
that grade if you are on time. And no, I’m not the jackass who watches for you
to be late that one time and stands at the door and points in your face. If you
are late a few (that means three) times, you will lose the entire 10%
participation grade. One time tardiness is not a problem precisely because it
is not persistent. It’s an accident. But if you are late several times, you
will not be able to receive a participation grade above 50%.
The Unforgivable Curse: Speaking of one time issues, there is something that is so
severe, so awful, that if it happens one time, just one time, no warning, no
“oh hey I noticed this and if you could stop it that’d be super,” you will
automatically lose all 10 percent of the Participation grade. Any guesses?
C’mon, you must have some idea. No, it’s not your telephone ringing. If that
happens, it’ll just be slightly funny and we’ll move on. It’s a mistake and not
intentional, and the increased heart rate and extra sweat on your brow from you
diving headfirst into an overstuffed book bag to find a buried phone that is
now playing that new Cristina Aguilera ringtone is punishment enough for you.
So, what is it, this unforgivable crime? Texting. If you take out your phone
one time to send or receive messages you will automatically lose 10% of your
course grade. That means, if you receive a final grade of 85%, it will drop to
75%. If you receive a final grade of 75%, it will become a 65%. Why is that?
The phone ringing is an accident. Texting is on purpose and is rude. It, in
fact, is beyond rude. It wreaks of the worst of our current society. It
bespeaks the absolutely vile desire we all have to never separate from our
technological tether for even a moment. It sends your fellow classmates and
your teacher the signal that you have better things to do. Checking your phone
during class is like listening to a friend’s story and right in the middle
turning away and talking to someone else. Oh, and guess what, this room is
designed to give your teacher a perfect view of you with a phone beneath the
table; is that text message really worth 10% of the quarter grade? Plus, the
way our brains work, you need to fully immerse yourself, to tune your brain
into an optimal, flowing machine (see MihalyI Csikszentmihalyi’s incredible
book Flow) that can grasp and can let
itself go. Students now tend to see school as a stopover on their way to a
career. Brothers and sisters, that’s deadly! I wish that I could pay for you
all to quit your jobs and just focus on the mind. I can’t yet do that, but if I
could I would, because it’d be worth every penny. Devoting time to the mind and
to thinking deeply about your world will change who you are and how you
approach your future, your family, your job, and your everything. Is that
overstated? I believe it to be true. So, until my stock choices really take off
so that I can pay all of your bills, promise me one thing: when you are in
class or preparing for class, you have to be fully here. Oh crap, now it’s
going to sound like a hippy professor from the 1960s: “I mean, like, be here
man, just be here.” Maybe the hippies were on to something. Devote yourself
fully to your classes by unplugging from the outside world for a while.
Participation: You do not need to be the person who speaks out the most, asks
the most questions, or comes up with the most brilliant historical arguments to
receive full credit in participation. If you are in class and on time, discuss
the issues that we raise, avoid the temptation to nod off, to leave early, or
to text people during class (the three easiest ways to lose credit), and in
general act like you care, then you will receive a good participation
grade!
Just being here does not
guarantee a 100% participation grade, since you must be regularly actively
involved for that to be possible.
In fact, to get a 90%
participation grade or higher, you must attend all classes, contribute
thoughtful comments to the larger class discussion every day, participate
actively with those around you, and avoid the obvious: no sleeping, no texting,
no using this course to study for other courses, no being late.
To get an 85%, you can miss
one class and must contribute at least one comment per week to the large
class discussion, participate actively with those around you, and avoid the
obvious: no sleeping, no texting, no using this course to study for other
courses, no being late.
To get an 80%, you can miss
one class and must participate actively with those around you, and avoid the
obvious: no sleeping, no texting, no using this course to study for other
courses, no being late.
To get a 75%, you can miss
two classes and must participate actively with those around you, and avoid the
obvious: no sleeping, no texting, no using this course to study for other
courses, no being late.
Show up tardy more than once
or fail to participate in the dialogue and the participation grade will begin
to diminish quickly.
Academic Integrity
The principles of truth and integrity are recognized as
fundamental to a community of teachers and scholars. The University expects
that both faculty and students will honor these principles and in so doing will
protect the integrity of all academic work and student grades. Students are
expected to do all work assigned to them without unauthorized assistance and
without giving unauthorized assistance. Faculty have the responsibility of
exercising care in the planning and supervision of academic work so that honest
effort will be encouraged and positively reinforced. http://www.csub.edu/studentconduct/documents/academicintegrity.pdf
GRADING SCALE:
Participation:
10%
Paper:
20%
Reading Questions: 5% pass/no pass
Crash Course Responses:
5%
pass/no pass
Midterm
Examination: 30%
Final
Examination:
30%
COURSE SCHEDULE:
WEEK 1:
1/6 Tue INTRO/ANIMALITY AND THE ORIGINS OF HUMAN
CULTURE
1/8 Thu SYLLABUS SIGN IN FORM
DUE/READ CHAPTER 1 BY TODAY/
CHAPTER 1 READING AND READING QUESTION DUE
WEEK 2:
1/13 Tue FORMING THE FIRST STATE: INEQUALITY AND
ORDER
1/15 Thu CHAPTER
2 READING AND READING QUESTION DUE
WEEK 3:
1/20 Tue FROM EARLY STATES TO EARLY EMPIRES: P, G, R, AND C
1/22 Thu CHAPTER 3 READING AND
READING QUESTION DUE
WEEK 4:
1/27 Tue
GOD, GODS, AND THE HISTORY OF THE
DIVINE/ STUDY GUIDE
1/29 Thu CHAPTER 4 READING AND
READING QUESTION DUE
WEEK 5:
2/3
Tue MIDTERM EXAMINATION/hand out paper assignment
2/5 Thu CHAPTER 5 READING AND
READING QUESTION DUE
WEEK 6:
2/10 Tue
CIVILIZATION IN AFRICA AND THE AMERICAS
2/12 Thu CHAPTER 6 READING AND
READING QUESTION DUE
WEEK 7:
2/17
Tue EARLY GLOBALIZATION AND THE INEVITABILITY OF ECONOMIC EXPANSION
2/19 Thu CHAPTER 7 READING AND
READING QUESTION DUE
--OR--
CHAPTER 8 READING
AND READING QUESTION DUE
WEEK 8:
2/24
Tue THE RISE OF ISLAM/ PAPER DUE
2/26 Thu CHAPTER 9 READING AND
READING QUESTION DUE
WEEK 9:
3/3 Tue THE YEAR 1000: THE END OF THE WORLD!
3/5 Thu CHAPTER 10 READING AND
READING QUESTION DUE
WEEK 10:
3/10
Tue REVIEW FOR FINAL EXAM/
CHAPTER 11 READING AND READING QUESTION DUE
3/12 Thu MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST PORTION
FINAL
EXAM
Thursday,
Mar. 19 11-1:30pm
