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CONTENTS
| Course Description | Texts | Grading | Attendance Policy |
| Late Policy | Other Remarks | Class Schedule |
In this course, students will study significant aspects of Europe’s political, social, and cultural history from the end of the Middle Ages to the French Revolution. The main goal of the course will be to examine the social and cultural transformations that ushered in modern Europe.
Course Goals
In this course, students should come to understand the key changes that laid the groundwork for the modern era, including:
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the fragmentation and dissolution of the medieval Catholic Church,
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the growth of the monarchic state,
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the establishment of a new, scientific world view,
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the development of new secular areas of life,
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the expansion of economic markets and the concomitant transformation of social relationships, and
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the proliferation of "civilized" behaviors in the upper levels of society.
All these transformation played some role in bringing about the most important event of modern times, the French Revolution, which serves as a culmination of this course. All student will hopefully have some understanding by the end of the course concerning the origins of the French Revolution, the key characteristics and players associated with each stage of the revolution, and the lasting impact of the Revolution for Europe.
To meet the goals of the course, students will take three exams which will test their knowledge of a) key ideas, movements, and historical figures associated with the early modern era; b) important events and trends that helped to give shape to Europe between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries; and c) the cause & effect relationships that help to explain the flow of events from the Renaissance to the French Revolution. Students will also write one short paper, in which they prove that they have read and grappled with one book dealing with a single dimension of the early modern period.
Courses Relationship to Department Goals
This course helps the history department reach its goals by covering the following dimensions of history widely perceived as crucial for a well-rounded view of the world:
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political developments;
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significant intellectual movements and debates;
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socio-cultural issues of class
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and gender.
Students will also gain some exposure to how history is practiced by
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examining primary sources.
Technology Skills
Students will need some basic knowledge of web browsers in order to be able to find and utilize material on the on-line version of this syllabus. They will also need some basic working knowledge of using a computer word-processor in order to write the short paper in this class.
Instructional Format
This course will be largely a lecture-based course, with some time set aside for discussion of the text material.
TEXTS
- Judith Coffin and Robert Stacey, Western Civilizations, 15th
Edition, Volume 2 (1400-Present), (W. W. Norton, 2002) ISBN:0393925374.
- James Bruce Ross, ed. The Portable Renaissance Reader (Penguin, 1977), ISBN: 0140150617
- Felix Markham, Napoleon (Mentor, 1963), ISBN: 9780451627988.
- Linda Colley, Britons: Forging the Nation, 2nd edition (Yale, 2005), ISBN: 9780300107593
- On-Line Packet. All the readings can be accessed separately by clicking on the hot text in the assignment column of the schedule below. Or, if you prefer, you can access all the readings by going to the Library's web page for this class.
The
readings listed under each day should be done before the assigned day.
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Attendance
and Participation: |
5% |
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Quizzes: |
5% |
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2
Tests: |
20%
each |
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5-page
essay: |
20% |
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Final
exam: |
30% |
Students
are permitted one unexcused absence.
Additional absences will lead to a lower participation grade which can hurt the final grade. Too
many absences may also lead to an attendance warning and forced withdrawal from
the class.
Excused
absences are those due to approved college-related activities (e.g. sporting
events), documented illness, and family emergencies. Students have the responsibility to make up missed work.
Students
with a doctor’s excuse (or another suitable excuse) can make up the exam up to
a week after the exam date. The paper is due at the beginning of class the
day for which it is assigned.
All cell phones must be turned off at the beginning of class. Do not, of course, take phone calls during class. Please be on time. If you must arrive late or leave early, do so as quietly and unobtrusively as possible. Finally, all work must be yours. Plagiarism and cheating will be punished with an F for the assignment.
Students are permitted to use laptops in class, and many have felt it useful for note-taking. However, I ask that you refrain from using the computer for purposes besides note taking (checking emails, surfing the web, etc.). I consider this extremely rude, and trust me I can tell the difference.
Of course, all work must be yours. Plagiarism and cheating will be punished with an F for the assignment. Plagiarism, we should note, is defined in the following way according to Wofford College's Faculty Handbook (VII-6):
(1) the verbatim repetition, without acknowledgement, of the writings of another author.
(2) Borrowing without acknowledging the source.
(3) Paraphrasing the thoughts of another writer without acknowledgement.
(4) Allowing any other person or organization to prepare work which one then submits as his or her own.
You should pay close attention to the third definition, especially when referring to ideas borrowing from a website.
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1400s & 1500s: Eroding the Authority Structured of the Medieval World |
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| Week 1 | Class | Assignment |
| Feb 4 | Introduction | |
| Feb 5 | The Disasters of the Fourteenth Century | Find Website
Read Living by Wofford's Honor Code |
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Week 2 |
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| Feb 10 | The Renaissance, part 1 | Ross 91-108, 131-135, 387-92, 476-492 |
| Feb 12 |
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Ross 140-5
WC Ch. 12 |
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Week 3 |
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| Feb 17 | Exploration and Empire |
Ch. 11
Ross 146-161 |
| Feb 19 |
Handout: Catholic vs. Reformation Beliefs Map Quiz |
WC Ch. 13
Ross 717-729
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Week 4 |
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| Feb 24 | The Era of Religious War | WC Ch. 14 |
| Feb 26 |
Ross 165-181, 185-207
Start reading Linda Colley's Britons (preface - Ch. 5 only). |
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Week 5 |
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| Mar 3 | Test #1 |
Study for test
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| Mar 5 | No Class | |
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The 1600s: New Authority Structures for the Modern World |
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Week 6 |
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| Mar 10 |
Society
in Early Modern
Europe
Handout: The Rules of Civilization |
Ross 328-354
Selections from Norbert Elias, The History of Manners |
| Mar 12 |
The Rise of the Royal State
Quiz on readings |
Ross 263-267, 284-293 Selection from Bossuet's Politics Derived from the Words of Holy Scripture |
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Week 7 |
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| Mar 17 | Discuss First Test | |
| Mar 19 |
Examples of
Building Absolutism Handout: Rulers of Early Modern Europe
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WC Ch. 15 |
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Week 8 |
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| Mar 24 | The English Revolution | |
| Mar 26 |
Discuss Linda Colley's Britons Quiz on reading |
Finish assigned reading in Colley |
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Week 9 |
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| Mar 31 | Spring break | Start reading Markham's Napoleon |
| Apr 2 | Spring break | |
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Week 10 |
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| Apr 7 | The Scientific Revolution | WC Ch. 16 |
| Apr 9 |
Test #2 |
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The 1700s: Enlightenment and Revolution |
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Week 11 |
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| Apr 14 | The Enlightenment, part 1 Quiz on Enlightenment Readings |
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| Apr 16 | The Enlightenment, part 2 | WC Ch. 17 |
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Week 12 |
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| Apr 21 | The Coming of
the French Revolution
recommended websites (for pictures and information relevant to the Revolution): the Palais Royal; the Hotel de Ville (city hall); the Invalides (Paris barracks and residence for disabled veterans); the Bastille; the revolutionary cockade (red, white, and blue pin worn on hat showing allegiance to Revolution) |
WC Ch. 18
WC Study Guide: Ch. 18 & Scurr
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| Apr 23 | The French Revolution, part 1 recommended websites: Tuileries Palace; The Menege Hall of the Tuileries Palace (Hall of the National Assembly) |
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Week 13 |
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| Apr 28 | The French Revolution, part 2 | |
| Apr 30 | Discuss Markham Quiz on Markham |
Read Markham |
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Week 14 |
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| May 5 | Discuss Markham |
Finish Markham, if necessary. |
| May 7 | The Legacy of the French Revolution |
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| Final Exam |
Final Exam: |
Study for exam |
Note:
This syllabus is tentative and subject to change upon notice.