History 101:  Ancient and Medieval Europe
Christopher Oldstone-Moore

Overview and Requirements

History is about the present. To know our world, we must know how it was made. Similarly, to know ourselves, we must know how we were made. The goal of this class is to help students form a "big picture" of the past, or in other words, a framework for understanding that will help them to continue learning about the past, and to better interpret the present. We will start with the three foundational cultures of Western Civilization--Hebrew, Greek and Roman--and proceed to a survey of medieval European civilization which emerged from the fusion of these three.  This class focuses on cultural history, which is to say that we will pay special attention to literary, artistic, religious and philosophical expressions of peoples in the past. Getting some sense of thoughts and feelings of people in history helps us to understand them better, and also helps us understand the political, social and economic conditions that shaped their experience. By knowing something of past cultures, we can compare them with our own, and find those things that we share--or not--with those in our past, even the ancient past.

The course is also designed to foster both analytical and expressive abilities in each student.  Students analyze texts and arguments, and are encouraged to express this analysis clearly in both written and spoken forms.

Required Books available at the Bookstore:

Jackson Spielvogel, Western Civilization, vol. A (Sixth Edition)

Special Needs

If any student has a demonstrable need for special consideration with respect to the requirements of this class they should inform the professor immediately.

Attendance

Attendance is important to learning.  Attendance is the students' responsibility. Your instructor does not need to be informed about illnesses or absences. There are no attendance points, but there are quizzes and daily work that must be submitted in class.  Each student must simply be aware of how much leeway they have with regard to class assignments, and plan to save that benefit for times when they really need it, such as illness.  If someone is absent so much that work cannot be made up in the normal way, then that student should consider dropping the course.

If there is an extraordinary situation that should be taken into account, the instructor should be notified immediately.  It cannot be assumed that anything can be done to address a crisis that occurred weeks before notification.

Class time

There is an assigned reading for every session.  Only part of class time will be taken up by lecture.  Some time will be spent discussing the questions the students prepare, and discussing musical and artistic examples. The only extra credit in this class will be awarded to those who are prepared to answer and discuss questions arising from the day's reading.

Written Assignments

Questions:  The schedule gives links to the assigned questions of the day.  The professor will randomly collect these assignments the day they are due.  Daily Questions must be typed and will not be accepted late.  Each student will be asked to turn in five assignments during the quarter.  The best four will be counted. There will be a makeup day for those without five late in the quarter.

The answers to Daily Questions will be graded 1 to 10 points depending on their thoroughness, clarity and insight.  They should be written in complete sentences in your own words.  Students who parrot the book do not indicate that they understand what they are writing, and such answers will be graded down. 

In-class:  There will be four quizzes or other in-class writing assignments worth 10 points each. The best three will count for the grade.

Essay: 300-word essay on an assigned topic.

Exams: There are study guides for the two exams on the schedule.  These include the essay questions to be used in the exam.  If you miss the first exam, it can be made up at finals time.  Missing an exam, however, is not advisable.

Grading

The course is 300 points:                                       The final grade is calculated on this scale:

Syllabus quiz             (5 bonus pts ) 90-100% (270-300 pts)   =A

Daily Questions (4)  10 pts each [40] 80-89%   (240-269 pts)   =B

In-Class (3)               10 pts each [30] 70-79%   (210-239 pts)   =C

Essay 30 pts 60-69%   (180-209 pts)   =D                            

Exams (2)                 100 pts each [200]