General Education 111

World Civilization Since 1500

Tuesday and Thursday, 1.25 pm

Web page: http://www.wsu.edu/~appleton/gened111

Instructor: Professor Andrew Appleton

Office: Johnson Tower 815

Tel: 335-4025

Email: appleton@wsu.edu

Office Hours : W, 10-12 pm,

I. Rationale:

The General Education Program at Washington State University is designed to allow students to develop a broad, integrative base of knowledge. The modern university has been increasingly specialized in terms of academic disciplines, and the purpose of the integrative base is to complement and support disciplinary competence. Specifically, the program is intended to impart four core aspects of intellectual development; individual enhancement, community citizenship (‘knowledge for life’), a foundation for the major, and methodological competence. These objectives are reflected both in the content of the course – a broad-based, multi-disciplinary overview of human history and interactions from 1500 CE – and the pedagogy of the course. The latter will be highly participative, encouraging classroom dialogue and interaction, and structured around building critical thinking skills.

II. Course Aims:

The course aims to accomplish three specific objectives. First, students who successfully complete the course will have a superior knowledge of the development and interaction of human civilizations across all continents since 1500 CE. No particular civilization and no particular geographical region will receive precedence over others, and the successful student will be able to (a) identify the contributions that civilizations have made to the advance of human knowledge and progress, (b) locate the critical junctures at which these civilizations come into contact and often conflict, and (c) distinguish between the impact of specific individuals and whole communities. Second, the successful student will have learned to identify and use ‘critical thinking’ skills in approaching the evaluation and use of academic material. The course will incorporate a heavy writing component that will draw upon these skills, and allow students to practice this methodology. Third, the course will facilitate inter-cultural understanding and awareness; successful students will be able to identify properties unique to different civilizations – including ideas, values, and achievements – and place them in a comparative perspective.

III. Format and Procedures:

The course will integrate classroom discussions and lectures. For each piece of material assigned, there will be at least one lecture session in which the instructor or teaching assistant leads the session in a more formal manner. The mode of delivery will be primarily lecture-oriented, using a structured outline. The material covered may depart from that assigned in the text, and will be incorporated into examinations (see below). Students will be expected to take notes. The instructor’s class notes will not be made available to students, although the powerpoint outlines will be available on the class web site in advance. There will also be a number (six) of structured focus sessions. Students will be asked to respond to a question posed in writing in advance by the instructor; these responses will be in the form of a short essay no longer than three pages (single-spaced). Students will bring their essays into class, and will discuss them in a group environment for the first 20 minutes. Groups will then be asked to report to the class as a whole, and a general discussion will ensue. For each session, group leaders will be assigned whose responsibility it is to synthesize the various contributions of group members and make the group report. Students will be assigned to these discussion groups in the second week of the semester (Tuesday, January 17th).

The attendance policy is straightforward. Group discussion sessions are mandatory, and any absence needs to be cleared in advance. Attendance will be taken. In case of emergency, students should notify Student Services who will make the necessary accommodations. The lectures are an important and integral part of the course, although attendance will not be formally taken. However, material in these sessions will be included on the examinations and students are individually responsible for knowing the material. From time to time, important announcements will be made, and students are expected to know about these; absence will not be considered an excuse for lack of knowledge. In the case of an unexpected absence, students should (a) notify in writing, the teaching assistant for the course and (b) make sure that they are aware of what has taken place in class. Be aware that there is a high correlation between class attendance and grades.

IV. Assignments:

There is one text for the course that has been ordered and which is available in the bookstore:

Bentley, J. and Ziegler, H. Traditions and Encounters: A Global Perspective Volume 2: From 1500 to the Present. (3^rd edition)

The course is graded according to the following scheme:

Assignment	Date	Points
Examination One	February 14th	100
Examination Two	March 28th	100
Final Examination		100
Student Coursebook	(see syllabus)	100
Attendance + Prep.		100
Total		500

Examinations will all be in written format (not multiple choice). Each of the examination will be cumulative, focusing upon one section of the text. Questions and format will be discussed in the lecture sessions in advance, and a review sheet will be given out to help study and preparation. Examinations will be graded by the teaching assistant, and reviewed by the course instructor. Our goal will be to return examinations in a timely fashion, but students should not expect grades to be assigned in less than one week from the day of the examination.

The coursebook will consist of all six of the mini essays that students are required to write for the discussion sessions (see course schedule below for dates). The discussion sessions require additional reading or preparation, and this is listed on the syllabus. The essays will be handed in at the end of each discussion, and will be graded. The essays must be typed. Essays not submitted at the end of each discussion (late) will be marked down in the coursebook. Questions will be available on the class web page (http://www.wsu.edu/~appleton/gened111), and it is recommended that students download and use these forms. Students are required to hand in two copies of the essay; one will be handed back, graded, and the other kept by the teaching assistant. 

Points for attendance will be distributed according to the following scheme:

Discussion Sessions Completed Correctly*	Points
6	100
5	50
4	None
3	F for the course

*Completion includes attending the discussion session, being adequately prepared, and handing the essay in at the end of the class. Non-participation in group discussion (reading the newspaper, goofing around, etc.) will be considered a failure to conform to these requirements.

V. Other

All accommodations will be made for recognized disabilities in accordance with the university policies. These may be obtained through Student Services (www.wsu.edu/drc).

Student conduct: students are expected to behave in a respectful and collegial manner. This includes respect for fellow students, the teaching assistant, the course instructor, and any university staff associated with the administration of the course. Disrespectful and demeaning conduct will not be tolerated. It is to be expected that there will be honest intellectual and academic disagreements between members of the university community; however, these should be expressed in the appropriate manner, and alternative points of view should be considered with courtesy. Any violation of this will result in students being (a) asked to leave the classroom, or (b) being forced to withdraw from the course, or (c) reported to Student Affairs or (d) a combination of the above.

Plagiarism and academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Students will be asked to sign an ‘honor pledge’ at the beginning of the semester, which will be kept as part of the coursebook.

VI. Course Schedule:

No.	Date	Topic	Reading Assignment
Week One
1	Tue, Jan 10	Introduction	No reading
2	Th, Jan 12	No Class
Week Two
3	Tue, Jan 17	Encounters and Connections	Chapter 23
4	Thur, Jan 19	The Transformation of Europe	Chapter 24
Week Three
5	Tue, Jan 24	New Worlds	Chapter 25
6	Th, Jan 26	Focus: Capitalism and global trade	Awnsham Churchill's 1704 "A collection of voyages and travels..."
Week Four
7	Tue, Jan 31	Africa and the Atlantic	Chapter 26
8	Th, Feb 2	Tradition and Change in East Asia	Chapter 27
Week Five
9	Tue, Feb 7	The Islamic Empires	Chapter 28
10	Th, Feb 9	Focus: The Slave Trade	Listen to the “Justice Talking” debate on NPR: Real Audio Media File
Week Six
11	Tue, Feb 14	Midterm Examination 1
12	Th, Feb 16	Revolutions and National States	Chapter 29
Week Seven
13	Tue, Feb 21	The Making of Industrial Society	Chapter 30
14	Th, Feb 23	American Independence	Chapter 31
Week Eight
15	Tue, Feb 28	Film: The Industrial Revolution
16	Th, Mar 2	Focus: The Birth of Modern Nationalism	Listen to selected national anthems
Week Nine
17	Tue, Mar 7	Societies at Crossroads	Chapter 32
18	Th, Mar 9	Global Empires	Chapter 33
Week Ten
	Tue, Mar 14	Spring Break No Classes
	Th, Mar 16
Week Eleven
19	Tue, Mar 21	Focus: The Luddites	Read: Kirkpatrick Sale, article from The Nation
20	Th, Mar 23
Week Twelve
21	Tue, Mar 28	Midterm Examination 2
22	Th, Mar 30
Week Thirteen
23	Tue, Apr 4
24	Th, Apr 6
Week Fourteen
25	Tue, Apr 11	The Great War	Chapter 34
26	Th, Apr 13	An Age of Anxiety Nationalism and Political Identities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America	Chapter 36 Chapter 35
Week Fifteen
27	Tue, Apr 18	Focus: Modernism and Fascism	De Chirico, "The Disturbing Muses" (1919)
28	Th, Apr 20	New Conflagrations The Retreat from Empire	Chapter 37 Chapter 39
Week Sixteen
29	Tue, Apr 25	Globalization	Chapter 40
30	Th, Apr 27	Review session