These agreements were arrived at after long
discussion by the original faculty involved in the core curriculum
project funded by NEH and have been up-dated periodically. This
outline describes the core courses as envisioned collectively
by the creators of the courses, and these features have constituted
the basis of discussion in all official actions and approvals
by the Senate and administration. That is to say, the Covenant
is binding on all of us who teach the course.
A. Course Objectives
1. To develop students' abilities to recognize and to analyze problems; to synthesize diverse kinds of information, to ask questions and to think critically;
2. To provide coherent intellectual frameworks for subsequent learning;
3. To introduce students to basic methodologies in the scholarly disciplines;
4. To provide students a common body of basic knowledge concerning the major world civilizations;
5. To encourage students to develop a broad international perspective as a background for understanding the contemporary world, including issues of American diversity;
6. To enhance students' awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the great art, thoughts, and achievements of human beings throughout history;
7. To develop studentsí writing skills and ability to express their ideas clearly and cogently;
8. To teach basic information retrieval and library research skills;
9. To encourage students to use campus
cultural events as learning resources.[The Cultural
Assignment, mandatory in 111 and optional in 110, has emerged
from this objective; see B-6. below].
B. Course Guidelines: All sections of World Civilizations 110-111 must:
1. be global and comparative in approach.
2. be divided at 1500; and, in each course, treat the civilizations and subtopics appropriate to each, as specified below.
3. be interdisciplinary in content, giving attention in each major civilization to its material base (geography, economy, subsistence system); its social system (kinship, gender, class, politics); its ideological system (religion, science, philosophy); creative arts (literature, music, visual arts, architecture); and its continuity and stability/change over time.
4. be interdisciplinary in methodology, drawing upon the structures of the several disciplines in the humanities and social sciences to introduce frames of reference; to analyze questions/problems; to identify theories, generalizations, concepts; to synthesize and interpret facts.
5. be linked through common readings (e. g., textbooks, collections of readings).
6. have a graded library assignment [mandatory
in 110] and exams that contain an essay component. Gen Ed 111
must have a cultural events assignment.
Note: The course should begin with a unit
on the background and origins of civilization, with attention
to geography and world cultures before civilizations arose.
Civilizations
Subtopics
Earliest Civilizations
1. Mesopotamia
2. Egypt
3. Indus
4. Yellow River
South Asia (India)
1. Hinduism/Buddhism
2. Muslim incursion
East Asia (China and Japan)
1. Confucianism and Taoism
2. Buddhism
3. Heian Japan
Europe
1. Homeric Age
2. Classical Greece
3. Hellenistic Greece
4. Rome: Republic and Empire
5. Medieval Europe
6. Italian Renaissance
Middle East and Africa
1. Development of Judaism
2. Development of Christianity
3. Rise of Islam
4. Spread of Islam
Americas
Pre-Columbian Cultures
South Asia (India)
1. Mughal
2. British
3. Independence
East Asia (China and Japan)
1. Manchu China
2. Tokugawa Japan
*3. Opening to the West
4. Nationalism and Socialism
Europe
1. Northern Renaissance and Reformation
2. Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment *3. Maritime Expansion and Exploration
4. Absolutism and Revolution
5. Romanticism and Nationalism
*6. Industrialism and Socialism
*7. World War I & II
Middle East and North Africa
1. Ottoman Empire
2. Imperialism and Nationalism
Sub-Saharan Africa
1. Pre-Colonial and Slave Trade
2. Colonialism
3. Nationalism
Americas
1. Discovery and Settlement
2. Appropriate ties to related European
topics (e.g., revolution, nationalism)
Note: The course should end with several
class sessions devoted to contemporary issues (e.g., environment,
science and values, mass culture, arms race).
* These topics have global and international
dimensions.
Back to index