Professor Charles Evans
Office: LC 228
If you have questions about your course/assignments/materials, or if you want to talk history, or if it is time for student advising, my office hours for fall 2021 are: Mondays and Wednesdays in my office (LC 209 or the LC lounge) from about 1130 AM to 1230 PM and Tuesdays from about 930 AM to 130 PM in the same location.
Office Phone: 703.948.7701
Email: cevans@nvcc.edu also charles.t.evans@gmail.com
Division phone: 703.450.2505
Division fax: 703.404.7368
Review my academic credentials on my professional CV.
Most of my web-based history projects are linked on my history projects page.
My online and campus courses and some teaching resources are located on my college page.
Required Books
There are no required books for this course.
Tentative Schedule
Week 1
August 24, Tuesday, Introduction and attendance
after class: Complete the Wikipedia paper (100 points) by Friday, 27 August, at midnight.
Week 2
before class: Read my notes on pre-history. Watch my short video.
August 31, Tuesday, in class: my comments on pre-history, group presentation on prehistory
after class: Read Wikipedia and Britannica Academic on the Paleolithic period. Here are directions for how to access Britannica Academic.
Complete the pre-history paragraph, 50 points, and submit by Friday at midnight.
Week 3
before class: Read my notes on the Ancient Near East. Watch my short video.
September 7, Tuesday, in class: my comments on the Ancient Near East, group presentation on the Ancient Near East (Hammurabi and Ancient Babylon)
after class: Read Wikipedia and Britannica Academic on the history of Mesopotamia.
Complete the Hammurabi paragraph (see Canvas for information), 50 points, and submit by Friday at midnight.
Week 4
before class: Read my notes on Ancient Greece.
September 14, Tuesday, in class: my comments on Ancient Greece, group presentation on Ancient Greece (Pericles)
after class: Read Wikipedia and Britannica Academic on Pericles. Watch the Khan Academy video.
Complete the Pericles paragraph, 50 points, and submit by Friday at midnight.
Week 5
before class: Read my notes on Ancient Rome.
September 21, Tuesday, in class: my comments on Ancient Rome, group presentation on Ancient Rome
after class: Read Wikipedia and Britannica Academic on Rome. Watch my video on Ancient Rome.
Complete the Sermon paragraph, 50 points, and submit by Friday at midnight.
Week 6
before class: Read my notes on Islam.
September 28, Tuesday, in class: my comments on Islam, group presentation on Islam
after class: Read Wikipedia and Britannica Academic on Islam. Watch the very short video. I also have an older video available that I did in about 1995.
Complete the Hadith paragraph, 50 points, and submit by Friday at midnight.
Week 7
October 5, Tuesday, midterm quiz, 50 points
Week 8
October 12, Tuesday, NO CLASS
If you wish, complete the Week 8 Special extra credit #1 (not required) by Friday, 15 October, at midnight. See Canvas for more information.
Week 9
before class: Read my notes on Charlemagne.
October 19, Tuesday, in class: my comments on Charlemagne, group presentation on Charlemagne and the Vikings
after class: Read Wikipedia and Britannica Academic on Islam. Watch the short video. (I also have some longer remarks on Charlemagne from the mid 1990s that I used on the TV version of the HIS 101 course).
Complete the feudal paragraph, 50, and submit by Friday at midnight.
Week 10
before class: Read my notes on the Late Middle Ages.
October 26, Tuesday, in class: my comments on the Late Middle Ages, group presentation on the Late Middle Ages and the Black Death
after class: Read Wikipedia and Britannica Academic on the Late Middle Ages and the Magna Carta. Watch the short video on King John and the Magna Carta.
Complete the Magna Carta paragraph, 50 points, and submit by Friday at midnight.
Week 11
November 2 NO CLASS
If you wish, complete the Week 11 Special extra credit #2 (not required) by Friday, 5 November, at midnight. See Canvas for more information.
Week 12
before class: Read my notes on the Protestant Reformation.
November 9, Tuesday, in class: my comments on the Protestant Reformation, group presentation on the Protestant Reformation
after class: Read Wikipedia and Britannica Academic on the Reformation. Watch my short video.
Complete the Reformation paragraph assignment (See Canvas for information), 50 points, and submit by Friday at midnight.
Week 13
before class: Read my notes on the Renaissance.
November 16, Tuesday, in class: my comments on the Renaissance, group presentation on the Renaissance
after class: Read Wikipedia and Britannica Academic on the Renaissance. Watch the short video.
Complete the Medici paragraph, 50 points, and submit by Friday at midnight.
Week 14
before class: Read my notes on the Age of Exploration.
November 23, Tuesday, in class: my comments on the Age of Exploration, group presentation on the Age of Exploration
after class: Read Wikipedia and Britannica Academic on the Age of Discovery. Watch my video on exploring the jungles of Reston.
Complete the Columbus paragraph (See Canvas for information), 50 points, and submit by Friday at midnight.
Week 15
November 30, Tuesday, in class: digital project presentations
Complete the digital project, 150 points, and submit by Friday at midnight.
Week 16
before the quiz: Complete the Reflective paragraph by 6 December at midnight. (25 points)
December 7, 8 AM, Tuesday, final quiz, 50 points
Course grading
Course grades are based on the following point scale:
- 1,000-900: A
- 899-800: B
- 799-700: C
- 699-600: D
- 599-000: F
Required Assignments
Wikipedia paper = 100 points
Digital project = 150 points
Paragraph assignments, 10 @ 50 = 500 points (These can be done in a group.)
Midterm and Final Quizzes, 2 @ 50 = 100 points
Group presentation = 100 points
Reflective paragraph = 25 points
Surprise quiz = 25 points
There are two special, extra-credit, optional assignments in the course, each worth 50 points.
There is some extra credit available generally every Friday in the course. You can find more detail in Canvas.
Course Grading Requirements
IMPORTANT: To earn a grade of A, B, C or D, you
- must complete all course assignments
- earn the required number of points for an A, B, C, or D in the course.
Extra Credit Opportunities
- There are extra credit options available in the course: (1) You may submit one item of extra credit in each week of the course; (2) you may not submit extra credit work once a week has been completed
- You can also earn extra credit at any time by (a) finding a typo, spelling error or broken link (if possible find a replacement link) or (b) finding any website or web materials that are relevant to this course. Please email that information (and the URL of the relevant course page) directly to your instructor.
Assignment Drafts and Rewrites/Resubmits
- You are encouraged to email a draft of an assignment to your instructor for informal feedback before you submit your assignment for grading. Please email well in advance of the assignment deadline. This does not apply to extra credit work.
- You may choose to resubmit an assignment after taking note of instructor feedback.
Late Work
- There are specific assignment deadlines in this course, and these are listed on the course schedule. You may submit any of the course required assignments late, but the maximum point value will then be reduced by one-half.
- You may not take a required quiz late.
General course purpose
Surveys the general history of the Western world from about 3000 BCE to 1600 CE and allows students to reach a basic understanding of the characteristic features of the Western world's early historical development in that span of time. Students will learn about some of the important political, economic, social, intellectual, cultural and religious changes that shaped the development of the West from earliest times.
Course objectives
Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:
- Establish a chronology of historical events in the Western world before 1600 CE.
- Explain the changing geopolitical structures of the Western world up until 1600 CE.
- Define the importance of key individuals and developments in Western civilization before 1600 CE.
- Identify the social, economic and political forces at work in the evolution of early and medieval Western history.
- Recognize and describe the significance of some of the cultural achievements of ancient and medieval Western civilization.
- Analyze complex historical sources and materials and reach conclusions based on interpretations of those materials.
Course prerequisites
Although there are no formal prerequisites for this course, please consider:
- It is expected that students possess college-level reading, writing and technology skills.
- I would recommend that you allot at least three hours a week of study time for this course.
Technology
NOVA is committed to preparing students for today’s workforce and recognizes computers to be an extension of the learning tools needed to be globally competitive. To attend NOVA, students are expected to have a laptop (or a desktop with webcam and microphone) that meets the minimum requirements for their major and Internet access at home or through a mobile device hot spot.
Here is information on using financial aid for the college's laptop purchase information.
Using Zoom
Here are some instructions for using zoom: Zoom Instructions for Students.