(week 1) 15 January, Tuesday: Course Introduction
What we will probably do in class
- Detailed review of the course. Please note that some of the links on this syllabus are to the materials and assignments in my online courses.
- Take attendance and answer any questions.
- Reflect on "history."
What you need to do immediately after class:
- Purchase your book and familiarize yourself with the textbook.
- Look over the entire course syllabus.
- Post an informal hello in the course discussion forum (2.5 points extra credit).
- Please check the course writing resources available in Charlie's History Writing Center for more information.
- Watch my short video, You and Your Textbook.
- Watch my short video from 1995 on studying the history of civilizations.
(week 2) 22 January, Tuesday: Seventeenth-Century Europe and Louis XIV
What to do before class
- Read chapters 14 and 15 in Coffin/Stacey.
- Read my very short notes on Seventeenth-Century Europe and my remarks on Louis XIV.
- Review the information about the Chateau de Versailles, Roberto Rossellini and neorealism.
- Check the requirements for Class Presentations.
- Check the principles of Successful Group Work, aka, simply stay in touch and do your assigned part of the work.
What we will do in class
- A student will review the previous class.
- Answer questions from students (extra credit).
- Watch excerpt from La prise du pouvoir.
- Answer the questions about the film clip (in class extra credit group project worth 10 points).
- Explain the course group work assignment.
- Explain the class presentations.
- Sign up for a required class presentation.
What you need to do after class
- Watch my short video on the seventeenth century.
Submit by Sunday (27 January) at midnight
- The seventeenth-century paragraph (50 points)
What you can submit for extra credit by Sunday (27 January) at midnight. Please remember that you cannot submit extra credit on the same calendar day that you submit the 17th century paragraph assignment.
- 10 points, read the English Bill of Rights and write a paragraph in which you answer, Was the English Bill of Rights a democratic document? Note the earlier important political document in England was the Petition of Right (1628). Please cite quoted evidence.
(week 3) 29 January, Tuesday: The Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment and the French Revolution
11 September is the last day to drop with a tuition refund or change to audit.
What to do before class:
- Read chapters 16, 17 and 18 in Coffin/Stacey.
- Watch my short video on the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment.
- Check the short course notes on the Scientific Revolution. I also have notes on Voltaire and his ideas about religion.
What we will do in class:
- A student will review the previous class.
- Answer questions from students (extra credit).
- Student presentations on the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment
What you need to do after class:
- Read my notes on the French Revolution and Napoleon.
- Watch this video on the French Revolution and this one on Napoleon.
What you can submit for extra credit by Sunday (3 February) at midnight.
- 50 points, read Voltaire, Candide and write a one-page paper: What did Voltaire mean, in terms of the European Enlightenment, when he wrote "let us cultivate our garden" at the end of Candide? Please cite quoted evidence from Candide.
- 10 points, submit the American Declaration paragraph.
- 10 points, read the Declaration of the Rights of Man and submit the French paragraph.
(week 4) 5 February, Tuesday: The Industrial Revolution
What to do before class:
- Read chapter 19 in Coffin/Stacey.
- Read my notes on Industrialization.
- Watch my short video on the Industrial Revolution.
What we will do in class:
- A student will review the previous class.
- Answer questions from students (extra credit).
- Student presentations on the Industrial Revolution
What you need to do after class
- Watch Coal, Steam, and The Industrial Revolution: Crash Course World and John Merriman, Industrial Revolutions.
- Rebecca Tucker has a short timeline on non-Western inventions that were a part of the Industrial Revolution.
What you can submit for extra credit by Sunday (10 February) at midnight
- 10 points, read the excerpt from Friedrich Engels on Industrial Manchester in 1844 and submit the Industry paragraph.
- 10 points, read the selections of Women Miners in the English Coal Pits (1842) and write a long paragraph in which you comment upon the costs of the Industrial Revolution.
(week 5) 12 February, Tuesday: Russia's Romantic Revolt
What to do before class:
- Read chapter 20 in Coffin/Stacey.
- Read my remarks on Tsar Alexander I and the Decembrists (Decembrist painting).
- Watch my short video on the Decembrist Revolt.
- Have a look at some examples of Romantic poems.
What we will do in class:
- A student will review the previous class.
- Answer questions from students (extra credit).
- Student presentations on Romanticism and Russia
What you need to do after class
- Coleridge video and text (You can also check out Iron Maiden's version if you can find it on YouTube; here's a version with lyrics)
- See the videos dealing with the Decembrists in the HIS 241 course.
What you can submit for extra credit by Sunday (17 February) at midnight
- 50 points, read Mary Shelley, Frankenstein and write a one-page paper in which you explain how the book describes key features of the Romantic movement? Please cite quoted evidence from Frankenstein.
- 10 points, consider doing the Decembrists paragraph.
(week 6) 19 February, Tuesday: Socialism
What to do before class:
- Review chapter 20 in the textbook, especially the section "Taking Sides: New Ideologies in Politics."
- Read my notes on Marxism.
What we will do in class:
- A student will review the previous class.
- Answer questions from students (extra credit).
- Student presentations on Socialism
What you need to do after class
- Watch John Merriman - Yale, Radicals or Capitalism and Socialism: Crash Course World History #33
- Watch Karl Marx - BBC Radio 4 In Our Time's Greatest Philosopher (Part 1 of 5) and Marx and Engels Part I
What you can submit for extra credit by Sunday (24 February) at midnight
- 25 points, in a one-page paper, compare and contrast the ideas of Marx with those of Charles Fourier (1772-1837), Theory of Social Organization, and Louis Blanc (1811-1882), The Organization of Labour.
- 10 points, read a smidgen of Prince Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921), Anarchism: Its Philosophy and Ideal, and comment on his conception of anarchism in a paragraph.
(week 7) 26 February, Tuesday: Nationalism
What to do before class:
- Read chapter 21 in Coffin/Stacey.
- Read my notes on Nationalism, Garibaldi and the Risorgimento, Bismarck and German unification and Mazzini and the Risorgimento.
What we will do in class:
- A student will review the previous class.
- Answer questions from students (extra credit).
- Student presentations on the national revolts
What you need to do after class
- Watch The Wars of German Unification, 1864-1871 - Professor Richard J Evans, John Merriman, Nationalism and Lynn Hunt, Nationalism and Nation States.
What you can submit for extra credit by Sunday (3 March) at midnight
- 25 points, in a one-page paper compare and contrast German and Italian unification process. Please cite your sources.
- 10 points, consider doing the Nationalism paragraph.
- 10 points, explain the historical significance of Giuseppe Garibaldi in a long paragraph. Why is there no movie about him yet?
(week 8) 5 March, Tuesday: Imperialism
What to do before class:
- Read chapter 22 in Coffin/Stacey.
- Read my notes on Imperialism.
- Watch my short video on the age of imperialism.
What we will do in class:
- A student will review the previous class.
- Answer questions from students (extra credit).
- Student presentations on imperialism.
What you need to do after class
- Watch my video from 1995 on imperialism.
- This was also the age of Impressionism. See the trip to the Art Institute of Chicago by two of my former students.
- Amroté Getu has created an excellent website (as her digital project) on the Opium Wars between Great Britain and China. To say the least, these wars are not one of the better pages of British history.
- Watch BBC: The Boer War - Part 1 and Lynn Hunt – UCLA, Imperialism and Mass Politics.
What you can submit for extra credit by Sunday (10 March) at midnight
- 25 points, review these sources (The Earl of Cromer, Why Britain Acquired Egypt in 1882 (1908); Wilfred Scawen Blunt: Britain's Imperial Destiny (1896-1899); Anthony Trollope: The Diamond Fields of South Africa (1870) and write a short paper examining the colonial experience. Please be sure to include quoted material.
- 25 points, watch Breaker Morant and write a one-page paper assessing the historical accuracy of the movie.
- 10 points, read Captain F. D. Lugard, The Rise of Our East African Empire (1893) and write a long paragraph explaining the rationale for the British empire in Africa.
- 10 points, read Simón de Bolívar (1783-1830): Message to the Congress of Angostura (1819) and write a paragraph in which you examine Bolivar's rationale for his resistance and his political ideas.
(week 9) 12 March, Tuesday: NO CLASS
(week 10) 19 March, Tuesday: The Great War
What to do before class:
- Read chapters 23 and 24 in Coffin/Stacey.
- Read my remarks on the Great War and also on Russia and World War I.
What we will do in class:
- A student will review the previous class.
- Answer questions from students (extra credit).
- Watch All Quiet on the Western Front.
What you need to do after class
- Watch my short video on the Great War.
- Read some Last Letters by French Soldiers before they died on the battlefield.
- Have a look at the online exhibit on The Machine Guns of World War I, created by Peter Neville (fall 2017).
- After the war, as empires broke up, several new countries took form. See the website by Martina Havrlanta (spring 2016) on The Formation of Czechoslovakia.
- Keegan Hughes-Segroves created a nice map tour of the Meuse-Argonne offensive.
Submit by Sunday (28 October) at midnight
- Read either Georges Boucheron, L'Assaut: l'Argonne et Vauquois avec la 10e division, 1914-1915, or Julius Mazé, ed., Le carnet de campagne du sergent Lefèvre, 1914-1916. Submit the World War I paper (100 points).
What you can submit for extra credit by Sunday (24 March) at midnight. Please remember that you cannot submit extra credit on the same calendar day that you submit the World War I paper assignment.
- 25 points, explain the impact of World War I in a one-page paper. Please be sure to cite your sources.
- 10 points, read the "Willy-Nicky" Telegrams, exchanged between tsar and kaiser, 29 July - 1 August, 1914 and write a long paragraph in which you assess these rulers' grasp on reality.
(week 11) 26 March, Tuesday: The Russian Revolutions
31 October, Last day to withdraw without grade penalty
What to do before class:
- Review chapter 24, especially the section on the Russian Revolution, and read chapter 25, especially the section "The Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin."
- Read my remarks on the Russian Revolutions of 1917, then the period of NEP in the 1920s followed by Stalin's revolution in the 1930s.
- Watch my short video on the Russian Revolution.
What we will do in class:
- A student will review the previous class.
- Answer questions from students (extra credit).
- Student presentations on World War I and the Russian Revolutions
What you need to do after class
- Watch the "Storming of the Winter Palace" video clip (best to watch the last fifteen minutes) from the movie Oktiabr
- You can also read the account of Bolshevik activities in Siberia during the Civil war that was published by John Embry. On one hand, the account is a good example of the hysterical publicity that the Bolsheviks generated in the United States and Western Europe. On the other hand, the account is a good indication of the savagery with which the Russian civil war was waged.
- Watch either World War I: Russian Revolution ¼ or Russian Revolution Videos on history.com.
What you can submit for extra credit by Sunday (31 March) at midnight
- 25 points, write a one-page paper in which you present a comparison of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the Russian Declaration of the Rights of the Russian People. Please cite quoted evidence.
- 10 points, read a newspaper account of the Kishinev pogrom and write a paragraph explaining the impact of the pogrom on Kishinev.
- 10 points, read Order Number 1 issued by the Petrograd Soviet on 1/14 March 1917 and assess its historical importance in a long paragraph. Note that there was also an Order Number 2 (*.PDF) issued to clear up any misunderstanding of the intent of Order Number 1.
(week 12) 2 April, Tuesday: Fascism and National Socialism
What to do before class:
- Read chapter 25 in Coffin/Stacey.
- Read my notes on Fascism and National Socialism.
- Watch Charlie Chaplin as the Great Dictator (his speech in the last four minutes)--the movie is a satire of Hitler's Germany.
What we will do in class:
- A student will review the previous class.
- Answer questions from students (extra credit).
- Watch the excerpt from Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will).
- Answer the questions about the film clip (in class extra credit group project worth 10 points).
- Student presentations on Fascism, Nationalist Socialism and World War II.
What you need to do after class
- Watch these three videos:
- A Historical Adolf Hitler Speech (with English subtitles) Professor Campion notes: "The subtitles on this version are OK, though some of the translation could be better. Still, the film is excellent for illustrating Hitler's speaking style and importance of oratory to the rise of totalitarian leaders." [Video removed by YouTube.]
- Italy under Fascism
- World War II: Crash Course World History #38
What you can submit for extra credit by Sunday (7 April) at midnight
- 25 points, write a one-page paper (maybe two pages if they are exceptional) that provides a detailed comparison of Hitler's ideas on national socialism and Benito Mussolini's What Is Fascism? Please cite quoted evidence.
- 25 points, read Neville Chamberlain's Peace For Our Time speech (30 September, 1938; transcription) and then his comments on the agreement in the House of Commons and write a one-page paper examining Chamberlain's intent and rationale for the Munich agreements.
- 10 points, consider doing the Hitler paragraph.
(week 13) 9 April, Tuesday: World War II
What to do before class:
- Read chapter 26 in Coffin/Stacey.
- Read my remarks on Russia and World War II and my very short notes on the Second World War.
- Watch my short video on World War 2.
- The Source List and Detailed Death Tolls for the Man-made Megadeaths of the Twentieth Century by Matthew White is an extremely interesting site that deals not just with the major wars but also famines, etc.
What we will do in class:
- A student will review the previous class.
- Answer questions from students (extra credit).
- Group work on the genocide project
What you need to do after class
- Watch Why We Remember the Holocaust and Witnesses to the Holocaust: Liberation 1945 (Both from the (US Holocaust Museum).
- Have a look at the online presentation on the Holocaust in Poland (collaboration between myself and Professor Andrew Wise).
- Read the short paper by Bryan Grasser on Bletchley Park, Great Britain's secret code-breaking operation during World War II (*.PDF file). Bryan wrote the paper as a special project vacation option when he was enrolled in HIS 102.
- Miyoko Spratley (fall 2017) created this story map on Japanese War Relocation Camps 1942-1946.
Submit by Sunday (14 April) at midnight
- The Genocide Group Project (100 points)
What you can submit for extra credit by Sunday (14 April) at midnight
- For up to 25 points of extra credit, read the Documents on the Decision to Drop the Bomb and write a one-page paper summarizing some of the pros and cons of the decision to use the atomic bomb in 1945. Here are two interesting sites about the Manhattan Project: The Manhattan Project: Making the Atomic Bomb and Women of the Manhattan Project.
- For up to 10 points of extra credit, read Vyacheslav Molotov (1889-1986) broadcast on the Invasion of The Soviet Union (June 22, 1941) and write a paragraph explaining the key points of Molotov's speech. Note that it was Molotov, not Stalin, who announced that the Soviet Union was now at war with Germany.
(week 14) 16 April, Tuesday: The Cold War
What to do before class:
- Read chapters 27 and 28 in Coffin/Stacey.
- Read my notes for HIS 135 on the Cold War. I also have remarks on Russia and the Cold War and Gorbachev in my HIS 242 course.
- Read the notes on the Cold War by David Johnston, a former student.
- Watch my short video on the Cold War.
- Read my notes on the Death Mask of Stalin.
What we will do in class:
- A student will review the previous class.
- Answer questions from students (extra credit).
- Student presentations on World War II, Holocaust and the Cold War
What you need to do after class
- Korea was one of the most important events of the early Cold War. See the timeline, Significant Events of the Korean War, created by Kelton Adams-Elkins, Alex English, and Christopher Belcher, former students.
- Read some Recollections of the Cold War in Bulgaria by one of my former students.
- These are good videos to watch: Berlin Airlift, Cuban Missile Crisis and Ich bin ein Berliner - John F. Kennedy's visit to Germany in 1963
What you can submit for extra credit by Sunday (21 April) at midnight
- 25 points, read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and submit the Solzhenitsyn paper. Please be sure to cite your sources.
- 25 points, read George Kennan's "The Sources of Soviet Conduct". In a one-page paper, given the benefit of hindsight, assess the accuracy of Kennan's remarks almost fifty years later. Please be sure to cite quoted evidence.
- 25 points, watch the movie Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964, directed by Stanley Kubrick), released at the very height of the Cold War. In a one-page paper, explain why or why not a similar-type of movie poking fun at the current international situation could be released today.
- 10 points, read the U.S. and USSR Exchange of Notes on the Berlin Wall (1961) and write a paragraph on the politics involved in the creation of the Berlin Wall.
(week 15) 23 April, Tuesday: Decolonization
What to do before class
- Read my notes on decolonization and watch my short video.
- Read my notes on South Asia and watch the short video.
What we will do in class:
- A student will review the previous class.
- Answer questions from students (extra credit).
- Student presentations on decolonization
What you need to do after class
- Watch Hans Rosling's 200 Countries, 200 Years (the Joy of Stats) This quick video on YouTube takes a look at health/wealth data over the past two centuries to illustrate the development of the global world.
- Watch Gandhi's Funeral 1948.
- Watch Crash Course: Decolonization and Nationalism Triumphant and John Darwin, Decolonization: A History of Failure?
Submit by Sunday (28 April) at midnight
- Complete your Digital Project (150 points). Please email your project URL to me before the deadline.
What you can submit for extra credit by Sunday (28 April). Please remember that you cannot submit extra credit on the same calendar day that you submit the Digital Project assignment.
- 25 points, in a one-page paper, assess the successes/failures of UN peacekeeping operations since 1945. Please be sure to cite your sources. A good starting point is U.N. Peacekeeping Operations.
- 25 points, read Nelson Mandela, Speech on Release From Prison (1990) (also available here) and then his Inaugural Address (May 10, 1994) and write a one-page paper in which you elaborate upon Mandela's vision for South Africa. Please be sure to include quoted evidence.
- 10 points, read Jomo Kenyatta The Kenya Africa Union is Not the Mau Mau (1952) and write a paragraph explaining Kenyatta's vision for his country.
- 10 points, read the Charter of the Organization of African Unity (May 25, 1963) and write a long paragraph in which you explain the rationale and structure of the OAU.
(week 16) 30 April, Tuesday: The Contemporary World
What to do before class:
- Read chapter 29 in Coffin/Stacey.
- Read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Here are some of my other notes that you might choose to read:
- Watch the second short video about history of the twenty-first century.
What we will do in class:
- A student will review the previous class.
- Answer questions from students (extra credit).
- Student presentations on the contemporary world
What you need to do after class
- Watch my 1995 video on the 21st century.
- Conor Ginnell (Fall 2017) created this great Tumblr exhibit on Twentieth Century Fantasy.
- Here is a great timeline, created by J. Hawk, T. Olson and B. Doran, on key events in the development of the personal computer.
- Watch Kaitlyn Rivera-Cottrell, former student, Roy Lichtenstein: Modifying Art One Dot at a Time (narrated Prezi).
- Check out these Crash Course videos on globalization I, The Upside and II, Good or Bad.
- Watch The 30 Articles of Human Rights.
Submit by Sunday (5 May) at midnight
- Submit the My family and history paper (100 points) that requires you to examine your family's history in light of the historical events of the past half century. Your paper will become part of the Historical Memory project.
What you can submit for extra credit by Sunday (5 May). Please remember that you cannot submit extra credit on the same calendar day that you submit the My Family and History paper assignment.
- 25 points, read both United Nations Resolution 181 (1947), and the Declaration of Israeli's Independence (1948), and write a one-page paper in which you examine the rationale for the creation of Israel. Please be sure to cite evidence.
(week 17) 7 May, Tuesday: Final Exam
What to do before class
- Review your notes on all the student presentations.
- Read my short notes on the future and watch my short video? You can probably come up with similar thoughts.
What we will do in class:
- Take the Final Exam (250 points). IMPORTANT, as we come to the end of the course: To earn a grade of A, B, C or D, you must complete all required course assignments.
What you can submit for extra credit before you take your final exam.
- For up to 10 points of extra credit, choose one of the famous quotes about the study of history--scroll down that page to find a list of quotes--(Get permission from your instructor first.) and write a long paragraph in which you explain who the author of the quote was, what he/she meant by the quote and then your evaluation of the quote's accuracy. You can also use the material on these two links, Historians and Why We Study History. Don't forget to cite your sources.