| Week 1 |
22 August, Wednesday: Course Introduction
What we will probably do in class:
- Detailed review of the course. Please
note that many of the links on this syllabus are to the
assignments listed in the NOVA Online version of HIS 102 or to my HIS 218 course. You
may print out whatever information you feel is necessary.
- Since the use of proper grammar, spelling and style are an inherent part of each assignment in this course. Please check the course writing resources available in Charlie's History Writing Center for more information.
- Point out the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the week. These are important for your midterm and final exams.
- Watch some short videos
- Take attendance and answer any questions
- Talk about "history."
What you need to do immediately after class:
- Purchase your books
- Familiarize yourself with the textbook.
- Review the sample document and Hammurabi analyses
- Email me a short note so that I have your email address.
- Post an informal hello in the Blackboard online discussion forum.
- For further course and contact information, read my introduction letter
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| Week 2 |
29 August, Wednesday: Seventeenth-Century Europe and Louis XIV
What to do before class:
What we will do in class:
- Watch excerpt from La prise du pouvoir
- History in practice: answer the questions about the film clip on the
movie study sheet (group project worth 25 points)
- Some short remarks comparing Louis XIV and Peter the Great and their ideas about absolutism and state power (Compare absolutism with autocracy.)
- Sign up for a required class presentation
What you can do for extra credit before class:
- For 50 points maximum extra credit, check out these interesting websites and then present to the class your ideas about "history." (Please email me ahead of time if you wish to do this.)
- For 50 points maximum extra credit, lead a 10-15 minute class discussion in which you examine Louis XIV and his conception of absolutism. You might wish to offer a comparison to Peter the Great of Russia.
- For 25 points maximum extra credit, submit the Seventeenth-Century paragraph. This must be emailed to me before the start of class.
- For 25 points maximum extra credit, present to the class a short overview of the Glorious Revolution.
- For 25 points maximum extra credit, 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). Email this paragraph to me before the start of class.
- Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum.
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| Week 3 |
5 September, Wednesday: The Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment and The "Colonial" Newspaper
What to do before class:
What we will do in class:
- History in practice: undertake an historical analysis of newspaper fragments (group project worth 50 points)
- Discuss the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment
What you can do for extra credit before class:
- For a 25 points maximum extra credit, review Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755), The Spirit of the Laws (1748), excerpts, and present to the class a short overview of his ideas.
- For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, in a long paragraph, What did Voltaire mean, in terms of
the European Enlightenment, when he wrote "let us cultivate our garden" at the end of Candide (free copy at www.literature.org/authors/voltaire/candide/). Email to me before the start of class
- Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum.
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| Week 4 |
12 September, Wednesday: The French Revolution and the Problems of Historical Translation
What to do before class:
What we will do in class:
- Discuss the French Revolution
- History in practice: consider the art and difficulties of translation (group project worth 25 points)
What you can do for extra credit before class:
- For a maximum of 50 points extra credit, write a one-page paper (maybe
two pages if they are exceptional) that provides a detailed comparison of the
US Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of
Man. Email to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 20 points extra credit, read the Declaration
of the Rights of Man and submit the French paragraph. Email to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, read Robespierre's
justification of the use of terror (Would Thomas Jefferson have approved?)
during the French Revolution (see www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/robespierre-terror.html). and present to the class a short overview of his ideas.
- For 25 points maximum extra credit, write a paragraph in which you compare and contrast the start of Napoleone di Buonaparte (aka Napoleon)'s invasion of Russia with its finish. Email to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 10 points extra credit, answer the French Declaration of
the Rights of Man study sheet questions. Email to me before the start of class.
- Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum.
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| Week 5 |
19 September, Wednesday: Industrial Revolution: Coal, Coal and More Coal: Images of a Decaying Industrial Infrastructure
What to do before class:
What we will do in class:
What you can do for extra credit before class:
- For 150 points extra credit, consider doing a data visualization project on statistics related to the industrial revolution. (Contact me for more details.)
- For a maximum of 50 points extra credit, read Factory Reformers and Child Labour 1750-1900,
particularly the section on "Life in the Factory," and present to the class a summary of the problems facing workers and the motives and proposals of the factory reformers.
- For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, consider doing the Optional Industry Paragraph from HIS 112. Email to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, 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. Please be sure to include quoted
material. Email to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 10 points extra credit, answer the Dickens study sheet questions. Email to me before the start of class.
- Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum.
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| Week 6 |
26 September, Wednesday: Russia's Romantic Revolt (Death and the Humble Obituary)
What to do before class:
What we will do in class:
- In-class review and discussion of Marx' Communist Manifesto for the midterm exam
- Coleridge video and text (You can also check out Iron Maiden's version; here's a version with lyrics)
- History in practice: look at some obituaries as historical documents, history personalized (group project worth 25 points)--Remember that for many of the Romantic poets death was such an important inspiration.
What you can do for extra credit before class:
- For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, consider doing the Decembrists paragraph. Email to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 50 points extra credit, read some selections of Romantic Poems and present to the class some of the main
characteristics of the Romantic era.
- It is no wonder that the
talented Russian poet Aleksandr Pushkin could get himself into trouble as a result of his
connections to the Decembrists. Read his short, To the Emperor Nicholas I (1826) and comment, in a paragraph, for 25 points maximum extra credit. Email to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 10 points extra credit, answer the Romanticism study sheet questions. Email to me before the start of class.
- Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum.
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| Week 7 |
3 October, Wednesday: Optional Midterm Exam
What to do before class:
What we will do in class:
- Complete the midterm exam. You will not
need to follow the NOVA Online procedures explained on the linked page. (150 points)
What you can do for extra credit before class:
- For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, read a smidgen of Prince Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921), Anarchism: Its
Philosophy and Ideal, and comment in a paragraph. Email
your paragraph to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, explain what Marx meant when he stated that
he "had stood Hegel on his head" (Or something to that extent). Email
your paper to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 10 points extra credit, answer the Marx study sheet questions and email to me before the start of class.
- Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum.
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| Week 8 |
10 October, Wednesday: Nationalism and the Writing of History
What to do before class:
- Read chapter 21 in Coffin/Stacey.
- Read my notes on nationalism and Garibaldi and the Risorgimento.
- Read my notes on the Alfred Dreyfus and the Dreyfus Affair. Email the answer to this question before the start of class: Why was the French government so unwilling to recognize the fact that it had screwed up in the Dreyfus case? Be prepared to explain your answer in class.
- Reflect on what we have done so far in class this semester. Please jot down some notes and bring to class.
- Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the week.
What we will do in class:
- Review the midterm exam.
- Discuss the Dreyfus Affair.
- History in practice: write the history of 22 August class (group project worth 25 points)
What you can do for extra credit before class:
- For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, consider doing the Bismarck paragraph. Email to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 50 points extra credit, in a presentation to the class, compare and contrast
German and Italian unification process. Please cite your sources.
- For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, explain the
historical significance of Giuseppe Garibaldi in a long paragraph. Why is there no movie about him yet? Email to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 10 points extra credit, answer the Bismarck study sheet questions. Email to me before the start of class.
- Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum.
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| Week 9 |
17 October, Wednesday: Imperialism and Western Society
What to do before class:
What we will do in class:
- History in practice: perhaps we will examine some census information about turn-of-the-century society (group project worth 25 points)
- Perhaps watch the excerpt from Art of the Western World, Impressionism and review the Impressionism study sheet.
- Imperialism Video and Assignment (see Blackboard)
What you can do for extra credit before class:
- For a maximum of 50 points extra credit, 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. Email to me before the start of class
- Was there an "Impressionism" movement in
music and literature? Write a one-page paper for a maximum of 50 points extra credit.
- Watch Breaker Morant and write a one-page
paper assessing the historical accuracy of the movie for a maximum of 50
points extra credit. Email to me before the start of class.
- What was the extent of
and justification for
American imperialism at the turn of the twentieth century? Answer that question
in a long paragraph for a maximum of 25 points extra credit--maybe more-- (Use some of the resources available at www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook34.html.). Email to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, 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. Email to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, 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. Email to me before the start of class.
- For extra credit of a maximum of 10 points,
you can submit the answers to the Achebe study questions. Please write in formal, complete sentences. Email to me before the start of class.
- Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum.
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| Week 10 |
24 October, Wednesday: The Great War and All Quiet on the Western Front
What to do before class:
What we will do in class:
- Watch All Quiet on the Western Front
- History in practice: assess the historical accuracy
of the film and answer the questions on the
movie study sheet (group project worth 25 points)
- Questions and comments
What you can do for extra credit before class:
- Explain
the impact of World War I in a one-page paper for a maximum of 50
points (maybe more depending on how good). Please be sure to cite
your
sources. Start here (canadaonline.about.com/od/ww1battles/p/beaumonthamel.htm). Email to me before the start of class.
- In
a two-page paper for a maximum of 50 points (maybe more), offer
a detailed contrast between Remarque's depiction of the war in his
novel and Lewis Milestone's view of the war in his film adaptation of the novel. Email to me before the next class.
- For 25 points maximum extra credit, 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. Email to me before the start of class.
- For extra credit of a maximum of 10 points,
you can submit the answers to the Remarque study questions. Please write in formal, complete sentences. Email to me before the start of class.
- Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum.
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| Week 11 |
31 October, Wednesday: The Russian Revolutions
What to do before class:
- Read chapter 24, especially the section on the Russian Revolution,
and 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.
- Read my additional note on 1917.
- Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the week.
What we will do in class:
- Class Presentations (Franco by Dastan; Talbott by Elizabeth; Chaplin by Noor; Chuchill by Channing; JP Morgan by Kasi; Ple by Joseph; B Lee by Kevin; Nureyev by Alexander; Gandhi by Arjun; Wittgenstein by Dylan; Beethoven by Bertha)
- Watch the "Storming of the Winter Palace" video clip (best to watch the last fifteen minutes) from the movie Oktiabr
What you can do for extra credit before class:
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| Week 12 |
7 November, Wednesday: Fascism and National Socialism
What to do before class:
What we will do in class:
- Present your timeline project.
- Watch the excerpt from Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will)
- History in practice: discuss the movie excerpt and complete the movie study sheet. (group project worth 25 points)
What you can do for extra credit before class:
- For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, consider doing the Hitler paragraph. Email to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 50 points extra credit, 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? Email to me before the start of class.
- Be Brave! For a maximum of 50 points extra credit, read Benito Mussolini (1883-1945): The Doctrine of Fascism?,
1932 and write a one-page paper explaining the main points of fascism as understood by Mussolini. Email to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 10 points extra credit, answer the Hitler study sheet questions. Email to me before the start of class.
- Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum.
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| Week 13 |
14 November, Wednesday: 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 notes on World War II.
- Read the Atlantic Charter (1941) as the basic statement by the allies of a fair peace to end the war and a guarantee of basic freedoms for people everywhere.
- Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the week.
- 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.
What we will do in class:
- Class Presentations
- Please remind me that we need to do COURSE EVALUATIONS
- Discuss World War II
What you can do for extra credit before class:
- For 150 points extra credit, consider doing a data visualization project on casualties in World War II. (Contact me for more details.)
- Submit the Optional Special Project paper. (point total varies depending on the project). Email to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 50 points extra credit, 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. Email to me before the start of class.
- For 25 points maximum extra credit, read the materials on Nazi-Soviet Relations 1939-1941 and write a short paragraph explaining why Germany and Russia maintained their alliance for two years. Email to me before the start of class.
- Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum.
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21 November, Wednesday: COURSE PROGRESS CONSULTATIONS (as needed)
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| Week 14 |
28 November, Wednesday: The Cold War and the Study of Contemporary History
What to do before class:
- Read chapters 27 and 28 in Coffin/Stacey.
- Read the notes on the Cold War by David Johnston, former student. I also have remarks on Russia and the Cold War and Gorbachev in my HIS 242 course.
- Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the week.
- Submit the My Family and History paper that requires you to examine your family's history in light of
the historical events of the past half century. Point value is
100 points for a two-page paper. Your paper will become part of the Historical Memory project.
- Read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (if you are going to submit the optional Solzhenitsyn paper). Submit the Solzhenitsyn paper. (100 points). Email to me before the start of class. If you don't understand why I call this an optional paper, take a look at the Grading and Assignment Requirements.
What we will do in class:
- Class presentations for extra credit on any of your last assignments that you are submitting todayHistory in Practice: reflection paper on the video (25 points)
- Video: Two Days in October (on the Vietnam war and anti-Vietnam War protests)
- Discuss the final exam and the entire course
What you can do for extra credit before class:
- For 25 points of extra credit, contribute at least five photos to the Northern Virginia Digital History Archive.
- a Pop Culture paper in which you look at some aspects of the growing spread of pop
culture throughout the world. Point value is 100 points possible
extra credit for a two-page paper (less for one page).
- For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, read The Helsinki
Final Act (1975) and write a short paragraph explaining the purpose of the Accords. Email to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 25 points extra credit, 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. Email to me before the start of class.
- For a maximum of 10 points extra credit, answer the Solzhenitsyn study sheet questions. Email to me before the start of class.
- Post (or respond) your thoughts/ideas about this unit's reading and assignment in the Blackboard online discussion forum.
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| Week 15 |
5 December, Wednesday: Optional Final Exam
What to do before class:
What we will do in class:
- Complete the final exam. You will not
need to follow the NOVA Online procedures explained on the linked page. (250 points)
- Please complete a course evaluation. Print out and bring a completed course evaluation with you
to the exam.
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