ON-LINE SYLLABUS:
I would very much appreciate your comments/suggestions for improving
the online syllabus and the online supplemental materials. Send
corrections
and comments to my e-mail address (marmorsa@northern.edu).
REQUIRED
TEXTS:
The
Mainstream of Civilization (Chodorow)
The
Communist Manifesto and Other Revolutionary Writings (Dover)
Discourse
on Method (Descartes)
Pensees
(Pascal)
Candide
(Voltaire)
Notes
From Underground (Dostoyevsky)
Night
(Wiesel)
The
main text for this class, Chodorow's Mainstream of Civilization,
will
give you a different perspective on the figures and events discussed in
class
and serve as an excellent supplement to your lecture notes as you
prepare for
your midterm and final exams. You will probably find the maps, charts,
and time
lines in the Chodorow book particularly helpful. You
do not need to bring the Chodorow book to
class, and it doesn't really matter whether you do the Chodorow
readings before
or after the associated lecture.
The
other readings (Descartes, Pascal, etc.) must be done before class on
the day
assigned. We will be discussing these
works in class, and you will be lost and confused if you haven't done
the
reading. In addition, there are often
surprise quizzes on these readings. There will not be quizzes on the Dover readings,
but you
may do extra credit work on any of those readings.
The
readings for this class are often difficult, and most students will do
better
if they have a hard copy of each text so that they can underline
important
passages and add their own marginal notes. However, there are
online
versions of most of the primary source texts (www.northern.edu/marmorsa/history122onlinetexts.htm),
and if you are used to reading online materials, these may be
sufficient.
SCHEDULE
OF CLASSES AND READINGS:
9/1 *** Labor Day: No Class ***
9/3 Introduction
9/5 The 17th Century: A Search for Order (Mainstream,
Ch. 18)
9/8 Conflict between Science and Religion?
(Mainstream, 531-539)
9/10 France in the 16th and 17th Centuries (Mainstream,
Ch.20)
9/12 Britain in the 16th and 17th Centuries
9/15 Britain in the 16th and 17th Centuries
9/17 Hobbes, Locke, and Bossuet
9/19 Bacon and Descartes (Discourse on Method)
9/22 Descartes
9/24 Pascal (Pensees)
9/26 Discussion of Pascal and Descartes
9/29 Baroque Art, Music and Literature
10/1 Baroque Art, Music, and Literature
10/3 ******** MIDTERM I *********
10/6 The 18th Century: The Age of Reason? (Mainstream, Ch.
22)
10/9 Enlightened Despots
10/11 The Philosophes: Diderot, Condorcet (Mainstream, Ch. 21)
10/13 *** Native American Day: No Class
***
10/15 The Philosophes: Rousseau and Leibnitz (Dover, 1-40)
10/17 The Philosophes: Kant, Voltaire (Candide)
10/20 The French Revolution (Mainstream, Ch. 23)
10/22 The French Revolution/Napoleon (Dover, 67-97)
10/24 The 19th Century: The Age of Progress? (Main. Ch. 24,
26)
10/27 Nationalism and Nation Building
10/29 European Impact on the World (Mainstream, Ch. 27)
10/31 European Impact on the World
11/3 ******** MIDTERM II ********
11/5 Believers in Progress (Mainstream, Ch. 25)
11/7 Believers in Progress (Communist Manifesto (Dover,
123-150)
11/10 Romantics/Realists/Dostoyevsky ("Dream of a
Ridiculous Man")
11/12 Dostoyevsky (Notes from Underground)
11/14 The 20th Century: The Age of Violence (Mainstream,
Ch. 30)
11/17 World War I
11/19 The Rise of Communism: The Russian Revolution (Main.
Ch. 31)
11/21 National Socialism (Mainstream, Ch. 33)
11/24 World War II (Mainstream, Ch. 34)
11/26 The Holocaust (Wiesel, Night)
11/28 *** Friday after Thanksgiving: No
Class ***
12/1 Aftermath of World War II
(Mainstream, Ch. 34)
12/3 The End of Imperialism (Mainstream, Ch. 35)
12/5 The End of Imperialism (Mainstream, Ch. 36)
12/8 Art and Music in the 20th Century
12/10 20th Century Literature
12/12 The Exciting Conclusion to this Course!
FINAL EXAMS:
9:00 Class: Wednesday, December 17, 12:00—2:00
10:00 Class: Friday, December 19, 9:45-11:45
GRADING:
Your
grade for this course will be based primarily on your midterm and final
exams,
each of which will count approximately 25% when I determine your final
grade. In addition, I will take into
account attendance, participation, and quiz scores.
My
grading method allows from improvement, and I frequently have students
who fail
the first exam who nevertheless end up earning "A" or "B"
grades in the course. Please note, though, that I factor
"improvement" into your course grade *only* if you demonstrate your
commitment to the course through good attendance and other evidence of
hard
work.
READINGS AND
QUIZZES:
In order to make sure
students are
keeping up with the readings (and to encourage students to come to
class!) I
give quite a few surprise quizzes during the semester. Often,
these
surprise quizzes involve short essays on the reading assigned for that
day. Very frequently, I use one of the "primary source" study
questions as the surprise quiz question. If you keep up with the
readings, and (especially) if you are prepared to answer the study
guide
questions, you should do well on these quizzes.
EXAM
FORMAT:
Midterms
and Final exam--8 ID's, 1 essay
ID's
will be selected from the terms put on the board at the beginning of
each
lecture. You will be asked not only to
identify the terms, but also to explain their historical significance.
I am
impressed when students can include plenty of detailed information, but
I am
even more impressed when students can show how the ID terms relate to
important
themes discussed in this class.
Essay
questions will deal with major themes discussed in the lectures. Most often, the exam question will be a
generalization I have made in class with the additional word,
"comment."
A
student who studies hard and does the required reading should have
plenty to
say in response to each of these questions. You will be given 50
minutes for
each midterm and two hours for the final exam.
Most students will need the full time to do a good job.
What
is a good job? I tell students over and
over again that a good essay consists of a series of good
generalizations based
on the exam question and backed up with specific support from the
lectures and
the readings. I am particularly
impressed when students include in their essays references to primary
source
material.
PREPARING
FOR MARMORSTEIN EXAMS:
1. Think! Do not just
memorize facts.
2. Prepare the essay questions first.
3. Come up with a fairly detailed outline for each essay.
4. Think of good topic sentences for each paragraph of your
essay.
5. Use the key words of the exam question in your topic sentences.
6. Choose good supporting evidence for your topic sentences.
7. Use the appropriate ID terms in your essays.
8. Learn the ID's in context. Do not use a "flash card"
approach.
9. Do not wait until the last minute to study.
10. Do spend extra time studying the week of the exam.
11. Do not just memorize
facts. Think!
EXAM
DAY INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Bring a blue book. Make sure there are no pages torn out.
2. Use pen. Blue ink preferred.
3. Don't sit by anyone with whom you
studied.
4. Plan on spending the full time writing
your
exam.
5. Do the ID terms first.
PLEASE
NOTE: Any student caught cheating in
this class at any time (even on a one point "sign your name" quiz)
will receive a failing grade for the course.
Cheating includes the use of any notes during midterm or
final
exams. Please place no marks of
any kind on or in your blue book before I give the signal to begin
taking the
exams.
NSU
DISABILITY POLICY: Northern State University recognizes
its responsibility for creating an institutional climate in which
students with
disabilities can thrive. If you have any type of disability for
which you
require accommodations, please contact Karen Gerety at the NSU Office
of
Disability Services (626-2371, Student Center
217) as soon as
possible to discuss your particular needs.
BOARD OF REGENTS
ACADEMIC FREEDOM POLICY: Under
Board
of Regents and University policy student academic performance may be
evaluated
solely on an academic basis, not on opinions or conduct in matters
unrelated to
academic standards. Students should be free to take reasoned exception
to the
data or views offered in any course of study and to reserve judgment
about
matters of opinion, but they are responsible for learning the content
of any
course of study for which they are enrolled. Students who believe that
an academic
evaluation reflects prejudiced or capricious consideration of student
opinions
or conduct unrelated to academic standards should contact the academic
dean
administratively in charge of the class to initiate a review of the
evaluation.
