History 206-01 (CRN 31184)
Mon, Wed, Fri 10-11:25
Music 113
Office: Faculty Towers 201A
Instructor: Dr. Schmoll
Office Hours: Mon and Wed 11:30-12:30
…OR MAKE AN APPOINTMENT!!!
Office Phone: 654-6549
Course Description:
History 206: Western Civilization III: The cultural,
political, social, economic, and intellectual development of Western
civilization from 1815 to the present. Readings in the literature and
audiovisual explorations of the arts of Western civilization supplement the
lectures.
History 206 is a lower division survey course and
fulfills part of the requirement of the Western Civilization course series for
the history major. It also is a general education course.
This course introduces you to the major historical
events in Western history which contributed to the shaping of the modern world.
Precisely, you will be looking at how the modern western world came about
during the past two centuries and how the process we call
"modernization" has affected people, primarily in Europe and the
areas it colonized. You will, therefore, be following the major political,
economical, social, and cultural changes from 1815 through the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries as they move outward from Europe to the rest of the globe.
We will examine both primary and secondary sources.
Course Learning Objectives:
By the end of the course students will be able:
1.To identify and define the most important events, people and
processes of the transformation of Western Civ over the last 200 years.
2.To evaluate historical documents critically and to describe
how these documents might be used in understanding and writing history.
3.To write a basic five-paragraph essay using historical evidence
to support an argument.
4.To think more critically about history, how it is constructed,
written and interpreted.
Required Reading:
1. The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels
2. Survival in Auschwitz, Primo Levi
3. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Solzhenitsyn
4. Disturbing the Peace, Vaclav Havel
We will also have regular readings on the blog. Those will be
announced in class.
COURSE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES:
The Midterm and Final:
We will go over the midterm and final exams later, but one
consideration as you move through this course is this: both exams value your
thinking on paper. You will be asked to recall information, to relate detail
that you learned by paying close attention to reading and to class, but more
than that you will be asked to make a contribution, to add your own unique
perspective to the story. WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN I ASK YOU TO ARGUE SOMETHING?
Start to answer that question from day one…even as we read this together in
class right now. Every lecture you hear will contain a set of assertions that
are not found in the text. These lectures are my attempt to create an original
argument; they model for you how to make an argument in history. After all, who
cares if you can recall a bunch of historical data? Well, I care. But the
history of “what” is what turns many of us against history. You will be asked
to take a stance, to use the information you learn in an argumentative context.
The past is an argument that we make together here in class in the present.
The Paper:
This essay is around 5 pages, typed, double-spaced. You will
turn it into turnitin.com. Late papers will be graded down one full grade per
day late. This assignment is due on Friday, May 22nd. We will discuss
the topics in class.
You need to sign in to this blog this week. You will also have
short readings on the blog each week. I will announce these in class.
COURSE POLICIES
Attendance: Just to be clear, to succeed on tests
and papers you really should be in class. That’s just common sense, right? To
pass this class, you may not miss more than two classes. If you miss that third
class meeting, you are missing 15% of the quarter. You cannot do that and pass.
Reading: How should you read our books? How
many of you love reading? I did not read a book until I was 18, so if you have
not yet started your journey on this ever widening path, it’s never too late.
In any course, there’s no substitute for reading. Theorist Jim Moffett says
that “all real writing happens from plentitude,” meaning that you can only
really write well about someone once you know about it. Reading is one way to
know—not the only, by any means! I want you to have experiences with great
texts. For these ten weeks, diving wholeheartedly into the course reading is
vital. Remember to read in a particular way. As reading expert and UCSB
professor Sheridan Blau has argued, “reading is as much a process of text
production as writing is.” Reading involves revision? Does that sound silly? As
you read, think about the different ways that you understand what you read.
Most importantly, when you read, think about the words of E.D. Hirsch, who says
that we look at what a text says (reading), what it means (interpretation), and
why it matters (criticism). Hey, but if you are in a history course, aren’t you
supposed to be reading for exactly the number of miles of trenches that were
dug in World War One, how many railroad workers died from 1890 to 1917, or what
the causes of the Great Depression were? Anyway, the answer is yes and no.
There are two types of reading that you’ll do in college. As the literary
goddess theorist Louise Rosenblatt explains, there is aesthetic reading, where
you are reading to have an experience with the text, and there is efferent
reading, where you are reading to take away information from the text. You do
both types all the time. Think about a phone book. You have probably never
heard someone say of a phone book, “don’t tell me about it, I want to read it
for myself.” Reading a phone book is purely efferent. In this course you will
practice both types of reading. I have chosen texts that you can enjoy
(aesthetic) and that you can learn from(efferent). I want to see and appreciate
the detail in our reading, but in this course I’ll give you that detail in
class lectures. In the reading, it’s much more important that you read texts
that will live with you forever and to inspire you to think more thoroughly
about your world. As you read, you should be working hard to create meaning for
yourself. As Rosenblatt asserts, “taking someone else’s interpretation as your
own is like having someone else eat your dinner for you.”
How fast should you be reading? With our texts, I expect you to
move through fairly quickly. I will model this for you in class, but basically,
you should be looking for key pieces of information from each section. Take
notes on it, but do not take such copious notes that you slow your reading to a
snail’s pace. Instead, let your note taking help the reading go faster. Again,
I will model this in class. The text will guide our in class discussion, and
you will have it with you. So be sure you have read it for each Thursday class.
Being Prompt: Get to class on time. Why does
that matter? First, it sends the wrong message to your principal grader(that’s
me). As much as we in the humanities would like you to believe that these
courses are objective (at what time of day did the Battle of the Marne begin?),
that is not entirely the case. If you send your principal grader the message
that you don’t mind missing the first few minutes and disturbing others in the
class, don’t expect to be given the benefit of the doubt when the tests and
papers roll around. Does that sound mean? It’s not meant to, but just remember,
your actions send signals. Being late also means that someone who already has
everything out and is ready and is involved in the discussion has to stop, move
everything over, get out of the chair to let you by, pick up the pencil you
drop, let you borrow paper, run to the bathroom because you spilled the coffee,
and so on. It’s rude. There’s an old saying: better two hours early than two
minutes late. Old sayings are good.
So, what are the consequences of persistent
tardiness? What do you think they should be? Remember that 10% participation?
You are eligible for that grade if you are on time. And no, I’m not the jackass
who watches for you to be late that one time and stands at the door and points
in your face. If you are late a few (that means three) times, you will lose the
entire 10% participation grade. One time tardiness is not a problem precisely
because it is not persistent. It’s an accident. But if you are late several
times, you will not be able to receive a participation grade above 50%.
The Unforgivable Curse: Speaking of one time issues,
there is something that is so severe, so awful, that if it happens one time,
just one time, no warning, no “oh hey I noticed this and if you could stop it
that’d be super,” you will automatically lose all 10 percent of the
Participation grade. Any guesses? C’mon, you must have some idea. No, it’s not
your telephone ringing. If that happens, it’ll just be slightly funny and we’ll
move on. It’s a mistake and not intentional, and the increased heart rate and
extra sweat on your brow from you diving headfirst into an overstuffed book bag
to find a buried phone that is now playing that new Cristina Aguilera ringtone
is punishment enough for you. So, what is it, this unforgivable crime? Texting.
If you take out your phone one time to send or receive messages you will
automatically lose 10% of your course grade. That means, if you receive a final
grade of 85%, it will drop to 75%. If you receive a final grade of 75%, it will
become a 65%. Why is that? The phone ringing is an accident. Texting is on
purpose and is rude. It, in fact, is beyond rude. It wreaks of the worst of our
current society. It bespeaks the absolutely vile desire we all have to never
separate from our technological tether for even a moment. It sends your fellow
classmates and your teacher the signal that you have better things to do.
Checking your phone during class is like listening to a friend’s story and
right in the middle turning away and talking to someone else. Oh, and guess
what, this room is designed to give your teacher a perfect view of you with a
phone beneath the table; is that text message really worth 10% of the quarter
grade? Plus, the way our brains work, you need to fully immerse yourself, to
tune your brain into an optimal, flowing machine (see Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s
incredible book Flow) that can grasp and can let itself go. Students now tend
to see school as a stopover on their way to a career. Brothers and sisters,
that’s deadly! I wish that I could pay for you all to quit your jobs and just
focus on the mind. I can’t yet do that, but if I could I would, because it’d be
worth every penny. Devoting time to the mind and to thinking deeply about your
world will change who you are and how you approach your future, your family,
your job, and your everything. Is that overstated? I believe it to be true. So,
until my stock choices really take off so that I can pay all of your bills,
promise me one thing: when you are in class or preparing for class, you have to
be fully here. Oh crap, now it’s going to sound like a hippy professor from the
1960s: “I mean, like, be here man, just be here.” Maybe the hippies were on to
something. Devote yourself fully to your classes by unplugging from the outside
world for a while.
Participation: You do not need to be the
person who speaks out the most, asks the most questions, or comes up with the
most brilliant historical arguments to receive full credit in participation. If
you are in class and on time, discuss the issues that we raise, avoid the
temptation to nod off, to leave early, or to text people during class (the
three easiest ways to lose credit), and in general act like you care, then you
will receive a good participation grade!
Just being here does not guarantee a 100% participation grade,
since you must be regularly actively involved for that to be possible.
In fact, to get a 90% participation grade or higher, you must
attend all classes, contribute thoughtful comments to the larger class
discussion every day, participate actively with those around you, and avoid the
obvious: no sleeping, no texting, no using this course to study for other
courses, no being late.
To get an 85%, you can miss one class and must contribute
at least one comment per week to the large class discussion, participate actively
with those around you, and avoid the obvious: no sleeping, no texting, no using
this course to study for other courses, no being late.
To get an 80%, you can miss one class and must participate
actively with those around you, and avoid the obvious: no sleeping, no texting,
no using this course to study for other courses, no being late.
To get a 75%, you can miss two classes and must participate
actively with those around you, and avoid the obvious: no sleeping, no texting,
no using this course to study for other courses, no being late.
Show up tardy more than once or fail to participate in the
dialogue and the participation grade will diminish quickly.
Academic Integrity: The principles of truth and
integrity are recognized as fundamental to a community of teachers and
scholars. The University expects that both faculty and students will honor
these principles and in so doing will protect the integrity of all academic
work and student grades. Students are expected to do all work assigned to them
without unauthorized assistance and without giving unauthorized assistance.
Faculty have the responsibility of exercising care in the planning and
supervision of academic work so that honest effort will be encouraged and positively
reinforced. http://www.csub.edu/studentconduct/documents/academicintegrity.pdf
GRADING SCALE:
Participation:
10%
In class book assignment: 5% pass/no pass
Paper:
25%
Midterm
Examination: 30%
Final
Examination:
30%
COURSE SCHEDULE:
WEEK 1:
3/30 Mon Introduction
to Course
4/1 Wed PostRevolutionary Europe : The legacy of
the French
and American revolutions for Europe in the
nineteenth century.
4/3 Fri Alternative class meeting today…
WEEK 2:
4/6 Mon Industrialism/Reading Guide for Communist
Manifesto
4/8 Wed Industrialism
4/10 Fri The Early Socialists
WEEK 3:
4/13 Mon “Communist
Manifesto” must be read by today.
4/15 Wed Revolutions of
1848/Nationalism
4/17 Fri Scrambling
for Africa
WEEK 4:
4/20 Mon
World War I
4/22 Wed
Russian Revolution
4/24 Fri Chaos Reigns: the 1920s
WEEK 5:.
4/27 Mon MIDTERM EXAM
4/29 Wed The Rise of Hitler
5/1 Fri World
War Two and the Horrors of War
WEEK 6:
5/4 Mon Survival
in Auschwitz Due
5/6 Wed The Post War
World
5/8 Fri The Cold War
WEEK 7:
5/11 Mon Stalin’s Russia
5/13 Wed One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Due
5/15 Fri Europe in 1960
WEEK 8:
Schmoll is at a GE conference this week...we will have class
online. Details to follow.
YOUR
PAPER IS DUE THIS WEEK...Friday, May 22
WEEK 9:
May 25th Memorial
Day...CAMPUS CLOSED
5/27 Wed Decolonization
around the World
5/29 Fri Decolonization:
Algeria
WEEK 10:
6/1 Mon Europe pulling itself
Apart
6/3 Wed Disturbing the Peace Due
6/6 Fri The
New Europe and the European Union
Week 10 plus..
6/8 Mon LAST DAY OF CLASS: MULTIPLE
CHOICE TEST PORTION
FINAL EXAM
Wednesday, June 10th, 11-1:30
