History 1575: World History I Instructor: Pamela Brunfelt/Don Burke Office Hours: M-F 2:15-3:10 PM Fall Semester 2016 Office: My classroom Phone: 218-735-8217 ext 1028 (voice mail) E-mail: dburke@isd712.org (preferred); Student Study Sessions: M & W, 4-6 p. m. I will be available to you all semester to help you study for World History I and will answer any questions you may have about the coursework. I will help you so that you can be the best student possible. All sessions will be in CL 124. You may study in groups! Catalog Description: This course focuses on cross-cultural and global study of the rise of civilization to 1500 with emphasis on the Near East including Mesopotamia and Asia, Africa including Ancient Egypt, China, India, Greece and Rome, Early Europe, and the Americas. Emphasis is placed on the origins of the world s great religions, culture and society, governmental institutions, political theory, and intellectual developments and law and legal institutions. Textbook: Ways of the World: A Brief Global History, Volume 1 by Robert W. Strayer. You must have the book because you will be doing assignments in it all semester. If you are short of funds for textbooks, you may apply for help through the VCC Textbook Fund, a program of the VCC Foundation. Application forms are available in the financial aid office. In order to be eligible for help from this fund, you must have completed a FAFSA and demonstrate unmet financial need. Supplemental Books: You must read both of the following books in addition to the text. The titles are: When Asia Was the World: Traveling Merchants, Scholars, Warriors, and Monks Who Created the Riches of the East by Stewart Gordon and Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford.
These are not optional assignments. Readings: Besides the textbook, you will be responsible for other readings that are assigned. Prerequisites: READ 0092 or placement above and ENGL 0092 or placement above. This course is writing and reading intensive. I believe it is necessary for you to demonstrate that you have thought about the material being presented and that you are able to interpret what you have learned by writing about it. The exams are essay. Because paragraphs and thesis statements are the building blocks of an effective essay, failure to use them will result in an automatic one-grade deduction from your total score. Part of being a good writer is being able to spell well. Your spelling will be taken into account when grades are assigned. Part of this course will be devoted to teaching you how to take good notes for an essay test, how to write a proper exam essay, how to take research notes, and how to footnote a paper. Assessment and Learning Outcomes: As a member of the faculty of Vermilion Community College, I am committed to helping you learn as much as possible about the history of world to 1500 and to helping you acquire the skills, common knowledge, and values of a generally educated citizen. Throughout the semester on a daily, weekly or periodic basis, aspects of this course will be assessed to determine what you have or have not learned. The following types of learning outcomes will be measured in this course. Minnesota Transfer Curriculum learning outcomes: (for more information see the college catalog) As a result of taking this course, you will be able to:. 5A. Employ the methods and data that historians and social and behavioral scientists use to investigate the human condition.
. 5B. Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures.. 5C. Use and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories.. 8A. Describe and analyze political, economic, and cultural elements which influence relations of states and societies in their historical and contemporary dimensions.. 8B. Demonstrate knowledge of cultural, social, religious and linguistic differences. 8D. Understand the role of a world citizen and the responsibility world citizens share for their common global future Course Outcomes: This course will explore the various aspects of World History including the rise of complex civilizations, the development of writing, and the emergence of the major religions. As a result of taking this course, you will be able to:. a) Describe the rise of civilization from the Paleolithic period through the development of complex civilizations near the major rivers in the world. b) Recognize the cultural, political and social features of ancient civilizations including Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, Greece and Rome, and Africa. c) Trace the rise of complex civilizations in the Americas. d) Understand the changes in Europe brought about by the fall of the Roman Empire and the movement of tribal
groups from Asia, Northern Europe, and Central Europe. e) Demonstrate knowledge of the origins of the five great religions: Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam and their effect of the world. f) Explain the connections between economic interactions including trade among peoples and the cross-cultural dissemination of intellectual ideas in the arts, humanities, science and mathematics. g) Understand the role that exploration played in reshaping the world in the 16 th century. h) Recognize interconnections among people and systems including political, economic, social, and natural Assessment Methods: Assessment of learning and of the course will be done throughout the semester in a variety of ways. The measures will be both direct (graded) and indirect (not graded). Some of the methods used in this course are included below: Discussion: Participation in class discussions is very important. At the end of the semester I will determine class participation into your final grade. Research Project You may be asked to prepare a short research paper about an aspect of World History. The report will be based on three of the sources from your bibliography. Group Projects: Group research projects and presentations worth 50 points will be assigned. All members of the group must participate in the group presentation. You will be given two weeks to do these projects. Each member of the group will submit evaluations of the performance of the other members
of the group. Grades will be based on the student evaluations and on the final presentation to the class. Exams and Quizzes: Three exams will be given at various points during the semester and will cover readings, lectures, class presentations, and discussions. Point values will be between 30 and 60 points. Vocabulary Quizzes will be given throughout the semester and will either be short answer, matching or fill in the blank. All vocabulary quizzes will cover the chapters in the textbook. You must, therefore, read the chapters when they are assigned. Most quizzes will be worth between 15 and 30 points. Essay quizzes: Some ideas are so important that you will be expected to write an essay to show that you understand the issues. The quizzes will either be done in class or as take home essays and will be worth 20 or 30 points. Daily quizzes: A five-point quiz will be given at the beginning of the class period. Most of the time they will be a review of the material covered in a previous class period. These quizzes may not be made up. The total points per week is 20; there are sixteen weeks in the semester so these little quizzes will be worth a lot of points by the end of the semester. Study Guides: You will be given a study guide for the material to be covered on the exam. The guide will include all of the potential questions on the exam. If a question is not on the study guide, it will not be on the exam. Assignments: Other class work will include readings from various sources and may include worksheets. For most of the readings, you will be expected to analyze what you read, what you learned, and what your reaction was in a short essay. Most class assignments and lecture notes will be posted on D2L. I may hand out a few assignments in class but that will be the exception not the rule. You must check D2L often to make sure nothing new has been posted. Assignments will not be available beyond the due date. Class notes will be made available to you. If you are sick, involved in a school activity, or dealing with a family crisis, you must be responsible for accessing the course materials you need from the course website.
Grades: Sloppy work on your assignments is absolutely not acceptable. You must proof read your work! If you turn in an assignment with multiple grammatical and spelling errors, your grade will start at a C and go down from there! If you do the assignments right the first time, you will not have to worry about this issue. Some assignments will only be checked to be sure you completed them. All grades are awarded on a strict percentage basis. There is no curve. A 90-100% B 80-89% C 70-79% D 60-69% F 59% and below All grades will be posted on D2L as soon as I have completed them. You are responsible for checking D2L on a regular basis. You must be responsible for keeping yourself updated on your progress throughout the semester. Classroom Policies and Conduct: Email correspondence and communication The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act obligates VCC to protect your privacy. For that reason, all email communications with you must be done utilizing your VCC student email account. This is to protect your privacy and ensure that someone else will not gain access to your data by setting up a non-secure account in your name. As a result, you must check your VCC email account regularly. I will not respond to any emails sent from an account other than your VCC email address. Attendance is required. If you miss class, you will suffer the following consequences: (a) you will do poorly on exams; (b) you will miss quizzes with no chance to make them up; (c) you will lose points on group projects that are assigned in class; (d) you will not be allowed to hand in any assignment that is due on the day you are absent unless you have notified me before class. Notifying me before class just allows you to make up your work or hand in an assignment late; you will not receive any points for assignments completed in class even if you have an excused absence. Classroom behavior: While classroom participation is expected and welcomed, you must respect your classmates right to learn. You will be asked to leave if you fail to adhere to the following policies:
a. Electronic devices including but not limited to laptop computers, ipads, cell phones, headphones, PDAs and Blackberries may be used on occasion to assist the class with important information, but only if I authorize their use. You may not use any of the devices for personal business. You are expected to turn them off and store them in your book bag during the class period. If you are caught surfing the internet, texting, or playing with the device, your equipment will be taken from you and returned at the end of class. b. No private conversations; share your thoughts with the group. c. No disrespectful behavior shown to members of the entire class or those in your small group. d. Feet on the floor not on the chairs or tables. e. No disruptive comments during presentations of classroom material. Raise your hand if you wish to comment or ask a question. f. Check your cynicism at the door; it is damaging to democracy. Tardiness: Be on time. Start practicing for the real world. Employers do not like to keep workers who are continually late Assignments: You are responsible for being in class when announcements about assignments, readings, study guides and notes are made. Academic Integrity: While you are encouraged to discuss assignments with your classmates, all work submitted for a grade must be your own. No excuse will be accepted.
Do not copy anything from another student, a reading assignment or a web site. Plagiarism and cheating will not be tolerated and will result in an automatic zero on the assignment. If the infraction is egregious, it will result in automatic failure of the course and will be reported in accordance with the conduct code in the student handbook. Make-up Policy: Make-up exams will be allowed only if you are hospitalized, a family member is hospitalized or has died, or you are ill or participating in a college sanctioned activity and have an excused absence. The make-up exam will be different from the exam given in class. I will choose the questions you will answer. You will not have any choice as to which questions you answer on the make-up exam. No make-up exams will be allowed for anyone who does not notify me before class. The exam must be taken within one week of the original test date or it will become an automatic zero. All other assignments and quizzes must be turned in on the due date. No late papers will be accepted unless you have one of your coupons. But all late assignments that are turned in with a coupon must be submitted within 24 hours, or you will receive a zero on the assignment. Quizzes may not be made up without a coupon. In-class assignments may not be made up. If you are have used your coupons and are not in class for a quiz or in-class assignment, you will receive a zero for that assignment. Support and Assistance: If you need help or need to discuss anything at all, talk to me! I will always try to be available to meet with you. If you have a personal problem, do not ignore it so it hurts your performance in class or your grade. I want you to do the best work you can do in this class. If you have a personal problem or a family issue that is making it difficult for you to succeed in class, please let me know or talk to an advisor or counselor
in student services. The staff in student services is there to help you, to offer moral support (so am I), to put you in touch with services to assist you, and to teach time and stress management. Hints for Success: 1. Keep up with assigned readings. Procrastination leads to poor performance on exams. 2. Learn the vocabulary and facts of the course; it is half the battle. 3. Form a study group; it will make it easier to study. 4. Ask questions. If you are confused, so are others in class. Help yourself by speaking up. 5. Be prepared and on time. Class will be more fun if you have done your homework. You will also do better on exams and in class discussions. 6. Have Fun! This is a fun course, and you will learn things here that will serve you when you are 75 and using a cane. Guaranteed! Tentative Schedule: All due dates will be announced at the time the assignment is handed out.
Part One: pages 2 through 86 a. Hand out syllabus. b. Introduction to the course and to history. c. How to take an essay test. d. Why Study World History? Read the Prologue: From Cosmic History to Human History and pages 2-53 in Ways of the World e. Chapters 2 and 3: First Farmers and First Civilizations f. Begin reading When Asia Was the World. Part One assessments Part Two: pages 86 through 206 a. Chapter 4: Eurasian Empires b. Chapter 5: Eurasian Cultural Traditions c. Chapter 6: Eurasian Social Hierarchies d. Chapter 7: Classical Era Variations
e. Completion of When Asia Was the World assignments and projects f. Begin reading: Genghis Khan Part Two assessments Part Three: pages 208-394 a. Chapter 8: Commerce and Culture b. Chapter 9: China and the World c. Chapter 10: The Worlds of European Christendom d. Chapter 11: The Worlds of Islam e. Chapter 12: Pastoral Peoples f. Worksheet on the World s Great Religions: Material from Chapter 5 and Chapters 9-11 g. Completion of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World assignments and project