HIST 122: Western Civilization II

Spring 2005
Course Description and Schedule

3 credits
Section 035: 12:30-1:45 TTh, OM 106

Catalog description: SURVEYS THE DEVELOPMENT OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION FROM THE REFORMATION ERA TO THE PRESENT.. No prerequisites; no unusual technology skills required.

This is the second of a two-part survey of Western Civilization and introduces students to some of the leading figures, ideas, and events of the modern world. It also exposes students to the concerns and methods of historical inquiry through lectures, analysis and discussion of selected texts, and writing of short papers.  The goal of this course is for the student not only to acquire historical information but also to learn through example (lectures, textbook) and practice (discussions, essay examinations, papers) a historical/critical method of thought and expression.

Students must read all assignments, attend every lecture, take notes, participate in discussions, and secure this syllabus and all handouts--which contain chronological and geographical background to the lectures and readings--from the instructor's web page. In addition, each student writes five mini-themes of one to two pages. Students who expect to miss more than three meetings should see the instructor within the first week. A set of study questions, also available on-line, will assist the student preparing for examinations.

There will be a midterm exam 15 Feb, covering parts one and two of the course; another 29 Mar, covering parts three and four; and a final exam TBA, covering parts five and six. Exams consist of one long and a choice of two out of three short essay questions; the final exam includes a comprehensive essay question. Each student will write a mini-theme on a choice of suggested topics for each reading, due on the assigned date during discussion of the topics.  The first and second midterms count 50 points each, the final 75, and the mini-themes 100 points (20 points each), for a total of 275 possible points.

Students who wish to arrange another method of evaluation should see the instructor within the first two weeks. By all means consult the Top 10 Ways to Lower Your Grade in Humanities.

See the end of the syllabus for additional information concerning cheating, ADA policy, and outcomes of learning.

Required Books

• Jackson J. Spielvogel. Western Civilization: A Brief History. 2d ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2002. 0534587070
• John Webster.  The Duchess of Malfi.  Mineola, NY: Dover, 1999.  0486406601
• Madame de Sévigné.  Selected Letters.  Trans Leonard Tancock.  London: Penguin, 1982.  014044405X
• Jonathan Swift.  Gulliver's Travels and Other Writings.  Ed Miriam Kosh Starkman.  New York: Bantam Classic,1984.  055321232X
• Henrik Ibsen.  A Doll House.  Mineola, NY: Dover, 1992.  0486270629
• Simone De Beauvoir.  The Second Sex.  Trans H M Parshley.  New York: Vintage Books, 1989.  0679724516

Recommended Book

Kate L Turabian. A Manual for Writers. 6^th ed. Chicago: Univ of Chicago Press, 1996.

The Mini-themes

A. Webster's Duchess of Malfi (20 January)

• "An Honorable Marriage."  Compare the various attitudes toward love and marriage that appear in the play.
• "The Ideal Servant."  Explain Bosola's motivation and compare his actions and his aspirations.
• "The Source of Virtue."  Explain the ideas in the play concerning whether people are born good or bad, or learn to be good or bad.

B. De Sévigné's Letters, 55-175 (3 Feb)

• "A Privileged Woman's Life."  What sorts of things interest de Sévigné?  Does she seem more interested in private or public affairs?  How active can her interests become; that is, can she affect affairs as well as observe them?
• "A Desirable Marriage."  Compare the various attitudes toward love and marriage that appear in the letters.
• "A Sense of Class."  Madame de Sévigné moves among the aristocrats and shares their concerns.  Does she ever notice people of a lower class?  What is her attitude toward them?

C. Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1 Mar)

• "On Human Nature." Describe the arguments about the nature of man that various characters present. Which do you think is Swift's view of the nature of man?
• "Life in Gulliver's England." Being careful to think through Swift's exaggerations and satires as he describes England to the people he meets, try to describe very generally what it was like to live in England in the eighteenth century. What aspects of this life appeal to you? What aspects do you find especially repugnant?
• "The Enlightenment Project."  What does Swift think of attempts to improve human beings and their institutions?  Do you think one can read Gulliver's Travels as a positive contribution to the Enlightenment project, or is it negative only?

D. Ibsen's Doll House (17 Mar)

• "Bourgeois Values."  By what values do the Helmers evaluate each other and their neighbors?  What values guide their actions, relationships, style of life, and even their thoughts?
• "A Bourgeois Family."  What does Torvald want out of his family?  What does Nora want?  What happens when their desires conflict?
• "The Good Life."  What do the Helmers think they need to live a good life?  Use them as an example to illustrate what "the good life" meant to the members of a typical bourgeois family.

E. De Beauvoir, The Second Sex, xix-xlii, 1-198, 253-63,  679-732 (19 Apr)

• "Woman as the Other."  Summarize de Beauvoir's explanation for the subordination of women on biological and historical grounds.  Evaluate her philosophical explanation of women's status from the existentialist point of view.
• "History and Biology."  De Beauvoir explains that never in her life is woman "at once effective and independent."  This condition derives ultimately from the fact that woman is subordinated to the species in ways that men are not.  Do you agree with her argument?   Do you share  her hope that new economic conditions will alleviate the problem. 
• "The Battle of the Sexes."  Summarize de Beauvoir's history of the relations between the sexes.  Does her analysis elucidate the cliché that men cannot live with women, nor can they live without them?

Schedule

Click here for chronology sheet.

Click here for study guides.

Part 7: Absolutism and Enlightenment [Spielvogel chs 15-18]

Part 8: The Age of Revolutions [Spielvogel chs 19-20]

Part 9: A Century of Ideas [Spielvogel chs 21-23]

Part 10: Turn of the Century [Spielvogel chs 24-25]

Part 11: The Twentieth Century [Spielvogel chs 26-29]