"Plagiarism consists of any of the following: quoting directly from any source of material--including other students' work and materials purchased from research consultants-- without appropriately citing the source and identifying the quoted material;  knowingly citing an incorrect source, using ideas (i.e., material other than information that is common knowledge) from any source of material--including other students' work and materials purchased from research consultants-- without citing the source and identifying the borrowed material" (For further information see the Student Handbook).

Copying other student's work in any way, cheating on exams or any assignments, and any other form of academic dishonesty, no matter how minute or extensive, will result in an automatic grade of "F" for the course and automatic referral to the Dean's office for possible disciplinary action by the university.

This course is a chronological and global survey of "Europeans and the World" from the 1500s through the 20th century. Since the course covers nearly four centuries of sometimes very diverse history which virtually spans the globe, two major themes (TRADITION and ENCOUNTER) are used to give it a sense of order. The course will stress the economic, technological, social, political, intellectual, cultural, and military development and expansion of "Western Society," its interaction with other parts of the world and other cultures, and the results that those "traditions and encounters" produced.

The development of European civilization and its subsequent expansion throughout the globe after 1500 (first in the Americas and later in Africa and Asia) has been one of history's most important and significant trends.  There is no doubt that the worldwide expansion of European civilization over the past few centuries has profoundly influenced peoples' lives throughout the world.  European expansion exported ideas, systems of government, economy, and society throughout the world. Armies of soldiers, and more significantly, armies of colonists, conquered territories and established new pockets of European society in far off lands. Millions of peoples began world migrations, both forced and unforced, to many new and different places. Different peoples came into contact and influenced each other. Intellectual, technological, social, economic and political innovation led to further development and expansion. Slowly, a more "global" society with profound interaction was created which spread its ideas, problems, successes, conflicts, and tyranny through much of the world.

This course differs from a "Western Civilization" course in fundatmental ways:  its emphasis and coverage is more global and attempts to capture an idea of global proceeses and effects.  It will attempt to offer a more global perspective on our collective past giving active participation to the societies involved.  In essence, it tries to achieve a more balanced approach to understanding the interconnections between societies and the impact they had on each other.  For example, the conquistadores had a profound impact on the civilizations of the Americas and the history of the region, but those societies, peoples, and civilizations also played a role in subsequent development:  The Mayan, Incan, and Aztec civilizations may be gone, but the people and their traditions, even many of the strucutres and buildings remain and endure.  In other words, conquest was not unidirectional or all-encompassing.

Because the European world expanded dramatically after 1500 does not mean that it transformed the world in a complete way, or "westernized" it completely.  In fact, the the opposite is true.  The dual themes of the course, TRADITION AND ENCOUNTER, are intended to describe the world as the process continued (and continues!):  a process of give and take, push and pull, and active interaction.  It was not just a process of conquest and destruction by the Western world over other parts of the world but an active and extraordinary process of encounter and resistance, sometimes cooperation and endurance of tradition, and often times conflict.

In essence, this course will try to discover what the term "globalization" means to us and why it is important in terms of who we are as humans in our modern world. The basic question to remember as we travel through centuries of history is "How did we get to where we are today and what does it mean?"

1.  GENERAL:
Reading all the assignments by the beginning of the assigned week, regular attendance to lectures, document reviews, a term paper project, midterm exam, and a comprehensive final exam.  All students are strongly encouraged to ask questions throughout the lectures, and ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN DISCUSSION--DISCUSSION participation is worth 5% of the final grade which WILL often make the difference between one grade and another.

Due dates are cast in stone! There will be no make up exams and late assignments, including assignments not turned in at the beginning of class the day they are due because of absence, will not be accepted resulting in a failing grade for that assignment/exam.  Only in the case of extreme family or personal emergency, with prior discussion and a written doctor's letter, will I even begin to consider a deviation from this policy.

2.  ATTENDANCE:
Students are required to attend classes regularly and not miss more than THREE classes during the semester. Please remember that the lectures, discussion, and the readings are the core of this course. Every two class periods missed after the first THREE, for example absences five and six, will result in an automatic full grade reduction for the final grade.  THE MAXIMUM THREE MISSED CLASSES INCLUDES ANY AND ALL REASONS INCLUDING SICK DAYS, PERSONAL DAYS, HOSPITALIZATION, TRAVEL, ETC.  DO NOT CALL ME TO TELL ME YOU ARE SICK BECAUSE IT DOES NOT MATTER.  Only in the case of extreme personal emergency, with prior notification, discussion, and a written doctor's letter, will I even begin to consider a deviation from this policy.  In 99% of cases, however, I will not deviate from this policy.

3.  CLASS EVALUATION:
DISCUSSION/DOCUMENT REVIEWS    10%
TERM PAPER PROJECT                            20%
MIDTERM EXAM                                      30%
FINAL EXAM                                             40%
_________________________________________________
TOTAL                                                        100%

The grading scale is:
 

A	Excellent	93-100%
A-		90-92%
B+		87-89%
B	Good	83-86%
B-		80-82%
C+		77-79%
C	Fair	73-76%
C-		70-72%
D	Poor/Passing	60-69%
F	Failing	less than 59%

STUDENT PROGRESS WILL BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION!

4.  TERM PAPER PROJECT:
Each student will write a 7 to 10 page research paper focusing on one of the course's two main themes (TRADITIONS and ENCOUNTERS) through a concrete historical analysis  There are four primary goals in this project:
1.)  To explore the Humanities Base Themes from a concrete historical perspective.
2.)  To build basic research, analysis, and communication skills.
3.)  To explore the concept of glabaliztion from an historical perspective in order to give it some meaning.
4.)  To build confidence in using, analyzing, and building online resources as part of the educational experience of history students.

An alternative to the traditional research paper is to take the research paper and make it into a WEBPAGE PRESENTATION FOR EXTRA CREDIT.  See the section in my webpage entitled STUDENT WEB PROJECTS  for examples.