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History 151: World History I

Summer 2014 Syllabus

Instructor: Patrick M Patterson

Contents
Transfer of Credit
Student Learning Outcomes
Assignments and Examinations
Assignment and Exam Specifics
Knowledge Surveys:
Quizzes:
Midterm Exams:
Final Exam:
Students with Disabilities Statement
Student Conduct Code
SAFE Zone
Late Assignments and exams
Plagiarism (Copying)
Cheating on Exams and Quizzes
Keeping Records of Your Work
Effort and Assigning Grades
Class Schedule:

 

 

Course Description
History 151:  World Civilizations I: This course is a survey of human history from the earliest times to about 1500 CE.
Contacting the Instructor Name:   Pat Patterson
Phone: (808) 845-9417
e-mail: Through laulima, or at ppatters@hawaii.edu
Office Hours: Virtual Office Hours 9:00-10:00 AM Monday-Thursday (any time via e-mail)
Office Location:   Building 72B (by appointment if you want to meet me on campus)
Transfer of Credit
This course transfers to all UH System campuses.  At those campuses participating in the System Foundations Agreement, this course transfers with a Foundations/Global A designation.
Student Learning Outcomes
In this course, you will learn, and be able to demonstrate the ability to:
1. Demonstrate cause/effect relationships in history.
2. Summarize key ideas in history, including major world philosophies, religions, and    political theories and systems.
3. Demonstrate an ability to compare and contrast historical experiences across cultures and time.
4.  Describe and define major historical events, ideas, places, people, and other items.
5.  Demonstrate understanding of the historical roots of current events.
6.  Write an effective historical argument.

Textbooks: McKay, Buckler, et al, Understanding World Societies, Vol. I: To 1600 (1st Edition)

Assignments and Examinations

Assignments and Examinations
Assignment	Grade Value
Quizzes	20%
Discussions	30%
Midterm Exams (2)	30%
Final Exam	20%
Total possible	100%

 

Assignment and Exam Specifics

To find your running grade, go to Gradebook in the left hand tool bar. You'll be able to see all of your scores, and your running average based on the total possible for each assignment and exam.

End of Semester Course Evaluations:
At the end of the semester you will be asked to complete several course evaluations. There will be a standard evaluation of the class (that will come from an organization called eCafe at UH Manoa). There will be a Distance Education Evaluation. There will be a History Course Evaltuation. You will receive 10 points extra credit for each survey you complete, for a total possible extra credit of 10% of the overall course grade. All of them will come to you online, and are convenient, lasting only about 5 minutes. Please take these and claim your extra credit.

Quizzes:

Quizzes will be given weekly in the Tasks, Tests, and Surveys tool. These quizzes are designed to help you learn historical terms, concepts, and methods. They may include questions of all types. Quizzes are worth 20% of your overall course grade, so missing one quiz is not a big deal, but missing more than a couple will lower your grade substantially.

Chat/Discussions:

This semester, all discussion will take place via the Laulima Discussion and Private Messages tool. The Discussion and Private Messages tool is open 24-7, and all discussions are recorded. This should make for a lively discussion process - we'll all be free to engage each other as often as possible. You do not have to be in the discussion at any particular time, but you do have to participate. This is worth 30% of your grade. I will conduct study review sessions, and regular weekly discussions via this tool. You must participate in discussions. I encourage you to find friends in the class who can meet at the same time that you do, and spend time discussing the questions and the responses of other students during that time. Remember that all of your posts are public and recorded. Use restraint - don't make personal comments about others, exercise polite speech - don't flame members of the class. There is a set of discussion standards that you are required to follow - please be sure to review those to be sure that the moderator *(me) does not have to erase your post or deny you credit for your work. Your posts should be supported by historical evidence.

Midterm Exams:
There is one midterm exam in the course. The questions for the midterm will be rooted in the content and analysis from your chat/discussions, from the textbook, and from lectures provided by the instructor. You will be asked to demonstrate an understanding of history terms, and to answer questions that require you to analyze historical events in a world historical context.  If you do not take the exam on the scheduled day, you may only make it up if you have a valid medical excuse.  Exams are scheduled well ahead of time.  It is your responsibility be present for the exam. Each midterm is worth 15% of your grade.

For all late exams, regardless of the reason, a grade penalty equivalent to one full grade level for each week the exam is late will be exacted.  (The first week begins on the day immediately after the day the exam is due.  So, if an exam is scheduled for Monday through Sunday, and you are given a make-up exam, and take it on the Monday immediately after the exam was due, your penalty is to lose one grade level - if you earned a B, it will be recorde as a C, for example).

 

Final Exam:
There will be a final exam in the course.  The questions for the final exam will be rooted in the content and analysis from your chat/ discussions, the textbook chapters, and lectures by the instructor. You will be asked to demonstrate an understanding of history terms, and to answer questions that require you to analyze historical events in a world historical context. If you do not take the exam on the scheduled day, you may only make it up if you have a valid medical excuse.  Exams are scheduled well ahead of time.  It is your responsibility be present for the exam. The final exam is worth 20% of your grade.

For all late exams, regardless of the reason, a grade penalty equivalent to one full grade level for each week the exam is late will be exacted.  (The first week begins on the day immediately after the day the exam is due.  So, if an exam is scheduled for Monday through Sunday, and you are given a make-up exam, and take it on the Monday immediately after the exam was due, your penalty is to lose one grade level - if you earned a B, it will be recorde as a C, for example).

Students with Disabilities Statement
Students in this class who need accommodations for a disability should submit documentation and requests to the Services for Students with Disabilities Office (SSD) in Bldg. 2, Room 108A.  Phone 845-9282 voice/text or 845-9272 voice/text for more information.  If you have already registered your requests with SSD this semester, please contact the instructor and be prepared to provide a current verification letter from SSD. (rev. 3-29-2004)

Student Conduct Code
Students in this class will be expected to follow the HCC and UH student conduct code (http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/policies/scc.pdf)

SAFE Zone
This virtual classroom is a Safe Zone.  You may disagree with other students or the instructor, but you are required to listen/read with respect and to address others' ideas seriously and respectfully.  We can have a debate without intimidation or anger.  Disruption, intimidation, or other forms of physical, verbal, or digital abuse or harassment will result in expulsion from the class temporarily or permanently and will have a negative impact on grades up to and including a failing grade for assignments and/or the course as a whole.

Late Assignments and exams

Late assignments will not be accepted.  Discussions and knowledge surveys may not be turned in late for any reason.  Personal injury or illness, the illness, injury, or even loss of loved ones is tragic, and I sympathize and have experienced those things myself.  These are not reasons to delay coursework.  You may turn any assignment in early for one of these reasons.  You may choose to miss an assignment for these or other reasons, and those choices are yours to make.  However, turning them in late is not an option in this course.
Exams may be made up, according to the policy noted above in the section on assignments and exams.  Make-ups may only occur with a valid medical excuse.  Make-up exams will be different from exams taken by the rest of the class during the exam week.  For each week an exam is late, one grade level will be taken from the score (the first week, and first grade level drop, begins on the day after the exam is due) regardless of the reason for taking the exam late.   

Plagiarism (Copying)
Plagiarism will not be tolerated in this class.  If you do not know what plagiarism is, be sure to learn.  I will be checking every paper and every discussion post for plagiarism.  Any use of the words, or the ideas of another person without giving credit to them is plagiarism.  Further, any re-use of your own or another student's work, turned in for another class or another assignment, is also plagiarism.  According to the UH Student Conduct Code, any instance of plagiarism is grounds for expulsion.
My policy is very simple.  If you plagiarize once, you fail the assignment on which plagiarism was found.  There is no appeal and no credit.  If you plagiarize twice, you fail the course, and the Administration will be notified.  I don't bend on this. 
DON'T PLAGIARIZE!

Cheating on Exams and Quizzes
DON'T CHEAT!
Any student who is found to be cheating will fail the course, and the administration will be notified.  According to the UH Code of Student Conduct:
"Cheating includes, but is not limited to, giving or receiving unauthorized assistance during an examination; obtaining or distributing unauthorized information about an examination before it is given; using inappropriate or unallowable sources of information during an examination; falsifying data in experiments or other research; altering the record of any grade; altering answers after an examination has been submitted; falsifying any official University record; or misrepresenting the facts in order to obtain exemptions from course requirements."

Keeping Records of Your Work
Keep all assignments you turn in for class.  If the instructor requires copies in order to verify grades, you must be able to provide them.  This is the responsibility of the student, as well as the instructor, and helps to avoid the problems that can occur in the event of unintentional loss of data.

Effort and Assigning Grades
Grades in this course will be assigned based on performance only.  The instructor has no way to measure how long you studied, or how hard you may have tried.
If you wish to dispute a grade, you may do so.  Understand that disputes will be adjudicated based on the grading rubric for the assignment, and references to effort and time spent will have no effect.  Appeals to need of a grade for GPA reasons, or need to pass in order to graduate also will have no merit in adjudicating grading disputes.

Class Schedule:

Day 1 (May 27, 2014)

1. Get to know each other by going to the "Discussion & Private Messages" tool in the tool bar on the left of the Laulima home page. Click on "Self Introductions" to find the correct discussion thread. (yes, you do get chat points for this activity. Ham it up, ask each other questions, form study groups, talk about what interests you even if it is not history - really get to know each other).

2. Read the Unit 1 Discussion document, then answer the questions by going to the "Discussion & Private Messages" tool in the tool bar on the left of the Laulima home page. Click on "Unit 1 Discussion: Growth Mindset" to find the correct discussion thread. Once you read the document linked (it is also linked in the left-hand tool bar for easier access) then read the questions in my discussion post, click on "reply quote," or "quick reply" and answer the questions. Feel free to engage other students in discussing the ideas in the article.

Day 2 (Wednesay, May 28)
The Earliest Human Societies to 2500 BCE (Chapter 1)

A. Read your textbook (McKay), Chapter 1. (Optional: Unit 1 Power Point Presentation on Human Prehistory, Power Point on The Earliest Civilizations (Mesopotamia), Powerpoint on Ancient Egypt) (Optional podcasts on Chapter 1 of McKay)

C. View "The Bones of Turkana" on the earliest humans. Find the Bones of Turkana video here. (Incidentally, Turkana is currently the site of oil development in Kenya, a fact which is causing some controversy there, as the oil boom is creating development that threatens some key archaeological sites. Kenya is very proud of its achaeological importance, particularly in the Great Rift Valley region).

D. Play the Radioactive Dating Game

This is a game about how archaeologists use radioactive isotopes to date artifacts they find as they go about digging and understanding a site. Your assignment is to view the site, understand how radioactive dating (carbon-14 and Uranium-238) is used to find date ranges for objects. Then discuss what you found, and the process you went through to find it, on the class discussion site. (Discussions and Private Messages, in the menu bar to the right).

So a total of one discussion is due for this first unit. It must be finished by Sunday, June 1, at 11:55 PM.

Day 3 (Friday, May 29)

The Rise of the State in Southwest Asia and the Nile Valley 3200-500 BCE (Ch. 2)

A. Read your textbook, Chapter 2.

B. Play the Hammurabi Game. Post your answer to my question in the class discussion (click on "Discussion and Private Messages," then "Unit 2 Discussion", in the left-hand menu bar). The question has to do with your perceptions after the game of the primary needs and methods of early civilizations in Mesopotamia.

C. Take the weekly quiz. Go to "Tasks, Tests, and Surveys" in the left hand menu bar, and choose "Week 1 Quiz." This quiz will cover the first two chapters of the textbook, and the work we have done in discussions over the course of this first week. There will be a weekly quiz each week covering all material for that week. Each quiz will be due on the Sunday following the week's work at 11:55 PM. Each quiz will cover material from multiple chapters and discussion/lecture/game units.

So a total of one quiz and one discussion are due by Sunday, June 1, at 11:55 PM.

Week 2 Day 1 (Monday June 2)

The Foundation of Indian Society to 300 CE (Ch. 3)

A. Read your textbook, Chapter 3.

B. Read "Buddha's First Sermon" at the Internet Asian History Sourcebook. Answer the five questions at the bottom of the document for yourself (these are not due to me - they are to prepare you for the discussion) then answer the discussion question in "Discussion and Private Messages" in the left hand tool bar.

So a total of one discussion is due by Wednesday, June 4, at 11:55 PM.

Week 2 Day 3 (June 4)

China's Classical Age to 221 BCE (Ch. 4)

Assignment 4: The Qin State

A. Read your textbook, Chapter 4.

C. Watch the video on You Tube about Qin Shihuangdi's tomb. In "Discussion and Private Messages," go to "Unit 4 Discussion. Your assignment will be to discuss why you think that the Emperor went to such great lengths (i.e. 7,000 terra-cotta soldiers, a 2.3 square kilometer tomb enclosure, etc...) for his burial chamber. Please take some time to respond to each other. The goal is to get a conversation going on history!

What were the political effects he hoped to achieve?

What might the economic consequences have been?

What specific events and policies in his lifetime (see your textbook) might be useful in figuring out the answers to these questions?

So a total of one one discussion is due for this unit by Friday, June 6, at 11:55 PM.

Week 2 Day 5 (June 6)

Unit 5
The Greek Experience 3500-100 BCE (Ch. 5)

Assignment 5: Greek Lives

A. Read your textbook, Chapter 5.

B. Take the quiz. Go to "Tasks, Tests and Quizzes" in the left hand menu bar. Take the Week 2 quiz. This quiz covers all of the textbook, lecture and discussion work we did over the course of Week 2.

So a total of one quiz is due for this second week. The quiz must be finished by Sunday, June 8, at 11:55 PM.

Week 3 Day 1 (June 8-15)
The World of Rome 750 BCE to 400 CE (Ch. 6, pp. 142-173)

Midterm Exam #1 (This exam is available all week, but you must take the exam at a UH Testing Center)

Assignment 6: Roman Lives

A. Read your textbook, Chapter 6.

B. No quiz this week. Concentrate on your exam!

C. View the video of Rome Reconstructed here. Then view the images from the University of Virginia reconstruction of ancient Rome in this location. Finally, view the tour of Ancient Rome from the Ancient Worlds site (yes, you can play the mystery game, but you don't get credit for that part). The three reconstructions focus mostly on the same buildings and landmarks. Which buildings and landmarks do they all feature? Why do you think these buildings and landmarks are so important that most historical reconstructions of Rome would include them? What happened there, or in what ways are these sites important to Roman history? Use your textbook to find out, then discuss it with all of us on the discussion boards. Answer these questions in the class discussion (Discussions and Private Messages, in the left-hand menu bar).

So a total of one discussion is due for this unit. Both the discussion and the midterm exam must be finished by Sunday, June 15, at 11:59 PM.

Week 3 Day 3 (June 11)
East Asia and the Spread of Buddhism, 221 BCE-800 CE (Ch. 7, pp. 174-203)

Assignment 7: Tang China

MP3 lecture on Tang China and the Spread of Buddhism

A. Read your textbook, Chapter 7.

B. Remember, the midterm lasts all week. If you have not taken it yet, you need to get it done by Sunday. Most proctoring centers are not open on the weekend, so take the test as soon as you can.

C. Historians use more than just physical remains and artifacts (known as 'material culture') to uncover the past. Most often, we use documents. Primary sources are documents or artifacts created by someone who lived at the time of the events being studied, and had some direct knowledge of those events. A wonderful example of a primary source is the document linked here: excerpts (selected parts) of a document by the first Tang Emperor - Emperor Taizong, on effective government. To help prepare you for the midterm, on which a DBQ, or "Documents Based Question" is likely to appear, your assignment is to read the document closely, then analyze it by answering these questions in the discussion. Remember that you need to support your answer by quoting from the document.

Questions:
1. What solution does the emperor propose to the problem of how to govern a
vast territory?
2. What criteria do you think he employed in deciding that outlying
prefectures should be enfeoffed to relatives? Why relatives?
3. What are the strengths of this plan?
4. What are the weaknesses?
5. How could the weaknesses of this enfoeffment scheme be addressed while
still putting the plan into practice?

So a total of one discussion is due for this unit. Remember that both the discussion, and the midterm, must be finished by Sunday, June 15, at 11:55 PM).

Week 3, Day 5 (June 13)

Continuity and Change in Europe and Western Asia 200-850 (Ch. 8)

Assignment 8: Byzantine Law and Marriage

A. Read your textbook, Chapter 8.

B. Remember, the midterm lasts all week. If you have not taken it yet, you need to get it done by Sunday. Most proctoring centers are not open on the weekend, so take the test as soon as you can.

C. Read the document here on Byzantine matrimonial law. Then answer for yourself the questions below (no need to post these answers. they will help you to prepare.

1. Under what conditions can a son choose his own wife? Under what conditions must he accept the choice of his father and family?
2. Can a step brother and a step sister marry according to this law code?
3. Are men and women treated equally by the law when it comes to matters of marriage and adultery?
4. If a man and woman are living together consensually, under Byzantine law, could this be considered a marriage?
5. According to the definition of prostitution given in the law code, does money need to exchange hands for a woman to be considered a prostitute? Can a woman be considered a prostitute if money does change hands and she has sexual relations with only one or wo people that she has chosen for herself?

Discussion: When you have answered those questions for yourself, post an answer to this question in the Forums tool: How did marriage in the Byzantine Empire differ from our expectations of marriage today? Give specific examples. Be sure to include a quote of the relevant law, and give the number of the law so it can be easily found.

So a total of one discussion is due for this unit. Remember that both the discussion, and the midterm, must be finished by Sunday, June 15, at 11:55 PM. By Sunday, June 15, at 11:55 PM you should have turned in three discussions, and finished the midterm exam.

Week 4, Day 1 (June 16)
The Islamic World, 600-1400 (Ch. 9)

Assignment 9: The Origins of Islam

A. Read your textbook, Chapter 8.

B. Watch Islam: Empire of Faith, Episode 1: The Messenger.

Answer for yourself the following questions to help you with your discussion of the document to follow (no need to post these answers).

1. What were the uses of the Qa’ba?
2. What role did trade play in the development of Islam?
3. Why was Muhammad known as al Amin (the trusted one)?
4. What was the implication of the idea of one God in Islam?
5. What was the reason why Islam spread so rapidly?
6. What is the importance of verbal expression in Islam?
7. Why did believers call themselves “Muslims”?
8. What was God’s representation on Earth?
9. Why was the Hijra the “True beginning of Islam”?
10. How did Islam alter the tribal nature of Arab society?

Now, read these excerpts from the Sunna, then, in the Forums tool, answer the following question as a class by answering and responding to the answers given by others.

Muhammad left behind the Qur'an, which is the primary teaching document of Islam. However, in his last sermon he also exhorted his followers to use the Sunna as an example of proper behavior. The Sunna, which describes proper Muslim behavior, and the Hadith, which are collections of sayings about Muhammad's actual deeds, both compiled some years to two centuries after the Prophet's death, are today used as sacred texts that guide proper Muslim behavior.

Using the Sunna linked here, describe in prose form (with paragraphs and examples from the text) one of the behaviors considered positive by the Sunna. What is it, why is it considered to be positive, and what penalties does the Sunna prescribe in the event this behavior is not followed?

So a total of one discussion is due for this unit. This discussion, along with the weekly quiz, must be finished by Sunday, June 22, at 11:55 PM.

Week 4, Day 2 (June 18)
African Societies and Kingdoms 1000 BCE - 1500 CE (Ch. 10, pp. 266-328) Chapter outline

Week 4, Day 5 (June 20)
The Americas, 2500 BCE-1500 CE (Ch. 11, pp. 298-329) Chapter outline

Week 5, Day 1 (June 23)
Cultural Exchange in Central and Southern Asia to 1400 (Ch. 12, pp. 330-363) Chapter outline

Week 5, Day 3 (25)
States and Cultures in East Asia, 800-1400 (Ch. 13, pp. 364-391) Chapter outline

Week 5, Day 5 (June 27)
Europe in the Middle Ages, 800-1450 (Ch. 14, pp. 392-423)

Assignment 14: Medieval Europe

A. Read your textbook, Chapter 14.

B. Play the 1066 game. Who were the three primary belligerents in this conflict? There were more than one winner in the conflict. Can you explain who, and how that can be? How does what you learned fit, or not fit, with what you learned in your reading of Ch. 14 in the textbook?

C. Take the weekly quiz

Answer these questions in the class discussion (Discussions and Private Messages, in the left-hand menu bar).

So a total of one discussion is due for this unit. This discussion, along with the weekly quiz, must be finished by Sunday, June 29, at 11:55 PM.

Week 6, Day 1 (June 30) Last Unit! Final Exam This Week!
Europe in the Renaissance and Reformation (Ch. 15, pp. 424)

Final Exam

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