HIST 122 - Western Civilization I

3 Credits: (3 lecture)

Course Description
This course introduces western civilization from pre-history to the early Renaissance. Topics include early civilizations, ancient Greece, Rome, the Middle Ages, and the emergence of national monarchies in Western Europe. Analysis of significant political, socioeconomic, and cultural developments in early western civilization will be emphasized. This course meets the General Education competency of Values, Ethics, and Diverse Perspectives (VE).

Text
Hunt, Lynn, et al. The Making of the West, Volume 1: To 1750: People and Cultures. 7th ed. MPS, 2022.

Objectives
The student will be able to:

A. Examine ethical problems and historical data from a variety of social and professional perspectives and interpretations. (VE)

B. Examine the complexity of global humanity diversity and the various forces that shape it. (VE)

C. Explain the history of Western Civilization stretching from the earliest human civilizations to the Renaissance.

D. Characterize the artistic and cultural heritage of Western Civilization.

E. Describe the rise of the major monotheistic religions present in Western Civilization such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

F. Identify defining features of the major ancient cultures of Western Civilization such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome.

G. Assess the social, economic, and cultural factors involved in the rise of Medieval European civilization and the rebirth of the Renaissance.

Content
A. Early Civilizations: Mesopotamia to Egypt

B. The Creation of Empires: Greece and Rome 1700 BCE to 500 CE

C. The Transformation of Rome: the collapse of the Roman Empire and the emergence of feudalism 500 CE to 950 CE

D. The Medieval World: the expansion and consolidation of Europe 950 CE to1350 CE

E. The Age of Rebirth: the crises of the late Middle Ages to the rebirth of the Renaissance 1350 CE to 1500 CE

Student Evaluation
A.- G. Class discussion, essay and objective exam questions.

Bibliography
Birnbaum, Pierre and Ira Katznelson. Paths of Emancipation: Jews, States, and Citizenship. Princeton, 1995.

Cantor, Norman F. In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Plague & the World It Made. Perennial, 2002.

Carr, Matthew. Blood and Faith: The Purging of Muslim Spain. New, 2009.

Crofton, Ian. The Kings and Queens of England. Quercus, 2006.

Dahmus, Joseph Henry. Seven Medieval Kings. Doubleday, 1967.

Graff, Harvey J. (ed.) Literacy and Social Development in the West. Cambridge, 1981.

Grant, Michael. The Roman Emperors. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1985.

Hunt, Lynn, Thomas R. Martin, Barbara Rosenwein, and Bonnie Smith. The Making of

the West. Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2013.

Hupchick, Dennis P. and R. William Weisberger. Hungary’s Historical Legacies:

Studies in Honor of Steven Bela Vardy. East European Monograph Series of Columbia, 2000.

Lacey, Robert, and Danny Danziger. The Year 1000: What Life Was like at the Turn of the First Millennium: An Englishman’s World. Little, Brown, 1999.

Levine, Joseph M. The Battle of the Books: History and Literature in the Augustine Age. Harvard, 1992.

Nagle, D. Brendan, and Stanley Mayer. Burstein. The Ancient World: Readings in Social and Cultural History. Prentice Hall, 1995.

Peters, Edward. Europe and the Middle Ages. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004.

Rhodes, P.J. The Greek City States. Oklahoma, 1986.

Tuchman, Barbara W. A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century. Knopf, 1978.

Tyerman, Christopher. God’s War: A New History of the Crusades. Belknap of Harvard

UP, 2006.