History 105: World History I

Spring 2012, DHC 206

Professor Jonathan Skaff

I. Course Description

This course is an introduction to the world’s history until approximately the year 1500. It begins at the dawn of humankind and ends at a time when the world’s cultural zones were coming into closer and more intense contact. This course will help you to appreciate the origins of some of the world’s diverse cultures, religions, and technologies. You also will learn about the key role of cultural contact and exchange in humanity’s development.

World History is an enormous topic that cannot be covered comprehensively. Consequently, our goal will be to identify major patterns and developments in humanity’s long history. Each section of the syllabus highlights a major trend in early world history. We will try to understand these trends by studying important and illuminating case studies. Your goal as a student will be to understand how the specific case studies reflect the major trends. Comparisons of case studies play an important role in this process.

The class also will concentrate on developing general education study skills that help students succeed in college and the real world. You will have the opportunity to improve your reading, writing, public speaking, and critical thinking. Discussions, papers, and essays on exams are meant to encourage students to think critically. Like historians, students will be expected to analyze and interpret source materials (readings, photographs, videos, and lectures) and compare different historical case studies.

Do you want to be a successful student? An important study aid will be my personal website where the syllabus for this class is posted (see website address above). Each class session on the syllabus has a link to a study guide. Each study guide lists KEY TERMS from the lecture marked with *asterisks, and STUDY QUESTIONS about the lecture and readings. All quizzes and exams are based on the *key terms and study questions.

II. Requirements

1. Attend class and take notes on the lectures and discussions (See Policy 1 below, 5%)

2. Serve 4 times as an in-class discussant (See Policy 2 below, 15%).

3. 7 ten-minute multiple-choice quizzes that begin at 8 AM sharp (10%)

4. 2 papers (25%)

5. 2 one-hour exams with essay and multiple-choice questions (25%)

6. Cumulative two-hour final exam with essay and multiple-choice questions (20%)

THE FINAL EXAM IS CUMULATIVE. Take good notes throughout the semester.

III. Policies

1. I take attendance at the beginning of each session. The attendance grade is based on the percentage of classes that you attend. For example, coming to 95% of class sessions is an A.

2. The class will be divided into 6 groups of 7 students. Each group will serve as discussants 4 times this semester. The dates are listed in the schedule below. Discussants should bring readings and books to class, and be prepared to answer all study questions on the assigned readings and any additional questions that I may ask during the lecture. Each discussant will be awarded a grade according to the following standards:

90-100: Discussant demonstrates mastery of readings by making insightful comments and pointing out specific lines of text that support his/her ideas.

80-89: Discussant demonstrates that he/she has completed reading assignments.

60-79: Discussant participates in discussion without giving evidence of having completed the reading.

50: Discussant attends class on assigned date without speaking.

0: Discussant has an unexcused absence on assigned date.

3. Absences will be excused if you can document a serious illness, family emergency, varsity athletic event, military duty or religious observance. Only students with documented excuses can drop quizzes or make up exams and discussant assignments. Students who were sick must give me a doctor’s note. For a family emergency, I require a phone call from a parent or guardian, or a death notice. Athletes should provide a memo from the head coach with the team schedule. If you have military duty, inform your dean’s office. They will send notification to all of your professors. The university’s policy on religious observances is the following: “At the beginning of each academic session (fall, spring, summer), the student will be required (in writing) to provide his/her faculty with the dates of scheduled religious observances.” Commuters should leave home early to assure that they arrive on time for quizzes.

4. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. I encourage you to study together with other students, but all quizzes, exams and papers must be completed without the assistance of others. To prevent cheating during tests, no cell phones, electronic devices, notes, papers, books or other objects may be handled or looked at. Cases of academic dishonesty will be dealt with according to the policies described in the Undergraduate Catalog, pp. 25-26. Students who violate university policies on academic dishonesty will receive a maximum penalty of a grade of “F” for the course.

5. All electronic devices are banned in class, except for those used to take notes or view course readings. Recent educational research has shown that electronic communications, including text messaging, create distractions that hinder learning. Violations of this policy will result in attendance grade of Zero for that day’s class session. Students looking at or handling electronic devices during quizzes or exams will receive a grade of “F”.

6. According to university policy, World History I is a general education “Required Skills and Competencies” course that you must pass in order to graduate. If you need help overcoming academic problems, please see me during office hours or seek help from the Learning Center in the Lehman Library.

7. I assign letter grades to the following numerical scores:

IV. Readings

A. Main Textbook

Hansen, Valerie. Voyages in World History: Volume 1 to 1600. 1st ed. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2010.

B. Supplementary Readings

Andrea, Alfred J., and James H. Overfield. The Human Record: Sources of Global History, Volume I, to 1700. 5^th ed. Vol. 1. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005.

Online readings linked to the Skaff website syllabus (See website address above.)

Electronic reserves: http://ares.ship.edu/ares/ (You may need to create an account.)