History Syllabus

Our mission is to understand themes & developments in world history to roughly 1600.  

• Learn about and use historical sources and methods in reading and in class.
• Think critically about government, religion, commerce, and culture, and how these things affected people’s lives.
• Discern main ideas, supportive arguments, and evidence presented in lectures, readings, and by classmates, and asked to critically assess that information.
• Communicate your ideas clearly in class and in written work, and support classmates as we work on these skills together.  
• Assignments and discussions provide practice for your work & life. Many American employers say that new employees can’t comprehend what they read, communicate clearly orally or in writing, or think critically. Let’s practice.

Required Texts:

• McKay, et al.  A History of World Societies, 10th ed., vol. 1, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2015.
• Other readings are on Canvas, the library, or the internet.

Turnitin.com class id: 13181188 password: china

Office hours are set aside for you, so come on in.

Your attendance is expected. Most students do attend class, and add to the classroom experience for us all. Class attendance is a “better predictor of college grades than another know predictor.”

Participation is welcome and important. Your grade will be higher if you participate because talking about material helps retain it. Participating in an informed, interested way is good practice for the work world, where diving in, working well with others, and getting it done will help get and keep a job. I look forward to learning with—and from—each of you.

Participation requires coming prepared by reading and thinking. Make a comment or ask a question at least once a week to earn a C+ in participation.  

• Disrupting your classmates (e.g., talking), sleeping in class, texting, doing other work, or being habitually late or leaving early are annoying and discourteous. Doing these things will earn you an F for participation.  

• Courtesy & respect towards all is expected.   

• If you must come to class late or leave early, sit close to the door and come or leave as quietly as possible. Be courteous to classmates taking notes.

• In-class quizzes are an opportunity to practice for the exams. Quizzes cannot be made up except in the case of a timely-documented excused absence. This is also true for exams. Latecomers will not have additional time to finish a quiz.

• All assignments must be completed to receive a passing grade in HY103.

• Missing 2 classes or more = 0% for participation.

• Late work will be accepted with 1/3rd letter grade deducted per day late (this includes weekend days).

• Please turn in a hard copy and a turnitin.com copy of your work. Both are required

• Student Success Center can help http://www.uah.edu/ssc

Plagiarism and Turn It In Papers must be submitted to me in hard copy and to http://www.turnitin.com by the due date. Most students are honest, & we expect you will be, too. Academic dishonesty of any type) is unacceptable.  

“UAH is committed to the fundamental values of preserving academic honesty as defined in the Student Handbook (7.III.A). The instructor reserves the right to utilize electronic means to help prevent plagiarism. Students agree that by taking this course all assignments are subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com.  Assignments submitted to Turnitin.com will be included as source documents in Turnitin.com's restricted access database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism in such documents. The terms that apply to the University's use of the Turnitin.com service, as well as additional information about the company, are described at lib.uah.edu/turnitin.”

Exams

The midterm & final will consist of 2 to 4 of the following:

Identification: define terms. Include who, what, when and where. Explain the historical importance of the term.

Short Essay: Present an organized, thoughtful response to a focused question.

Essay: This asks you to think about the big picture. Tie thematic ideas together across reading and lectures.  Connect and compare themes and events.

Map: 5-12 places will be on the final exam.

Map Quiz Places: These are the places you will need to recognize on a map during the map quizzes. The map we’ll be using can be found on canvas.

The final exam will include 6-12 places from lists 1, 2, and 3.

#1 Mesopotamia Tigris River Euphrates River Sumer Yellow River         Yangtze River Red Sea Nile River Ganges River Indus River

#2 Sardis Susa Persepolis Yellow River Yangtze River Mediterranean Sea Sahara Timbuktu Niani Senegal River Nile River Adulis Axum/Aksum Ganges River Magadha Kalinga Baghdad Mecca Carthage Rome

#3                         Grand Canal Canton/Guangzhou Malacca Mecca Baghdad Medina Spain Granada Sahara Senegal River Indian Ocean Istanbul Venice Black Sea

Assignments: Can be found on canvas or will be given in class.

 

Showcase your ability to interpret information, choose sources, work with others, develop an argument, & communicate your ideas clearly in these assignments.

Our main assignment is the History Video Project

Working in groups of 4-5 create a video of 4-5 minutes that communicates a focused historical, analytical point and explains why that point is significant. Your first task is to accurately research and describe your topic.  Your video should inform an intelligent, but uninformed viewer about your topic and how it matters to world history.  Your video should be interesting and engaging.

Pick your topic from the list below. Unlisted topics may be chosen, but require prior, written permission of the instructor. Topics must be between these dates: 4000 BCE – 1500 CE.

Topic list: Indian (Asian) math or science; Muslim science; T’ang poetry and literature; women in China or early Middle East; Chinese or Indian medicine; Indian or African trade; African technology; effect of early Islam on women; Chinese exams; effective of environmental change in China, India, or Africa; trade in the Indian Ocean.

Step 1: Bibliography 50 points/Assignments

• Goal: accurate, verifiable, historical sources for your project.
• Each group member will turn in one scholarly, academic, historical secondary source written after 1975 (not before 1975) that relates to your topic. Each source is a key research source for your group.  
• As a group, include at least one scholarly book and one scholarly article.

• Fill out a Secondary Source Worksheet (on canvas) for each source.

Step 2: Proposal: 50 points/Assignments

Write 1-1.5 pages (500-550 words) describing your research question.  

Goal: ensuring a historical, analytical topic. Answer the following questions in your proposal:

• What is your historical question?
• What do you want the viewer to understand and know?
• How is this topic significant in world history? What is important about this topic?  

Step 3: Script & Storyboard 100 points/Assignments

• Work as a team. Each team member must submit a part of this work, and it must be clear to your instructor which team member did what part of the work.
• Start with your historical question; the point you want your audience to understand; and the significance of that point.
• This is your blueprint for the video, and includes (1) what will be heard and said & (2) what will be seen on your video.  
• For the script: write out what will be said on the video and who will say it. Correctly cite any quotes or research used in the script (only approved research materials may be used). The written script should be about 500-600 words because this will take about 4-5 minute to read at a moderate pace.
• For the storyboard: create a visual or image track for the video. Describe (or draw) exactly what images (or who, if using “talking heads”) will be seen on the video, including how long that image will be seen (in seconds).  Provide citations for any images, maps, etc. you use. Use maps and images.
• Conclude with a works cited in Chicago format.
• You may use one video clip in your video, provided it is no longer than 20 seconds in duration.
• This will be graded based on a) Is what you say true and verifiable? b) is it sufficient or is essential information left out? c) Do you have proper citations for quotes and images? d) Is there sufficient bibliography at the end? That is, have you consulted and cited the most relevant and recent sources?

Step 4: Peer Evaluation 30 points/Assignments –instructions to be provided by instructor.

Step 5: Final Project Presentation 200 points/Assignments

• Upload a video of 4-5 minutes on Canvas (or enter a link to your video).
• Each group member must be heard in the video.
• At least 2 other groups will watch and evaluate your video, using the class peer evaluation tool.  

Step 6: Assessment of Project 100 points/Assignments

• Each individual student will write a 500-600 word essay assessing the project.
• Describe and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your video project. Discuss what you would change about the video, given more time.
• Evaluate the contributions made by each team member. Please be fair and accurate.
• Discuss what you learned in the process of doing this project.  

Criteria for grading the Historical Video Project:

Shows historical insight and methodology.

Does not summarize secondary sources, but answers a historical question.

Communicates your points clearly with engaging and accurate examples and information.

Informative and grabs audience’s attention.

Uses strong, academic, historical sources, and uses these sources responsibly.

Accurate and verifiable information used.

Date	Topic & Reading Due	Due and Things to Bring
Part I	Ancient Foundations
8-17	What in the World?
8-22	River Civilizations: The Pressed and the Peaceful , McKay pp. 33-51
8-24	River Civilizations: Pressed & Peaceful II, Plus Your BFF, Notes. “Taking Lecture Notes” from http://www.princeton.edu/mcgraw/library/for-students/great-notes/	Complete Syllabus Quiz on Canvas by 9 a.m.
8-29	River Civilizations: More or “Loess” Cultural Unity in Ancient China McKay pp. 90-101	Reading Print “Quiz”: Print & bring the checklist and all materials in Canvas folder.
8-31	More or Loess Diffuse Philosophies, McKay, pp. 101-111 Group work	Indus assignment due on Canvas before class
9-7	River Civilizations: And Now for Something Completely Different…India McKay pp. 64-77	Bring Buddha’s Mustard Seed (RPQ) Video Project Bibliography Due
Part II	Classical Consolidation and Empires
9-12	Hands Off Empire: Achaemenid Persians, McKay pp. 56-59	Bring Darius’ Inscription, Ashoka’s Inscriptions, and Ezana’s Inscription (RPQ)
9-14	Persians II & Group work in class	Map Quiz 1 Bring group project materials
9-19	Dharma Control in the Mauryan Empire, McKay pp. 80-86	Video Project Proposals Due
9-21	Christian Traders: Axumite Empire, McKay pp. 268-270, 281-285
9-26	What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?     McKay pp. 146, 149-157 David Potter, “Odor and Power in the Roman Empire,” on Canvas
9-28	Dynastic Cycling: Qin-Han, McKay pp. 178-188 REVIEW LIST DUE (required): Sign up for a review category, then list 10-12 terms that you believe will be on the exam for that category. Include at least one date. (Sign up sheet will be circulated in class earlier in the week.)	Review List Due on Canvas Bring Mandate of Heaven (RPQ)
10-3	Review and Group Work	Bring Review List
10-5	Midterm: Bring Blue book
Part III	Pivotal Postclassical Patterns
10-10	Devotional Changes in Gupta India, McKay pp. 77-80, 345-346, 351-354	Bring the Bodhisattva’s Infinite Compassion & Gita: Devotion to Faith (RPQ)
10-12	West African Trading States, McKay pp. 268-270, 273-277, 279-281
10-17	Forging a United Umma, McKay pp. 236-253
10-19	Forging Umma II & Group Work	Map Quiz 2 Bring materials for group work
10-24	Umma Unravelling and Muslim Devotional Changes: Sufis and 12rs McKay pp. 253-260	Video Script & Storyboard due
10-26	Quintessentially Chinese: Sui-Song, McKay pp. 190-196
10-31	Cosmopolitan Commercial Revolution: T’ang-Song China, McKay pp. 364-374 Patricia Ebrey, “Separating the Sexes,” on Canvas
11-2	Struggling Barbarians in the Backwater West and Living in a Material World McKay, pp. 393-396, 404-405, 414-420
11-7	New Monarch Assert their Author-i-ty, McKay pp. 426-431, 437-446
11-9	Getting a Piece in the Indian Ocean, McKay pp. 458-467 Watch Crash Course “15th Century Mariners” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjEGncridoQ	Answer Explorers questions on Canvas by 9 a.m.
11-14	Aztecs and In 1493, Columbus Stole All that He Could See McKay pp. 315-321 Hassig, Ross. "War, Politics, and the Conquest of Mexico." In War in the Early Modern World, edited by Jeremy Black. Boulder, CO: Westerview Press, 1999. Canvas
11-16	Brilliant Commercialized Culture: The Ming, McKay pp. 435 Read Ming State and Commercial Revolution & Chinese Exams (RPQ)	Video Projects Due
11-21	Inclusive and Servile State: Ottoman Beginnings and Expansion Read “Ottoman Origins” (RPQ) Giancarlo Casale, “The Ethnic Composition of Ottoman Ship Crews and the ‘Rumi Challenge’ to Portuguese Identity,” Medieval Encounters vol. 13 (2007):122-144.Online at UAH’s Database Academic Search Premier	Map Quiz 3
11-28	Review Review List Due:  Sign up for a review category and list 10-18 terms (words) that you believe will be on the exam for that category.  (Signup sheet will be circulated in class earlier in the week.)	Review list due on Canvas & bring to class Video Assessment Individual Essays Due by 6 p.m. on Canvas
FINAL	Bring blue book! Section 02 (meets 9:35) December 2nd, Friday from 8-10:30 a.m. Section 03 (meets 11:10) December 5th, Monday, from 8-11:30 a.m.