HS 102 - Western Civilization Since 1500

2.  Analyze scholarly primary and secondary sources in order to understand and articulate the commonalities and differences among diverse cultures and worldviews within Europe with regard to economic, social, cultural and political problems. (GELO3)

3.  Comprehend how the changing historic context and social, political, economic and cultural conditions from 1500 CE impacted the behavior of individuals, the development and operation of societal institutions and governments and the perception of social and cultural institutions and phenomena. (GELO3)

4.  Through a historical perspective, understand how past generations have labored to explain the world, explore the causation for diverse cultural traditions, and appreciate the diversity and complexities of the global community. (GELO3)

5.  Through learning historical methods of analysis, students will be able to conduct primary and secondary research, analyze data, craft academic arguments about historical causation and social significance, and effectively present their findings. (GELO2)

6.  Through selected primary and secondary readings, lectures, group discussions and documentary films, students will comprehend how the changing historic context and social, political, economic and cultural conditions from the Neolithic period to 1500 CE impacted the behavior of individuals, the development and operation of societal institutions and governments and the perception of social and cultural institutions and phenomena. (GELO3)

7.  Explore questions and hypotheses related to political power and agency, racial, social and gender inequality through the use of primary and secondary sources and detailed analysis. (GELO3)

8.  Analyze the complex relationship between the social construction of illness, biological disease, scientific racism, race and gender politics, while evaluating their impacts on politics, societies and cultures. (GELO3)

9.  Translate or explain what written information means and/or how it can be used. (GELO2)

10.  Create and/or organize data and information into meaningful patterns in order to interpret and draw inferences from it. (GELO2)
Course Outline:
I. The Age of Discovery & European Cosmology

   a. Humanism

   b. The Other

   c. Race, sexuality, economics, class, gender and power in the 1500s

II. Reformations and Identity

   a. Basics of the Reformations

   b. Short and Long-term legacies of the Reformation period

III. The Scientific Revolution and its Legacies

   a. Ancient science and theory

   b. Major shifts

   c. Social, cultural, and political legacies

   d. Paradigms and paradigm shifts

IV. Absolutism and Constitutionalism

   a. Theory

   b. Locke and Hobbes

   c. Context and the French case

   d. The English Civil War and the EBR

V. The Age of Reason & the Modern Mindset

   a. Major thinkers and ideas of the Enlightenment

   b. Social, cultural, economic and political legacies

   c. The modern mindset and its pros and cons

VI. The Revolutionary Era: The French Revolution

   a. The foundations of the American and French Revolutions

   b. Major shifts in the French Revolution

   c. Enlightenment foundations

   d. Legacies of the revolutionary era

VII. The Global Impacts of the Industrial Revolution

   a. Why a revolution?

   b. Markets and resources

   c. Cultural and social legacies

   d. Economic and political legacies

VIII. New Ideologies

   a. Foundations of nationalism, romanticism, liberalism, conservatism, socialism and communism

   b. Impacts of ideologies

   c. Short-term legacies

IX. The ‘New’ Imperialism

   a. African history and culture

   b. Theory: Social Darwinism and Scientific Racism

   c. The Scramble for Africa and Global Imperialism

   d. Short and long-term legacies

X. The Road to WW1

   a. 19th-century politics, economics and imperialism

   b. The Balkan crisis

   c. Mass culture and politics

   d. The Great War

   e. The peace process

XI. The Russian Revolution

   a. Russian and international foundations

   b. Theory

   c. Basics of the conflict & its legacies

XII. An Age of Promises and Anxieties

   a. The Interwar period- contemporary worries

   b. Feminism and Suffrage

   c. New democracies and democratic promise

   d. Fascism

   e. The death of idols

   f. The Great Depression

XIII. Totalitarianism

   a. Theory

   b. Stalinism and Nazism

XIV. WWII & the Holocaust

   a. Global foundations

   b. Theories on genocide

   c. Legacies

XV. Life under Communism & 1989

   a. Theory

   b. Everyday life under communism

   c. Existence and rebellion

   d. Intellectual rejection

   e. Anti-communist movements

   f. 1989: Velvet and violent revolutions

Discussion based on the secondary resources and primary sources: 20-50%
Mandatory Course Components:
Course components can be modified as long as student learning outcomes are being met for Humanities and Social Sciences and as long as they fall within the ranges listed below.

Any major deviations from the suggested material must be vetted through the department.

Papers: 30-40%

Essay-based exams: 40-50%

Presentation and participation: 10-20%

Quizzes and Written Assessments: 10-20%
Equivalent Courses:
None