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History 102, Fall 2009 GO
November 2 – December 5, 2009
Professor Kathleen Addison
Kathleen.addison@csun.edu
Voicemail: 818-389-7915 (cell)
Dear Students of History 102:
Welcome to the online version of our course in Western
Civilization II, from the Renaissance to the present (or at
least 1991). In this class we explore the themes of
globalization and the outreaches made from Western Europe in the
Age of Discovery to contact other civilizations; we look at the
relationship of economics and power in Nation-States; conflicts
between the powers of Western Europe in the competition for
imperial resources; intellectual revolutions that stem from the
“new” possibilities raised in the Renaissance, through the
Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, and the effects all of
those have on society and politics. We will explore the
challenges of religion in a “modern” world and what modernity
comes to mean at various times. We will adjust our perspective
from traditional historiography to include the often-neglected
voices of history: the classes, minorities and (yes, really!)
women in the telling of history’s lessons. Charles Dickens
observed of the modern era, “It was the best of times, and it
was the worst of times.” My approach to unfolding the stories
of history is to bypass rote memorization in favor of
understanding how things changed and why. Wars
are rarely as simple as a single act of aggression by one
country against another; there are tangled stories and complex
reasons, and those are what we will try to pull apart.
Expectations: You will be expected to
learn and think analytically about the themes of the course
through reading, discussion, exploration on the web, as well as
your weighted components in the class, exams.
Grades: The breakdown of the final course
grade is as follows:
Participation: 20% -- this includes
discussion boards, quizzes, and postings on the site
Three Exams: 20% for the first 2, 25% for
the third (65% total)
Three Study Guide Exercises: 5% each (15%
total)
Caveat: Because this class is compressed
into only five weeks, while still maintaining the curriculum of
a regular semester, it is a VERY high intensity course. It will
require daily or near-daily reading of your textbook, responding
to the points on the discussion board (as well as posting your
own questions), and it requires very strong time management
skills; even moreso if you are (like many) working full time.
In essence, it is history bootcamp! Please take a good look at
the syllabus and assess your time requirements.
Textbook: The textbook for this class is
by Coffin and Stacey, Western Civilizations, volume 2, 16th
edition. (has a reddish cover). You may purchase this at the
COC bookstore. If you purchase it from another agent, the
ISBNs are
·
ISBN-10: 0-393-93098-X
·
ISBN-13: 978-0-393-93098-6
We will also use the Norton Study Site,
which is free, for primary source documents. Please note: If
you buy an earlier edition from an online seller, the coverage
is still largely the same and is quite good, but you may have to
make adjustments to your reading assignments based on your
edition; and while I will never test you based on “what’s on
page 47,” you will ultimately be responsible for the ideas and
content presented in the 16th ed.
Technical Requirements and Information:
The participation in an online course requires regular and
reliable access to the Internet, whether through your own
computer or one of public access (computer labs, public
libraries, internet café’s). All work is done through the
Blackboard Platform as hosted by COC. While it does not matter
whether you use a Mac or a PC, it is important that you have a
basic familiarity with computers – how to get online, how to do
email, how to type a document and attach it to email, be able to
view videos that are linked to our site, follow links, download
documents, and meet the dexterity requirements of performing
online examinations. If you require physical or auxillary
assistance, please see the office for student disabilities for
accommodations.
Communicating with me: Please feel free to
email me directly (address above) with any questions or concerns
and I will try to help you through the course. If you haven’t
rec’d a response to an email within 48 hours, please assume that
you were filtered out or that I haven’t rec’d your mail, and try
again. If you try the cell phone number, you will most likely
be directed to voice mail and I don’t check it that often, so do
not rely on that as an effective way to reach me immediately.
Please post all questions directly relevant to the class
(questions about content, points that need to be clarified, etc)
on the class discussion board; I promise, if you have a
question, somebody else does too!
Course site: All important documents for
the class will be placed under (surprise!) “course documents.”
All assignments should be emailed to me directly, rather than
through the digital dropbox.
Internet Use and Academic Honesty: because
this course is beyond the traditional classroom-bound
parameters, I encourage you to explore some of the brilliant
resources that are available to you through the internet,
especially for visual images. However, it is imperative to note
from the start: You are not permitted to use internet sources
for copying and submitting work; the assignments you turn in
MUST be your own intellectual material. Furthermore, understand
that it is not just a matter of my being “evil,” but the fact
that internet sources frequently do not contain any kind of
academic monitoring to ensure standards of reliability. Obvious
exceptions to these are journal subscription databases through
the library (such as J-STOR or EBSCO), online versions of
Encyclopedia Britannica or academic journals such as the
American Historical Review. All outside sources must carry a
citation attributing credit to said source, or it will be
considered plagiarism. Under no circumstances should you rely
on Wikipedia, Ask.com or other non-refereed sites as sources of
information; and if use of them is detected in your work, it
will result in a failing grade. Please don’t risk it.
Links: I am also including several useful
websites from COC and the distance learning department which
will facilitate your success in the class.
Useful Links:
A word on Student Learning Outcomes: The
college has established a series of objectives for students in
the class, which are iterated on your syllabus. You will be
tested on these over the duration of the course.
In conclusion, I hope to enjoy this
semester’s work with you and facilitate your learning
experience. I look forward to “talking” with you online soon!
Best,
Kathleen Addison
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