HIS 122: Western Civilization 2

Course Description

This course will focus on western civilization from the Renaissance to the present. Through the use of primary and secondary materials, the course explores the political, social, economic, intellectual, and cultural history of the West to examine the achievements of modern Western Civilization, and their impact throughout the world. Course topics include the Age of Exploration, the Reformation, Absolutism, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution and Napoleon, the Industrial Revolution, Imperialism, World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and the European Union.

Recommended Prerequisite

  • HIS 121: Western Civilization 1

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

  1. Identify the significant political, socioeconomic, and cultural developments in modern Western Civilization.
  2. Comprehend the major themes and concepts in Western Civilization since the Renaissance.
  3. Develop an understanding of the continued influence of Western achievements in our contemporary global society.
  4. Gain knowledge of and greater sensitivity towards the ethical, cultural, political, military, economic, historical, and social aspects of life.
  5. Interpret and synthesize historical information and ideas.
  6. Effectively use analytical skills of evaluation, cause and effect, and comparison to foster critical thinking.
  7. Apply historical data from primary and secondary source materials to support generalizations and interpretations.
  8. Write clearly and communicate effectively.

Course Activities and Grading

AssignmentsWeight

Discussions (Weeks 1-15)

35%

Quizzes (Weeks 1-15)

10%

Avatar Blogs (Weeks 3, 4, 6, 8, 11 & 13)

15%

Article Reviews (Weeks 5 & 10)

15%

Final Exam (Week 15)

25%

Total

100%

Required Textbooks

Available through Charter Oak State College's Book Bundle

  • Hunt, Lynn. Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures, Volume 2. 7th ed. Bedford Books, 2022. ISBN-10: 1-319-33154-8 or ISBN-13: 978-1-319-33154-2

Course Schedule

Week

SLOs

Readings and Exercises

Assignments

1

1-3,5,6,8

Topics: A Review of the Renaissance and the Rise of Global Encounters: The West in 1500

  • Readings:
    • TMOTW
      • Chapter 14, pp. 430-436
    • Sources of TMOTW
      • Introduction, pp. 1-13
  • Read assigned material
  • Review powerpoint lecture
  • Participate in discussions
  • Create account on textbook companion website
  • Complete quiz

2

1-8

Topics: The Shock of the Reformation, Wars of Religion, and Clash of Worldviews (1500s-1648)

  • Readings:
    • TMOTW
      • Chapter 14, pp. 436 - 459
      • Chapter 15, pp. 460 - 491
    • Sources of TMOTW
      • Luther, Freedom of a Christian
      • Calvin, Articles Concerning Predestination/The Necessity of Reforming the Church
      • Saint Ignatius of Loyola, A New Kind of Catholicism
      • Montaigne, Of Cannibals
      • The Witch Trial of Suzanne Gaudry, pp. 24-32, 37-39, 47-53
  • Read assigned material
  • Review powerpoint lecture
  • Participate in discussions
  • Create Avatar for Avatar blogs
  • Complete quiz

3

1-8

Topics: Absolutism, Constitutionalism, and the Search for Order (1640-1700)

  • Readings:
    • TMOTW
      • Chapter 16, pp. 492 - 527
    • Sources of TMOTW
      • Document 1 (Colbert, Instructions/A Royal Ordinance)
      • Document 2 (The Trial of Charles I)
      • Document 3 (Hobbes, Leviathan)
      • Document 4 (Locke, The Second Treatise of Government)
      • Document 5 (The Revolt of Stenka Razin), pp. 54-72
  • Read assigned material
  • Review powerpoint lecture
  • Participate in discussions
  • Complete Avatar blog entry 1
  • Complete quiz

4

1-8

Topic: The Atlantic System and Its Consequences (1700- 1750)

  • Readings:
    • TMOTW
      • Chapter 17, pp. 528 - 561
    • Sources of TMOTW
      • Document 1 (The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano Written by Himself)
      • Document 2 (A Brief Description of the Excellent Vertues [sic] of That Sober and Wholesome Drink, Called "Coffee")
      • Document 4 (Voltaire, Letters Concerning the English Nation) pp. 75-82, 85-89
  • Read assigned material
  • Review powerpoint lecture
  • Participate in discussions
  • Complete Avatar blog entry 2
  • Complete quiz

5

1-3,5-8

Topic: The Promise of Enlightenment (1750-1789)

  • Readings:
    • TMOTW
      • Chapter 18, pp. 562 - 593
    • Sources of TMOTW
      • Document 1 (Rousseau, Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of the Inequality among Men)
      • Document 3 (Beccaria, On Crimes and Punishments)
      • Document 4 (Smith, Wealth of Nations)
      • Document 5 (Frederick II, Political Testament), pp. 95-101, 103-111
  • Read assigned material
  • Review powerpoint lecture
  • Participate in discussions
  • Complete article review 1
  • Complete quiz

6

1-8

Topic: The Cataclysm of Revolution (1789-1799)

  • Readings:
    • TMOTW
      • Chapter 19, pp. 594 - 625
    • Sources of TMOTW
      • Document 1 (Sieyes, What is the Third Estate?)
      • Document 2 (Political Cartoon)
      • Document 3 (Declaration of the Rights of Man)
      • Document 4 (De Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of Women)
      • Document 5 (Robespierre, Report on the Principles of Political Morality)
      • Document 6 (Decree of General Liberty), pp. 112-131
  • Read assigned material
  • Review powerpoint lecture
  • Participate in discussions
  • Complete Avatar blog entry 3
  • Complete quiz

7

1-3,5-8

Topics: Napoleon and the Revolutionary Legacy (1800-1830)

  • Readings:
    • TMOTW
      • Chapter 20, pp. 626-657
    • Sources of TMOTW
      • Document 2 (Metternich, Results of the Congress at Laybach)
      • Document 3 (Kakhovsky, The Decembrist Insurrection in Russia)
      • Document 5 (Reviews of Beethoven’s Works), pp. 137-143, 148-150
  • Read assigned material
  • Review powerpoint lecture
  • Participate in discussions
  • Complete quiz

8

1-8

Topics: Industrialization and Social Ferment (1830-1850)

  • Readings:
    • TMOTW
      • Chapter 21, pp. 658 - 693
    • Sources of TMOTW
      • Document 2 (Ellis, Characteristics of the Women of England)
      • Document 3 (Testimony Gathered by Ashley’s Mines Commission/Punch Magazine)
      • Document 4 (Reviews of Beethoven’s Works), pp. 137-143, 148-150
      • Document 6 (Lin, Letter to Queen Victoria), pp. 154-165, 168-170
  • Read assigned material
  • Review powerpoint lecture
  • Participate in discussions
  • Complete Avatar blog entry 4
  • Complete quiz

9

1-3,5-8

Topics: Politics and Culture of the Nation-State (1850-1870)

  • Readings:
    • TMOTW
      • Chapter 22, pp. 694-729
    • Sources of TMOTW
      • Document 1 (Kropotkin, Memoirs of a Revolutionist)
      • Document 2 (Cavour, Letter to King Victor Emmanuel)
      • Document 3 (Von Ihering, Two Letters)
      • Document 4 (Spencer, Progress: Its Law and Cause)
      • Document 5 (Darwin, The Descent of Man), pp. 171-185
  • Read assigned material
  • Review powerpoint lecture
  • Participate in discussions
  • Complete quiz

10

1-3,5-8

Topics: Empire, Industry, and Everyday Life (1870-1890)

  • Readings:
    • TMOTW
      • Chapter 23, pp. 730-765
    • Sources of TMOTW
      • Document 1 (Ferry, Speech before the French National Assembly)
      • Document 2 (Kumalo, His Story)
      • Document 3 (Williams, Made in Germany)
      • Document 4 (Bondfield, A Life’s Work), pp. 186-200
  • Read assigned material
  • Review powerpoint lecture
  • Participate in discussions
  • Complete article review 2
  • Complete quiz

11

1-8

Topics: Modernity and the Road to War (1890-1914)

  • Readings:
    • TMOTW
      • Chapter 24, pp. 766 - 801
    • Sources of TMOTW
      • Document 1 (Illustration from Eugenics Education Society of London)
      • Document 2 (Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams)
      • Document 3 (Zola, “J’accuse!”),
      • Document 4 (Pankhurst, Speech from the Dock)
      • Document 5 (Kipling, The White Man’s Burden/Editorial)
      • Document 6 (Von Treitschke, Place of Warfare in the State/Massis, The Young People of Today), pp. 205-225
  • Read assigned material
  • Review powerpoint lecture
  • Participate in discussions
  • Complete Avatar blog entry 5
  • Complete quiz

12

1-3,5-8

Topics: World War I and Its Aftermath (1914-1929)

  • Readings:
    • TMOTW
      • Chapter 25, pp. 802 - 839
    • Sources of TMOTW
      • Document 1 (Franke and Sassoon, Two Soldiers’ Views)
      • Document 3 (Lenin, The State and Revolution)
      • Document 4 (Mussolini, The Doctrine of Fascism)
      • Document 5 (Hitler, Mein Kampf), pp. 226-229, 231-242
  • Read assigned material
  • Review powerpoint lecture
  • Participate in discussions
  • Complete quiz

13

1-8

Topics: The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)

  • Readings:
    • TMOTW
      • Chapter 26, pp. 840-879
    • Sources of TMOTW
      • Document 3 (Chamberlain, Speech on the Munich Crisis)
      • Document 4 (Bankhalter, Kibort, Memories of the Holocaust)
      • Document 5 (Hachiya, Hiroshima Diary), pp. 249-262
  • Read assigned material
  • Review powerpoint lecture
  • Participate in discussions
  • Complete Avatar blog entry 6
  • Complete quiz

14

1-3,5-8

Topics: The Cold War, the Remaking of Europe, and Postindustrial Society (1945-1970s)

  • Readings:
    • TMOTW
      • Chapter 27, pp. 880 - 915
      • Chapter 28, pp. 916 - 937
    • Sources of TMOTW
      • Document 3 (Ho Chi Minh, Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Vietnam)
      • Document 4 (Beauvoir, The Second Sex)
      • Document 5 (“How You Can Survive Fallout,” Life Magazine/Letter from President Kennedy)
      • Document 2 (Student Voices of Protest), pp. 270-277, 282-284
  • Read assigned material
  • Review powerpoint lecture
  • Participate in discussions
  • Complete quiz

15

1-3,5,6,8

Topics: The End of the Cold War and a New Globalism (1970s-Present)

  • Readings:
    • TMOTW
      • Chapter 28, pp. 937 - 951
      • Chapter 29, pp. 952 - 989
    • Sources of TMOTW
      • Document 5 (Chirac, New French Antiterrorist Laws)
      • Document 2 (Nath, EU Membership Prospect Cartoon), pp. 288-290, 305-306
  • Read assigned material
  • Review powerpoint lecture
  • Participate in discussions
  • Complete quiz
  • Complete Final Exam
  • Complete course evaluation

FINAL EXAM
Chapters 14 - 29
SLOs 1,2,3,5,6,8

COSC Accessibility Statement

Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.

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Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.