HISTORY 1312.09:  HISTORY OF WORLD CIVILIZATION II 

Dr. Laura A. Smoller
Stabler Hall 604-K

Phone:  569-8389

email: lasmoller@ualr.edu

Office hours: MW, 1:30-2:30 p.m. and by appointment

http://www.ualr.edu/lasmoller/

MWF 12:00-12:50, SH 111

Spring 2010
  

 History 1312 is a survey history of world civilization from roughly 1500 C.E. to the present. The course tells the story of the globalization of world history, the rise of Europe and the west to world dominance, the development of distinctly modern modes of thought and social and political organization, and challenges to western world domination in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

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SCHEDULE OF LECTURES AND READINGS:

Part I:  The globalization of history.

This section of the course covers, generally, Armesto, chapters 15-19, with some additions and omissions from other chapters.  Page numbers below key, inasmuch as is possible, to specific lecture topics.

Part II:  Re-making Europe.

 

Part III:  The modern age.

Final exam:  May 10, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Class attendance:  Attendance at all lectures is essential for doing well in this course.  There will be material covered in lecture that is not in the textbook.  Students will be held responsible for all material covered in and announcements made in lectures.  If you must miss a class, you will need to get the lecture notes from another student in the class.  The outline posted on Blackboard is not an adequate substitute for lecture; nor is the textbook.

Required materials:  The following textbook is required for the course and is available in the UALR bookstore:

Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, The World:  A History (Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Prentice-Hall, 2007).  ISBN 0205630235

Assignments and grading:  Reading assignments are due on the day they appear in the lecture schedule below.  Written assignments are weighted as follows:

Map worksheet (January 27)----5%

Midterm 1 (February 8)----20 %

Writing assignment 1 (March 1)----15 %

Midterm 2 (March 15)----20 %

Writing assignment 2  (April 12)----15 %

Final exam (May 5, not cumulative)----25 %

Grades are computed on the following scale:

            A=90-100%    B=80-89%      C=70-79%      D=60-69%      F=0-59%

In case of some mix-up, you should save all returned work until you receive your grade at the end of the semester.

Make-up exams:  If you miss an exam and have a valid excuse, you will have an opportunity to make up the exam on Consultation Day (May 5), but only by prior arrangement with the instructor. 

Late work:  Late work will be penalized 10 points for every calendar day late.  Except under the most exigent of circumstances, I will not accept late work after I have already graded and returned the assignment to the class.   I do not accept emailed assignments without prior arrangement, and only in extreme emergencies.

Student learning objectives for core courses in history:

   1. Students will demonstrate a knowledge of historical information such as names, dates and chronologies, events, terms, and concepts.
   2. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the diversity and complexity of the historical context that shapes human experience.
   3. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the inter-relatedness of historical events as expressed in such concepts as continuity and change, causation, interdependence of cultures, and the interaction between differing groups and societies.
   4. Students will organize and articulate their ideas through an essay that presents a thesis relevant to the question.
   5. Students will support their ideas with historical evidence and will reach conclusions based on that evidence.

Disability Support Services: It is the policy and practice of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to create inclusive learning environments.  If there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in barriers to your inclusion or to accurate assessment of achievement--such as time-limited exams, inaccessible web content, or the use of non-captioned videos--please notify the instructor as soon as possible.  Students are also welcome to contact the Disability Resource Center, telephone 501-569-3143 (v/tty). For more information, visit the DRC website at www.ualr.edu/disability.  

Classroom etiquette: Please turn off cell phones or set them to a silent alert.  Kindly do not text message or read text messages in class.  In the rare event you must enter late or leave class early, please let me know in advance. 

Cheating and plagiarism: Cheating and plagiarism are serious offenses and will be treated as such. ("Plagiarism" means "to adopt and reproduce as one's own, to appropriate to one's use, and incorporate in one's own work without acknowledgment the ideas of others or passages from their writings and works." See Section VI, Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities and Behavior, Student Handbook, p. 39. Copying directly from the textbook, a website, or an encyclopedia article without quotation marks or an identifying citation, for example, constitutes plagiarism.) Anyone who engages in such activities will receive no credit for that assignment and may in addition be turned over to the Academic Integrity and Grievance Committee for University disciplinary action, which may include separation from the University.
 
Copyright notice: Copyright © by Laura Smoller as to this syllabus and all lectures. Students and auditors are prohibited from selling notes during this course to (or being paid for taking notes by) any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of the professor teaching this course.

Disclaimer: The instructor reserves the right to change topics and assignments on the syllabus at any point in the semester.