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Western Civilization from the Margins: Teaching a Western Civilization Course from a World History Perspective

Gleb Tsipursky

 

     How does someone committed to a world history perspective teach a course such as Western Civilization? After all, the traditional narrative and scope of this class embodies values at odds with a world history approach. Nonetheless, world history practitioners, especially junior ones, are regularly called upon to teach such courses. This article suggests one means of resolving this dilemma: by teaching Western Civilization classes from the margins. It offers practical guidance on doing so via an in-depth description of a Western Civilization I online course taught by me at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the summer of 2010.

     Introduced on a mass scale soon after World War I, Western Civilization courses had, and still have, the goal of introducing students to the origins and historical development of "Western Civilization." This grand term refers to the history and culture of western Europe, a small geographical region that had little importance in the world as a whole until the last few hundred years. In Western Civilization I, the period covered generally spans from Antiquity to the Scientific Revolution or early Enlightenment. The traditional way a course such as this was taught in the past, and in many places still taught today, involves presenting a neat, cohesive history of "Western Civilization." According to this perspective, "Western Civilization" finds its origins in the political philosophy and culture of the Greeks, is absorbed and strengthened by the laws of Rome, and passed on through the Christian Church in a time of darkness. This leads to a period of rediscovery in the Renaissance, which combines with the diversification of religious beliefs in the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, and culminates in the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment. This narrative is usually presented as inherently progressive, leading continually and inevitably to a more civilized society, which formed the foundation for the current world. The structure of the course, employing political and intellectual history, traditionally focuses on "Great Men" and "Great Ideas": in other words, on the outsize historical personalities such as political leaders, religious reformers, and intellectual innovators.

     In recent decades, Western Civilization courses have been subject to intensifying censure, in particular from the adherents of the world history approach. Some critics have argued that such classes give students too exclusionary view of western European history as central to the historical narrative and ignore the history of other regions, even those that directly and extensively interacted with western Europe. Those courses that do discuss peoples and regions outside of western Europe generally do so from an exclusively western European perspective, leaving the "outsiders" as faceless masses who either attacked or were conquered by western Europeans. Others charge that Western Civilization courses treat wealthy male elites drawn from mainstream western European religious groups as Europe's sole historical actors, marginalizing the voices of even those non-elites who have played a crucial role in Europe's history. Finally, critics have lambasted the very term "Western Civilization" for constructing a false dichotomy between the "West" and the "East."1

     Nonetheless, though world history course offerings have multiplied over the last decade, Western Civilization remains a fundamental component of the core undergraduate curriculum in many universities and colleges. Undergraduates not majoring or minoring in history often take only two basic history courses to fulfill curricular requirements: one focusing on the United States and another, frequently a Western Civilization class, on non-US history. Even for those students concentrating in history, a Western Civ course serves as a gateway to the broad range of history classes, influencing and constraining their subsequent choices. The impact of Western Civ classes exercise an especially powerful influence on future educators destined to teach in high schools and colleges. Ideally, colleges would require that all students take world history courses. However, this is often not practicable in the context of a general college curriculum.

     Fortunately, instructors of Western Civ courses committed to a world history approach can take matters into their own hands by addressing such issues within the boundaries of their own Western Civilization curricular. To do so, they need to convince their departmental colleagues that integrating the story of those on western Europe's margins, whether outsiders interacting with western Europeans or the non-elites in western Europe itself, builds a broader, more complete understanding of western European history as such. My departmental colleagues, fortunately, proved quite receptive to this idea, permitting me to introduce substantial changes into the content of the class that I taught, as long as the basic political and intellectual history of a traditional Western Civ course was presented, along with the history of those on the margins.

Course Content

     To achieve my aim of pursuing the ideals of world history within the framework of a Western Civ course, I developed two central course themes. The first theme informed students that the class will seek to analyze the interactions between western Europe, and those societies outside of it, which I referred to as the "external Others." For the purpose of this course, I defined western Europe as encompassing the Christian territories in the western part of Europe that, before the Reformation, paid allegiance to the Vatican.2 The second theme asked students to engage in recovering the voices of disenfranchised groups within western Europe itself, including peasants and slaves, women, and minority faith groups. These two course themes, displayed prominently in the syllabus (See Addendum A), forewarn students that they are signing up for a non-traditional Western Civilization course, and help guarantee student buy-in for the concepts used throughout the semester.

     As this was an online summer class, its structure consisted of ten week-long lessons. The previous syllabus largely followed a traditional narrative, forcing me to introduce major revisions in order to accommodate the two course themes. Most of the changes occurred within the existing weekly lessons, shifting their focus from political and intellectual history to the story of marginalized groups and external Others. For an example of the changes introduced into extant lessons, here is a case in point – the fourth lesson, on "The western heirs of Rome, 410 – 1000s CE," which now had the following introduction:

The agenda for Lesson 4 is to cast a light on the western European Christian kingdoms in the half millennium following the demise of the Roman Empire. The typical way of presenting this period in the traditional narrative is to consider the political history of these times: the establishment of feudalism, the conflicts between nobles, the political intrigues at the top, and the wars between the varied kingdoms. Also, the Christian Church gets substantial attention, both for its leading role in the political struggles of the time, and the evolution of Church doctrine. Peasants, women, and external Others are rarely seen in the traditional narrative, as its lens focuses on individual political and religious figures. In this lesson, we will also look through the other side of the lens to get, as much as possible, at the everyday experience of disenfranchised voices.

The "Questions to Consider" section, which informed students what to think about when doing the readings and weekly assignments, included:

  • How did the treatment of the subordinate social groups in western European Christian kingdoms at this time resemble their treatment in Rome and Greece, and in what way did it differ? Pay particular attention to issues of social class and power and the various ways the documents bring it out—whether in dealing with serfdom, master/disciple, communal tensions, fiefdom oaths, and so on. The documents also provide good insights on issues of gender and sexuality.
  • How does Christianity interact with politics in this period, in regard to the subordinate groups?
  • How did the external Other impact western Europe in this time period, and how did this shape western European impressions of external Others? (See the lesson module for lesson four in Addendum B)

     Additionally, I condensed several existing lessons to provide room for three new weekly lessons on external Others: one on "The eastern heirs of Rome and the rise of Islam, 300s – 1000s CE," the second on "The Crusades: Islam, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy, 1000s-1300s CE," and the last on "European colonization, 1400s-1600s CE."

Course Readings

     The readings assigned to students were also changed. First, I adopted a new textbook, Dennis Sherman and Joyce Salisbury's The West in the World: To 1715, 3rd Edition.3 Among the textbooks I surveyed, this one provided the best means of exploring the two themes at the heart of the class. The book's brief essays placed western Europe in a broader global context, as well as providing extensive coverage of Byzantium and the Muslim world in the first millennium CE and of the process of European colonization in the fifteenth century onward. Unfortunately, its section on the Crusades is quite inadequate. In regard to the marginalized voices in western Europe itself, the textbook did a superb job tracing the history of Jews and other minority faith groups, and provided solid accounts of women, the poor, and other subordinated groups.

     More than the textbook were primary sources focused on the peoples at the periphery of western Europe. Such sources aimed to provide students with a visceral connection to the historical setting and a means of acquiring unmediated, direct insights into the perspectives of those living in a particular time and place. These primary sources varied widely, with most coming from the online Medieval History Sourcebook Website [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html]. For an example, one of the fifteen primary sources for lesson four, on the "western" heirs of Rome, described a debate between two prominent religious figures on the keeping of serfs, another related the tale of a communal revolt, and a third conveyed a didactic dialogue between masters and disciples. All three dealt with one of western Europe's disenfranchised voices, namely that of the lower classes. Another source explored the position of women, depicted a husband's endowment of his future wife at their betrothal. To explore the second class theme, the external Others, students read three different texts detailing the attacks of the Vikings on western Europe. In the next lesson, on the "eastern" heirs of Rome, students studied a variety of documents that illuminated Byzantine and the Muslim worlds. Two of these portrayed Constantinople from the perspective of foreign diplomats, one from the Holy Roman Empire, and another from the Abbasid Empire. Another text depicted the Battle of Tours, with excerpts from both Christian and Muslim perspectives. Still other documents illuminated the two societies' internal dynamics: a description of racing factions cast light on Byzatine social tensions, and an excerpt from Emperor Justinian's Law Code conveyed its normative values. For the Muslim world, one source quoted several surahs from the Qu'ran, while another described Baghdad at around 1000 ce.

     Though explicitly intended for an online class, the structure of the weekly lessons and readings easily translates to traditional classroom. For example, a typical college course that meets twice a week may retain the weekly lesson structure presented in the syllabus, but break up the weekly lessons into two types. In the online class I taught, students completed their readings over each weekend, and wrote class assignments, described below, during the week. A classroom instructor might instead devote the first meeting of the week to ensuring that students have a good grasp of the basic historical context, including the significant events from political, intellectual, economic, and military history. The second meeting would then turn to those on the margins, drawing on and discussing in detail the week's primary sources.

Course Assignments

     The two class themes figured directly in the assignments that students wrote for the class. Here, I need to reference another course learning objective: in addition to teaching Western Civilization from a world history perspective, I aimed to build essential skills: active reading, critical thinking, and effective, succinct writing, all in a format promoting collaborative efforts. To do so, the syllabus asked students to undertake several weekly assignments and post them on the course management system. The University of North Carolina system uses Blackboard, but others such as Moodle would have served just as well.

     After doing the readings over the weekend, students completed their assignments over the course of the week. Half of the class had to write a response paper, due Monday at midnight. The guidelines for this essay called on students to select two or more primary sources and explicate how these documents contribute to our understanding of either of the two course themes. Students also needed to draw explicit connections to past lessons, and comment on how a reading of these sources helps re-evaluate the traditional narrative. Thus, students analyzed and commented on primary sources, investigated the evolution of distinct themes over the course of history, and considered the implications for the widely accepted story of "Western Civilization." Next, all students had to make at least two comments in response to the thoughts of their classmates, due by Thursday midnight. The instructions asked students to, drawing on primary sources, make a meaningful contribution to the Blackboard conversation by adding their own interpretation of historical materials, evaluate the quality of the historical analysis expressed by their classmates, and make clear links to past lessons. By Saturday midnight, the half of the class who did not write a response paper submitted a discussion evaluation paper. This assignment had students evaluating the discussion around one topic that week. This included considering the gaps between the arguments and evidence, assessing links made to past lessons, and describing how the thoughts expressed by their classmates impacted their own understanding of the texts.

     These assignments, consequently, served both sets of learning goals. In engaging with the historical context of each specific lesson and using primary sources to explore either external Others or marginal groups in western Europe itself, the intention was for students to develop a deeper understanding of the history of "Western Civilization" from the margins. By drawing links made to past lessons in each assignment, I wanted students to see the long-term developments in the two themes. Each of the week's three assignments advanced active reading, critical thinking, and effective writing skills through extensive use of primary sources, first-hand experience with historical thinking, and engagement in the discipline itself. Comments and discussion evaluations of one another's work taught students to collaborate and engage online.

     The course ended with a capstone project, in which groups of several students collaborated together to write a wiki-based paper.4 The prompt asked students to use primary sources from the beginning, middle, and end of the semester to explore the role that either external Others or marginalized groups played in western European history and assess how this might challenge or reinterpret the traditional narrative. Each student's grade reflected both my assessment of the wiki-based paper itself, and that student's individual participation, as graded by the other members of the group. I decided on this grading format because, over the course of the semester, the discussion evaluations should have trained students to recognize their classmates' valuable contributions to discussion, and to ensure that no student let others do his or her own work, a perennial concern in group projects.

     The capstone paper tied together the course's central goals: that, relying on primary sources, students examine both the external Others and western Europe's own marginal groups; that students consider themes transcending different historical periods and contexts; that they re-evaluate the traditional narrative; that they hone their analytical thinking and expository writing; that they collaboration in an online environment; and, finally, that they evaluate their fellow students' writing and analysis. Finally, because I observed the process of writing the paper on the wiki site, the capstone project minimized the possibility of plagiarism. Using a wiki site also helps an instructor to review drafts with a group, or to adjudicate any internal group conflicts, since the wiki page records the changes each group member makes to the wiki document.

Course Outcome

     Students demonstrated a ready willingness to engage with both of the course themes. Learners overwhelmingly grasped the value of bringing to light the frequently untold stories of those on the margins, and re-evaluating the traditional narrative to include their narratives in the historical mainstream. For example, one student provided the following feedback: "The focus on the subordinate and external other groups brought to light underrepresented opinions and views that helped reshape my understanding of Western Civilization." Largely, students proved able to distance themselves from historical events sufficiently for an appropriately analytical perspective. In some cases, though, that touched on the basic ideological preconceptions of some students; they had difficulties in acknowledging the historical reality of Christian persecution of Muslims, Jews, and minority Christian groups, and thus treating them as disenfranchised voices.

     While ready to investigate the course themes and provide their own perspective, in the first weeks many did struggle with the assignments. These difficulties centered around three of the more complex tasks they were asked to do: draw meaningful connections to past lessons; tease out the implications for the traditional narrative; and evaluate the contributions of fellow students. Student struggles with these tasks, which demanded higher-order thinking skills on Bloom's Taxonomy such as synthesis, analysis, and evaluation, proved unsurprising: I expected these to be "stretch goals" for many in the class, especially at first. Fortunately, by the mid-point of the semester, the large majority of students had significantly improved their performance in all of these tasks. Next time, though, I will change the grading criteria for the response paper assignment: I will let students know that during the first half of the semester, that finding meaningful links to the past and drawing out implications for the traditional narrative will be worth fifteen percent of their grade but, after the midpoint, would be worth twenty-five percent of the grade. This will provide a fairer way of accommodating the learning curve. In general, the structure of the Blackboard discussion forum appealed to students. One wrote: "The design of the course overcame the boundaries that online courses often have, and for once I really felt that the discussion board provided the same level of discussion that an on campus class provides.  I feel that the assignments helped to create a strong discussion board that successfully provided insight into other's opinions and views." The capstone project also appealed to students, especially the idea of grading others, as another student noted: "I liked the fact that we could grade each other because that forces everyone to participate. This also helps us for the real world because we will constantly be working as a team." Overall, I was quite pleased with the student performance on assignments: a few of the best response papers, comments, discussion evaluations, and a capstone wiki-paper are available among the supplementary materials. (See samples of student work in Addendum C)

     Students also appeared to have gained a great deal from the course. In their feedback, to the question of whether "This course challenged me to think deeply about the subject matter," with the options including strongly agreeing, agreeing, disagreeing, or strong disagreeing, fifty percent strongly agreed, and none disagreed or strongly disagreed. When asked whether "Exams, tests, and assignments gave me an opportunity to demonstrate what I learned," again fifty percent strongly agreed. Individual feedback included the following: "Thanks for such an awesome class. I definitely learned a different way about approaching history and will certainly incorporate that approach in my future social studies classes." Another student wrote: "Thank you so much.  I really enjoyed your class, and learned a great deal from this course." Though most comments were very positive, one critical comment stated that "with both the response papers and the formal comments, I found the very short length restrictions to get in the way of learning because you listed many, many things that we had to include." To deal with such sentiments, next time I will permit students to either make connections to past lessons or elaborate upon the implications for the traditional narrative in their response papers and formal comments, so long as in their next week's assignments, they take on the task that they did not do in the previous week.

     It is, then, quite possible to teach a Western Civilization course from a world history perspective. More than possible: practitioners of world history should perhaps strive to teach Western Civilization courses that are still present in the many traditionally-oriented curricula, in order to introduce the tenets of world history into the framework of these classes. One way to do so involves teach about "Western Civilization" from the margins, namely focusing on the perspective of subordinated groups in western Europe itself, and external Others who interacted with western Europeans. This, though, is one among many possible ways to teach a Western Civ course from a world history perspective. Another would be to ask the question of whether there is such a thing as a "western civilization" at all. Setting such world history-informed themes at the center of the narrative structure of a Western Civilization course, and linking them effectively to readings and assignments, will ensure a successful learning outcome for students.

Gleb Tsipursky, a PhD Candidate in Russian History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been teaching as an independent instructor at this university from 2008, including classes in both world history and European history, online and in-person. He can be reached at gleb11@gmail.com

Addendum A

Syllabus for History 151 online: Western Civilization to 1650

Professor: Gleb Tsipursky

Email: tsipursk@email.unc.edu

Overview

This course is an introductory-level survey exploring the history of what has come to be known as western civilization, tracing developments from the Greek civilization of 7th century BCE to the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment of the 17th–18th century CE. The philosophical approach of this class broadens the focus from a traditional narrative emphasizing the history of rich, male, mainstream Christian western Europeans: we will instead bring in disenfranchised voices inside western Europe, and reflecting extensively on the significance of western European engagement with those outside western Europe. The methodology of this online course will combine reading primary and secondary sources, and reflecting on them in weekly responses, Blackboard comments, discussion evaluations, and a final paper. The goal is to ensure your strong grasp of course content, and also improve your ability to think critically and work collaboratively in exploring history.

Course Content

The traditional way a course such as this was frequently taught in the past and in some places still taught today involves presenting a neat, cohesive history of "Western Civilization." Thus, according to this viewpoint, "Western Civilization" starts with the political philosophy and culture of the Greeks, is absorbed and strengthened by the laws of Rome, passed on through the Christian Church in a time of darkness, leading to a period of rediscovery in the Renaissance, combined with the diversification of religious beliefs in the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the discovery of and expansion in a New World, and the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment. In this narrative, the male, rich members of the mainstream religious group in western Europe tend to constitute the sole historical actors. This narrative is usually presented as inherently progressive, leading continually and inevitable to a more civilized society, which formed the foundation for the current world. It is tempting to think of the history of the "West"—the history that we inherit, in which we find the roots of our worldview and values—as one fully encapsulated by such a bright, inspiring narrative. But such a romantic vision is also a partial myth, and we would be doing ourselves a disservice to indulge in the glory of our intellectual, political, and cultural forbearers without considering the problems inherent in this image. This is why I do not capitalize the terms "western Europe" and "western civilization"—to reflect the problems inherent in the traditional narrative.

This course questions the traditional notions of what a course on western civilization pays attention to. First, we should consider that what we think of as the "West," in other words the western part of the continent of Europe, was a small geographical region that had little importance in the world as a whole until the High Middle Ages; as well, it was powerfully shaped by its interactions with the outside world. Second, the traditional narrative, largely recorded by and reflecting the voices of property-owning mainstream Christian males, obscures the many divergent historical experiences within western Europe itself, most notably those less well-off, women, and minority faith groups: the disenfranchised voices of western European history.

This realization informs the focus of our class on two course themes:

  • To deal with the first issue listed in the paragraph above, we will seek to analyze the interactions between western Europe and those societies outside of it, such as Islamic and Native American cultures —the "external Other." These exchanges had a powerful impact in influencing the development of both western Europe and those outside this region.
  • For the second, we will seek to recover the lost narratives of dominated groups in society whose perspective was overlooked by traditional history, and is only recently being resurrected by the historical discipline. You will learn about the lives, experiences, and practices of peasants as well as aristocrats, women as well as men, minority faith groups as well as mainstream Christians. While the status, power, and rights of these subordinated groups was certainly less than that of the dominant groups who determined the shape of the traditional historical narrative, it is impossible to understand the evolving facets of western civilization without taking the experience of the dominated into account.

By integrating the disenfranchised voices and the external Other into the traditional historical narrative, we will arrive at a more evenhanded and inclusive picture of this influential segment of history that has been critical to shaping the world we live in today. Along the way, we will broaden our understanding of both cross-cultural awareness via examining the interactions between western Europe and the broader global context, and of the diversity of experience within any one culture and region, including, by implication, our own.

Course Learning Objectives

     One crucial learning objective is to ensure your understanding of the content of the course. In other words, after taking the course, you should be able to identify the most significant political, social, and cultural phenomena in the history of western Europe during the centuries we cover, and evaluate how they changed over time, particularly in relation to disenfranchised voices in western Europe itself as well as the external Other.

     Just as importantly, this course emphasizes general learning objectives associated with a liberal arts education, namely the goal of significantly improving basic analytical skills, especially critical thinking and communication abilities (for their importance in the civic and economic life of our society, see this article, and also this article). Therefore, a central thread running throughout this course is strengthening your ability to think historically, meaning combining critical thinking with a historical context, and communicating your ideas. In practice, this refers to:

  • Reading historical materials actively. For secondary sources, this means identifying an author's argument, determining how well she or he supports it, and critically questioning the validity of the assumptions made by the author. For primary sources, this means identifying the perspective of historical figures, considering what it tells us about their environment, and placing their life within the broader historical setting of their time.

  • Thinking analytically about what you read. This means using historical evidence to evaluate the arguments and assumptions of secondary sources, and the perspective expressed in primary sources, as a means of reconsidering the broader historical narrative. In the process, you should compare these sources to past readings and other historical contexts, formulate your own interpretation of historical issues, and consider the possibility of re-evaluating your assumptions.

  • Expressing your viewpoint in a clear, convincing, and sophisticated manner. This means articulating logical, coherent arguments in written form, well-supported with historical evidence, making reasonable, justifiable assumptions, and identifying the connections between your interpretation and broader historical issues.

     An additional general learning objective of this course is to create a collaborative learning community, in which everyone fully engages with the historical content in a way conducive to the development of skills in communication and teamwork abilities. The online format presents particular challenges but also exciting opportunities to reach this goal. It is only with the active participation of all of you that this class will become a true, if virtual, collaborative learning community.

Assignments

  • Response papers: 25%
  • Comments: 25%
  • Discussion evaluations: 25%
  • Final paper: 25%

Blackboard discussion forum assignments

The Blackboard forum weekly assignments are the response papers, comments, and discussion evaluations. They are intended to ensure that you achieve the learning objectives of both improving your understanding of the course content, and strengthening your critical thinking and collaborative skills. Remember, being in college means that you are the one most responsible for your own learning, especially in the context of an online class (on the expectations for college learning, see this article). The discussion forum will be the place where you express your thoughts regarding the material and engage with your classmates – where they will respond to your points and converse about the materials. Since, both in my personal experience and according to multiple studies, learning takes place best in dialogue with others, and since this course is located in cyberspace, we need this forum to replace all the ways in which students normally interact with each other in the classroom.

Too many assume that history requires memorizing some single narrative of our past experiences, and fail to appreciate the contested nature of historians' work, which involves struggles to make sense of conflicting evidence and contrary interpretations. You should always keep in mind that history is not a fully determined, cohesive narrative: history is alive and ever-changing, as new historical information and novel interpretations brought by new generations of historians transform our understanding of the past, in the context of a dialogue both with past writings on history, and current historians. This is what historians do, this is the discipline of being a historian, one in which we are all engaged in this class. By bringing your unique perspective to the historical materials and discussing them with your peers, you are, in effect, creating new historical knowledge. As individuals, you will draw different lessons from and make different interpretations of the readings, and gain much from conversing about them in the discussion forum. In the process of making these interpretations and expressing them, you will develop your critical thinking and communication skills by practicing them extensively, via the response papers, comments, and discussion evaluations. You will invent interesting and memorable ways to think through and remember what we are learning. The entire class will benefit from your thoughts, as you create and express your own evidence-based perspective on the issues, and thus form new historical knowledge.

I see my task within our collaborative learning community as guiding you further along the path of the discipline of history, in both grasping course content and learning historical thinking, and evaluating your progress.

  • The Blackboard discussion forum assignments will count as a central factor in your final course grade, and are an important way to keep you engaged in the class. This sort of structured interaction is absolutely necessary if this class is to truly be the equivalent of three 50-minute class periods per week.

  • Please be courteous in your posting.

  • It's your discussion forum, your space to air your thoughts and ideas. In my experience, the best role for an instructor in creating a collaborative learning community is that of an interested and concerned, but mostly external observer: I will respond to your thoughts on your discussion forum once or twice a week, but mostly leave the forum to you.

Response papers

The class will be divided into two halves. Each week, one half will write a response paper and a minimum of two formal Blackboard comments. The students in the other half will also make a minimum of two formal Blackboard comments, and write a discussion evaluation. Next week, the roles will be reversed, and so on throughout the semester.

For those assigned to do the response paper for the week, after reading the primary and secondary sources assigned, you will write a response paper on either of the following two prompts:

  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of subordinate social groups in the history of western Europe: meaning those belonging to lower social classes, women, and minority faith groups. Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, and/or readings from previous weeks.

  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of the external Other in the history of western Europe. Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, and/or readings from previous weeks.

By responding to these two prompts throughout the semester, you will gain a strong appreciation of how the two course themes evolved throughout the history of western Europe. Each response paper should be between 150–250 words. Those assigned to do the paper for the week should post their response paper by Monday at midnight as a separate thread in the correlating course week module of Blackboard—type in or copy-paste the paper into the thread, do not upload it. Please make sure to cite at least two primary sources and the textbook throughout your paper, using parentheses-style citations and indicating page numbers – the citations do not count toward the word count. Make sure to have an appropriate writing style and grammar.

  • The key to writing an effective response paper is to show how well you have understood the course material, and engaged in active reading, analytical thinking, and effective expression in a collaborative setting. Did you clearly answer the question on either the disenfranchised voices in western Europe, or the external Other, with a clearly fleshed out, effectively communicated interpretation? Since you are dealing with primary sources, consider whether you effectively and convincingly use historical evidence to place the source within the broader environment, explaining how the primary source helps illuminate western European history? Did you develop your own perspective on how this source helps reconsider the traditional narrative, if it does so, and avoid fallacies in the process? Did you draw insights from connecting this source to other readings from previous classes in the semester? Remember that not every interpretation is equal: some are better supported by evidence than others; some are more insightful than others, helping us get a better understanding of the past; some are expressed more effectively and convincingly than others. You should recognize that while there are many possible arguments to be made, your goal as historians, and more broadly critical thinkers, is to make the ones that are best supported by existing evidence and provide the most insight into historical situations.

  • An 'A' paper will have an innovative, well-supported, and clearly-expressed argument, thoughtfully drawing out the full range of implications for the traditional narrative and connections to past readings. A 'B' paper will have a solid, generally well-supported, and mostly clearly-expressed argument, less fully drawing out the range of implications for the traditional narrative and connections to past readings. A 'C' paper will be deficient in presentation of the argument, support for it, expression of it, and weak in drawing out the range of implications for the traditional narrative and connections to past readings. A 'D' paper will lack a cohesive argument, and/or provide little evidence, and be unclear in expressing it, while failing to substantially draw out the implications for the traditional narrative and connections to past readings.

Comments

For the weekly comments, you should offer your thoughts on the perspective expressed by your classmates in their papers and Blackboard comments. Every week, you need to make at least two formal discussion posts of 75-150 words each. Please make your posts by midnight on Thursday, and make sure to post them on two different days of the week. In each of your posts, cite at least two relevant pieces of historical evidence in order to support your comments on the thoughts of your classmates: at least one should be from a primary source. Make sure to have an appropriate writing style and grammar. This part is particularly crucial to ensuring that our virtual learning community is truly collaborative. While lacking the immediacy of the give-and-take in the classroom, I find that the online discussions on Blackboard are more conducive to deeper, considered responses, clearly thought out analysis, and consequently more insightful interpretations. I would encourage you to participate more than the minimum required, as this gives you all an opportunity to truly dig into the historical issues at hand. In my experience, the most fun, engaging discussions occur when classmates get into a juicy debate on a fascinating historical topic. So consider answering those people who respond to you, and try to write response posts for those papers which have not yet been responded to. Feel free to not abide by the citation or word number guidelines after you do the two formal comments required for the week. Such extra discussion participation will count for extra credit, making a significant difference for those who are "on the bubble" between a lower and higher grade as I draw up the final grades at the end of the semester.

  • For writing effective formal comments, remember that they should be meaningful and salient, engaging thoughtfully with others, both evaluating their arguments and proposing your own interpretation. Keep in mind that you are dealing with a secondary source, the response papers and the comments produced by your classmates, and analyze them accordingly. Did you appropriately evaluate the historical evidence used by your classmates? Did you highlight some assumptions implicit in the arguments made in the post? Did you dispute interpretations that you disagree with, and defend your own interpretation? Did you consider the impact of their interpretation on the traditional narrative? Did you link this reading or point to other readings from previous classes in the semester?

  • An 'A' comment will have an innovative, well-supported, and clearly-expressed interpretation, as well as an insightful, well-supported, and clearly-expressed evaluation of your classmate's arguments, teasing out the varied implications for the traditional narrative and making strong connections to past readings. A 'B' comment will present a solid, generally well-supported and mostly clearly-expressed interpretation, as well as a less insightful, a bit less well-supported and clearly-expressed evaluation of your classmate's arguments, teasing out a less broad range of varied implications for the traditional narrative and making less strong connections to past readings. A 'C' and 'D' comment will be progressively weaker on these elements.

Discussion evaluations

For those assigned to write a discussion evaluation for that week, you will reflect on the nature of the discussion during that lesson in a paper between 150–250 words to be posted on Blackboard between Thursday midnight and Saturday midnight. In the discussion evaluation paper, you should choose either one primary source or several primary sources dealing with one specific topic from the discussion of subordinated groups and external Others for that week—for example, slaves in Greece, women in Rome, Jews in Europe during the Crusades, peasants in the Reformation, natives in South America in the European colonization, etc. Then, reflect on the shape of the discussion on that topic in both response papers and Blackboard comments. Make sure to cite at least five contributions from your classmates, using name and time stamp.

  • An effective discussion evaluation should thoughtfully assess the following: what have your classmates paid the most attention to in discussing this topic? What kind of arguments did they tend to make? How insightful and well-supported were these arguments? How did they use it to reconsider the traditional narrative, and were their claims valid, based on the argument and evidence? How does this discussion connect to other discussions from previous classes in the semester? What insights have you gained from the discussion for this lesson? How did it change your own interpretation of the topic and the texts you read for that week?

  • An 'A' discussion evaluation will identify the most important arguments made about the primary source(s) by one's classmates, thoughtfully and accurately evaluate the extent to which these arguments were insightful and well-supported, reflect on the implications of the arguments made for the traditional narrative, connect it to past discussions, and reflect over the impact of the discussion on impacting your own interpretation of the topic and texts. A 'B', 'C', and 'D' will be progressively weaker on all of these elements.

This assignment is very important for a deeper, fuller engagement with the course. By integrating the reading for the week with the Blackboard discussion, the discussion evaluation will further your comprehension of each lesson. In considering the way that the Blackboard discussion shaped your own thinking and interpretation, you will gain a stronger appreciation of the collaborative learning community. Finally, analyzing the discussion that your classmates engaged in promotes excellence in critical thinking and a broader understanding of effective communication strategies.

Online participation portfolio

Each week starting from the second lesson, by Sunday midnight you will submit, via the Blackboard assignments section, an online participation portfolio. This is a word document composed of the two formal weekly comments of yours that you think are the strongest, and either the response paper or the discussion evaluation, depending on what you are assigned to do for that week, along with a time stamp of submission for each. A key additional component of these portfolios will be your self-assessment.

  • Your self-assessment should include a written self-evaluation of approximately 100-150 words, where you discuss how well you performed on the assignments for that week, suggest a grade that you should receive for each assignment, and write why you suggested the grade you did. Here, you should engage with the grading criteria for each assignment as outlined above: clearly describe why you think you should get a certain grade. Note that the average grade for this class has consistently been somewhere around the B- range, so keep this in mind when making your self-assessment: in accordance with the standards of the Honor Code, show integrity in assigning yourself the grade you think you deserve, based on the grading criteria. I will respond to your self-assessment in the portfolio, and either accept, lower, or raise the "self-grade" you submit.

Such self-evaluation, both in my experience and as shown by many studies, is an excellent teaching tool for helping you reflect on your strengths and weaknesses. It will improve your performance by enabling you to deeply engage with what you need to do in order to ensure excellence in reading actively, thinking analytically, and communicating effectively, in a collaborative format. This practice of self-assessment is an excellent tool to adopt throughout your life in general; also, it will closely reflect the kind of self-evaluation many of you will undertake or have already undertaken in whatever professional career you pursue.

Final Paper

For this assignment, you will work with a group of 4-5 classmates to write a collaborative wiki-based paper. This assignment takes advantage of the opportunities provided by our digital interaction to strengthen your teamwork abilities in a virtual format, a necessity in today's world. At the same time, the wiki-based paper shows well that history is not a set, single narrative, but one that is contested, where historians debate varying analyses of evidence and interpretations based on this evidence. History, thus, is the authorial choices that you make, the evidence you decide to include and exclude, the language you use, and the interpretations that you make. Building on the weekly papers, comments, and discussion evaluations, your goal in this paper is to demonstrate how well you have learned the course content and mastered historical thinking, and in the process both promoting and evaluating your progress in the discipline of history.

For the paper, you will join a group by the midpoint of the semester. Then, your group will choose either of two prompts:

  • Pick three primary sources from different weeks in the semester, but at least one from the 700 BCE–410 CE period, one from the 410 CE–1500 CE period, and one from the 1500 to 1650 CE period, and explain how these readings help us understand the place of subordinated groups in the history of western Europe. Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings that you did throughout the semester. How does integrating these sources into the traditional narrative change the structure of the traditional narrative, if at all?

  • Pick three primary sources from different weeks in the semester but at least one from the 700 BCE–410 CE period, one from the 410 CE–1500 CE period, and one from the 1500 to 1650 CE period, and explain how these readings help us understand the place of the external Other in the history of western Europe. Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings that you did throughout the semester. How does integrating these sources into the traditional narrative change the structure of the traditional narrative, if at all?

Your group will then collaborate in choosing the sources and writing the paper on the wiki section of Blackboard. The paper should be no more than 1,000 words in length. Your final paper grade will be a combination of a grade for the group paper, and a separate, individual participation grade. The group paper grade will represent 85% of your individual grade for the paper and will be the same for all group members. The participation grade will be 15% of your grade, and will be given by the other members of the group: this will serve as encouragement for all of the group members to participate fully in the collaborative effort of creating the wiki paper. In case of striking discrepancies between the participation assessments of various group members, I may weigh in on evaluating the participation effort myself, as I have full access to the history of the changes made in the wiki.

The group grade for the final paper will in many ways parallel the grade for the weekly papers. Again, consider how effectively and convincingly your group placed the sources within the broader historical environment, explaining how the primary sources help illuminate western European history. Think about to what extent did your group develop and clearly demonstrate a unique, individual perspective on how, if at all, these sources help reconsider the traditional narrative. Your group paper should clearly connect the three major readings you focus on to other readings throughout the semester, and cite materials extensively. Make sure to follow college writing essay guidelines: an introduction with a strong thesis, well-developed paragraphs, clearly and coherently organized, with a thoughtful conclusion, an appropriate writing style and grammar, and revised as needed within the context of the wiki (here are some good guidelines on avoiding writer's block and not procrastinating). Below is the grading rubric that I will use to assess your paper, reflecting the goal of evaluating how your group mastered the course content and historical thinking:

  • Clarity, coherence, and insightfulness of your reasoning in presenting your interpretation: 40%

  • Support by appropriately chosen historical evidence: 30%

  • Organization/structure/coherence: 20%

  • Writing style/grammar: 10%

     Similarly to the discussion evaluations, your group will then submit a self-assessment of what grade you think you deserve along with your paper, and why you think you deserve this grade.

Readings

There are two required readings that are not available online for this course. You can purchase the required texts from Friday Center Books & Gifts in person, online, or by faxing or mailing in the book order form. I also suggest looking on the internet for the Ginzburg book: you may well be able to find a used version. For the Sherman and Salisbury text, make sure to get the 3rd Edition if you do not buy it from the Friday Center.

  • Dennis Sherman and Joyce Salisbury's The West in the World: To 1715, 3rd Edition

  • Carlo Ginzburg, The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller

To save you as much money as possible, the rest of the required readings, all primary sources, are available online. Most primary source readings are 1 to 2 pages, but some readings are quite a bit longer than others. As this is a summer course, but has to cover the same material as a western civilization course during the regular academic semester, the reading load is correspondingly heavier: expect to read from 100 to 150 pages per week, and significantly more on certain weeks.

Other Course Policies

            Assignment instructions: Please note that failing to follow instructions on assignments undermines not only your own education but also the experience of others in our collaborative learning community, and thus will be penalized. Lateness in particular will result in a deduction of a whole letter grade per day: that is, if your grade would be a B- it would go to a C- for the final paper/response papers/comments/discussion evaluations, and the grade deduction would be split among the components of the online participation portfolios. Exceptions will only be given for medical reasons, physical or emotional, and in all cases require documentation – scan and e-mail me doctor's notes or other relevant documentation as needed.

E-mail: E-mails sent Monday to Friday will be answered within 24 hours. Unless you are replying to an e-mail sent by me, please do not send more than one e-mail within 24 hours: think through all the questions you need to ask before sending an e-mail. If I have not responded to your e-mail within that time, assume that your e-mail was lost, and re-send it.

Technical assistance: Please e-mail Lynn Davis, lmdavis@email.unc.edu, for any technical assistance matters associated with the website/registration, etc.

Arrange access to a backup computer. This is a computer-based class, so do not wait until the last moment. Backup your work and have a backup plan if your computer fails. At no time whatsoever will I accept as a legitimate excuse the lack of a computer or a computer failure for lateness.

Grade Challenge: All grade challenges need to be presented at least three days, and no more than three weeks, after receiving the grade. Please present them in essay form, explaining in 200-250 words the reasons for why you think a grade should be adjusted.

Honor Code: You are bound by the Honor Code in doing your assignments. Please consult with me if you have any questions about the Honor Code. Plagiarism simply will not be tolerated. If you have any questions about what it is and how to avoid it, consult this website: http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/plagiarism.html.

Academic Support Services: The College of Arts and Sciences has developed several support programs to assist students: the Learning Disabilities Services (962-7227), the Learning Skills Center (962-3782, 962-6389), and the Writing Center (962-7710, 962-4060).

Course Schedule

May 11 – 16               Lesson 1          Introduction: methods and themes

May 17 – 23               Lesson 2          Ancient and Hellenistic Greece, 700s-150s BCE

May 24 – 30               Lesson 3          Rome: republic and empire, 753 BCE – 410 CE

May 31 – June 6         Lesson 4          The western heirs of Rome, 410 – 1000s CE

June 7 – 13                  Lesson 5          The eastern heirs of Rome and the rise of Islam, 300s – 1000s CE

June 14 – 20                Lesson 6,         The High Middle Ages and the Renaissance in western Europe, 1000s CE – 1300s CE

June 21 – 27                Lesson 7,         The Crusades: Islam, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy, 1000s-1300s CE

June 28 – July 4          Lesson 8,         The Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation, 1400s – 1600s CE

July 5 – 11                  Lesson 9,         European colonization, 1400s-1600s CE

July 12 – 18                Lesson 10,       Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, 1600s-1700s CE

July 22, 5 PM             Final paper due!!!

Addendum B

Lesson Modules for History 151 online: Western Civilization to 1650

Lesson 1         Introduction: Methods and Themes

Getting Started

This week, everyone will make a post on Blackboard in the Week 1 course module, with three components:

  • First, introduce yourself: your name, where you are from, your major (if you already decided), your hobbies, a one-word adjective that best describes you and a brief explanation of why you chose this adjective.

  • Then, respond to the issues I raise concerning the readings below about historical methodology.

  • Third, respond to the questions comparing the textbook approach to the "West" and to my approach, described in the syllabus. I would particularly like you to comment on the two course themes we will pursue throughout the class: firstly, the subordinated groups of western Europe, and secondly, the "external Other."

Then, engage with each other. Discuss and debate your different viewpoints, especially in regard to the last part of the post. See this as the start of a broader, course-long discussion with each other and me in which you will explore these disparate themes together, the coming together of a collaborative learning community. Remember, the more you put in to reading, thinking, evaluating, and discussing, the more you will get out of it, in terms both of learning content and developing critical thinking and communicating skills. The first week will be a sort of sandbox mode in regard to grading: it will be based on completion, meaning that as long as you make your post with all three parts and engage in a discussion with your colleagues, you will get an A for the week—formal evaluation will begin from next week.

Reading and Writing Assignment

1.         College reading:

Readings:

  • Take an in-depth look at this guide to college reading skills, as well as this example of how to read academic books: they will save you much time and effort throughout your college career, but most particularly in this online course. The essential points are the need to read secondary sources – books written by scholars such as monographs and textbooks – actively, for content and meaning, asking what the author is trying to say and how valid these claims are, instead of reading every word and getting lost in the details. Your goal is to grasp, evaluate, and respond to the main ideas, in an internal dialogue between the author and yourself, and then in a conversation with your peers on Blackboard. Textbooks in particular are written in such a way as to present several main ideas in each chapter, with the chapter content itself serving to illustrate and elaborate upon the main ideas: you should read in such a way as to comprehend the main ideas, understanding their nature and complexity, instead of focusing on the details. The above guides present useful strategies for how to accomplish these goals. As this is an online course and you will learn the materials and communicate with each other and me exclusively via words on the page and computer screen, the college reading skills toolset should prove invaluable for your success in this course. I would suggest that you adopt these skills to all of your reading in college and throughout your professional career, not only this class.

2          Historical methodology:

Readings:

Writing:

  • In your post, respond to the following: how do the texts on reading print sources, both primary and secondary, exemplify the use of active reading and analytical thinking as described in the syllabus?

  • In turn, how do the articles on the discipline of history contribute to your understanding of the purpose of learning history and the benefits of historical thinking? How do they challenge or confirm your expectations of this course, and what you will get out of it?

3          Introduction to "western civilization"

Reading:

  • The textbook: read the Preface, and the section called To You, the Student: How to Use This Book, pg. xvi-xxxiii.

Writing:

  • Compare the textbook's perspective on the history of "western civilization" to what I presented on the course syllabus. Which perspective seems more valid to you? Is there another perspective? What is your take on the "West"?

Lesson 2         Ancient and Hellenistic Greece, 700–150s BCE

Hello and welcome to Lesson 2. From now on, we are beginning our content-oriented weekly lessons, starting with this week's examination of Ancient and Hellenistic Greece, 700–150s BCE. This culture is most famous for formulating the bases of many of our current ways of thinking about and understanding the world: ranging from the humanities such as history, philosophy, literature and the arts, to the varied natural sciences. At the same time, some Greek philosophers strongly promoted certain ideals, beliefs, and ideological positions that are quite highly valued in our own days: individualism, rationalism, democracy, and so on. While the traditional narrative of many courses on "western civilization" focus on these spheres, in our class we shall also shine a light on other areas of Greek life, illuminating the life of subordinated groups such as slaves, women, and the poor. This will enable us to grasp a more complete history of this culture and have a deeper insight into the Greek everyday experience. Happy reading!

Reading Assignment

Note: before reading the primary sources, make sure to read the textbook, in accordance with the college reading skills described in Lesson 1. The textbook will provide the context for the primary sources, and in most cases there will be a short historical description of the primary source on the website itself. I highlighted those primary sources which all should pay particular attention to. You should skim the rest of the primary sources, and read more closely and carefully those that inspire your curiosity. Feel free to write your response paper on any primary source, whether highlighted or not. As you read the primary source, go back and forth between the primary source and the textbook, so that you can clearly place the primary source in its proper historical context.

In each lesson, there will be a series of questions to consider as you are reading the textbook and primary sources, which will help relate the broader course themes of the disenfranchised voices and the "external Others" to the specific lesson at hand. By asking a similar set of questions the reading for each lesson, we will trace the evolution of our course themes throughout the history of "western civilization."

Questions to consider as you read the following texts:

  • During the next two weeks we will focus on one theme, the subordinate groups in the "West," in order to ease our way into the format of the course, though feel free to write your paper and Blackboard comments on issues relating to the "external Other" as well. So, as you read these texts, think about the following: What surprised you about the role of slaves and women in Greek society? Was democracy beneficial for the subordinated groups of Greek society? Was it better to be a member of a subordinate group in Athens or Sparta, and why? In answering this last question, you may comment on the differences between the positions of varied subordinate groups in these two polities. How did social hierarchy shape life fates in the Greek polis? What are the implications for the traditional narrative?

Readings:

Optional Resources

These are some useful resources for you to explore on your own. Reference the ones you found useful in your Blackboard comments for the benefit of your classmates.

Writing Assignment

This is the first week that the weekly writing assignments are due. Those who are assigned to write response papers, please post them by Monday at midnight, and post at least two comments by midnight on Thursday, but make sure to do so on at least two different days of the week. Those who are assigned to do discussion evaluations this week, post at least two formal comments Thursday midnight, on different days of the week, and then post your discussion evaluation by Saturday midnight. All of you, make sure to submit your portfolio via the Blackboard assignment section by Sunday midnight.

The response paper prompts:

  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of subordinate social groups in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week.
  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of the "external Other" in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week.

Lesson 3         Rome: Republic and Empire, 753 BCE – 410 CE

Hello and welcome to Lesson 3. For this lesson, we explore Rome, in its phases as a republic and later as empire. In the traditional narrative, much attention is paid to the Roman army and its system of governance, especially the Roman law code, which strongly informs contemporary legal systems. In addition, the rise of Christianity occupies a prominent place. Though acknowledging the importance of these topics, in our course we will examine the usually overlooked areas of life to get an insight of the living experience of those whose voices rarely appear in the historical record, despite playing a crucial role in the history of the Roman republic and empire. Happy reading!

Reading Assignment

During this as well as the previous week, we will focus on one theme, the subordinate social groups in the "West," in order to ease our way into the format of the course though feel free to write your paper or comments on issues relating to the "external Other" as well. Recall that, in addition to the obligatory textbook reading, I highlighted those readings which all should pay particular attention to – they will form a center of reference for the Blackboard discussion. All of you should scan the rest of the readings, and read more closely and carefully those that inspire your curiosity.

Questions to consider as you read the following texts:

  • How did the treatment of the subordinate social groups in Rome resemble Greece, and in what way did it differ? How did the social hierarchy in Rome define the everyday life of the population, rich and poor, master and slave? How does Christianity interact with politics in this period? How was the Jewish and Christian experience similar and different during this time? What are the implications for the traditional narrative?

Readings:

Optional Resources

Writing Assignment

Those who are assigned to write response papers, please post them by Monday at midnight, and post at least two comments by midnight on Thursday, but make sure to do so on at least two different days of the week. Those who are assigned to do discussion evaluations this week, post at least two formal comments by Thursday midnight, on different days of the week, and then post your discussion evaluation by Saturday midnight. All of you, make sure to submit your portfolio via the Blackboard assignment section by Sunday midnight.

The response paper prompts:

  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of subordinate social groups in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, as well as from the previous week.
  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of the "external Other" in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, as well as from the previous week.

Lesson 4         The western heirs of Rome, 410 – 1000s CE

Hello and welcome to Lesson 4. The agenda for this lesson is to cast a light on the western European Christian kingdoms in the half millennium following the demise of the Roman Empire. The typical way of presenting this period in the traditional narrative is to consider the political history of these times: the establishment of feudalism; the conflicts between nobles; the political intrigues at the top; the wars between the varied kingdoms. Also, the Christian Church gets substantial attention, both for its leading role in the political struggles of the time, and the evolution of Church doctrine. In the traditional narrative, the peasants, women, and "external Others" are rarely seen, as its lens focuses on individual political and religious figures. In this lesson, we look through the other side of the lens to get, as much as possible, at the everyday experience of disenfranchised voices. Happy readings!

Reading Assignment

This week, we will expand our focus to explore both disenfranchised voices in western Europe and western European engagement with "external Others."

Questions to consider as you read the following texts:

  • How did the treatment of the subordinate social groups in western European Christian kingdoms at this time resemble their treatment in Rome and Greece, and in what way did it differ? Pay particular attention to issues of social class and power, and the various ways the documents bring it out – whether in dealing with serfdom, master/disciple, communal tensions, fiefdom oaths, etc. As well, the documents provide good insights on issues of gender and sexuality. How does Christianity interact with politics in this period, in regard to the subordinate groups? For the other theme, consider: how did the "external Other" impact western Europe in this time period, and how did this shape western European impressions of "external Others"? What are the implications for the traditional narrative?

Readings:

Optional Resources

Writing Assignment

Those who are assigned to write response papers, please post them by Monday at midnight, and post at least two comments by midnight on Thursday, but make sure to do so on at least two different days of the week. Those who are assigned to do discussion evaluations this week, post at least two formal comments by Thursday midnight, on different days of the week, and then post your discussion evaluation by Saturday midnight. All of you, make sure to submit your portfolio via the Blackboard assignment section by Sunday midnight.

The response paper prompts:

  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of subordinate social groups in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, as well as from previous weeks.
  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of the "external Other" in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, as well as from previous weeks.

Lesson 5         The eastern heirs of Rome and the rise of Islam, 300s – 1000 CE

Hello and welcome to Lesson 5. For this lesson, we shift our focus to Byzantium, the heir of Rome in eastern Europe and Anatolia, and the Muslim states that arose from the seventh century onward. In traditional "western civilization" courses, these areas tend to get the short end of the stick, and the little time devoted to them centers around emperors and patriarchs, wars and diplomacy. Certainly, in our class these subjects will be covered. However, we will be better served in grasping a fuller history of these regions by taking note of the disenfranchised voices therein. Moreover, by discussing the different ways that Byzantines, Muslims, and western Europeans saw and thought about each other, we will gain a more insightful understanding of the relationships between all three. Happy reading!

Reading Assignment

Questions to consider as you read the following texts:

  • Who were the subordinated groups in Byzantium and the Muslim states, and how did they differ, if in any way, to the subordinated groups of western Europe in this time (which you should recall from the previous lesson)? How did class and religion shape the social hierarchies in Byzantium and the Muslim states? How did the Byzantines and Muslims think about western Europe and, vice versa, how did the residents of the western European kingdoms think about the "external Others," Byzantines and Muslims? What shaped and influenced their ways of thinking about and corresponding behaviors toward each other? How did Byzantines, Muslims, and western Europeans influence each other's development at this time? What are the implications for the traditional narrative?

Readings:

Optional Resources

Writing Assignment

Those who are assigned to write response papers, please post them by Monday at midnight, and post at least two comments by midnight on Thursday, but make sure to do so on at least two different days of the week. Those who are assigned to do discussion evaluations this week, post at least two formal comments by Thursday midnight, on different days of the week, and then post your discussion evaluation by Saturday midnight. All of you, make sure to submit your portfolio via the Blackboard assignment section by Sunday midnight.

The response paper prompts:

  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of subordinate social groups in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, as well as from previous weeks.
  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of the "external Other" in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, as well as from previous weeks.

Lesson 6         The High Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Western Europe, 1000s CE – 1300s CE

Hello and welcome to Lesson 6. This week, we will turn our attention to internal western European developments in the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries, exploring both subordinate groups and "external Others," but with a focus on the former. We will examine "external Others" in detail next week, when we explore the Crusades: for now, just keep in mind that they are occurring in parallel to the events in western Europe that you will examine this week. The High Middle Ages, in the traditional narrative, are presented as a time of consolidation of power by central governments over regional nobility; in parallel, the Christian Church seeks to advance its own power and ideological dominance, contesting the power of the governments. The fourteenth century Renaissance brings about a rebirth of culture. In our class, we shall both incorporate, but also go beyond these themes. On the one hand, we will pay a great deal of attention to two themes that go well with our emphasis on the lives of ordinary people: how the Black Plague impacted these social groups, and the nature and experience of peasant rebellions. On the other hand, we get introduced to a novel theme today, one that will feature throughout the rest of our course: the appearance of the new intellectuals of the eleventh century, who formed the eventual basis for the university system of today. Happy reading!

Reading Assignment

Of the primary sources, make sure to read Abelard's autobiography and Heloise's response, as they are especially prominent, well-known texts that you should be familiar with.

Questions to consider as you read the following texts:

  • How did the identity and treatment of the disenfranchised voices of western Europe transform over time, and to what extent did these stay the same? In turn, what similarities and differences do you see between the subordinate groups of western Europe and those of the Islamic states and Byzantium? How did class and religion shape social hierarchies and individual fates in western Europe during these centuries? How did socially destabilizing events, most notably the plague but also the Viking invasion, impact ideas about and behavior of subordinate groups in western Europe and western Europe's "external Others"? How did the rise of the new intellectuals, the students and professors, challenge the ways of thinking about the world promoted by existing social hierarchies, in particular that of religion? What impact might this have had on ideas about subordinate groups and "external Others," and on western European society more broadly? To what extent can we call the new intellectuals a subordinate group? What are the implications for the traditional narrative?

Readings:

Optional Resources

Writing Assignment

Those who are assigned to write response papers, please post them by Monday at midnight, and post at least two comments by midnight on Thursday, but make sure to do so on at least two different days of the week. Those who are assigned to do discussion evaluations this week, post at least two formal comments by Thursday midnight, on different days of the week, and then post your discussion evaluation by Saturday midnight. All of you, make sure to submit your portfolio via the Blackboard assignment section by Sunday midnight.

The response paper prompts:

  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of subordinate social groups in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, as well as from previous weeks.
  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of the "external Other" in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, as well as from previous weeks.

Lesson 7         The Crusades: Islam, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy, 1000s-1300s

Hello and welcome to Lesson 7. After exploring the internal developments in western Europe during the first three centuries of the second millennium in the previous lesson, this week we explore the major points of western European contact with the "external Other" during these centuries: the Crusades and their consequences. The traditional narrative usually covers the Crusades only briefly, focusing on the top western European political and religious leaders and several major battles. In fact, your textbook, which is overall quite good, does an inadequate job of covering the Crusades. As such, an additional reading is assigned that you should treat as a secondary source similar to the textbook: feel free to quote either it or the textbook as the one required primary source in your papers. In this course, we shall devote much more attention to the Crusades, dealing with not only with western European political and religious notables, but also considering the Byzantine and Muslim examples. More than that, we will turn the lens of our analysis to the level of everyday life, in order to gain a greater appreciation of the experience of ordinary lives in the context of the Crusades, and especially those of subordinated social groups. Happy reading!

Reading Assignment

Questions to consider as you read the following texts:

  • To what extent did the Crusades impact the development of western Europe, Byzantium, and the Muslim states and societies in these years? How did the experience of the Crusades, both for the Crusaders and those they attacked, shape and influence ways of thinking about and corresponding behaviors toward each other, in comparison to what you learned in Lesson 5? What was the impact of the Crusades on hierarchies of class and religion for the western Europeans in the Crusades, as well as the Muslim states and later Byzantium which they invaded? In particular, how did the attacks of the western European Crusaders on Jews and later the invasion of their Orthodox co-religionists, Byzantines and Slavs, and even the Albigensian Crusade against the Christian Cathars in southern France, indicate a shift in ways of thinking about and acting toward minority faith groups during these years? How well do the Crusades reflect internal western European developments occurring in Europe at this time that we discussed in the previous lesson? How should they influence our understanding of the course of western European history during these years that we acquired in the last lesson? What are the implications for the traditional narrative?

Readings:

Optional Resources

Writing Assignment

Those who are assigned to write response papers, please post them by Monday at midnight, and post at least two comments by midnight on Thursday, but make sure to do so on at least two different days of the week. Those who are assigned to do discussion evaluations this week, post at least two formal comments by Thursday midnight, on different days of the week, and then post your discussion evaluation by Saturday midnight. All of you, make sure to submit your portfolio via the Blackboard assignment section by Sunday midnight.

The response paper prompts:

  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of subordinate social groups in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, as well as from previous weeks.
  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of the "external Other" in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, as well as from previous weeks.

Lesson 8         The Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation, 1400s – 1600s CE

Hello and welcome to Lesson 8. On the agenda for this week is an investigation of the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation in western Europe. In examining these topics, the traditional narrative analyzes the conflict between Martin Luther and the Church hierarchy, with the former portrayed as the epitome of morality, as well as the political fallout of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation. The implication of these developments for the disenfranchised voices rarely gets mentioned, or at most they are treated as a singular mass: the "peasants" or the "women" and so on. The readings for this week provide a fascinating glimpse into how ordinary people experienced the reverberation of these monumental religious and political struggles, and the meaning it had for their lives. By doing so, we gain a deeper understanding of the reasons for the success of the Reformation, an episode that played a key role in the pre-history of the United States itself. Furthermore, we get to open the curtain on the historical reality of Martin Luther, whose treatment of Jews, women, and peasants presents a more complicated moral image. Happy reading!

Reading Assignment

This week, there will be two obligatory secondary sources: the textbook and Carlo Ginzburg's insightful work, you can cite either to satisfy the requirement for the weekly response paper.

Questions to consider as you read the following texts:

  • Did political conflicts within the Church prove beneficial for or harmful to subordinate groups? How did the identity and treatment of the disenfranchised of western Europe transform during these years, if at all? How did belonging to the subordinated class, religion, and gender shape the life paths of individual human beings in these centuries? In reflecting on these questions, consider in particular the complexities produced by intersections of class and religion, such as in the case of the German peasants, or gender and religion, as brought out so well in the witchcraft documents. Did the ways of thinking about and the hierarchies associated with class, gender, and religion change during these years? To what extent did the rise of the new intellectuals that we examined in Lesson 6 serve as a force influencing the intellectual conflicts within the Church? What are the implications for the traditional narrative?

Readings:

Optional Resources

Writing Assignment

Those who are assigned to write response papers, please post them by Monday at midnight, and post at least two comments by midnight on Thursday, but make sure to do so on at least two different days of the week. Those who are assigned to do discussion evaluations this week, post at least two formal comments by Thursday midnight, on different days of the week, and then post your discussion evaluation by Saturday midnight. All of you, make sure to submit your portfolio via the Blackboard assignment section by Sunday midnight.

The response paper prompts:

  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of subordinate social groups in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, as well as from previous weeks.
  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of the "external Other" in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, as well as from previous weeks.

Lesson 9         European Colonization, 1400-1600s CE

Hello and welcome to Lesson 9. This week, we are shifting our focus to European interactions with the "external Other" during the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, and exploring how western Europe expanded outward and began building its colonial empires. This is another topic that gets short shrift from the traditional narrative. In contrast, we shall focus extensively on western European colonization, building on previous lessons on the interactions between "western civilization" and "external Others." We will go beyond the previous regions that we investigated, focusing instead on China and especially on the new colonies in what became known as South America. Here, accounts from a variety of different perspectives permit many insights on the relationship between the invading western Europeans and local natives at the level of everyday experience. Particularly significant is how the western Europeans forced the natives into a new subordinate role. Happy reading!

Reading Assignment

Of the primary sources, make sure to read Las Casas' book: this is a prominent, well-known volume that you should be familiar with.

Questions to consider as you read the following texts:

  • To what extent did the experience of the western European expansion and colonization impact ways of thinking about and corresponding behaviors toward each other by both western Europeans and natives? How did this expansion create new subordinate groups, particularly in the case of South America? What role did religion play in shaping western European relations to the "external Others" during these years? What about social class, especially in regard to the western European colonizers? To what extent were there similarities between these events and the Crusades of the preceding centuries? How did the differences between the native residents of South America, and those of the Muslim states and Byzantium, re-shape western European perceptions of the "external Other"? How well does this expansion reflect internal western European developments occurring in western Europe at this time that we discussed in the previous lesson? How should they influence our understanding of the course of western European history during these years that we acquired in the last lesson? What are the implications for the traditional narrative?

Readings:

Optional Resources

Writing Assignment

Those who are assigned to write response papers, please post them by Monday at midnight, and post at least two comments by midnight on Thursday, but make sure to do so on at least two different days of the week. Those who are assigned to do discussion evaluations this week, post at least two formal comments by Thursday midnight, on different days of the week, and then post your discussion evaluation by Saturday midnight. All of you, make sure to submit your portfolio via the Blackboard assignment section by Sunday midnight.

The response paper prompts:

  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of subordinate social groups in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, as well as from previous weeks.
  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of the "external Other" in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, as well as from previous weeks.

Lesson 10       Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, 1600s-1700s CE

Hello and welcome to Lesson 10. For this lesson we turn the lens of our analysis back to western Europe, and consider the wellspring of ideas in the seventeenth and eighteenth century that are commonly known as the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. Here, the traditional narrative does a good job of getting at the novel ideas that formed some of the basis of our own ways of perceiving the world, such as the conflict between science and religion, and the transformations in political ideals. Still, often ignored in the traditional narrative is how the new ideas led to major transformations in the ways western Europeans perceived disenfranchised groups in western Europe itself, most particularly in regard to women, minority religious groups, and ordinary people in general. This lesson, regrettably the last of the course, emphasizes the importance of these themes, while also considering the ideas emphasized by the traditional narrative. Happy reading!

Reading Assignment

Questions to consider as you read the following texts:

  • To what extent did novel ideas in these years undermine the old order of society? What impact did these ideas have on each of the axes of power that we examined throughout the course: religion, social status, and gender? Did ideas of who constituted the subordinated groups change over this period, and if so, which social groups benefited from these changes? How did the identity and treatment of the dominated groups of western Europe transform during these years, if at all? What about the attitudes and behaviors of society toward these people? How and why did the intellectuals, whose rise we traced in lesson 6 and 8, come to occupy such an increasingly influential role in western European society? What social status did they occupy in this time: dominant, dominated, or a more complex, in-between position? What are the implications of all this for the master narrative?

Readings:

Optional Resources

Writing Assignment

Those who are assigned to write response papers, please post them by Monday at midnight, and post at least two comments by midnight on Thursday, but make sure to do so on at least two different days of the week. Those who are assigned to do discussion evaluations this week, post at least two formal comments by Thursday midnight, on different days of the week, and then post your discussion evaluation by Saturday midnight. All of you, make sure to submit your portfolio via the Blackboard assignment section by Sunday midnight.

The response paper prompts:

  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of subordinate social groups in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, as well as from previous weeks.
  • Pick a primary source and explain how this reading helps us understand the place of the "external Other" in the history of the "West." Defend your answer, and connect it to other readings for this week, as well as from previous weeks.

Addendum C

Examples of Student Work

1. Response paper for "Lesson 3, Rome: republic and empire, 753 BCE – 410 CE"

As we discussed in previous lessons, history has been written by the elite- first all, by the literate (which is a small, select group of people), and often by those with power and resources. The influence of disenfranchised social groups has certainly shaped history in tremendously more ways than have been recognized- for instance, Greek society certainly would not have flourished to the extent it did without the influences of women and slaves. Similarly, subordinate social groups played significant roles in the development of the Roman Empire. Religion became an incredibly significant societal force; it was the initially minority and subordinate religious groups who really led to the development of society in ways that would have otherwise never happened.

 As discussed in the textbook (page 154), with the expansion of and drastic changes in the Roman Empire, people sought solace from the chaos in spirituality.  It seems that throughout the course of history, religion has become most fervent (and also most potentially dangerous) in times of vulnerability. However, the beginnings of all religious movements involve minority groups who are disenfranchised and struggle severely during their rising. In this context, the four main Jewish groups in the region clearly struggled to maintain their religious identity while being part of the Roman world (Textbook, page 157). When it comes to religion, many people who make lasting contributions initially begin as disenfranchised, questioned members of society overall. For instance, although Jesus obviously won the hearts of many, he still stirred significant controversy among both Jewish and Roman leaders. The same fears that led him to be crucified- fears of people who demonstrate power and are unique- also contributed to fears of religious movements overall that challenged conservative Roman norms.

The disenfranchisement and low status of Jews in this society become crystal clear with the destruction of the Essene community in Qumran, as well as Jerusalem and the Second Temple (Textbook, page 158). Actual laws are a strong step toward creating a second-rate group of people- as discussed in the Jewish Source Book, Constantine the Great was the first one to actually enact laws against Jews. Thus, although Jews were actually the source of Christianity and contributed to society, they lost all of their status as Christianity strengthened. Restrictions on intermarriage between Jews and is very significant to examine when understanding the loss of respect for Jews. Reproduction lies at the core of society, and one can often understand social status based on restrictions on marriage (for instance, in the history of the United States, blacks and whites could not intermarry, and related issues arise even today; in addition, the current intermarriage rates in our country are strikingly low and indicate the degree to which the system is still significantly racialized). Additionally, prohibition from holding office, owning slaves (and thus being able to have money), or building synagogues stripped Jews of all human rights even though they helped society to flourish.

The changes made by Constantine- the "tolerant emperor" (Textbook, page 161) made a tremendous impact on creating acceptance of all religions. This helped to ultimately lead the entire empire toward a Christian basis of life- it appears that whatever oppression and beliefs seemed to be held by leaders of the time would be adopted by the people.

The Medieval Sourcebook (Edicts of Toleration) serves as a great resource for understanding how changes occurred in attitudes toward subordinated faith groups. The idea was to "bring all things in harmony with the ancient laws and public order of the Romans." There was a focus on public order, and it appears to me that because order and control were so central to the Roman Empire's ideals, any new ideas that emphasized that would be accepted.

However, Christianity itself stirred up social order and caused fear. This serves to demonstrate that the subordination of minority faith groups was not extinguished; the target just changed. Because the status of slaves and women was improved with Christianity (the textbook, page 160), people felt threatened by it. This is in itself demonstrative of views that anything that involves the "other" parts of society is dangerous. The fears of change brought about by Christianity ultimately lead to the large scale persecution of Christians in Rome and the creation of very harsh policies toward Christians (textbook, page 161). In Tacitus (c. 55 -117 CE): Nero's Persecution of the Christians, Nero discusses how he blamed the Christians for the huge fire in Rome. They were killed in terribly dehumanizing manners, and it can be implied that they were viewed as less than human. However, interestingly, one of the important ways in which Christianity was strengthened was by the fact that they had triumphed despite such horrible opposing forces.

The Rome that resulted was clearly heavily centered on Christianity, and it changed the course of Western Civilization. The Jews and later followers of Jesus, who were at times subordinated and disenfranchised to the point of mass murder, ended up being the ones to ultimately shape the empire. As we have seen, these groups who are treated as sub-par members of society often have the most lasting influences.

2. Response Paper for "Lesson 5, The eastern heirs of Rome and the rise of Islam, 300s – 1000s CE"

The Byzantine Empire interacted with western Europe and the Muslim world in ways which deeply and complexly altered the course of history. The Roman and then Greek basis of the empire is usually the major consideration, and many have viewed the Muslim influences as an encroachment on Christianity. In this sense, the Muslim world is portrayed as the "external other," which makes it difficult to understand that this cultural contribution was just as influential as was the religious rift between the Catholic west and Orthodox east (Sherman & Salisbury, 2006, p. 194).

 The fervent religiosity of Muslims certainly contributed to their perseverance- Muslims followed strict subservience to their God, who they saw as their only source of and purpose in life (Medieval Sourcebook: The Qu'ran - 1, 47). Their religiosity also fired their victories in military expansion- as stated in the Qu'ran, "And when you meet in regular battle those who disbelieve, smite their necks…And those who are killed in the way of ALLAH - HE will never render their works vain" (Medieval Sourcebook: The Qu'ran - 1, 47).

The Muslims truly were highly successful at battle- as an Arabian chronicler said, "Never has a company from my army been beaten. And never have the Moslems hesitated to follow me when I have led them; though they were twoscore to fourscore" (Medieval Sourcebook: 
Arabs, Franks, and the Battle of Tours, 732: Three Accounts). However, it seems like a lot of the focus went to the fact that the Battle of Tours temporarily halted Islamic conquests, despite their many victories (Sherman & Salisbury, p. 198)

In addition, many Christians had actually rejected the policies of the Byzantine Emperors and accepted Islam (Sherman & Salisbury, p. 198). In addition, this population contributed tremendously to medicine, the sciences, math, philosophy, and literature. However, despite these contributions, the Muslim world has been understood mostly as a force to push away. 

3. Response Paper for "Lesson 7, The Crusades: Islam, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy, 1000s-1300s CE"

In 1095, Pope Urban II called "for Christians to begin a holy war against the newly strengthened Muslims" (Sherman & Salisbury, p. 265).  Urban painted the violence as righteous, claiming that the Holy Land "is now held captive by the enemies of Christ and is subjected…to worship the heathen" (Medieval Sourcebook: Urban II: Speech at Clermont 1095). There is a parallel to Islamic expansion, in which armies "benefitted from believing that God supported their military expansion, for the Qu'ran urged warriors to fight vigorously…" (Sherman & Salisbury, p. 198). 

There were also historical motivations of vengeance- the crusaders explained that `a generation…whose spirit was not steadfast with God,' violently invaded the lands of those Christians and has depopulated them…" referencing previous attacks on Christians (Medieval Sourcebook: Urban II). The Crusaders were certainly determined, but some reports paint them as almost blinded by their fervor; as Akkehard of Aura reported, they "were kept from fraternal bloodshed only by divine mercy" (Medieval Sourcebook: Albert of Aix and Ekkehard of Aura: 
Emico and the Slaughter of the Rhineland Jews).

The implications of the Crusades for the external "Other" are often overlooked as the Crusades are painted as an isolated event.  Some Christians in the Mediterranean began to take on aspects of the Muslims' culture (Sherman & Salisbury, p. 297). Contact with Muslims brought influences to the west's science, medicine, and architecture, like we saw in previous units. Reciprocally, Western knights were introduced to the Easten world. Most importantly, trade routes between the East and West were fortified, leading to crucial economic and social interactions (Crusades, Wikipedia). The tragic results of the crusades were also numerous, such as planting the seeds of anti-Semitism (Crusades, Wikipedia). Overall, the Crusades had more complex causes and significant implications for history than the traditional narrative puts forth. 

4. Discussion Comment for "Lesson 4, The western heirs of Rome, 410 – 1000s CE"

You did an excellent job citing references in your response paper and using these resources to validate your assumption of how Christianity interacts with politics. You also used different texts to place this primary source within the broader environment. While you cited numerous sources you did not go beyond this lesson to validate your argument.  There was room to link this source to past readings.  While you noted this in your post you did not cite any examples.  Greeks regarded marriage as a burden.  As stated by Hipponax "Two happy days bring a man, when he marries her, and the second, when he bears her to the grave" (The Lot of the Hellenic Woman, Internet Ancient History Sourcebook).  Marriage was further considered to be a necessary component to their social structure.  According to Demosthenes "We take…a wife to give us legitimate children and a respected house" (The Lot of the Hellenic Woman, Internet Ancient History Sourcebook).  This stands in contrast to Ulric's testament to marriage in A Husband's Endowment Of His Future Wife On Their Betrothal. Germanic men viewed marriage as a sacred relationship sanctified by God. According to Ulric "What God has joined let man not separate…marriage itself was holy and full of authority" (Internet Medieval Sourcebook, A Husband's Endowment Of His Future Wife On Their Betrothal).  I also think you could have expanded on your interpretation of the traditional narrative.  This source gives us an excellent insight on how Germanic men regarded marriage.  The course website characterizes the traditional narrative to mainly concern politics.  Instead, this primary source gives us an understanding of the personal/social lives of the Germanic people. 

5. Discussion Comment for "Lesson 6, The High Middle Ages and the Renaissance in western Europe, 1000s CE – 1300s CE"

The Black Plague struck Europe during a time of vulnerability; famine and poverty were taking over (Sherman & Salisbury, p. 276). You did a good job of using examples to explain how the horrible pervasiveness of the plague led to chaos and fear because its origins were not understood. Many Christians, possibly on an emotional whim, pointed toward Jews as the scapegoat, accusing them of spreading the disease and brutally killing relatively large numbers of them. Your quote from The Black Death and the Jews 1348-1349 CE effectively conveys the extent of the killing.

The first parallel that came to my mind upon reading this was actually the dramatic and violent punishments instituted against the Christians upon being suspected as the potential cause behind the Great Fire (Tacitus' "Nero's persecution of the Christians.")  During times of acute distress and seeking of justice, religious groups often become targets of persecution.

I appreciate your pointing out that Jews also fell victim to Christian persecution centuries earlier, as they began to play an integral role in the economy and were seen as competition (this has been part of the reason that they have been targeted throughout the course of history). What continues to baffle me is how it seems that often, subordinated groups (not only religious but also social, political, racial, etc.) are not protected from blame and persecution even if they are contributors to society- in fact, this at times enables the dominant to see them as an even more threatening group in need of targeting.

6. Discussion Comment for "Lesson 9, European colonization, 1400s-1600s CE"

You provided an innovative, well supported post and expanded on the traditional narrative as you outlined the struggles of the local population. I think you included excellent examples including the hypocrisy of the following phrase "no cause of war nor any other whatsoever…can an Indian be made a slave, and we will that they be treated as our vassals of the Crown of Castile" (Modern History Sourcebook: The New Laws of the Indies). Locals were to be treated respectfully but instead were exploited by their conquerors. However, there are a few differences between the two structures including that serfs were able to obtain their freedom (Medieval Sourcebook: Grant of Freedom to a Betrothed Serf), serfs were often given land that they could live off of in exchange for their labor and many willingly vowed oaths to their masters (Medieval Sourcebook: "Feudal" Oaths of Fidelity)". However, the bottom line is that the subordinate people in both structures suffered immensely at the hands of those who exploited their labor.

7. Discussion Evaluation for "Lesson 8, The Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation, 1400s – 1600s CE"

Many students focused on the subordination of women and provided valid, historically cited arguments that expanded upon the traditional narrative as they highlighted the treatment of women.  Daniel Gassaway (Monday, June 28), argues that women are still retaining a subordinate role, and believes that the persecution of witches builds upon past female subordination we have learned including the subordination of Greek women.  William Buchanan (Monday, June 28) supports this and states "the women of the 16th century became the "scapegoats" for numerous problems in society".  This relates to the treatment of subordinate groups by Christians including Nero who used Jews as scapegoats.  Students also argued that women's roles were evolving including Claudia Saavedra (Wednesday, June 30) who argues against Daniel Gassaway's claim when she states "men were still targeted for this crime".   Brittany Croom (Wednesday, June 30) takes this further when she states "The example you provided…is a great evidence of the unfairness that women endured.  But Joan of Arc is an example of how some women were making progress in society".  Finally, Kristen Cabe (Tuesday, June 29) emphasizes how many believed women were making progress when she states "that though equality is still centuries away, the notions and ideals concerning women have developed greatly".  This week's discussion builds upon past discussions as it details the subordination of women, but there is a difference in that this week there is a significant argument by many that women's roles have evolved.  This week's discussion has expanded upon my understanding of women's roles and how they are beginning to change for the better. 

8. Discussion Evaluation for "Lesson 7, The Crusades: Islam, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy, 1000s-1300s CE"

This week, a key focus once again involved the persecution of Jews. In her response paper, Kimberly Warren (on Monday) argued that Christians "were more interested in killing Jews, than trying to convert them to Christianity." The primary source Albert of Aix and Ekkehard of Aura:  Emico and the Slaughter of the Rhineland Jews was used heavily throughout the discussion, particularly by Kimberly who used it to point the violent nature of Christians during the crusades as opposed to the attitude of outreach and conversion.
       Mary Youngblood (on Wednesday) and Claudia Saavedra (on Wednesday) agreed with these points, but expanded the idea further by discussing the crusaders underlying desire for money and wealth. Mary effectively used the aforementioned primary source to argue "that while the crusaders might have killed in the name of Christianity, many killed for the sake of money." Several people referred back to previous lessons and were reminded of the persecution faced by Jews during the plague. Brittany Croom (on Thursday) added to the discussion by pointing out that the justification for the persecution of Jews last week was the plague while the validation for the Crusades was religious motives. Daniel Gassaway (on Friday) discussed the image of Christianity and added that terror and violence do not lead to conversion but instead cause other religions to negatively view Christianity. Through this discussion and the readings, I've gained an insight to the motives of the Crusades. My interpretation of the Crusades has changed to the Crusades being more about human, selfish reasons rather than for true religious purposes.

Discussion Evaluation for "Lesson 6, The High Middle Ages and the Renaissance in western Europe, 1000s CE – 1300s CE"

A significant portion of the discussion this week centered on an analysis of the persecution of Jews during the Black Plague. Students effectively used both the text and primary sources to validate their claims, especially regarding the specific accusations against and treatment of the Jews as a result of the chaos. Various students discussed how unfortunately, it seems to be a natural pattern throughout history for minority religious groups to be feared and then persecuted. Many of students' most insightful comments involved making parallels to other times in history. For instance, Kyle Delappe (Monday, June 14, 2010 10:29:43 PM EDT) discussed how Christians had restricted Jews earlier in history by excluding them from economic opportunities such as owning land; Claudia Saavedra (Wednesday, June 16, 2010 11:39:05 PM EDT) discussed how the Visigoths persecuted the Jews in Spain. Various students discussed the idea that there is often a "reversal of roles" (specifically quoted by Kimberly Warren, Thursday, June 17, 2010 8:52:35 PM EDT when looking at Nero's accusations against the Christians); similarly, Vincent Jacobs (Tuesday, June 15, 2010 11:24:51 PM EDT) talked about the subordinate group becoming the dominant one.

In addition, some students made insightful comparisons to other subordinated groups during the same time period- for instance, Matthew Hughes discussed how (in regards to the peasants at the time), "nobility acted to counteract a societal threat"(Wednesday, June 16, 2010 11:07:39 AM EDT). The various insights and comparisons made by students this week helped to illuminate historical patterns of subordinated groups as well as to specifically delve into the situation for the Jews during the Bubonic plague. 

Wiki-based Paper

The depiction of women's place throughout history has often failed to adjust thorough enough to form an accurate picture.  A woman's role has gone through many complex changes, both subtle and overt, in an unpredictable and non-linear path.   It has been influenced by fluctuating forces such as cultural values, power, fears and even religion.   Evidence shows that prior to the recognized beginnings of western civilization, many civilizations exalted women. The Sumerians wrote laws that protected "women and children from unfair treatment" and allowed women to practice various trades and even hold public office (Sherman and Salisbury, 13). The Egyptians followed the advice that men "should establish a household and love your wife" and to "make her heart glad as long as you live" (Sherman and Salisbury, 15).  However, views began to shift with the formation and advancement of the Greek polis. The woman's role continued to shift throughout the development of western civilization, and by the end of Reformation women had a secure position as a subordinate or minor group.

During the early middle ages, with the exception of the Spartans, women experienced a significant downward shift in perceived value. Women were considered "a mighty bane to men" (Lot of the Hellenic Woman). Greeks married merely to have "legitimate children and a respected house," not for companionship (LOTHW). Though not all Greek writers were as pessimistic –one author implored men to "admire your bride...Make her shine among all women" - the overwhelming majority believed that "the best wife is the one of whom the least is said" (LOTHW).  Further diminishing women's involvement, Greeks also believed that respectable women "must abide within the house," arguing that "those whom [are met] abroad are nothing worth" (LOTHW).  

The traditional understanding of the Greek polis and its development lends very little space to women as a group, who were increasingly subordinated but left out of the story. Documents from the time, including Lot of the Hellenic Woman, expand on the traditional narrative by offering more depth of understanding women's roles, including their own recognition of their second class status. For the first time, Greek women were given a voice and introduced as players in society. Aristophanes, an uncommon female voice from the period, wrote, "…if we are an evil, why do you marry us...and forbid any of us either to go out" (LOTHW).  Such texts provide insight into the dispositions and opinions of women in a developing society where such voices were often stifled. 

As the development of western civilization continued across new lands and emerging societies, the place and consideration of women was inconsistent. Though it remains clear that the female group was still largely subordinated, the introduction of new cultures highlights another upswing in female sentiment and importance.

Beginning in 410 CE, the valuation of a woman rose, particularly due to the influence of German custom and beliefs. Tactitus, author of Germania, praised the Germans' devotion to marriage. Marriage was considered "their strongest bond," and within it, women held equally essential roles as men (Sherman & Salisbury, 177). Women also owned property and received a share of their husband's wealth upon marriage. While they usually were not given agricultural tasks, their duties were considered important; they brewed the "all-important alcoholic beverages," cared for the sick and injured, and were considered to have the gift of prophecy.  Women were also considered "peace-weavers" between families through arranged marriages (Sherman & Salisbury, 177). The lives of German women were still not exactly equal to those of their male companions.  Women were severely punished for adultery, yet men were not limited to one wife, being allowed polygynous marriages (Sherman & Salisbury, 177).  Although this did give a woman more freedom to live where she wanted, it created unequal standards.

Shifting to the early middle ages, there is evidence that women were again considered highly prized, especially in the context of marriage. In the Medieval Sourcebook: "A Husband's Endowment of His Future Wife on their Betrothal," biblical references, important to the cultural context, support the fact that marriage between men and women was sacred. It states that "Wherefore a man will leave his father and mother and adhere to his wife, and they will be two in one flesh," indicating that in marriage husband and wife were to be considered equals.  As the author speaks of giving his "endowment," he describes his wife as his "dearest and most beloved betrothed sponsa" (A Husband's Endowment…). This depiction differs drastically from the first example in Hellenistic Greece, which once again highlights complexities in the role of women that are traditionally oversimplified.  

Following the Reformation, the ever-changing views toward women continued to evolve. Marriages shifted toward a goal of "mutual love" instead of "simply duty," empowering women who were previously given no say. Marriages were still arranged for practical purposes, but individuals were given more opportunity to assess their prospect (Sherman & Salisbury, p. 366).  The increasing focus on religion contributed to these shifting views. For instance, Martin Luther gathered ideas from the Bible that led him to support respect of women and marriages because "man and women are God's creation." He spoke out against Pagan and Jewish ideas toward women, which he argued did not give them enough love and importance (The Estate of Marriage, 1522). 

Despite shifting views, women remained in a subordinate role. During the early 1600s, there was substantial unrest as a result of religious fragmentation, and women, who held a lower societal position, became scapegoats. In an attempt to quell fears, 100,000 to 200,000 people were accused of witchcraft and tortured into false confession, ninety percent of whom were women (Sherman & Salisbury, p. 369). A specific example of how women were targeted is when a couple was condemned for witchcraft, but only the woman's words were interpreted as lies and curses (Witchcraft Documents). The text Witchcraft Documents provides insight into how women were often blamed for societal problems. Though there were some who actually regarded themselves as witches, evidence demonstrates that much of the witchcraft hunting was an attempt to silence the growing group of women that threatened men's complete dominance. The depiction of women during this time as mysteriously dangerous creatures was not new and this historically-reoccurring tactic of making a scapegoat of an innocent group mirrors that against the Jews during the Black Plague (The Black Death and Jews).

In reconsidering the traditional historical narrative, one is forced to recognize that women were generally excluded from positions of respect. History classes solely focus on the great leaders (mostly male), battles, developing governments and heroic changes in each society, placing insufficient focus on the role and participation of subordinated groups including women. Any evidence illuminating the lives of these under-studied people thus gives new insight and a voice that is seldom heard. Whether it is proof of their subordination or documents that describe an exalted status, each piece goes beyond the traditional narrative to highlight an underserved collection of people and provide a more nuanced understanding.  As with any story, a deeper understanding of one portion leads to a broader understanding of the story as a whole.

Gleb Tsipursky, a PhD Candidate in Russian History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been teaching as an independent instructor at this university from 2008, including classes in both world history and European history, online and in-person. He can be reached at gleb11@gmail.com.


 
Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the editors of World History Connected, and in particular the peer reviewer who made numerous insightful comments upon the article, for improvements to the final version of this paper. I would also like to offer my gratitude to Donald Raleigh, whose teaching style most informs my own, and the Center for Faculty Excellence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, whose advice on pedagogy I followed in constructing this course.

Notes

1 I am informed here by Dipesh Chakrabarty, Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000); Martin W. Lewis and Karen E. Wigen, The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997); Edward Said, Orientalism (New York: Vintage Books, 1979).

2 This means, for example, that I treated Vikings as external Others until the twelfth century, when the archdioceses in Scandinavia were established.

3 Dennis Sherman and Joyce Salisbury's The West in the World: To 1715, 3rd Edition (McGraw-Hill: New York, 2008).

4 In using this wiki-based paper, I drew on the following article: Kevin B. Sheets, "Wiki in the History Classroom: Can Joint-Authoring Technology Help Students Understand the Nature of the Historian's Craft?" Perspectives on History 47, no. 5 (May 2009), Accessed January 2010, [http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/2009/0905/0905for11.cfm].

 


 
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