Professor's page. |
History 347 |
Every week you will turn in a one page paper based on the week's readings from "Sources of the West . The reading assignments and the topics for each week's paper are listed below.
Books:
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Grade:
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| Week 1 | What is Civilization?
text: Ch 1 |
| Week 2 | Near Eastern Civilizations
text: Chs 2,3,4 reader: Code of Hammurabi, Book of the Dead, Book of Exodus topic: What are some of the common concerns and values expressed in these ancient codes? How do they differ from modern laws? |
| Week 3 | The Greeks
text: Chs 5,6 reader: Plato's "Republic , Aristotle's "Politics topic: How do the political ideas of Plato and Aristotle differ from modern democracy? What do their ideas tell us about Greek values? |
| Week 4 | The Romans
text: Ch 7 reader: Cicero's "Laws , Plutarch's "Life of Cato, Suetonius' "Life of Augustus topic: What can we learn about Roman politics from these writers? What qualities did Romans admire in their statesmen? |
| Week 5 | Rise of Christianity
text: Ch 8 reader: Sermon on the Mount, Epistle to the Romans topic: How does the message of the Sermon on the Mount differ from Paul's Epistle? What are reasons for these differences? |
| Week 6 | The Early Church
reader: Augustine's "City of God , Benedict's "Rule topic: What do Augustine and Benedict tell us about the early Church? How did Christians view the world and human nature? |
| Week 7 | Rome's Successors
text: Ch 9 reader: Justinian's "Code , "Koran , Burgundian "Code topic: What are some of the ideas about women, sex and family relations expressed in the "Koran and the law codes of Justinian and the Burgundians? |
| Week 8 | Medieval Society
text: Ch 10 reader: Feudal documents, "Magna Carta topic: What do the feudal documents and "Magna "Carta tell us about the relations between a lord and his vassals? What are some of the problems in this relationship? |
| Week 9 | Medieval Christianity
text: Ch 11 reader: Francis' "Admonitions , Aquinas' "Summa , Catherine's "Dialogues topic: Most literature in the middle ages was about religion, but not everybody read the same things. Who do you think were the main readers of Francis, Aquinas and Catherine, and why? |
| Week 10 | The Nation State
text: Ch 12 reader: Machiavelli's "Prince , Seyssel's "Monarchy, "of France , Fortescue's "Laws of England topic: What do these writers feel makes a ruler successful? What advice do they give to kings? |
| Week 11 | Renaissance Culture
text: Ch 13 reader: Pisan's "City of Ladies , Alberti's "Family topic: What do Pisan and Alberti have to say about women and relations between the sexes? Why did they take examples from the Classical world? |
| Week 12 | Voyages of Discovery
text: Ch 14 reader: Columbus' letter, de las Casas' "History topic: How do Columbus and de las Casas differ in their views of the Indians? |
| Week 13 | Reformation
text: Ch 15 reader: Luther's "Freedom and "Marriage , Calvin's "Institutes topic: What are similarities in Luther's and Calvin's religious views? What are some differences? |
| Week 14 | Early Modern Europe
text: Ch 16 reader: More's "Utopia , Marguerite's "Heptameron topic: What do Thomas More and Marguerite of Navarre criticize about their societies? What can we learn about life in the 1500s from these books? |