HISTORY 4A

COURSE: History 4A,History of Western Civilization

SECTION ID: 1077

ROOM: G7

PARTICULARS: 4 weekly lecture hours, 4 units

MEETING: Tuesdays & Thursdays 1:30 pm-3:10 pm

CLASS DATES: begin Tuesday, April 10th, end Thursday, June 21st

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Marder

EMAIL : guerre1859@yahoo.com

Instructor Website: www.debellum.org

Mid Term: To be Announced

Final: June 27th, 1:45 pm

RECOMMENDED TEXT: Ancient Greece, Thomas R. Martin, ISBN 0300067674, $12 used, The Iliad (any edition will do), History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, $10 used (any edition will do)

FORMAT: Lecture/discussion/participation. All students are expected to be prepared (to have read the relevant chapters before class) to discuss the text material and topics presented in lectures.

GRADING POLICY: there will be weekly quizzes (usually Thursdays) on the lectures and chapter readings (around a dozen quizzes in all). Tests will have essays and/or multiple choice questions. Questions come from the texts or the lectures. Missed quizzes may not be made up. There will also be a midterm exam and a final exam. Exams will cover readings, and lectures. Your final grade will be based on your quizzes (20%), class participation (10%), your midterm (30%) and your final (40%). On the midterm and final, students have the option of taking: 1)multiple choice only, 2) multiple choice + essay, or, 3) essay only.

There is a lot of information in this course: names of people, things, and places, many of them unfamiliar or even bizarre. And, because this course is not math or science, because it involves people, not numbers or chemicals, because the people and events concerned are hundreds of years ago, that information is fragmentary, complex, confusing, or even contradictory. Depending on your learning style, you may want to take a lot of notes during lectures and it's probably a good idea to thoroughly prepare before the lecture--this will help your understanding of the material. Because a lot of extra content not to be found in the texts will be presented during the lecture, regular attendance is important. Attendance is your responsibility and your choice: attendance is not a part of your grade (I do not confound physical presence in class with mental presence; there is little point in merely planting your posterior on a seat if you are not consciously engaged, involved). Therefore, those who are absent will not be penalized but, those who are actively present shall certainly benefit.

COURSE OUTLINE AND SCHEDULE (A ROUGH GUIDE)

COURSE OUTLINE AND SCHEDULE (A ROUGH GUIDE) Week 1, April 10th ,11th Introduction: expectations, goals of the class; History: mirror, echo, omen; Why Ancient history? The Humanities and Mankind; The Social “Sciences”; setting the stage: the Mediterranean theater, the Age of Bronze; Quiz 1 including Mediterranean and Greek Geography

Week 2, April 17,19th Mycenaea, Minoan Civilization, the Doric Invasions, Philistines, Sea-Peoples, Iron Age, Troy, The Greek ‘Dark’ Age; Quiz 2

Week 3, April 24,26th The Archaic or Homeric Period, Martin, Chapter I, pages 1-14; Colonization; Hesiod; Quiz 3

Week 4, May 1st, 3rd Sparta; Daily Life in Greece pt. 1; Quiz 4

Week 5, May 8 , 10th Athens; Daily Life in Greece pt. 2; Quiz 5

Week 6, May 15, 17th The Persian Wars; Quiz 6

MID-TERM EXAM

Week 7, May 22, 24th The Height of Classical Greece: achievements in architecture, drama, the physical and natural sciences, philosophy. Literature; Quiz 7

Week 8, May 29, 31st Peloponnesian War, Quiz 8

Week 9, June 5, 7th Sparta overreaches, Theban Hegemony; Quiz 9

Week 10, June 12, 14th Phillip and Alexander, Quiz 10

Week 11, June 19, 21st The Epigoni or Diadochi: Ptolemy, Seleucus, Antigonus Merchants and trade