Introduction to Western Civilizations

Introduction to Western Civilizations
Instructor: Krister Swanson
Fall 2006
MW: 1:00-2:50, Room ST-2

Helpful Links

Final Review:
Text or PPT

Midterm Review: Text or PPT

Class Texts:
The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures, A Concise History (Second Edition)
By Lynn Hunt, Thomas Martin, et al
Sources of The Making of the West
Peoples and Cultures, A Concise History, Volume I: To 1740
By Katharine Lualdi

Key Course Assignments:
Midterm Exam (40 points, or 20%): A traditional in class exam scheduled for October 30^th. Please make sure you bring a 50 question scantron form and a bluebook (both available in the Moorpark College bookstore) with you.

Final Exam (50 points, or 25%): A traditional in class exam scheduled for December 13^th, which is the week prior to finals week for classes being held on the traditional schedule. Please make sure you bring a 50 question scantron form and a bluebook (both available in the Moorpark College bookstore) with you.

Short Research Paper (40 points, or 20%): This 5-7 page paper based entirely on primary source documents related to a particular topic. We will discuss the specific requirements of this paper in class on September 27^th, in the meantime you need to begin developing a paper proposal that outlines your proposed topic and the documents you plan to use, this proposal is due October 4^th.

Primary Source Discussion Leadership (20 points, or 10%): We will discuss one set of primary source documents in each class session, and each of you will be responsible for leading a 15-20 minute discussion of one set of documents during the course of the semester. I will take signups for discussion topics via e-mail starting Wednesday, September 20^th. Please contact me with your top three choices for discussion leadership dates, and I will reply with your assigned date and topic.

PowerPoint Presentation (20 points, or 10%): This is intended to be a fun and informative activity for you and the whole class. Pick a topic of interest related to one of the lecture topics and develop a PowerPoint presentation, complete with well-organized text and helpful images, for presentation to the class. The goal is an interesting and informative 10-15 minute presentation that strengthens our understanding of your topic. I will start taking topic signups via e-mail starting Monday, September 25^th.

Attendance and Class Participation (30 points, or 15%): This category is fairly self explanatory. I will break this grade down into three 10-point assignments. These grades will be recorded on 10/16, 11/15, and 12/13.

Class Schedule (subject to change)