Community College of Denver: History 



 Western Civilization 2 section 500 Late Start       Course Outline


     Week   1  |   2  |   3  |   4  |   5  |   6  |   7  |   8  |   9  |   10  |   11  |   12  |   13  |  14


 Readings    

text:A History of World Societies, volume 2, 5th edition, by John McKay, Bennett Hill and Patricia Ebrey, 
                                                      Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. ISBN: 0395944910.

(P) Course Packet


Week 1
2/7

Topic Reading Assignment
Orientation

History?

Renaissance

Syllabus
Browse A History of World Societies

 Introduction to the course

Meet the professor       Read the syllabus       Browse the book

See the course  website

Home Resources Thinkers Maps
Syllabus Encyclopedia Texts Timelines
Course Outline Terms Ideas Getting Oriented

Why study Western Civilization?




 

Week 2 

2/14

Topic Reading Assignment
Colonization

Absolutism

16. The Acceleration of Global Contact
The World of the Indian Ocean
Europe's Discovery, Reconnaissance, and Expansion
Global Trade Networks
The Chinese and Japanese Discovery of the West
The Impact of Contact
Listening to the Past: Columbus Describes His First Voyage
17. Absolutism and Constitutionalism in Europe, ca 1589-1725
France: The Model of Absolute Monarchy
The Decline of Absolutist Spain in the Seventeenth Century
Absolutism in Eastern Europe: Austria, Prussia, and Russia
England: The Triumph of Constitutional Monarchy
The Dutch Republic in the Seventeenth Century
Listening to the Past: The Court at Versailles
Reading Reaction Questions 

Short biography or narrative

 

class notes

Rise of the National Monarchies
the birth of the modern state

Renaissance art 

The Italian Renaissance Humanists
a new relation between God and Humanity

Acceleration of Global Contact



Week 3 

2/21

Topic Reading Assignment

The Enlightenment  

 

Innovations in Science

18. Toward a New World-View in the West
The Scientific Revolution
The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment and Absolutism
Listening to the Past: Voltaire on Religion
19. The Changing Life of the People in Europe
Agriculture and Population
Marriage and the Family
Children and Education
Food and Medical Practice
Religion and Popular Culture
Listening to the Past: A New Way to Educate Children
Reading Reaction Questions 

Short biography or narrative

 

class notes

Reformation

Age of Discovery: Science

The Enlightenment



Week 4 

2/28

Topic Reading Assignment
 

West African Empires

 

Slave Trade

 

The Flourishing of Islam

20. Africa and the World, ca 1400-1800
Senegambia and Benin
The Sudan: Songhay, Kanem-Bornu, and Hausaland
Ethiopia
The Swahili City-States
The Slave Trade
Listening to the Past: Duarte Barbosa on the Swahili City-States
21. West & South Asia: The Islamic World Powers,  1450-1800
The Ottoman Turkish Empire
The Persian Theocratic State
India, from Mughal Domination to British Dominion 1498-1805
Listening to the Past: The Weighing of Shah Jahan on His Forty-Second Lunar Birthday
Reading Reaction Questions 

Short biography or narrative

class notes

African States

Slave Trade

Trade in West Africa

Flourishing of  Islam in Turkey

Islam in West Africa

 



Week 5 

3/6

Topic Reading Assignment
Rise and fall of Ming Sea Power

Revolution

Napoleonic Era

 

 

22. Continuity and Change in East Asia, ca 1400-1800

23. The Revolution in Western Politics, 1775-1815

Liberty and Equality
The American Revolution (1775-1789)
The French Revolution (1789-1791)
World War and Republican France (1791-1799)
The Napoleonic Era (1799-1815)
Listening to the Past: Revolution and Women's Rights

CENTENNIA Napoleonic Edition          download the software Free mapping software covers Europe and the Middle East during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic period. 

Reading Reaction Questions 

Short biography or narrative

class notes

East Asian Naval Power in the 1400's

Freedom and Human Rights

Napoleon

 



Week 6 

3/13

Topic Reading Assignment
 

The Industrial Revolution

Utopias

Romanticism

Nationalism

24. The Industrial Revolution in Europe
The Initial Breakthrough in England
Energy and Transportation
Industrialization in Continental Europe
Capital and Labor
Listening to the Past: The Testimony of Young Mining Workers
25. Ideologies and Upheavals, 1815-1871
The Peace Settlement
Radical Ideas and Early Socialism
Romanticism
Reforms and Revolutions (1815-1850)
Nation Building in France, Italy, and Germany
Listening to the Past: Faith in Democratic Nationalism
Reading Reaction Questions 

Short biography or narrative

class notes

Industrial Revolution

Reform

Romanticism

Utopias




Week 7

3/20

Spring Break no classes March 15-21


 Week 8

3/27

 

Western Imperialism and its Affects 26. European Life in the Age of Nationalism
Cities and Social Classes
The Changing Family
Science and Culture
The Responsive National State (1871-1914)
Marxism and the Socialist Movement
Listening to the Past: Middle-Class Youth and Sexuality
27. Africa and Asia in the Era of Western Industrialization, 1800-1914
Industrialization and the World Economy
The Great Migration
Western Imperialism, 1880-1914
The Islamic World Under Pressure
Sub-Saharan Africa: From the Slave Trade to Foreign Rule
Colonialism in India and Southeast Asia
Rapid Change in East Asia
Listening to the Past: A Japanese Plan for a Modern Army
Reading Reaction Questions 

Short biography or narrative

 

 

class notes

Urbanization

Demographic Transition

Globalization

Marxism

Colonial Imperialism

The Opium War - opening China to European Empires


Week 9

4/3

 

Topic Reading Assignment
War and Revolution 28. Nation Building W Hemisphere and Australia
Latin America (1800-1929)
The United States (1789-1929)
Canada, from French Colony to Nation
Australia, from Penal Colony to Nation
Listening to the Past: Simón Bolívar's Speculation on Latin America
29. The Great Break: War and Revolution
The First World War
The Home Front
The Russian Revolution
The Peace Settlement
Listening to the Past: The Experience of War

 

Reading Reaction Questions 

Short biography or narrative

 

class notes

Manifest Destiny

Filibusterism

WWI

Russian Revolution

New Nations


Week 10 

4/10

Topic Reading Assignment
Modernity

Depression

 
30. Nationalism in Asia, 1914-1939
The First World War and Western Imperialism
The Middle East
Toward Self-Rule in India
Turmoil in East Asia
Listening to the Past: Nonviolent Resistance in India
31. The Age of Anxiety in the West
Uncertainty in Modern Thought
Modern Art and Music
Movies and Radio
The Search for Peace and Political Stability
The Great Depression (1929-1939)
Listening to the Past: A Christian View of Evil

 

Reading Reaction Questions 

Short biography or narrative

 

class notes

East Asia

The Boxer Rebellion

Modernity

Rite of Spring

Bauhaus

Depression


Week  11 

4/17

 

Topic Reading Assignment
War

Holocaust

Cold War

32. Dictatorships and the Second World War
Authoritarian States
Stalin's Soviet Union
Mussolini and Fascism in Italy
Hitler and Nazism in Germany
Nazi Expansion and the Second World War
Listening to the Past: Witness to the Holocaust
 
33. Recovery and Crisis in Europe and the Americas
The Division of Europe
Renaissance and Crisis in Western Europe
Soviet Eastern Europe, 1945-1991
The Western Hemisphere
The Post-Cold War Era, 1991 to the Present
Listening to the Past: A Solidarity Leader Speaks from Prison
Reading Reaction Questions 

Short biography or narrative

class notes

WWII

Holocaust

Cold War


Week 12 

4/24

 

Topic Reading Assignment
Neo Colonialism 34. Asia and Africa in the Contemporary World
The Resurgence of East Asia
New Nations in South Asia and the Muslim World
Imperialism and Nationalism in Black Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa Since 1960
Listening to the Past: The Struggle for Freedom in South Africa
35. Changing Lives in the Developing Countries
The Emergence of the Third World
Economic and Social Challenges
The Growth of Cities, 1945 to the Present
Growing Diversity Since 1980
Mass Culture and Contemporary Thought
Interpreting the Experiences of the Emerging World
Listening to the Past: Voices from the Village
Reading Reaction Questions 

Short biography or narrative

class notes

Feeding the World

Triple Heritage: Tools of Exploitation

 


Week 13 

5/1

Topic Reading Assignment
 

Globalization

Terror and Beyond

 

 
36. One Small Planet
World Politics
Global Interdependence
Patterns of Thought
Listening to the Past: One World and a Plan for Survival
Reading Reaction Questions 

Short biography or narrative

Analytic Paper

 

class notes

Nuclear Threat Casts Shadow

Einstein and Supranationalism

Terrorism and the New American Empire

Multilateralism

Rebuilding America's Resources

Politics of Opium in the Golden Triangle and Golden Crescent

 


Week 14 

5/8

Topic Reading Assignment
 

Western Civilization

  Final Examination

Timeline

class notes


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