History 143

SYLLABUS Summer 2008

Hunt Tooley Sherman Hall # 109, ph. 2292

Class Schedule

Office Hours

I will be regularly available

Tuesdays and Thursdays
after class, from 4 to 5

If you have classes or other commitments at these times, please make an appointment with me, in person or by email, and we will find some time when we are both out of class and available. Catching me right after class is possible, but I will often be on my way to a faculty meeting or other commitment, so I might not have the time that you might need from me. On the other hand, you can often get a needed signature or piece of information after class. I am usually setting up for class or preparing for it in the 20 minutes before class starts, so I am rarely able to "meet" with you at that time.

Remember, with few exceptions, the most effective and quickest way for you to get help from me is to let me know that you need it. So don't hesitate to come to my office to talk.

Informational Handouts

Course Objectives

The purpose of Europe and the Modern World is to create an understanding of the broad course of Western history and the working acquaintance with the past which every citizen, certainly every educated person, ought to possess. We live in an age increasingly given to regarding the past as irrelevant, or worse, nonexistent. Yet in practical application the terms of this proposition are contradictory: how does one know the past is irrelevant if one does not first study it? Arrive at your own position on this question after you discover what is being discussed and what is at issue. In any case, be assured that you will encounter constant allusions to the past in the normal discourse of educated people. It is worth noting here that while we will be looking at the "great" events of the Europe's history in the context of the modern world and the great cultural creations of this dynamic civilization, we will also examine how normal people have lived, sometimes quite oblivious to contemporary great events, cultural achievements, and the like.

Readings

We will also read parts or all of :

Davis. The Return of Martin Guerre. Paperback. Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr; Reprint edition (September 1984)
ISBN: 0674766911 (again, any edition will do)

Haffner. The Meaning of Hitler. Paperback. Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr; Reprint edition (March 1983)
ISBN: 0674557751

Dickens. Hard Times. Paperback. Publisher: Bantam Classic and Loveswept; Reissue edition (January 1991)
ISBN: 0553210165 (this is the edition needed on this one)

Please acquire these books as early in the semester as possible. You will need them for reading on your own and to bring to class during discussions of them.

How We Will Go About This

You will be taking two daily quizzes. The first will be given at 1:00 on the occasion of each class meeting. These five-minute quizzes will cover both the reading from the day before and all the material from the class. The second quiz each day will come at the end of class. These ten-minute quizzes will be a piece of writing about the workshop or the movie we have just done. I will not give makeups for any of these quizzes. I will allow you to drop the five lowest grades on these quizzes before averaging them, but this daily work will be the greatest factor in making your final grade. Should you come late to class, you will no doubt miss the first quiz, and there will be no chance to make it up. There will be no final exam, but please be aware that both kinds of quizzes will have a kind of cumulative aspect.


Average of 24 (of a possible 29) quizzes	100%

For some quizzes, I will give the grade with zero, check minus, check, or check plus. These translate as follows:
             zero = zero
             check minus = 78
             check = 88
             check plus = 100

In this course, 93 or higher is an A; 90-92.9 is an A-; 87-89.9 is a B +; 83-86.9 is a B; etc.

Attendance, Late Assignments, and Academic Integrity

You need to come to class. After more than three absences, you run the risk of being dropped from the course, and since students who miss that much frequently have a failing average, there is a double risk of being dropped with a failing grade (see AC Bulletin). This course will follow the policies on academic integrity laid out in the Environment and other official college publications. Please read these guidelines carefully; we will follow them strictly. All violations will be turned in, with appropriate evidence, to the Vice-President for Academic Affairs. Academic honesty is absolutely essential. This means: no cheating. Although there will be no papers in this course, if you are ever in doubt as to what constitutes plagiarism, please feel free to come by and discuss the question with me, or any other faculty member for that matter. We will also be talking about this when we get to the paper assignments. On the plagiarism issue, just remember: whenever you use someone's words or ideas, you must tell that you have used them. You must give credit where credit is due. For very good information on what plagiarism is, see the McGill University website on academic integrity: http://www.mcgill.ca/integrity/studentguide/