Requirements and Syllabus UGC 111LR P1 Tuesday Thursday Sean McNamara seanmcna buffalo edu Robert Kelly rkelly2 buffalo edu Stephen McAndrew sm76 buffalo edu UGC 111LR P2 Monday Wednesday Brian Donohue bd26 buffalo edu Benjamin Lawrence blawrenc buffalo edu Jon Houston jonhoust buffalo edu Dr James Lawler Fall 2014 World Civilization to 1500 Dr James Lawler jlawler buffalo edu Webpage www buffalo edu jlawler Textbooks and Course Requirements Textbooks Howard Spodek The World s History Volume I to 1500 Prentice Hall 4th Ed with My History Lab Primary Source Readers 1 2 and 3 download from course Website Course requirements General Procedures Students are expected to attend all lectures and recitations take careful notes and do assigned readings on time Lecture presentations will provide important perspectives and additional information to what is found in the textbook and readings Hence reading the textbook alone will not be sufficient to grasp the course material Before each lecture students should download and print the outline for the lecture on the class web page or make notes on your laptop The outline will give the student a good idea of the kinds of issues to be examined during the lecture Studying the lecture outline in advance is very good preparation for listening carefully to the lecture However the outline is only an outline and does not contain sufficient information for adequately understanding the lecture Therefore it is essential to 1 take notes To make efficient notes the student should select a printing format that is optimum for note taking such as three slides per page Lecture attendance 10 of grade Attendance will be taken periodically during lectures After two absences each additional absence will result in a reduction of 2 points from the participation total There will be a possible loss of ten points which will result in a reduction of one whole grade In order to participate actively during the recitation section students need to have attended lectures During lectures students should sit with their recitation groups and regular study partners The seating assignments will be given early in the semester Quizzes 30 of grade At each recitation session there will be a short quiz based on assigned readings and lectures The lowest two quizzes will be dropped Students will be excused from a quiz only with a doctor s letter for illness or a comparable reason for missing class with evidence Other reasons for missing quizzes My car had a flat will not be accepted since the expectation of such accidents is part of the reason for dropping the two lowest quizzes Written work 30 of grade Journal 15 of grade Students must keep a regular journal for developing his or her personal reflections on the Primary Source Readings Book of Genesis Epic of Gilgamesh etc Don t just summarize materials Make it clear that you have carefully read the readings themselves by referring to interesting parts of the text 1 Try to find some interesting points in these readings that were not mentioned in the lecture This shows you have read the material 2 Explain why you found these points interesting 3 Explain how these points add to what you have read in Spodek and heard in lecture regarding the historical context of the primary source readings Students will be expected to make two entries a week Entries should be at least one full page using 12 point font double space and one inch margins If journals are handwritten the length should be equivalent to a printed version Be sure that the entries are mainly on the assigned Primary Source Readings to be covered during the recitation section Journal entries will be shared with classmates during recitation sections Students must bring journals to recitation Journals will be handed in periodically to the instructor 2 Failure to have the appropriate journal material available for discussion in recitation class will result in a deduction of 2 points from the total grade for this journal requirement to a maximum of 10 points out of a possible 15 Research Essay 15 of grade A research essay is required It should be five to six pages double spaced 12 cpi 1500 1800 words Paper topics will be based on the topics in the Primary Source Readings The paper must be based on one scholarly research article which must be shown for approval to the recitation instructor two weeks prior to the presentation of the paper in class See librarians in the Undergraduate Library for information on how to find scholarly articles Encyclopedia articles and similar articles from the Internet are not acceptable as your main source Topics for papers based on Primary Source Readings 1 Sophocles Antigone 2 Plato 3 Epictetus 4 Confucius 5 Lao Tzu Daoism 6 Hinduism Bhagavad Gita 7 Buddhism 8 Book of Job 9 Gospel of John 10 The Koran 11 Rumi Sufi Muslim poet Students should be prepared to give a brief summary 5 to 10 minutes of their paper during the recitation period at the appropriate time when the topic is being discussed in the lectures The summary should be on interesting ideas that will stimulate class discussion The student should be especially responsible for knowing the Primary Source Reading to which his her paper is related A full first draft of the paper must be completed at that time and shown to the instructor The student should then incorporate comments and any new material presented in recitation or lectures for the final draft which is due at recitation period the following week There should be clear references for all sources footnotes and bibliography Plagiarism which is easy to detect through Internet search will result in 0 for this part of the course The same applies to journal entries Papers will be graded on the following points 1 Does the paper clearly describe a relevant research paper that discusses the topic 20 2 Does the paper illuminate the primary source texts actual writings from the historical period The student should show clearly that s he has read the primary text or portion thereof When in doubt student should consult the instructor on what is required here 20 3 Does the paper successfully incorporate relevant concepts presented in Dr Lawler s lectures and the Spodek text showing the importance of the historical context 20 3 4 The student should point out differences in the points of view presented in the research article from what was presented in class and in the textbook Which point of view is more accurate for understanding the primary source