History 262The World since 1400Fall 2013Instructor: Robert L. GlazeEmail: [email protected]: 5th Floor Dunford Hall, #2548Office Hours: Thursday 9:30-10:30 A.M and 3:15-4:15 P.M and by appointment.LECTURES: TR 8:10-9:15, Dabney-Buehler Hall-415 DISCUSSION SECTIONS:Section 1-11:10AM- 12:25PM James A Haslam II Business Bld-124Section 2-12:40PM- 01:55PM Humanities and Social Sciences-118Section 3-02:10PM- 03:25PM Jessie Harris Building-425All discussion sections are on Thursdays.“By turning names into things we create false models of reality. By endowing nations, societies,or cultures with the qualities of internally homogenous and externally distinctive and boundedobjects, we create a model of the world as a global pool hall in which the entities spin off eachother like so many hard and round billiard balls.”-Eric R. Wolf (Europe and the People Without History)COURSE DESCRIPTIONThis course will survey some of the major developments in World History from 1400 CE to the modern day. Because attempting to cover the myriad of peoples, events, and ideas present in these 600 years of history in their entirety is infeasible, this course will adopt a thematic approach. It will pay special attention to historical constructions of “the Other.” One scholar defines “the Other” as: ...an individual who is perceived by the group as not belonging, as being different in some fundamental way. Any stranger becomes the Other. The group sees itself as the norm and judges those who do not meet that norm (that is, who are different in any way) as the Other. Perceived as lacking essential characteristics possessed by the group, the Other is almost always seen as a lesser or inferior being and is treated accordingly. The Other in a society may have few or no legal rights, may be characterizedas less intelligent or as immoral, and may even be regarded as sub-human.1 As the course will reveal, conceptions of “the Other” played (and continue to play) important roles in society, culture, politics, religion, and armed conflict. COURSE GOALS:This course is designed to give students a broad overview of global history since the 15th Century. We will be examining issues of culture, politics, race, class, gender, religion, and warfare. Moreover, in this course, students will have the opportunity to improve their writing andanalytical skills—abilities that will prove valuable regardless of one's career field.REQUIRED BOOKS:Achebe, Chenua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor Books, 1994. ISBN: 0385474547Febbraro, Flavio and Burkhard Schwetje. How to Read World History in Art. New York: Abrams, 2010. ISBN: 0810996839 (Referred to in the Course Outline as: ART)Gaskill, Malcom. Witchcraft: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. ISBN: 9780199236954I understand that college can be a financially burdensome endeavor. Thus, I have attempted to keep the book list as affordable as possible and we will be relying heavily on online and digitized(and free) readings. I also recommend ordering your books from more affordable vendors, such as Amazon.com, Half.com, or Abebooks.com. Additional readings will be posted on Blackboard (referred to BB in the course outline).GRADING:Midterm-20%Final-20%Attendance and Participation-20%Response Papers (3)-30% Quizzes-10%GRADING SCALE:A 93-100 B+ 87-89 C+ 77-79 D+ 67-69A- 90-92 B 83-86 C 73-76 D 63-66B- 80-82 C- 70-72 D- 60-621Lilia Melani, “The Other,” http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/other.htmlEXAMS:The midterm and the final will be a combination of identifications and essays. You will be asked to bring a Greenbook to discussion the week preceding the exams.ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION:Attendance will be taken during discussion sections. Each student is allowed two absences without penalty. For each absence beyond your second, you will loose 10% of your attendance and participation grade. Upon your sixth absences in discussion, you will receive a zero for your attendance and participation grade. There is no distinction between “excused” and “unexcused” absences. It is not enough to simply show up to discussion. Students are also expected to have read the assigned readings. Furthermore, you should bring the assigned readings to discussion, be prepared to answer the instructor's questions, and be willing to engage your fellow students in respectful debate.Just because role is not taken in lecture, does not mean you are excused from attending. Your success in the course hinges on your presence and attention during lecture. Furthermore, I will not be posting any of my lecture materials on Blackboard.RESPONSE PAPERS:You will have three papers over the course of the semester. The first two papers will be on Gaskil and Achebe, respectfully. The third paper will draw from other discussion readings. Your papers should be three to four pages in length. You will be given specific paper prompts at a latter date. Paper prompts will be posted AT LEAST two weeks prior to the due date.QUIZZES:Four to five unannounced quizzes will be given during discussion sections over the course of the semester. The quizzes will cover ONLY the material in the assigned readings for that week. At the end of the semester I will drop your lowest quiz grade.MAKEUP AND LATE WORK:Makeup exams and quizzes will only be allowed in the event of documented emergencies or a university sponsored event. If you are an athlete or a part of another university organization make arrangements with me in advance.Late papers will be penalized one letter grade for each day late. After four days, the paper will nolonger be accepted.ELECTRONICS POLICYStudents are welcome to use their laptops for note-taking and document reading during lecture and discussion. Please be respectful of your fellow classmates by resisting the temptation to visit distracting websites during class.Please silence and put away your cellphones during class.ACADEMIC HONESTY:Plagiarism will not be tolerated. In your written assignments, any words or ideas that are not your own should be cited. With the advent of internet search engines, catching plagiarism is remarkably easy. This zero tolerance policy is also applied to cheating on exams and quizzes. Depending on the severity and frequency of the offenses, punishment can range between receiving a 0 on the assignment to receiving an F in the course and the student being reported to Academic Affairs. All students should consult