Mr. Joseph Kuhns
Western Civilization
2010-2011
Course Information and Class Procedures
The purposes of this course are the following:
1. To give the students an understanding of the origins and development of Western Civilization, through a study of selected topics in European history. The emphasis is on the development of the democratic tradition, the Western "way of thinking", religious tradition, nation states, and economic structures. Through this course, students should be better able to answer the question, "How did we come to be as we are today?"
2. To help the students to develop and improve skills in analytical thinking, verbal expression of ideas, and writing.
General requirements:
1. For each class, students are expected to have needed materials: a notebook, an adequately charged computer, and assignments due that day.
2. Grades will be based on the following elements: tests, quizzes, written assignments, class participation. It will break down in the following fashion: tests-60%, quizzes and homework assignments-30%, class participation-10%.
3. Great emphasis is placed on classroom participation. It is 10% of the final grade for a quarter. There will routinely be questions and discussions in class, and each student is encouraged to participate.
4. Each quarter, there will be two major tests, and several quizzes and graded homework assignments.
5. The emphasis in this course will be on understanding historical events and patterns and how they account for the world we live in now. However, knowledge and understanding in history is also cummulative. Therefore. the student must be able to retain a large amount of learned information in her memory as well. In the study of history, understanding a topic thoroughly is of little use if after three weeks you can remember nothing at all about it.
6. Study along every night and weekend. DO NOT wait until the night or the weekend before a test or quiz and then try to CRAM a mountain of information into your head. This will not work. In this course, cramming is a sure path to disaster.
7. On the day that a test is scheduled, all students are required to take it. A student who is absent on the day of a test or quiz is expected to take it on the day she returns. A delay will be given to a student for some special reason, if it is contained in a note from a parent.
8. I will make myself available for extra help to students or for conferences with students as needed. See me after class to set up a time.
9.My e-mail address is: JKuhns@ihahs.com.
The following procedures will be followed throughout the year regarding homework assignments:
1. All homework assignments will be listed nightly on the homework page for each section on the my website on the school server. Readings will be from one of three sources: materials downloaded from my teachfolder at the beginning of each unit, hyperlinks on the index page of my website, printed hand-out material.
2. Students will be given reading assignments on most nights. Students are expected to know the important points discussed in these readings. Students should also be prepared for occasional brief quizzes on the main points that were in the readings from the night before. Students should keep a separate notebook in which are written down the main points of each night's readings.
3) Certain major homework assignments will be graded and become a component of the Quizzes and Homework portion of the quarter grade. These assignments will be handed in electronically, that is, they will be sent to the teachfolder on the school server and placed in the appropriate file BEFORE the class on the day they are due. If a student cannot do this because of computer problems, then the assignment should be handed in on the day it is due, written or typed on paper. Assignments may be sent to my e-mail if a student is absent on the day it is to be handed in. A major graded assignment which is not handed in on the day it is due will have points automatically deducted. Further delay will result in more points deducted.
4. Other homework assignments will not be collected for grading but will usually be checked by the teacher at the beginning of class. These homework assignments will be in written or typed form (not on the computer) and should be out on the student's desk at the beginning of class. On occasion, homework will be collected, checked, and returned.
5. Usually, there will be a short written assignment based on the reading assignment. It will usually require a student to do some analysis of what she has read and to express a conclusion or an opinion.
6. If the assignment calls for a "written statement", that means a short PARAGRAPH. One or two quickly written sentences do not suffice. Write the answers in your own words, wherever possible. Do NOT just copy sentences directly from the reading for your answer.
7. When doing reading assignments, the student is responsible to know the meaning of all words in the readings. If you are not familiar with a word in the reading, LOOK IT UP in a dictionary. In the textbook readings, key concepts and words are often highlighted in blue. The meaning of these words especially must be known.
Immaculateheartacademy.org teacher index
PROTESTANT REFORMATION
1. Describe the background causes of the Protestant Reformation, evaluating impact of the following factors: a) Problems within the Catholic Church, b) Political issues that contributed to the split, c) Social and technological factors that played a role in the Reformation, d) The role of individual reformers, especially Martin Luther.
2. Identify and describe differences of religious interpretation that separate Catholics and Lutherans.
3. Evaluate the social and political impact of Calvinist ideas.
4. Show on a map the geographic division of Christianity that resulted from the Protestant Reformation.
5. Explain the causes and consequences of the English Reformation.
6. Explain the Catholic Reformation (Counter-reformation) and the results brought about by it.
ABSOLUTISM, ENGLISH REVOLUTION, AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT
1. Define absolutism and explain the concept of divine right monarchy.
2. Identify and explain the major causes and phases of the English Revolution.
3. Describe the changes instituted by Cromwell and explain why the Commonwealth experiment came to an end.
4. Explain how the English Revolution brought about an essential and permanent change in the institutions by which England was governed.
5. Explain the principle ideas that formed the basis of the Enlightenment and the relationship between the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution.
6. Discuss the major ideas of the following thinkers: Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, and their impact on American history.
FRENCH REVOLUTION
1. Discuss the background causes of the French Revolution and its principal phases.
2. Describe the political and social ideals of the Revolution and evaluate their impact on France during and for Western Civilization after the Revolution.
3. Evaluate Napoleon in terms of his influence on the French Revolution and 19th Century Europe, including the growth of nationalism and liberalism.
4. Describe the organization of post-Napoleonic Europe.
EUROPE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
1. Understand the significance of the industrial revolution as a turning point in history.
2. Explain why the industrial revolution began in Great Britain.
3. Assess the economic and social impact of industrialization.
4. Evaluate the impact of unions and political reforms on the lives of the working classes in Britain.
5. Describe the fundamental principles of laissez-faire capitalism and the leading figures associated with it.
6. Identify the aims of utopian socialism.
7. Identify the key principles of Marxism, contrast Marxism with both utopian socialism and capitalism, and critique the ideas of Karl Marx.
8. Describe the barriers to the slow growth of democracy in Britain in the 19th Century.
9. Describe the characteristics of nationalism and analyze nationalism as a force for integration and for disintegration.
10. Evaluate the impact of the unification of Germany on the balance of power in Europe and on France.