World Civilization I Spring 2007

What's New? Fourth exam dates and times:     9am (section 1): Wed. May 9, 8-10am     1pm (section 4): Mon. May 7, 1-3pm

CONTEXT: For most of human history, humans lived in small groups who hunted and gathered their food, but around 8,000 BCE (Before Common Era), something changed. Humans developed agriculture, formed larger groups, settled in urban communities and eventually built huge empires, created religion institutions and explored their planet. In the process, they left behind many things -- sources -- that we can examine in order to understand how these things developed. As we examine sources, we will not only learn what happened, we will also learn how to use sources to figure out what happened.

OBJECTIVES: The course fulfills three general education goals emphasized by the department of history: 1) developing effective communication using a variety of written and oral assignments, 2) developing critical thinking skills by teaching students to analyze and critique primary historical sources, and 3) preparing students to lead productive, contributing lives by providing opportunities for students to connect historical debates to their current concerns.

RESPONSIBILITIES: Professor Jones must take attendance, deliver interesting lectures and facilitate meaningful classoom discussion, maintain regular office hours, write fair examinations and provide written feedback. Students must attend class regularly, read assignments before arriving in class, participate in class discussions, and pass four examinations.

GRADES	First exam, 20%	Second exam, 20%	Third exam, 20%	Fourth exam, 20%
	Class participation, 20%     (Perfect attendance improves borderline final grades.)
QUIZZES:	Occasionally, I give quizzes to see who has done the reading, grade them -1, 0 or 1, and add or subtract your quiz total from your final class average at the end of the semester. There are NO makeups for missed quizzes.

TEXTBOOK: Excerpts from primary documents in Jim Jones, The Western World: HIS 101 Readings (Penguin Custom Editions, 2002) and supplemental materials accessible through links at http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his101.htm (this web page).

Visit Jim Jones' other course web sites at courses.wcupa.edu/jones .