HIS 101
History of Western Civilization I

Professors Charles Evans
Bev Blois
Doug Campbell
Dino DelGallo
Joseph Esposito
Gail Hook
Adam Howard
Jill McKee
Brice Montaner
David Porter

If you would like to be included in the slideshow, please send me an image of yourself somewhere in the world.

This is the HIS 101 course home page which provides general information about the course and the links for the specific weekly assignments in the course schedule below.  You might wish to add this page to your bookmarks for quick access in the future.

• Check the Quick-Start Syllabus that ELI mailed to you for your applicable Critical Course Dates (They can also be found on the ELI home page.)  These important dates are specifically relevant to your enrollment in the course.  You must get started quickly in your course.
  • You must withdraw before the Last Refund Date (Fall 2009: 10 September first session, 25 September second session; Summer 2009: 3 June first session, 17 June second session) to receive a refund.
  • You must log into Blackboard (or submit an assignment) by your Blackboard Sign-in Deadline (Fall 2009: 10 September first session, 25 September second session; Summer 2009: 3 June first session, 17 June second session) to avoid being administratively deleted from the course without a refund.
  • If you have not completed (received a grade for) the Introduction paragraph and the Pre-history paragraph by the Inactive Student Withdrawal (Fall 2009: 28 September first session, 12 October second session; Summer 2009: 20 June first session, 4 July second session) date, I will withdraw you from the course without tuition refund per official college and course policy.  This gives you about four or so weeks to get started.  (No Exceptions; No excuses accepted.)
  • Your Last Withdrawal Date (Fall 2009: 3 November first session, 18 November second session; Summer 2009: 24 July first session, 7 August second session) is the last date on which you can withdraw yourself from the course using Novaconnect, without grade penalty.  Also, to remain in the course, by this date you must have completed the Introduction paragraph, the Pre-history paragraph and the Midterm exam.  If you do not complete these assignments by your Last Withdrawal Date, I will automatically remove you from the course with a grade of "W."  (No Exceptions; No excuses accepted.)
  • Finally, remember, you must complete all course assignments, including the final exam, by your official course End Date (Fall 2009: 20 December first session, 4 January second session; Summer 2009: 7 September 2009 first session, 21 September second session).
   
• Check the quick-start syllabus to verify your instructor's name. 
• Please note that your enrollment in this course is subject to the general ELI rules and regulations.  Please be sure to review these procedural matters now.  For an Incomplete grade in the course, a student must earn 500 points, pass the midterm exam and explain the extenuating circumstances leading to the incomplete request. 
• Take appropriate action now if you will need proctored examinations. 
• Any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments or accommodations is encouraged to contact a counselor for disability services. Contact information can be found online on the college web page.  For additional information, please contact an ELI counselor at elicounselors@nvcc.edu or 703.323.2425.  All information is kept confidential. 
• You must send all of your assignments and extra credit work by e-mail according to the Using Email in Your ELI History Course instructions.  (No more than one submission per calendar day will be accepted.)   Feedback on your work will be returned via e-mail, usually within 24-72 hours.  Your work is considered to have been submitted only when it actually reaches your instructor's inbox in a gradable form.  In other words, the simple fact that you may have emailed something does not constitute "submission" of an assignment. 
• Please review the information on Using Blackboard for instructions on how to access the online discussions and your gradebook.  (Please note that you must always include your instructor's name on the subject line of any online posting and you should never attach a document to one of your postings.) 

• To begin the course, review this page and all of the course weekly assignments and then click on the link to week 1 on the course schedule below. 
• Finally, please remember that you must pass the final exam with a grade of "C" (175/250) or better to earn a passing grade in this course.

• Judith Coffin and Robert Stacey, Western Civilizations, either the Second Brief Edition combined volume (W. W. Norton, 2009, isbn 9780393932652) or the Brief Edition, combined volume (W. W. Norton, 2005, isbn 9780393925586)  Either is acceptable.  Please note that you can use this same textbook for HIS 102.
• Gilgamesh:  A Verse Narrative (Herbert Mason translation, isbn 9780618275649)

• Song of Roland (isbn 9780451528575)
• Chaucer, Selected Canterbury Tales (isbn 9780486282411)
• Machiavelli, The Prince (isbn 9780486272740)

1. Define and describe the importance of key individuals and events in Western history.
2. Understand the general chronology and geography of Western history.
3. Understand the main forces at work in the historical development of the West.
4. Develop an ability to analyze historical sources and reach conclusions based on that analysis.
5. Compose critical essays that explain the importance of certain historical events in the West.
6. Understand the role and work of the historian.

• It is expected that students possess college-level reading and writing skills.
• You should also have relatively good technology and web-use skills.  Take the short quiz, Is A Web Course for Me?, to determine your preparedness to succeed in a web-based course.
• I would recommend that you allot at least three hours a week of study time for this course.

• 1,000-900:  A
•    899-800:  B
•    799-700:  C
•    699-600:  D
•    599-000:  F

The Cap of Monomakh (Шапка Мономаха in Russian) was one of the traditional symbols of the medieval Russian monarchy.  There is no agreed-upon certainty about the cap's origin, although it probably dates to the fourteenth century, or how the cap became one of the important symbols of the Russian autocracy, but all kingships/monarchies had their specific symbols, which always included a crown of some sort.  The Russians were no exception to that.  According to Russian legend, the Byzantine emperor sent this crown to Vladimir Monomakh, Grand Prince of Kiev, sometime in the early twelfth century, and it was used during the coronation ceremonies of the Russian tsars in the sixteenth century--a small gap in time.  Peter the Great replaced the "cap" with a more formal, imperial crown in the early eighteenth century.