HIS 101
History of Western Civilization I

Professors Charles Evans
Bev Blois
Doug Campbell
Corey Campion
Michael Cavey
Dino DelGallo
Joseph Esposito
Adam Howard
John Kincheloe
Rebecca Linford
Brice Montaner
Josephine Romeo
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 website. On this page, you will find important information about the course and the links to the course assignment schedules (see below).

• Check your specific Critical Course Deadlines. These dates can be found on the ELI home page, and they are also indicated on your course schedule (See the links below). Please make a note of these dates.
  • You must withdraw before the Last Refund Date to receive a refund.
  • You must submit your introduction paragraph or complete the Course Introduction Check quiz (see unit 1) by your First Assignment Due Date to avoid being administratively deleted from the course without a refund.
  • You must complete your Midterm Exam by your Midterm Exam Due Date or you will be withdrawn from the course.  (No Exceptions; No excuses accepted.) For your exact midterm exam due date, see your course assignment schedule linked below on this page.
  • Your Last Withdrawal Date is the last date on which you can withdraw yourself from the course using Novaconnect, without grade penalty.
  • Finally, remember, you must complete all course assignments by your official course End Date.
   
• Check Novaconnect 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 for 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 submit all of your assignments and extra credit through Blackboard according to the Submitting Assignments and 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.  
• Please review the information on Using Blackboard for instructions on how to submit assignments, access the online discussions and view your gradebook.

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

• Joshua Cole, Carol Symes, Judith Coffin and Robert Stacey, Western Civilizations, Brief 3rd edition combined volume (W.W. Norton, 2012, isbn 9780393934878). It is also ok if you use the Second Brief Edition combined volume (W. W. Norton, 2009, isbn 9780393932652) .  Please note that you can use this same textbook for HIS 102. If you are wondering whether you must buy the textbook, then please watch this short video.
• The Epic of Gilgamesh (Penguin Classics, isbn 9780140441000)

• 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.  Please check ELI's Smartmeasure to see if you are ready for distance learning. You can also check out our short quiz, Is A Web Course for Me?
• 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

Course assignment schedule and deadlines

• sixteen-week that begins 22 August
• eight-week that begins 5 September
• eight-week that begins 26 September
• eight-week than begins 17 October

• twelve-week that begins 16 May
• six-week that begins 16 May
• eight-week that begins 30 May
• six-week that begins 27 June

• sixteen-week that begins 9 January
• eight-week that begins 30 January
• eight-week that begins 20 February
• eight-week than begins 12 March

Please make sure that you double-check your registration so that you know which one you signed up for. You can always finish faster than your course schedule, if you wish.

There are specific assignment deadlines in this course, and these are listed on the course schedule. You may not submit late extra credit work from a course unit. You may submit any of the course assignments, or optional course assignments late, but the maximum point value will then be reduced by one-half.

You are expected to make regular and steady progress in completing your assignments and examinations.  Please check your Blackboard online gradebook for your grades.  Once you begin this course, it is your responsibility to withdraw if you do not intend to finish it.  If you do not withdraw and if do not finish your course assignments, then you will receive a grade based upon the work that you have submitted.  Usually, this grade is an "F."
You can earn extra credit in the course by finding typos or broken links on the course web pages.  You can also suggest additional websites that would be useful in the course.

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.