Foundations of the Modern Age
Fall Semester 2003

Frank Luttmer
113 Classic Hall
M W F: 7:30-8:00, T 10-11
866-7205 (office) (502) 454-8348 (home)
historians@hanover.edu


Course Description and Objectives

Foundations of the Modern Age is a historical introduction to the ideas, institutions, and events that shaped modern Western civilization. The course is designed both to develop essential knowledge of the origins and evolution of the modern world and to encourage a basic understanding of historical perspective and context. It also seeks to promote the skills essential to historical inquiry, including the capacity to define historical questions, analyze primary documents carefully, evaluate alternative interpretations critically, develop original arguments, and write essays clearly and effectively.


Required Readings

1. Thomas Greer and Gavin Lewis, A Brief History of the Western World, 8th edition, vol. 2
2. Robert Strayer, et al, The Making of the Modern World (on reserve in the Duggan Library)
3. Electronic Texts and Images from the Internet


Grades

Final grades will be based on an evaluation of the following.

1. Two quizes (5% each)
2. Three exams (15% each)
3. Two papers (15% and 20%)
4. Class participation (10%)


Schedule


Sept. 2
Analyzing Primary Texts: Vergerius
Vergerius

Sept. 3
The Renaissance
Greer and Lewis, 320-321, 371-380; Pico

Sept. 5
Renaissance Political Theory
Machiavelli

Sept. 8
The Reformation
Greer and Lewis, 405-424, 430-435

Sept. 9
Using Textbooks

Sept. 10
The Emergence of Capitalism
Greer and Lewis, 329-339; Mun

Sept. 12
Early Modern Imperialism
Greer and Lewis, 354-370; Equiano


Sept. 15
Absolutism
Greer and Lewis, 451-463; Hobbes 1; Renaissance and Baroque Art

Sept. 16
Preparing for Exams

Sept. 17
The English Revolution and Political Theory
Hobbes 2

Sept. 19
QUIZES 1 and 2


Sept. 22
The English Revolution and Political Theory
Greer and Lewis, 498-503; Locke 1

Sept. 23
Primary Sources Again

Sept. 24
The English Revolution and Political Theory
Locke 2

Sept. 26
The Scientific Revolution
Greer and Lewis, 463-468; Galileo


Sept. 29
The Scientific Revolution
Greer and Lewis, 468-472; Newton

Sept. 30
Writing Papers

Oct. 1
The Enlightenment
Greer and Lewis, 448-451, 472-475; Hume; Voltaire

Oct. 3
The Enlightenment
Greer and Lewis, 475-479; Montesquieu; Smith


Oct. 6
The North American Colonies
Greer and Lewis, 504-505; Strayer, 138-142; Winthrop; Franklin

Oct. 7
Writing Papers

Oct. 8
The American Revolution
Greer and Lewis, 505-509; Strayer, 142-143; Declaration; Federalist Papers

Oct. 10
The French Revolution
Greer and Lewis, 494-498, 510-515; Declaration


Oct. 13
The French Revolution
Greer and Lewis, 515-521; Robespierre

Oct. 14
EXAM 1

Oct. 15
Conservatism, Liberalism, and Nationalism
Greer and Lewis, 521-526, 539-550; Metternich; Mazzini

Oct. 17
The United States
Strayer, 144-147; South Carolina


Oct. 22
The United States
Lincoln; Lincoln

Oct. 24
Industrialization
Greer and Lewis, 551-567; Sadler Report


Oct. 27
Marxism
Greer and Lewis, 567-573; Marx and Engels 1

Oct. 28
Writing Papers

Oct. 29
Marxism
Marx and Engels 2

Oct. 31
Mature Industrial Society and Ideologies
Greer and Lewis, 573-576; Bernstein; Webb


Nov. 3
Mature Industrial Society and Ideologies
Green; Spencer; Hearing

Nov. 4
Assessment: Late 19th Century and Ideology

Nov. 5
The United States in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries
Strayer, 147-149; Carnegie; Populist; Washington; Du Bois
PAPER 1

Nov. 7
Darwin and Science before WWI
Greer and Lewis, 576-587; Darwin


Nov. 10
World War I
Greer and Lewis, 611-624; WWI Poetry

Nov. 11
No class

Nov. 12
The Russian Revolution and Communism
Greer and Lewis, 624-634; Lenin

Nov. 14
EXAM 2


Nov. 17
The Russian Revolution and Communism
Stalin; Famine

Nov. 18
Writing Papers

Nov. 19
Fascism
Greer and Lewis, 634-642; Mussolini

Nov. 21
The West and World War II
Greer and Lewis, 642-645; 652-658; Strayer, 150-152; T.S. Eliot; Roosevelt; Himmler


Nov. 24
Imperialism, the Cold War, and Nationalist Revolutions
Greer and Lewis, 601-11, 646-652, 658-682; Strayer, 152-154; Nehru

Nov. 25
Assessment: Early 20th Century and Ideology


Dec. 1
Post-War Society
Greer and Lewis, 682-86; Strayer, 154-156; Martin Luther King Jr.; The Black Panther Party Platform

Dec. 2
Assessment: Late 20th Century and Ideology

Dec. 3
Post-War Society
Greer and Lewis, 731-739; The Port Huron Statement; NOW

Dec. 4
The Late 20th Century
Greer and Lewis, 691-710; Strayer, 156-158; Reagan; Blair

Dec. 9: 7-10 PM CL 102
EXAM 3

PAPER 2





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