Reading and Assignment Schedule
Dates | Assignments
Discussion Board
The Discussion Board postings in Blackboard work with your reading assignments. In fact, discussion board postings comprise ten percent (10%) of your class grade for a total of 100 points. DB posting points will depend not on the number of postings only but the quality of your postings. You should try to post at least three intelligent postings per week.
Each week, you will find topics that closely align with topics in your textbook readings. In fact, some of the points to remember listed on this page by weeks may be duplicated as discussion board topics. In addition, students are invited to submit topics for the discussion board. The class will be more interesting if the members of the class took some control over topics they find interesting, collectively. Please do not hesitate to contact the instructor with topic suggestions. Be sure that the questions will provoke good discussions and analyses.
Week I Chapters 13:
6 - 8 January (Weekend of 9-10 January):
Chapter 13 - The Commonwealth of Byzantium: Map exercise (FYI/Optional): Chapter 13 Map Byzantine Empire
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- What elements did Byzantium inherit from the Roman Empire that helped it to survive?
- What was the significance of Justinian's Body of Civil Law?
- What was the theme system? How did it work? Why was it so successful? What led to its demise?
- Understand the development of the Byzantine church to the schism. What caused the schism?
- What kinds of problems eventually led to the constriction and fall of the Byzantine Empire?
N.B. Your citation exercise is due at the end of next week.
Week II Chapters 14-15:
11-15 January (Weekend of 16-17 January)
Chapter 14 - The Expansive Realm of Islam: Map exercise (FYI/Optional): Chapter 14 Map Growth of Islam
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- What aspects of Islam made it appealing and how was the cultural climate conducive to the rapid expansion of Islam?
- Do you agree that dar al-Islam became "probably the most prosperous and cosmopolitan society of the postclassical world"?
- How did the growth of the realm of Islam contribute to agricultural, industrial, and urban development?
- How did Persia, India, and Greece influence the realm of Islam?
*Chapters 15 - The Resurgence of Empire in East Asia: Map exercises (FYI/Optional): Chapter 15 Map Song Dynasty
- What did the Chinese, Byzantine, and Abbasic empires have in common?
- What was it about Buddhism made it particularly appealing in China?
- What important technological, industrial, and commercial innovations occurred during this period in China?
- What was the extent and nature of the influence of China on Korea, Vietnam, and Japan?
N.B. Begin thinking about possible paper topics; topic selection/outline due 25 January (Sunday).
Week III Chapters 16-17:
18-22 January (Weekend of 23-24 January)
Chapter 16 - India and the Indian Ocean Basin: Map exercise (FYI/Optional): Chapter 16 Map States of Postclassical India
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- How did India manage to exert such a significant influence on other cultures in the Indian Ocean basin during this era without ever establishing any long-term centralized political institutions?
- Was the caste system in India during the postclassical era fundamentally a rigid social system or a flexible one?
- How is it that Buddhism declined after the Muslim invasions while Hinduism survived?
Chapter 17 - The Foundations of Christian Society in Europe: Map Exercise (FYI/Optional): Chapter 17 Map Carolingian Empire
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- What were the contributions of Charlemagne's reign, and why did it ultimately fail to last very long?
- What were the obligations of lords toward their retainers and the retainers toward their lords? Why was this arrangement often unstable?
- What was the significance of the monasteries to the European society and economy?
N.B. EXAM COMING UP. Date: 27 January (tentative). Also, Citation Exercise Part 2 is due at week's end (23 January).
Week IV Chapter 18:
25-29 January (Weekend of
30-31 Jan)
Chapter 18 - Nomadic Empires and Eurasian Integration: Map exercise (FYI/Optional): Chapter 18 Map Mongol Empires
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- How did the geography of central Asia affect the development of the nomadic cultures?
- Through what means did the Mongols integrate Eurasian cultures?
- What are some of the reasons why the Mongol Empires were so short-lived?
- How did the Turks come to topple the Byzantine empire?
N.B. Your topic selection/outline is due at week's end.
Week V Chapters 19-20:
1-5 February (Weekend of 6-7 February)
Chapter 19 - States and Societies of Sub-Saharan Africa: Map exercise (FYI/Optional): Chapter 19 Map Kingdoms and Empires of Africa
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Why did interior societies remain relatively stateless?
- What factors led to the growth of the African slave trade, especially after the 11th century C.E.?
- What was the important of gender and age grades in sub-Saharan African societies?
- How and why was sub-Saharan Islam different from north African and southwest Asian Islam?
Chapter 20 - Western Europe During the High Middle Ages: Map exercises (FYI/Optional): Chapter 20 Map The Crusades & the Expulsion of the Jews
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Why were there different destinations for the various crusades?
- Where did the majority of the Jewish population migrate to after the expulsions from Western Europe? Why would these areas be appealing?
- What were the significant innovations in agriculture in Europe during this period?
- What is scholasticism and what broader intellectual movements did it reflect?
N.B. First rough draft is due at week's end (8 Feb, Sunday).
Week VI Chapters 21-22:
8-12 February (Weekend of 13-14 February)
Chapter 21 - The Americas and Oceania: Map exercises (FYI/Optional): Chapter 21 Maps The Aztec and Toltec Empires & Andean South America
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- What are the distinctive features of the Mexica social structure?
- Which of the societies of North America had developed settled agriculture by the fifteenth century?
- What are the distinctive features of the agricultural societies to emerge in the Pacific Islands before western contact?
Chapter 22 - Reaching Out: Cross-Cultural Interactions: Map exercise (FYI/Optional): Chapter 22 Maps The Silk Roads & Black Death
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- What were the most significant land and sea routes in the fourteenth century?
- What were the social and economic outcomes of the plague?
- How did the Ming dynasty rebuild the economy of China?
- What were some of the distinctive elements of the artistic Renaissance of western Europe in the fifteenth century?
- What were the Portuguese objectives in the exploration of the coast of west Africa?
N.B. EXAM NEXT WEEK (19 February - Tentative).
Rough draft #2 due next weekend.
Week VII Chapter 23:
15-19 February (Weekend of 20-21 February)
Chapter 23 - Transoceanic Encounters and Global Connections: Map exercise 2: Chapter 23 Map Atlantic World
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- What specific motives prompted European overseas voyages?
- Of all these motives, which do you think took precedence?
- How were the English and Dutch trading companies organized and administered?
- Compare the Spanish conquest of the Philippines with the Dutch conquest of Indonesia.
- What factors led to the Seven Years' War in the eighteenth century?
N.B. EXAM THIS WEEK (19 February - Tentative)
Second rough draft is due at week's end.
Week VIII Chapters 24-25:
22-26 February (Weekend of 27-28 Feb)
Chapter 24 - The Transformation of Europe: Map exercise (FYI/Optional): Chapter 24 Map Peace of Westphalia (scroll down)
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Understand the geographical origins of capitalism in Europe during this period.
- How did the Enlightenment change the way Europeans saw their relationship to religion?
- What is the fundamental difference between absolute monarchy and a constitutional government?
- Regarding the contributions of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo, who do you think made the most significant contribution?
Chapter 25 - New Worlds: The Americas and Oceania: Map exercises (FYI/Optional): Chapter 25 Maps (Review of Americas and Atlantic World Maps)
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Consider the impact of the encomienda system of land distribution on the future of Spanish America.
- the typical relations between French and English settlers and the Native Americans.
- How did sugar production came to dictate so much of colonial Brazilian life?
- What was distinctive about the European exploration and settlement of Australia?
N.B. EXAM COMING UP: 4 March (tentative). Be prepared.
Week IX Chapter 26:
1-5 March (Weekend of 6-7 March)
Chapter 26 - Africa and the Atlantic World: Map exercise (FYI/Optional): Chapter 26 Map Review - Atlantic World
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Understand the movement of free, indentured, convicted, and enslaved migrants. What trends are evident?
- Compare the decline of Songhay with the decline of the Swahili city-states of east Africa.
- In what ways did Islam adapt to the customs and traditions of sub-Saharan Africa?
- What elements of a culture can survive the ordeal and disruption of slavery?
N.B. Third rough draft is due at week's end (8 March, Sunday).
Week X Chapters 27-28:
8-12 March (Weekend of 13-14 March)
Chapter 27 - Tradition and Change in East Asia: Map exercise (FYI/Optional): Chapter 27 Map Ming China
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- Compare and contrast the system of education and the role of intellectuals in China and Japan.
- Compare the differences between the relationships China and Japan had with the outside world.
- How did the Tokugawa shogunate come to power in the sixteenth century in Japan?
- Why did the shoguns decide to cut off relations with the outside world and how did this decision impact the future of Japan?
Chapter 28 - The Islamic Empires: Map exercises (FYI/Optional): Chapter 28 Maps Ottoman Empire & Mughal Dynasty
Some (but not all!) thoughts to consider in your reading:
- How did the Ottoman Turks defeat the Byzantine Empire?
- Understand the construction of the city Fatehpur Sikri within the context of Islamic cultural development.
- What was happening in the Indian subcontinent that contributed to the fall of the Mughal empire?
- What factors led to the economic and military decline of the Islamic empires?
N.B. FINAL EXAM COMING UP. Be prepared. Final papers are due next week.
Week XI Review:
15-19 March
*Review and Organize.
- Review, review, review.
- Check the Discussion Board postings. Be sure that you have contributed your own postings - it is not enough to read the postings, the postings are most beneficial if one thinks, writes, and posts original thoughts.
- Your research paper should be nearly complete. In the past, there have been students who have already submitted the final versions.
- By this point in the term, you should feel more confident in your ability to express your conclusions and support them with logical and well-documented/cited arguments.
N.B. FINAL EXAM THIS WEEK. Be prepared. Final papers are due.
*Important Dates to Remember |
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| Examinations | ||
| 22 January: | Exam I | |
| 12 February: | Exam II | |
| 05 March: | Exam III | |
| 19 March: | Final | |
Documentation/Research Assignments: |
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| Friday, 15 January: | Citation Exercise Part 1 due | |
| Friday, 22 January: | Citation Exercise Resubmits due | |
| Friday, 29 January: | Paper Topic Selection due | |
| Friday, 5 February: | Rough Draft I due | |
| Friday, 19 February: | Rough Draft II due | |
| Friday, 05 March: | Rough Draft III due | |
| Friday, 19 March 23:59:59 p.m.: |
Final Paper due | |
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