EUH2000-Syllabus-FALL2010

COURSE: EUH2000.011 Western Civilizations I ( to 1650 CE )
TERM: FALL 2010

Instructor: Mr. Michael Deliz 
Email: mdeliz@mail.ucf.edu  (See Procedures Section below before emailing me)
Phone: 407-385-0016 (text msg or voice-mail only)    Website: www.michaeldeliz.com
Office: Colbourn Hall rm 540
Office Hours:  MWF 4pm – 5pm  (and by appointment when possible)

TEXTBOOK:
A. Daniel Frankforter, et al. The West: A Narrative History, Volume 1: To 1600 (2nd Edition) Prentice Hall. 2008.

 

ABOUT THIS COURSE:  Western Civilizations I is the first of two courses designed to familiarize students with the history of the “West”.  This course will span the time period from ancient times to 1650 C.E. and will focus upon the basic historical foundations behind civilizations across the globe, their development  and inter-connectivity. The goal of this course is for each student to master the following sets of skills:

Historic: Students must be able to identify and interpret the different events, personalities, and ideas that contributed to the development and history of the  Western world
Geographic: Students must understand the relationship between geography and the development of civilizations in the West.
Cultural/Societal: Students must understand the dynamic nature of human society as it is continuously evolving.  Emphasis will be on mass migrations, international relations, religious conflict, and ideological conflicts, which all greatly contributed to the history of the modern West.

Scope and limits of this course: This course, like many others in the field of History, draws extensively from other fields in the Social Sciences, including Religious Studies, Sociology, Political Science, Geography, Cultural/Ethnic Studies, Anthropology, and Linguistics.  The course, despite its breath, is however limited by the time allotted in the semester.  Due to this limitation students may find that further reading, beyond the assigned text, will be advantageous to acquiring a greater depth of understanding.

Success in this course:  Students are expected to demonstrate a depth of understanding at the collegiate level.  Success in this course will be determined by the student’s analysis and interpretation of historical topics, not memorization.    If you are not willing to read the assigned chapters, attend class, and follow class discussions, you most certainly will fail this course.

Expectations:  Students are expected to come prepared for class with a notebook and a pen or pencil, or other means of note-taking.   On Exam days, students will be required to come prepared with whatever material is requested for the exam such as scantrons, blue books or other material.  Students are expected to have all assignments including reading assignments completed by the beginning of each class.

Gordon Rule: WOH2012 is designated as a Gordon Rule course under the General Education Program (GEP) of UCF, as are all History courses at UCF.  This means that under the requirements of Florida State Rule 6A-10.30, students enrolled in this course will be also evaluated on their ability to write at the collegiate level by way of essay assignments.

College-Level Writing: The University of Central Florida’s definition of “College-Level Writing” is as follows:

Assignment Three: Research Paper – Historiographic Analysis Essay-
In consultation with the professor, students will first choose a historical event, personality, or idea to research.  Students will then research how their chosen topic has been approached and researched by historians over time and reach a conclusive analysis. For full credit, students must also demonstrate a respect for proper research techniques, judgment in source selection, and a command of the formatting standards for writing in the field of History.    Essay Length: 6 pages – Typed

Grade Policy: Grades are determined by points earned in three exams, six quizzes, and one Research Project.

Essay Exams               100pts/ea x (3) = 300pts
Quizzes                        25pts/ea   x (6) = 150pts
Research                      50pts/ea   x (1) =   50pts
                                    Total Points = 500pts    

Grading Scale: This course will be scored using the 10 point grading scale as follows:

PROCEDURES:
Email: 1) All emails should contain the class prefix/number on the subject line (ie: EUH2000, AMH2010, WOH2012).  2) All emails must be signed with your first and last name. 3) Under no circumstances will any assignment be accepted by email.

Attendance:  Although attendance will not be regularly taken, it is mandatory and extremely important to your grade.  Students who miss class for whatever reason will NOT be excused from assigned work and its due dates.  Missed lectures are also the responsibility of the absent student.

Make-Up Work: There are no make-ups for quizzes. A missed quiz automatically earns ZERO points.  If you should happen to miss an exam, a make-up exam can be scheduled with prior arrangement.

Extra Credit: From time to time an extra credit assignment may be extended to the class at the discretion of the professor.  By policy, all extra credit assignments will be made available to the entire class, there will NOT be any extra credit given to individual students. 

History Majors: Every student majoring in History is required to compile and hand-in a portfolio of their cumulative written works from of all their history classes before graduation.  Therefore majors in History, and those who think they may later switch disciplines to History should take care to preserve their written graded work.

Academic Dishonesty: All forms of academic dishonesty are obviously prohibited at UCF.  Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism, cheating, furnishing false information, forgery, alteration or misuse of documents, misconduct during a testing situation, and misuse of identification with intent to defraud or deceive. Students shall take special notice that the assignment of course grades is the responsibility of the professor. When the professor has reason to believe that an act of academic dishonesty has occurred, and before sanctions are imposed, the student shall be given informal notice and an opportunity to be heard by the professor. Any student determined by the professor to have been guilty of engaging in an act of academic dishonesty shall be subject to a range of academic penalties as determined by the professor. These penalties may include, but may not be limited to, one or more of the following:
–loss of credit for an assignment, examination, or project;
–reduction in the course grade;
–or a grade of “F” in the course.
Students guilty of engaging in a gross or flagrant act of academic dishonesty or repeated instances of academic dishonesty may also be subject to administrative and/or disciplinary penalties that may include a warning, probation, suspension, and/or expulsion from UCF and the State of Florida University System.

Disclaimer:  Changes to this syllabus may be made at the discretion of the professor.