HomeMy WebLinkAboutHIS-107Bergen Community College
School of Arts, Humanities, & Wellness
Department of History & Geography
Course Syllabus
HIS107—Modern Europe from the French Revolution
Basic Information about Course and Instructor
Semester and year:
Course and Section Number:
Meeting Times and Locations:
Instructor:
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Phone:
Departmental Secretary: [optional]
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Course Description
This course is an analysis of western European history from 1815 to present. The course provides an
overview of the major political, economic, and cultural developments which characterize modern Europe
and concludes with a comparative study of postwar Europe and America.
3credits
General Education Course
Student Learning Objectives: As a result of meeting the requirements in this course, students will be
able to
1. Identify the major periods in the history of western civilization from the Napoleonic Era to the
end of the 20th Century.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the narrative framework and factual basis of western history.
3. Identify and analyze the important political, economic, social, intellectual, and religious forces
that shaped these periods.
4. Summarize and interpret the continuity and change that occurs between successive civilizations.
5. Demonstrate the ability to develop a thesis and support it with historical evidence both in writing
and orally.
6. Demonstrate basic research skills by locating and using source materials.
7. Summarize, paraphrase, and quote historical information in properly cited written analyses
8. Demonstrate the ability to state and support their own interpretation of historical issues concisely,
coherently, and logically.
Course Content
History 107 picks up where History 106 left off, with the transition of Europe from the warfare and
political instability caused by the French Revolution to a more stable political environment, if not the end
of warfare, under Napoleon. The course continues through what historians consider “Modernity” in
Europe as kingdoms evolve through revolutions into nations, new political and social philosophies
contend for popularity with the increasingly active public, world wars and genocide reshape European
identity and memory, and the work of the imperialists unravels and redefines Europe’s place in the global
society. The course will be moving through these 200 years at a quick pace, sadly leaving many avenues
unexplored during lectures. To compensate for this loss, we will be reading a variety of primary and
secondary sources that can provide a snapshot into more specific topics in European history.
Course Texts
Palmer, Colton, and Kramer. A History of the Modern World to 1815 v2 10th edition (McGraw-Hill,
2006).
Assessment and Grading
In pursuit of the foregoing goals, the course is based on the reading and discussion of historical writings
from both primary and secondary sources; the techniques of historical research and writing are reviewed,
and students are expected to use subject specific resources in their preparation for active participation in
class and for writing assignments. Students are required to do a substantial amount of expository and
critical writing in response to the material presented in the course and by conducting outside research.
Because HIS-107 is a General Education course, it requires students to complete a variety of critical
thinking and writing assignments. These assignments may include class discussions and debates requiring
the application of critical thinking skills, short in-class essays, out-of-class writing projects (journals,
research papers, argument-analysis papers, book reviews, etc.), tests and examinations containing essay
components, and so forth. Instructors will respond to and comment on students' writing in detail.
Grading Policy
A student's final grade for the course is based primarily on his or her performance on the required work
for the course (writing assignments, examinations, class presentations, etc.) and on his or her
overall mastery of the material covered in the course. A student's class participation may also be
evaluated, and the grade thereon may be used as a factor in determining the student's final grade for the
course; but a class participation grade will count for no more than fifteen percent (15%) of the final grade.
Examinations can consist of objective questions such as multiple choice and short answers, but an essay
of some form should also be evaluated as part of the test. A sample grade distribution is as follows:
Mid-Term Exam
30%
Final-Exam (non-comprehensive)
30%
Writing/Research Assignments
30%
Participation/Collegiality
10%
Total
100%
BCC Attendance Policy:
All students are expected to attend punctually every scheduled meeting of each course in which they are
registered. Attendance and lateness policies and sanctions are to be determined by the instructor for each
section of each course. These will be established in writing on the individual course outline. Attendance
will be kept by the instructor for administrative and counseling purposes.
History and Geography Departmental Attendance Policy:
It is imperative that students attend class on a daily basis in order to secure the knowledge necessary to
succeed in the course. Coming to class on time and staying for the entire class period is expected.
Excessive absences will have a detrimental effect on your performance in this course. Attendance will be
taken at each class session. It is expected that class will be conducted such that students will benefit in
their written work by the lectures and class discussion. If students occasionally arrive late, they should be
encouraged to enter quietly, not disturbing the class. If students miss class, they should be encouraged to
use the course calendar to stay abreast of material. It is probably a good idea for students to find study
partners and to exchange telephone numbers. Make-ups for examinations should be allowed by the
instructor if, in the instructor's judgment, the student has presented a good excuse for missing the work.
Instructors may penalize work which is late; however, the instructor's policies for make-ups and late work
must be clearly specified on the student guide. Collegiality is expected at all times during the course.
Academic Dishonesty (From BCC Handbook):
Bergen Community College is committed to academic integrity—the honest, fair, and continuing pursuit
of knowledge, free from fraud and deception. Students are responsible for their own work. Faculty and
academic support services staff will take appropriate measures to discourage academic dishonesty. The
college recognizes the following general categories of violations of academic integrity whenever a student
does one of more of the following: uses unauthorized assistance in any academic work, copies from
another student’s exam, gives unauthorized assistance to other students, fabricates data in support of an
academic assignment, inappropriately or unethically uses technical means to gain academic advantage,
and commits plagiarism.
Student and Faculty Support Services
The Henry and Edith Cerullo
Learning Assistance Center
Room L-125
of Pitkin
Building
Includes the Tutoring Center, English Language
Resource Center, and Writing Center. 201-447-7489
The Distance Learning Office –
for any problems you may have
accessing your online courses
201-612-5581
psimms@bergen.edu
The Tutorial Center Room S-118
of Pitkin
Building
201-447-7908
The English Language Resource
Center
Room 126 in
Ender
Hall
For students whose native language is not English.
The Writing Center Room L-125
of Pitkin
Building
201-447-7136
The Online Writing Lab (OWL) www.bergen.edu/owl This website will help students
with all aspects of the writing process in every
discipline.
The Office of Specialized L-115 of Students with documented disabilities who require
Services (for Students with
Disabilities)
Pitkin
Building
accommodations by the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) can request support services from the
Office of Specialized Services.
www.bergen.edu/pages/5175
The Sidney Silverman Library 2nd Level of
Pitkin
Building
Sample Format for Course Outline and Calendar
Note to Students: The following Course Outline and Calendar is tentative and subject to change,
depending upon the progress of the class.
Date Lecture Topic Learning
Objectives
Assignments/Events
Introduction &
Historiography
Review of French Revolution:
Impact on Modern Europe
Legacy of Napoleon
Romanticism, Nationalism,
Reverberation of Revolution
Imperialism: “Civilizing the
World”
Industrialization and its
Social Effects
Marxism and Late 19th
century Intellectual Currents
Fin de Siècle France and
Germany: From Franco-
Prussian War to the Dreyfuss
Affair
Victorian England, Czarist
Russia, and What is Austria-
Hungary?
*Mid-Term Exam
Research & Writing
Workshop
Underlying & Immediate
Causes of World War I
The Experience of the Great
War
The Great War to the Peace
of Versailles
The 1920s: German
Depression & Russian
Revolution
Defining Fascism
Fascism in Practice: Italy &
Germany in late 1930s
World War II to the Battle of
Britain
A Moral Choice: Resistance
or Collaboration, Life Under
Occupation
Stalinism
Holocaust & it’s Ramification
Collapse of the New Order &
Origins of Cole War
A Global Society: Europe
Reimagined, from
Decolonization to the EU
*Final-Exam