Last Modified 01 July 1997.
Enjoy and if you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at James.Brophy@mvs.udel.edu
All of the above texts are on reserve.
The final grade for this course will be based on four preliminary grades: a mid-term and a final examination (60 percent); a short 3-5 page essay on Germinal (15 percent); and your overall performance in weekly discussion sections (25 percent). These weekly discussions are based on primary-source readings chosen to underscore the course's themes and issues. For these discussion sections there are weekly assignments as well as a final essay (5 pages), which will address the readings you found most important or insightful. For both of these essays, topic questions will be handed out in class. Students are expected to keep up with the reading, to attend lectures, and to participate actively in discussion sections. Lecture attendence is strongly recommended; students who do not attend lectures will have difficulty in passing the course. Attendance for discussion sections is mandatory.
Please note that all written assignments (in-class exams notwithstanding) must be typed or word-processed. Late papers will be penalized and papers faxed to the history department will not be accepted. Please note that the date of the final exam has been fixed since the start of the semester and that there are no alternative times for the final.
This course surveys the principal social, economic, political and cultural developments in Europe from 1648 to the present. Special emphasis will be placed on statebuilding, the rise of rights-bearing individuals, the ramifications of an industrial world, and fascism and communism. In providing you with an overview of the major developments in European history, this course hopes to develop a relationship with past cultures that is both sympathetic and critical. And through essay writing and class discussion, this course futher seeks to hone your skills with critical reading, expository writing, and public speaking.
Please note that the general syllabus only lists lecture and discussion-section topics and has neither dates nor reading assignments. Please consult the actual syllabus handed out in class for this information.
I. Absolutism, Constitutionalism, and the Enlightenment
Introduction
Background to the Seventeenth Century
Discussion Section: introduction; the map of Europe
Absolutism
Absolutism cont'd
Discussion Section: The Scientific Revolution.
Constitutionalism in England
The Enlightenment
Discussion Section: The Enlightenment.
Mercantilism and the Atlantic Economy
Agricultural Change and the Demographic Transition
Discussion Section: discuss Candide.
II.Europe at its Zenith, 1789-1914.
The French Revolution
The French Revolution cont'd
Discussion Section: The French Revolution I.
The French Revolution & Napoleonic Europe
The Industrial Revolution
Discussion Section: The French Revolution II.
The Social Costs of Industrialization
**MID-TERM EXAM (bring blue book)
Discussion Section: The Industrial Revolution.
Sping Break
The Search for Social and Political Stability, 1815-48
The Reconstruction of European States, 1815-70
Discussion Section: Romanticism, Liberalism, Nationalism.
Working-Class Formation in Europe
Women in European Society **PAPER DUE**
Discussion Section: discuss Germinal.
European Society and Politics, 1870-1914
Origins of the First World War
Discussion Section: The "Woman Question," Imperialism, and the new
Anti-Semitism.
III. End of the European Era, 1914-1945.
The First World War
The Russian Revolution and Soviet Communism
Discussion Section: The First World War and its Impact.
The Twenty Years' Crisis, 1919-1939
Fascism and National Socialism
Discussion Section: Soviet Communism and European Fascism
The Second World War
The Second World War cont'd
Discussion Section: National Socialism and the Holocaust. Finish and
discuss Maus
Reconstruction, Cold War & Conclusions
**FINAL DISCUSSION SECTION ESSAY DUE**
Last Modified 01 July 1997.