Description
A general survey of Western Civilization from the collapse of the Western Roman Empire until the Enlightenment. Emphasis of the class will be on the political, social and cultural aspects that have contributed to the emergence of modern Europe and the Middle East.
Grading Basis
Graded
Course Learning Outcomes
Core Topics
- Greek political, social, cultural, and philosophical concepts
- The Roman Republic and the creation of the Roman Empire
- The Development of Christianity
- The Adaptation and Spread of Christianity
- The Collapse of the Western Roman Empire
- Germanic culture and the Germanic world
- Germanic successor kingdoms in the West
- The Adaptation of Christianity to the Germanic world
- The emergence of the Papacy
- Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire
- The Vikings and their impact on Western Europe
- The Byzantine Empire
- The Eastern Orthodox Church
- The Emergence of Islam and the formation of Islamic doctrines and practices
- The Arab Empires
- The Return of stability in Europe after the Viking Raids
- Popular piety, reforming the church, and the ascendency of the Papacy
- Feudalism and Manorialism
- Political structures of Europe during the High Middle Ages
- The Crusades and the Reconquista
- Heresy and its origins, meanings, and consequences
- Chivalry, Scholasticism, and High medieval culture
- Breaking down the Medieval world – famine, plague, warfare, and schism
- The Italian Renaissance
- The Northern Renaissance
- Exploration and Discovery
- Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation
- The English Reformation
- The Catholic Response to the Reformation
- The Ottoman Empire
- The English Civil War
- The Enlightenment