Learn descriptive and analytic historical perspectives and read the historical development of Western Civilization through these perspectives.
Explain the fundamental concepts of history of civilization, and the distinctive characteristics of these concepts.
Recognize the concepts of culture and civilization.
Express the differences between the concepts of culture and civilization.
Know and tell the civilizations which have existed in and around Anatolia through history.
Explain the major civilizational developments in the world and their effects.
Know and tell the civilization developments during Renaissance-Reform and Enlightenment.
Determine the place of these civilizations in the history of world civilization.
Demonstrate the connections and differences among different civilizations.
Mode of Delivery
Face to face
Prerequisites
No
Recommended Optional Programme Components
There is no recommended optional programme component for this course.
Course Description
This course provides an overview of the development of Western Civilization from the emergence of the first civilizations in Mesopotamia and Egypt to the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. The course emphasizes key political, social, cultural, intellectual, and economic developments that have shaped Western societies. We will explore the evolution of major institutions and ideas that influenced Western thought and identity, including classical philosophy, the rise of Christianity, feudalism, the Renaissance, and the Enlightenment. Students will also examine the critical role of revolutions in science, politics, and industry in transforming Europe by the end of the 18th century.
Course Contents
WEEK
TOPICS
1st Week
Introduction
2nd Week
Before History: Becoming Human
3rd Week
The Agrarian Revolution and the Birth of Civilization
4th Week
First Empires: The Age of Gods and Kings
5th Week
From Polis to Cosmos: Greece and the Hellenistic World
6th Week
From Republic to Redemption: Rome's Legacy
7th Week
Mid-Term
8th Week
The Cross and the Crescent: Worlds of the Early Middle Ages
9th Week
The Medieval Awakening: Markets and Towns
10th Week
Early-Modern Turn: Humanism and Expansion
11th Week
Conflict in Faith: Reformation and Religious Wars
12th Week
Power and Property Under the Old Regime
13th Week
Reason and Revolt: The First Bourgeois Transformations
14th Week
Capital, Industry, and the Modern World
Recommended or Required Reading
Chambers, Mortimer et al. (2010). The Western Experience. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Harman, Chris (2008). A People?s History of the World. London: Verso.
McNeill, William H. (1999). A World History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Planned Learning Activities and Teaching Methods
Lecture
Assessment Methods and Criteria
Quantity
Percentage (%)
Mid-term
1
35
Assignment
1
25
Total(%)
60
Contribution of In-term Studies to Overall Grade(%)
60
Contribution of Final Examination to Overall Grade(%)
