HIS101 Western Civilization:
Antiquity to 1650
This course is for people who want to study how civilization started and spread through the Mediterranean and into Europe. Starting with Stone Age societies, the course traces the Neolithic revolution in agriculture and animal husbandry and development of metal working technologies, organized religions and states in what is modern day Turkey, Iraq and Egypt.
Students will spend time looking at the cultural and political innovations of the ancient Greeks, the conquests of Alexander the Great, and Ancient Rome. Important themes include the study of why civilizations rise and fall and the development of major western religions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
The last part of the class is devoted to the Middle Ages in Europe, through the Protestant Reformation, Wars of Religion and the exploration of the New World. Students who take this course will read and analyze a plethora of historical data including both primary and secondary written and visual sources, but the ultimate goal of the course is to better understand the early history of the western world. In addition, there is a heavy research and writing component for this course
This course is a Guaranteed Transfer Course and will count as the history requirement for the AA degree.
