Week 1:

Tuesday January 25: Class introduction

Thursday January 27: Lecture 1 view slides
Neolithic and Agricultural Revolution
Reading: Spielvogel 1-6

 

Week 2:

Tuesday February 1: Lecture 2 view slides
Mesopotamia and Egypt: the first states
Reading: Spielvogel 7-32

Thursday February 3: Lecture 3 view slides
Assyria and ancient Israel
Reading: Spielvogel 33-53

 

Week 3:

Tuesday February 8: Lecture 4 view slides
Early Greek civilization and the rise of the classical city states
Reading: Spielvogel 54-68

Thursday February 10: Video 1
"Athens"
Reading: Spielvogel 68-88

 

Week 4:

Tuesday February 15: Test 1
Material covered in lectures 1-4, video 1, Spielvogel chapters 1-3
See Assignments page for question formats and terms for identification

Thursday February 17: Lecture 5 view slides
Persian Empire; Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic kingdoms
Reading: Spielvogel 46-52 (review), 89-112

 

Week 5:

Tuesday February 22: Lecture 6 view slides
Early Rome
Reading: Spielvogel 113-126

Thursday February 24: Video 2 [V]
"Roman City"
Reading: Spielvogel 126-146

 

Week 6:

Tuesday March 1: Lecture 7 view slides
The Roman empire: Augustus to Septimius Severus
Reading: Spielvogel 147-170

Thursday March 3: Discussion 1[D]
Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars
Quiz 1 on Suetonius
Reading: Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, lives of Augustus and Gaius (Caligula)
Download discussion questions as pdf

 

Week 7:

Tuesday March 8: Lecture 8 view slides
Christian origins: Video 3: Excerpts from "From Jesus to Christ: the First Christians," episodes 1 & 4 [V]
Reading: Spielvogel 168-178

Thursday March 10: Test 2
Material covered in lectures 5-8, videos 2 & 3, Spielvogel chapters 2 (end) and 4-6
See Assignments page for question formats and terms for identification

 

Week 8:

Tuesday March 15: Lecture 9 view slides
The Dominate and the Christian Roman empire; [video: "Biography: Constantine"]
Reading: Spielvogel, 179-183, 192-195

Thursday March 17: Lecture 10 view slides [L]
The fall of the Western Roman empire; [videos: "From Jesus to Christ," episode 4; "Attila"]
Reading: Spielvogel, 183-187
External link: PBS site for "From Jesus to Christ"

 

Week 9:

Tuesday March 22: Lecture 11 view slides [L]
East Rome and Byzantium; [video: "Biography: Justinian"]
Reading: Spielvogel 201-207

Thursday March 24: Lecture 12 view slides
The emergence of Islam [video: "Islam, Empire of Faith"]
Reading: Spielvogel 207-211, 238-241

 

[Monday March 28 - Friday April 2: Spring Break]

 

Week 10:

Tuesday April 5: Lecture 13 (see slides under Lecture 14)
The early Middle Ages I
Reading: Spielvogel 187-192, 196-201

Thursday April 7: Lecture 14 view slides
The early Middle Ages II; [video: "The Sutton Hoo Treasure" (27 min)]
Reading: Spielvogel 214-238

 

Week 11:

Tuesday April 12: Test 3
Material covered in lectures 9-14, Spielvogel chapters 7-8
See Assignments page for question formats and terms for identification

Thursday April 14: Lecture 15 view slides
High Middle Ages: economy and society
Reading: Spielvogel 259-294

 

Week 12:

Tuesday Apr 21: Video 3: "The Crusades"
Reading: Spielvogel 243-259

Thursday Apr 23: Lecture 16 view slides
High Middle Ages: culture and art
Reading: Spielvogel 261-272

 

Week 13:

Tuesday Apr 26: Lecture 17 view slides
Political evolution of Europe, 1000-1300
Reading: Spielvogel 273-297

Thursday Apr 28: Lecture 18 view slides
The disasters of the fourteenth century: famine, plague and war
Reading: Spielvogel 303-336

 

Week 14:

Tuesday May 3: Lecture 19 view slides
The Renaissance I
Reading: Spielvogel 340-375

Thursday May 5: Video 5
"The Medici"
Reading: Spielvogel 337-372

 

Week 15:

Tuesday May 10: Lecture 20 view slides
The Renaissance II
No reading

Thursday May 12: Discussion 2
Bocaccio, The Decameron
Quiz 2 on Boccaccio, Decameron
Reading: Boccaccio, Decameron, I: 1, 2; II: 3, 9; III: 1, 2, 10; IV: 5; VI: 7, 10; VII: 2; VIII: 1; IX: 3
Download discussion questions as pdf

 

Test 4: Thursday May 19, 10:45 am
Material covered in lectures 14-19, videos 3 & 4 (&5?), Spielvogel chapters 9-12
See Assignments page for question formats (same as for the 3 previous tests) and terms for identification