HY 102 - Syllabus

Attention: You must complete the syllabus quiz before proceeding with this course.

Dr. John H. Ratliff - Click here to meet your instructor.
Office:  235-A Russell Hall, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
Phone: 205-348-7083	Email: jratliff@ccs.ua.edu or eLearning Mail Tool
Office Hours:	Sunday 8:30 - 9:30 PM
All times are Central Time Zone CST = -6 UTC CDT = -7 UTC	Tuesday 8:30 - 9:30 PM
	Wednesday 11:00 AM - Noon
	Thursday 11:00 AM - Noon
	Friday 11:00 AM - Noon
	and by appointment

Course Description

This course surveys roughly 360 years of Western history from the Peace of Westphalia (1648) through the end of the twentieth century. Through selected readings, primary source documents, and online discussion, the course will examine a broad range of topics related to the social, political, economic, and intellectual history of the modern Western world. We will discuss revolutions – scientific, industrial, political, and intellectual – and we will encounter political and social ideologies from liberalism to fascism. Along the way, we will also learn about the ideas, people, and events that have shaped the last 360 years of Western culture. In short, this course will acquaint you with the major themes and events that punctuate modern Western history.

Course Prerequisites and Corequisites

None.

Learning Outcomes

The primary course objective is to stimulate your intellectual growth and promote appreciation for learning and the liberal arts. This course will also introduce the basic themes that characterize modern Western history. These themes include – but are not limited to – social development, race, economic growth, cultural life, political ideologies, and changing intellectual perspectives. You will also develop an understanding of the basic narrative and context of modern Western history. Finally, the course will introduce students to historical sources, historical methodology, and the dynamic nature of historical discourse.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Identify key individuals, events, turning points, and social and cultural patterns in the historical development of Western Civilization since 1648.
• Evaluate and interpret primary sources and construct historical insights from them.
• Understand, analyze, and evaluate different interpretations of the past.
• Express higher-order understandings of the past through coherent, sequential statements based on primary and secondary sources.

Required Texts

Jackson J. Spielvogel, Western Civilization: Volume II: Since 1500, 8th Edition - ISBN-10: 0-495-50287-1 ISBN-13: 978-0495502876

You are responsible for obtaining a copy of the textbook prior to proceeding with the course. As a general rule, assignments missed or submitted late because of the lack of a textbook will not be accepted.

System Requirements

• This course requires a high-speed Internet connection and the following free multimedia plug-ins:
  • Adobe Reader
  • Flash Player
  • PowerPoint Viewer
  • QuickTime, RealPlayer, or Windows Media Player
• You must have speakers installed and working properly on your computer before beginning the course.
• You will need access to Microsoft Word to complete assignments. If you do not have access to Microsoft Office already, you may download the Open Office Freeware, an open productivity suite. You will be able to complete your assignments using this freeware and save your files with Microsoft Office file extensions. A tutorial demonstrating how to save Open Office files as MS Word (.doc) files is provided on your course home page.
• If you use a Macintosh computer, you will need to download and install a stand-alone version of Adobe^® Acrobat^® Reader. Reading PDF flies included in the course module may require that you save the file to your computer and open it outside eLearning using the stand-alone version of Acrobat^® Reader.

Copyright Notice

Online coursework may contain material used in compliance with U.S. Copyright Law.  Under the law, materials may not be downloaded, saved, revised, copied, or distributed without permission.  These materials are to be used for course instruction only, and are limited to the duration of this course.  You may only download or print materials at the direction of your course instructor. Retention of digital content provided within this course, including images, sounds, videos, readings, and related/similar content, is forbidden by law. Violators may be subject to prosecution.

Minimum Student Technical Skills

1. Participation in an online course requires some basic knowledge of computer technology. You should be able to:
2. Navigate and use eLearning (see eLearning Tutorials, if you need assistance).
3. Understand basic computer usage, including keyboard, mouse, CD drive, and printer.
4. Access the Internet via DSL, cable modem, or a network interface.
5. Use the computer operating system (Windows/Mac OS) to:
   1. Create folders/directories.
   2. Find, copy, move, rename, and delete files.
   3. Launch, run, and switch between software applications.
6. Use a word processing program to (see Word 2007 or 2003 tutorials for PC users; Word 2008 for Mac users, if you need assistance):
   1. Create, format, edit, spell check, save, print, and retrieve a document.
   2. Cut, copy, and paste information within and between documents.
   3. Save a word processing document in text or rtf format.
7. Configure and use a Web browser to:
   1. Open, print, and/or save Web pages to a local or removable storage drive.
   2. Open and save Adobe Acrobat files (PDF files).
   3. Create, maintain, and manage a list of Web pages (Favorites/Bookmarks).
   4. Use a search engine's basic features to find information on the Web.
8. Download and install programs from remote servers.
9. Use webmail or an email client (program) to:
   1. Send, receive, store, and retrieve messages.
   2. Send, receive, and open file attachments.
   3. Several free email clients are available, if you choose to use them. No guarantee is made about their compatibility with your operating system.
      • Mozilla Thunderbird
      • Opera (Opera is an all-in-one email and Web-browser program. No guarantees are offered as to Opera's integration with eLearning.)
      • Eudora
      • Pegasus
      • eM Client
      • IncrediMail Xe

Technical Requirements

This course will feature an on-line format as its instructional medium. No traditional in person classroom meetings are scheduled. The minimum technological expectations for the course are as follows:

1. All students will identify and secure access to the appropriate and necessary hardware, software, and other technological support necessary to participate fully in the course. You must have consistent access to a computer with a high-speed Internet connection.
2. All students will run computer and eLearning diagnostic wizards and updates on your computer PRIOR to the beginning this class.
3. All students will possess the requisite skills for on-line work, including web searches, e-mail, word processing with Microsoft Word compatible documents, electronic submission of work in eLearning, the use of chat rooms, and online based discussion boards.
4. All students will complete class assignments/activities on or before the scheduled deadlines.
5. All students will use the email system within eLearning as the primary source of communication with the instructor.
6. All inquiries concerning technological concerns should be made with the College of Continuing Studies Online Course Technical Support . If you have persistent technology difficulty you should make plans to complete your assignments within a time frame that will allow you to seek needed assistance. Persistent computer or technical issues will not be an acceptable excuse for late assignments

In order to successfully complete this course the above referenced technical skills are essential. The development of technical skills is not an aspect of this on-line course. Generally, your course instructor is not available to solve technical difficulties. Rather, students must develop those skills or secure assistance from others with those skills in order to meet the minimal performance expectations for this class. To claim “I cannot do this work because I don’t have the technical skills” would be the equivalent of stating “I cannot do this work because I don’t own a pen” when enrolled in a traditional classroom course. If you do not believe you have those skills, you may choose to reconsider enrolling in the class at this time or you should act with prompt decisiveness to find reliable technical assistant. 

Before the beginning of this class, please be sure you can open and download material on the course website. You should also begin an introduction activity on the eLearning discussion board. Do not wait until the first assignment is due to determine if you have impediments related to your equipment or your skills. 

If there are system-wide technical difficulties please check your email for messages about troubleshooting. 

If you discover a problem with the eLearning system, you must notify the instructor immediately. For example, if the course schedule says that an assignment is due at 11:59 PM and try to submit your work at 11:57 PM only to discover that eLearning says that the deadline has passed, email your assignment as an attachment to your instructor. Do not sit quietly as your course grade plummets. 

Two of the significant luxuries of online study are ease of accessibility and flexible scheduling. One of the significant difficulties of on-line study is the limited structure imposed by the very freedom of accessibility and flexible time. Aside from scheduled deadlines and assessments, such structure must be self-imposed to complete this class successfully.

Technical Support

To obtain assistance with technical issues (removing pop-up blockers, opening pages or quizzes, etc.), or if you are unable to see the course content or have other questions regarding the course itself, please visit the College of Continuing Studies Online Course Technical Support Site to submit a request, or call 205-348-9157 (Toll Free: 1-866-205-1011).

Course Presentation

This course is organized into tweleve learning modules; each module contains a set of assigned readings from the textbook and additional resources, such as a video presentation or podcast, an Identification Terms quiz, and several assignments and/or activities. HY 102 will be divided into modules presented on a one-week basis. The module pages include information about all of the materials and assignments for that module. Each module includes readings, discussions, assignments, and/or assessments.

Course Schedule

See the course schedule for a list of module topics, assignments, and due dates. Please refer to the UA Academic Calendar for other important due dates.

Grading

A folder containing grading rubrics which detaili the standards against which your coursework submissions will be evaluated are available on the course homepage. You are encouraged to download these documents and consider them when crafting your submissions.

Points Values For Individual Assignments Within Learning Modules

Overall Course Grade Scale

Exams

There are two exams and a final exam in this course. The questions on the first two exams are multiple and matching questions. The final exam includes multiple choice questions, matching questions, and a comprehensive essay. The questions for all exams are based upon the learning objectives for the modules covered by that exam. Students should understand the people, places, and events related to each objective, as well as how those items related to each other. In other words, no historical event occurs in a vacuum and you should be aware of the ways in which one event influence another.

You are encouraged to take all your assessments on a computer with an hard-wired internet connection (aka ethernet or LAN). Wireless internet signals have the propensity to "flicker" and terminate your connection to eLearning.

All assessments are timed. Please make a note of the time restrictions for each exam and quiz. Once you have reached your time limitation, you will not be allowed to finish the exam, and any questions that you have entered but not saved will be lost. Students are responsible for navigatiing the eLearing system correctly and failure to do so shall not constitute valid grounds for a "do-over."

Research Article

Each student is required to complete a brief research article on a topic listed under the heading "Research Article" on the Discussions Tab of your Course Tools menu. Further instructions on how to complete this assignment, as well as links to resources with which to complete it, are provided in therein.

Policy on Make-Ups and Late Work

Excepting unforeseen hospitalization, natural disasters (as declared by the proper civil authorities and the National Weather Service [and which affect you directly]), and the death of direct, blood relatives, late work and/or make-ups are not accepted. Supporting evidence of such exceptional circumstances may be required.

You must submit your work prior to the posted deadlines. You must take your exams during the time noted on the course schedule. Exceptions to this policy will be granted only in the cases of accommodations arranged by the Office of Disability Services, unforseen hospitalization, declared natural disasters which affect you directly, and the death of direct, blood relatives, as stated previously. Examples of cases which do not qualify for this exception include, but are not limited to: trips to grandmother's house, homecoming week, Mardi Gras, rush, mission trips, cheerleading camp, football camp, athletic events held off campus, and conventions. Please plan accordingly.

Netiquette

"Netiquette" refers to the way you speak and behave online. Unlike face-to-face communication, electronic communication increases the risk of misinterpretation. The rules listed below will help you refine your netiquette skills; although, one simple guideline will serve you well: Do not write and/or say anything online that you would not tell your mother or grandmother at the dinner table.

The following list is based, in part, on Virginia Shea, Netiquette (San Francisco, CA: Albion Books, 1994).

Be Professional

1. Email messages should include a salutation, body, and your full name in the closing line, just like a business letter. Remember, you may not be the only "John, Robert, Jennifer, or Stephanie" in an academic class.
2. Do not include "emoticons" [J, :p), ;), L,] and limit your use of acronyms [btw, idk, rofl, bff, g2g, lol] in your messages.
3. DO NOT TYPE YOUR MESSAGES IN ALL CAPS; it is the equivalent of shouting.
4. Use complete sentences and proper English. Professional online communication is different from social chat, texting, and instant messaging.
5. Any message you send is recorded somewhere, so be mindful of what you say. Your messages, even though deleted from your send box, may remain in the course. Remember that you have no control over a message once you hit "send."
6. Do not forward jokes, poems, or stories that are not related to your academic topic.
7. Avoid using the "Reply to All" function unnecessarily, and be mindful of a "cc" recipient, ensuring that there is a good reason to use either function.

Be Respectful

1. Address academic instructors and/or professional staff by their appropriate title: Dr., Mr., or Ms.
2. You may never see the person you are communicating with in person, but he or she deserves your respect. Do not write anything in an email that you would not say to someone standing in front of you.
3. Refrain from making unfounded accusations or disparaging remarks.
4. Each student's viewpoint is valued as an opinion, so long as it is not hateful or intentionally discourteous. When responding to a person during the online discussions, be sure to state an opposing opinion in a diplomatic way.
5. When discussing topics, be sure to be discreet on how you discuss children, teachers, and colleagues. Do not use names of people or names of facilities.

Be Clear in Your Message

1. Use complete sentences and proper English.
2. Use a subject line that identifies the topic of your email. Emails with subject lines are easier to sort and less likely to be lost in the recipient's inbox.
3. Keep your messages short and to the point.

You may find the following resource useful: Shea, Virginia. Netiquette. Bookport Online Edition. San Francisco, CA: Albion Books, 1997.

Email

Unless otherwise noted, you should only contact your instructor using the Mail feature in eLearning. Common procedural or curricular questions that arise each semester are answered on the syllabus. If you are unable to find the answers you need, you may contact the instructor via the eLearning Mail tool. If needed, view the eLearning Tutorials for assistance using the Mail tool. Be sure to follow the course netiquette rules mentioned above when composing emails.

TurnItin

The University of Alabama is committed to helping students uphold the ethical standards of academic integrity in all areas of study. Students agree that their enrollment in this course allows the instructor the right to use electronic devices to help prevent plagiarism. All course materials are subject to submission to Turnitin.com for the purpose of detecting textual similarities. Assignments submitted to Turnitin.com will be included as source documents in Turnitin.com's restricted access database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism in such documents. Turnitin.com will be used as a source document to help students avoid plagiarism in written documents. See the UA Turnitin Web site for more information.

Library Services

All students, those on campus and at a distance, have access to the resources available at the UA Libraries. Please visit the UA Libraries Distance Education Web site for more information.

Writing Center

The University of Alabama Writing Center provides professional writing tutoring to all UA students, graduate and undergraduate. They can help you with both general writing skills and more discipline-specific forms of writing at any stage of the writing process. They provide writing guides and other helpful resources.

University of Alabama Policies

Academic Honor Code: All students in attendance at The University of Alabama are expected to be honorable and observe standards of conduct appropriate to a community of scholars. The University of Alabama expects from its students a higher standard of conduct than the minimum required to avoid discipline. At the beginning of each semester and on tests and projects, at the discretion of the professor, each student will be expected to sign an Honor Pledge. The Academic Honor Pledge reads as follows:

I promise or affirm that I will not at any time be involved with cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, or misrepresentation while enrolled as a student at The University of Alabama. I have read the Academic Honor Code, which explains disciplinary procedures that will result from the aforementioned. I understand that violation of this code will result in penalties as severe as indefinite suspension from the University.

Code of Academic Conduct (Please review the Code of Academic Conduct before proceeding with the class.): Academic misconduct includes all acts of dishonesty in any academic or related matter and any knowing or intentional help, attempt to help, or conspiracy to help, another student commit an act of academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, the following acts, when performed in any type of academic or academically related matter, exercise, or activity: cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, and misrepresentation.

Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act: In keeping with its mission and in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, The University of Alabama is committed to providing persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from all programs and services conducted or sponsored by the University. See the Office of Disability Services Web site for more information.

For more information on The University of Alabama student policies, see the Student Handbook.

The following links offer strategies and methods to help you avoid committing plagiarism.

• The University of Alabama Writing Center: Avoiding Plagiarism
• The Perdue University Online Writing Lab: Avoiding Plagiarism
• A Research Guide for Students, Chapter 6 - Plagiarism: How to Avoid It
• The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: Quoting and Paraphrasing Sources
• The Writing Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill: Plagiarism
• Hamilton College: Avoiding Plagiarism
• Indiana University, Bloomington: Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It
• University of Maryland University College Effective Writing Center: How to Avoid Plagiarism Tutorial

If in doubt, you should consult the instructor for advice. A link to the TurnItIn.com anti-plagiarism website is provided on your course homepage. You may submit your assignments to that site for an originality review. All student work submitted to this class will be submitted to TurnItIn.com by the instructor.

Cultural Diversity Statement

"A university is a place where the universality of the human experience manifests itself."
--Albert Einstein

In keeping with the spirit of Einstein's viewpoint, The University of Alabama is committed to providing an atmosphere of learning that is representative of a variety of perspectives. In this class, you will have the opportunity to express and experience cultural diversity. Your writing assignments have been designed to encourage individuality and creative expression. You are encouraged to not only take advantage of these opportunities in your own work, but also to learn from the information and ideas shared by other students.

History of the Capstone Creed

The creed was created by the Student Leaders Council. In the spring of 2000, a discussion of campus culture among student leaders led to an effort to identify the core values that sustain us as members of the University community. The Student Leaders Council recognized that the Capstone experience is not limited to our formal affiliation with the University during enrollment and that the University community does not end at the geographic boundaries of campus. As members of the Capstone community, there is a common thread throughout us all, and the Student Leaders Council has endeavored to make those core values manifest through the implementation of a campus-wide creed with which all Capstone stakeholders can identify.