Core 150-01/IHP-01 Syllabus, Dr. Gaichas, Spring 2008, Duquesne University

I. Course Objectives:

This Shaping of the Ancient World surveys the successes and failures of one of the most influential periods in the total history of Western world. It includes the Golden Age of Athens, specifically during the fifth century B.C. Note that a majority of questions which have concerned both our own ancestors and ourselves were addressed by these ancients as well. And, the answers to these questions were formulated as successfully then as they have ever been since. Fifth century B.C. Athens was a high point in human history, establishing essential concepts in politics, literature, art and philosophy which are still valid for this and every century. It is for this reason that this course is being offered as part of the University curriculum.

It is perhaps unnecessary at this point in your education to defend the study of history, but the Newsletter of the American Historical Association has articulated it so succinctly, that its statement bears repetition.

We carry within ourselves the seeds of historical consciousness and experience: we grow older and know that we were younger; we have a history. So does everyone and everything else. The more refined our historical understanding, the better prepared we are to recognize complexity, ambiguity and uncertainty as intractable conditions of human society. The student with a sharply honed historical consciousness knows that everything is not as it seems to be, that what should be a simple solution to a simple problem will not work because unexpressed historical forces and traditions lie just beneath the surface waiting to be awakened. Such a student does not believe everything, because a cautious skeptic learns to recognize that events occur sequentially and that the sequence matters. A consciousness of history allows us to impose some intellectual order on the disorder of random facts ... Facts do not speak for themselves; meaning must be drawn from them by minds soundly trained, nurtured to recognize their opportunities, experienced in making the connections and grasping the complexities that history piles up around us. Historical consciousness helps to make the world comprehensible.

III. Requirements: There will be three examinations during the course which will include "identifications" and essay(s). Each examination will be worth 30% of the total final grade. The remaining 10% of the grade will be based on well-written term paper of 5 to 7 pages which is required of each student. Topics will be reviewed and assigned for each student.

Final Exam: The final exam will be held in the regularly assigned classroom according to the University final exam schedule. According to that schedule, the final exam will be on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 from 1:15 p.m. until 3:15 p.m.

No class: Monday, January 21, 2008 (Holiday: Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday); Monday—Monday, March 17 —24, 2008 (Spring Break/Easter Break). Wednesday, April 23, 2008 is a Reading Day.

Note: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 classes meet according to the Monday class schedule. Final examinations: Thursday —Wednesday, April 24—30, 2008. University Commencement: Friday, May 2, 2008. Diploma Ceremonies: Saturday, May 3, 2008

Duquesne University

Shaping of the Ancient World

CORE/IHP 150-01

Spring 2008

Dr. Lawrence Gaichas
gaichas@duq.edu

1:00-1:50 MWF

College Hall 222

412-396-6450