HIWD 370 Comparative Civilization

The purpose of this course is to prepare students to fully integrate a biblical worldview into a comparative understanding of the history of world civilizations, to teach and reinforce scholarly research and writing skills, and to prepare students to be responsive to the Virginia World History Standards of Learning (SOL) test.

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

No details available.

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Article Assessment Assignments (4)

The student will choose one scholarly article related to the designated module: week’s topic. The student will write an Article Assessment in which they provide a Turabian format citation for the article, a 1-2 sentence statement of the author’s thesis, a 3-5 sentence discussion of how the author supports their thesis, and a 3-5 sentence discussion of how it fits into the material covered in that week’s reading. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E; FSLO: CIL 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Research Timeline Assignment

In order to reflect on the focus of the course–a reflection on comparative world history, a consideration of our study of history–each student should create a timeline on a topic that is of interest on a characteristic that the student believes defines civilization.  The student is welcome to choose an article for the previous week’s Article Assessment with the purpose of helping to build toward the Research Timeline Assignment.  It should be something that is relevant to the course (not US history or Western Civilization): it should cover a range of civilizations and a range of history and must include at least 30 dates. The bibliography and any footnotes used must be in Turabian. (CLO: B, C, D, E; FSLO: CIL 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Research Assignments (3)

Over the course of the semester, the student will complete two research assignments. These assignments will develop research and writing skills and provide an opportunity to do mini-research projects on topics of interest in a variety of formats.

Research Design Assignment

The student will complete a Research Design Assignment related to a topic addressed in previous Modules. These sources may not include any of the articles or materials assigned as readings in the course but may include an article addressed in the student’s previous Article Assessment assignments. The student’s topic should be focused on a non-Western topic–something not traditionally addressed in U.S. History or Western Civilization courses. This will be approximately 300-500 words, plus a bibliography of at least 4 sources, and must be in Turabian format. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E; FSLO: CIL 1, 2, 3)

Annotated Bibliography Source Selection Assignment 

The student will provide a topic and a list of the sources that he/she will address in the annotated bibliography.  The research project must be related to one of the topics addressed in designated Modules. The bibliography will require 5 scholarly sources, with citations in Turabian formatting. These sources must meet the requirements for the Annotated Bibliography. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E; FSLO: CIL 1, 2, 3)

Annotated Bibliography Assignment

Building on feedback provided for the previous Source Selection Assignment, the student will create an annotated bibliography for a research project related to one of the topics addressed in previous Modules. The bibliography requires 5 scholarly sources, with annotations of 3 paragraphs, written in Turabian formatting. These sources may not include any of the articles or materials assigned as readings in the course but may include an article addressed in the student’s previous Article Assessment assignments. The assignment should cover different topics/civilizations/eras than that addressed in the previous assignment. No more than one of the articles included may be related to US/European topics. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E; FSLO: CIL 1, 2, 3)

Short Essay: Reflection Assignment

The student will write a short essay discussing materials covered in the course that the student found the most interesting, enjoyable, or challenging and why. This could be things the student found in his/her own research, in required readings or videos, or in his/her work with the other students.

The student will write an essay of at least 600 words. The essay must specifically and appropriately reference the required reading materials and outside research as appropriate. It must include a bibliography in Turabian format with all used materials, and references to sources must be in Turabian format footnotes. (CLO: A, D, E; FSLO: CIL 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Quiz: Textbook Chapters (8)

Each quiz will cover the textbook readings for the assigned Module: Week. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 30 multiple-choice, true/false, and multiple-answer questions, and have a 60-minute time limit. There will be a 1-point per minute penalty for going over the time limit. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E; FSLO: CIL 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Quiz: Module Materials (8)

Each quiz will cover all the non-textbook materials for the assigned Module: Week unless otherwise indicated. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 15 multiple-choice, true/false, and multiple-answer questions, and have a 30-minute time limit. There will be a 1-point per minute penalty for going over the time limit. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E; FSLO: CIL 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)