HIST 446, Spring 1999

Age of Louis XIV: Europe 1600-1789

 

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:25-2:40 pm, Library Building 265

Instructor: Prof. Sue Peabody

Office: LB 210T (360) 546-9647

e-mail: peabody@vancouver.wsu.edu

Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:00-4:00 and by appointment

Department Number (inclement weather, etc.): (360) 546-9441

 

Course Description
England and France underwent many intellectual, social, and cultural changes during the 17th and 18th centuries that profoundly transformed these countries. The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment celebrated skepticism, rationality, and liberal ism among elites. States and society changed rapidly through the development of governmental bureaucracies and patronage, colonialism, and the growing preeminence of the bourgeoisie. Such developments are often taken as marks of "modernity," the transform ation of medieval ideas and institutions into our own world today. And yet much of European culture remains strange and unfamiliar: e.g., exaggerated attention to social rank, absence of mass media. This class will examine the realities and perceptions of 17th and 18th C. Europeans the works of talented historians and entertaining eyewitnesses, looking for the agents and effects of change in this "strange familiar" world.

 Required Texts -- Prices are approximate

  • Taylor, Philip A.M. The Origins of the English Civil War: Conspiracy, Crusade, or Class Conflict? Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1960. 0669241741

    Lewis, W.H. The Splendid Century: Life in the France of Louis XIV. Prospect Heights: Waveland Press, 1997. 0881339210 $12.95

    Schiebinger, Londa. The Mind Has No Sex? Women in the Origins of Modern Science. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991. 067457625X $16.95 (paper).

    Kramnick, Isaac, ed. The Portable Enlightenment Reader. New York: Penguin, 1995. 0140245669 $14.95

     

    Farge, Arlette. Vanishing Children of Paris. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993. $11.65.

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    Grades
    30% Homework (Think Questions, Bibliography, Additional Writing Assignments)
    20% Mid-Term Exam
    20% Final Exam
    20% Research Paper
    10% Class Participation (includes: attendance, contribution to discussions, in-class writing assignments)

    Written Assignments

    Due Dates
    All written assignments are due in class the day of the assignment. Late assignments will be marked down one letter grade for each day that they are late. E.g. An assignment due February 3 that receives a "B" but is submitted on February 4 will rec eive a final grade of "C."

    Revisions
    All Think Questions may be revised and resubmitted for a higher grade before the last day of classes. To receive the higher grade, the paper must improve in the quality of thought and expression. Simply removing typographical errors will not improv e the grade.

     
    Grades

    The following guidelines will help to clarify what I am looking for at each grade level:

    A = Original thesis, clear organization, careful attention to detail, free of errors (both in content and in form), thoughtful insight
    B = Substantially correct, clearly written
    C = Clear evidence of having done the required reading/studying but with difficulties in expression or understanding
    D = Poor preparation, superficial analysis, and/or signficant errors in content or form
    F = Failure to meet the requirements of the assignment

    Think Questions
    Think Questions are short written assignments (1-2 pages, typed) designed to get you thinking about an issue before a class discussion. With think questions, I am not particularly interested in formal presentation, though they should be legible.

    Exams
    Exams serve two functions. The most commonly understood function is evaluation: the exam allows the instructor to evaluate how well a student has integrated and retained the material presented in the course. In my view, however, the second f unction, pedagogy, is the most important: an exam can stimulate students to see the course material in a new light, by making connections that had not, until then, necessarily been clear. In other words, the exam is an opportunity to actually learn something new about the material one has been studying.

    My emphasis on this secondary function means that my exams typically consist of rather broad essay questions for which more than one answer may be correct. What I am looking for in these essays is your ability to:

  • a) answer the question that was posed correctly

    b) develop an original argument regarding that question

    c) support the argument with evidence from a wide variety of sources (including lectures, readings, and other materials presented in the course)

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     Research Paper (8-10 pp., double-spaced)
    Select a primary document or set of documents (book, pamphlet, letters, diary) dating from the period 1600-1789. The original document(s) or portions of the document that you analyze should be at least five pages long. Using secondary works by hi storians, your research paper will identify the author of the document (where possible) and analyze:

  • how and why the document(s) came to be written

    what we need to know in order to understand the documents

    what the documents tell us about 17th and 18th century European society and culture.

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    The best papers will craft this analysis into an original and compelling thesis, drawing evidence from both primary and secondary sources.


    Class Policies

    Attendance is required at all class meetings. If you cannot attend a class due to illness or other personal emergency, you may obtain an "Excused Absence" by notifying the instructor prior to the class session. Leaving a message by voice mai l is sufficient to obtain an Excused Absence. Please note that whether or not an absence is excused, you are responsible for learning what happened in class and mastering that material (e.g. obtaining notes from a reliable classmate).

    Tardiness is rude. It disturbs the teacher and your classmates. Furthermore, it can severely affect your work in the class. I usually make important announcements at the beginning of class (e.g. announce the location of an exam, change an assign ment). If you miss these announcements, there is no guarantee that I will repeat the information later. On occasion, tardiness is unavoidable. If you find yourself arriving late to class, please take your seat with a minimum of commotion. Three late arrivals constitute an unexcused absence. (Note: if your work schedule necessitates regular late arrivals, please clear this with me in advance).

    Plagiarism and Cheating are serious offenses that may be penalized severely. You are plagiarizing or cheating if you:

    • present someone else’s words or ideas as your own, in writing or in speaking
    • present ideas without citing the source
    • paraphrase without crediting the source
    • use direct quotes with no quotation marks
    • use direct quotes without footnotes or other textual citation of the source
    • present work in a group project that is not your own or the work of the group
    • submit the same paper for credit in more than one course without discussing this option with the instructors involved
    • submit material written by someone else as your own (this includes purchasing a term or research paper)
    • submit a paper or assignment for which you have received so much help that it is no longer your own work
    • do not do an equal part of the work on a group project
    • copy someone else’s exam or graded homework
    • refer to a text, class notes, or other materials during an exam without being authorized to do so
    • purposefully allow another student to copy your work or submit work you have written as his/her own
    • collaborate with others on a take-home exam, or spend more time than that specified by the instructor on a take-home exam.

    Reading and Writing Assignments

    Week 1
    1/12 Intro to Course
    1/14 The Origins of the English Civil War, 1-19

    Week 2
    1/19 The Origins of the English Civil War, 20-31
    1/21 The Origins of the English Civil War, 32-59

    Week 3
    1/26 The Origins of the English Civil War, 59-102
    1/28 The Portable Enlightenment Reader, Locke: 395-404

    Think Question #1 Due
    (Optional) Library Workshop: How to Locate Scholarly (journal) Articles, LIB 102, 4:00-5:30

    Week 4
    2/2 The Splendid Century, xi-81
    2/4 The Splendid Century, 82-125

    Week 5
    2/9 The Splendid Century, 126-176
    2/11 Think Question #2 Due

    Week 6
    2/16 The Splendid Century, 177-286
    2/18 Review

    Week 7
    2/23 Mid-term Exam
    2/25 The Portable Enlightenment Reader, 39-42: Bacon
    The Portable Enlightenment Reader, 181-185: Descartes

    Week 8
    FACULTY CONFERENCES TO DISCUSS PAPER TOPIC
    3/2 The Portable Enlightenment Reader, 43-60: Newton, Cotes, Voltaire
    3/4 The Mind Has No Sex?, 1-36
    (Optional) Library Workshop: Searching Library Databases: Humanities, 4:00-5:30, LIB 102

    Week 9
    3/9 The Mind Has No Sex?, 37-118
    3/11 Think Question # 3 Due

    Spring Vacation: March 15-19

    Week 10
    3/23 The Portable Enlightenment Reader, ix-xxiii, 1-22, 26-38
    (Introduction, Kant, D'Alembert, Diderot, Dumarsais, Condorcet)
    3/25 The Portable Enlightenment Reader, 185-194, 222-235, 395-441
    (3 excerpts by Locke, 1 by Leibnitz, 2 by Voltaire, 3 by Rousseau, and 1 by Montesquieu)

    Week 11
    3/30 The Mind Has No Sex?, 160-244
    4/1 BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE

    Week 12
    4/6 The Mind Has No Sex?, 245-277
    The Portable Enlightenment Reader, 560-601
    4/8 Think Question #4 Due

    Week 13
    4/13 Arlette Farge & Jacques Revel, The Vanishing Children of Paris: Rumor and Politics Before the French Revolution, 1-79

    Week 14
    4/20 Farge & Revel, 81-132

    Week 15
    4/27 PAPER DUE
    4/29 Final review

    Final Exam: Place and Time To Be Announced