HIST 103: History of World Civilization up to 1500 C.E.

Citrus College Course Outline of Record

Citrus College Course Outline of Record
Heading Value
Effective Term: Fall 2021
Credits: 3
Total Contact Hours: 54
Lecture Hours : 54
Lab Hours: 0
Hours Arranged: 0
Outside of Class Hours: 108
Strongly Recommended: ENGL 101.
District General Education: D1. History and Political Science
Transferable to CSU: Yes
Transferable to UC: Yes - Approved
Grading Method: Standard Letter, Pass/No Pass

Catalog Course Description

The course is a survey of emerging regional cultures and societies from the earliest civilizations to 1500. Consideration will be given to comparative and integrative analysis of their contributions to the fabric of world civilization. Particular focus will be given to cultural evolutionary parallels and the diffusion of ideas through migration and trade on a global scale. College level reading is strongly advised. 54 lecture hours.

Course Objectives

  • Critically examine the role that analytical categories of race, gender, class, and ethnicity have played in the development of civilization
  • Analyze origin and functions of global institutions and evaluate their contributions to human political, economic and cultural evolution.
  • Demonstrate the ability to interpret primary and secondary sources and use them to both build and deconstruct an argument, as appropriate.
  • Explain the ways in which the environment has both shaped and has been shaped by developments in human history.
  • Identify the major discoveries, inventions and intellectual achievements as well as their historical significance.
  • Compare the ideals, practices, and historical developments of the major world religions and belief systems.
  • Evaluate the role of networks of trade, warfare, cultural exchange, migration, and biological exchange in shaping human interactions.
  • Explain broad patterns of change across regional and cultural boundaries.

Major Course Content

  1. Prehistory
    1. Understanding Evidence
    2. Emergence of Humankind in Africa
    3. Paleolithic Food Gatherers and Neolithic Farmers
    4. Transition to Civilization
  2. Early Civilizations (3500-200 BCE)
    1. River Valley Civilizations: Euphrates, Indus, Nile, Yellow
    2. Nomads, Territorial States, and Micro-societies: North Africa, South Pacific, East Asia, Aegean
  3. First Empires and Common Cultures (1250 BCE - 300 CE)
    1.  Neo-Assyrian and Persian, Western Afro-Eurasia, Vedic, and Zhou
    2. Axial Age Thought and Religion
    3. Formation of City States
    4. Shared cultures in Sub-Saharan Africa, Andes, and Mesoamerica
  4. Axial Empires (200 BCE-500 CE)
    1. Alexandrian Conquests
    2. Roman Expansion
    3. Han Synthesis
    4. Migration, Trade and Ideas
  5. Diverging World Regions and Inter-regional Trade Systems (500-1500 CE)
    1. Universalizing Religions
    2. New Empires: Tang China and the Dar-al-Islam
    3. Networks of Exchange and Interaction: Silk Road and Indian Ocean
    4. Cultural Mosaics: Western Christendom, Islamic Fragmentation, India, Sub-Sharan Africa
    5. Mongol Political Unification
    6. Crisis and Recovery

Suggested Reading Other Than Required Textbook

Articles taken from online databases and academic journals (Ex: World History Connected) are regularly used in class discussions.

Examples of Required Writing Assignments

Students read assigned supplemental texts of three varieties: primary source, secondary source, and narrative. Students must evaluate the type of text in an essay, demonstrating how it can be interpreted with and against the material presented in class. For example, students may read the Greek play, "Lysistrata". They must then write a critical essay (5 pages in length) that considers what this primary source shows about the values and structures of ancient Greek society.

Examples of Outside Assignments

Students view interactive lectures and complete writing assignments outside of class.

Instruction Type(s)

Lecture, Online Education Lecture

IGETC Area 3: Arts and Humanities

3B. Humanities

IGETC Area 4: Social and Behavioral Sciences

4F. History