Ithaca First Year Seminar

Power in the Ancient World: Monarchs, Priests, and Families

Fall 2008

ICSM 10137-01

Friends 307

Monday: Noon-12:50pm

Tuesday & Thursday: 1:10pm-2:25pm

Dr. Jonathan Ablard /Office: Muller 403 / 607-274-3558

jablard@ithaca.edu

Office Hours:

Text Books:

Andrea and Overfield, The Human Record: Sources of Global History Volume 1, (Fifth Edition) (Houghton-Miflin) ISBN 0618370404

Course Description and Objectives

This course will focus on a number of related themes that concern ancient and early modern world history. First, we will consider the myriad ways in which power was conceived and constituted in the historical past. Second, we will consider the importance that the ancient past has had in the modern world? How have political and religious leaders employed images, real and imaginary, of the ancient past to give legitimacy to their authority? Third, we will begin to familiarize ourselves with the idea of historiography-that historical interpretations are not set in stone, but change over time to reflect the political and social imperatives of the time in which the historian lives.

We also have several general course goals:

• Learning to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view.
• Developing capacities and skills in expressing myself orally and in writing.
• Acquiring an interest in learning more by asking my own questions and seeking answers.

We also have a gastronomic objective. This course has a $200.00 budget to be used for food so twice during the semester we will need to order pizza.

Grading and Assignments

Family Myths (10%) (Choose one option)

Option 1. Families, like nations, create myths about the past. At the same time, it has been argued that myths and stories are as important as the truth. Are there any myths or stories in your family’s history that you suspect are not entirely true? Or, have you ever discovered that a piece of your family’s history was not true? What does the gap between myth and historical fact tell you about the historical experience of your family? Did the myth serve a particular function? Did it help or hurt individuals or the family in some way?

Option 2. Analyze a news story in which the ancient past plays a relevant role? Is a group using the ancient past to get a particular advantage? Why is the ancient past seen as relevant?

MID TERM TAKE HOME RESEARCH ESSAY (20%)

MID TERM IN-Class ESSAY (10%)

Research Project (40%)

• Group Presentation to Class (10%): Students will organize themselves into groups of between 3-5 students according to similar interests. One group might coalesce around a common interest in history: a particular individual, a theme, a region of the world, etc. Each student will then develop a research project that reflects their own particular area of interest within the broader topic. You will meet periodically to offer support, encouragement, and to share sources. Rather than a series of separate presentations, students will develop a presentation that pulls together the various strands of research.

• Individual Research Paper (30%)

A. Write an historiographic essay in which you compare the arguments, sources and context of three scholarly works that address a common event or theme. In what ways do the authors’ arguments, sources, etc. differ? What factors account for those differences? The works that you select should be drawn from as wide a range of years as possible.

B. Read a book length primary source from the period before 1500. What is the work’s most important theme or argument and how does it help us to better understand the society, culture and history of the time? You will need to consult scholarly works on the topic.

C. Watch a feature film that focuses on some area of the world before 1500. Write a detailed and historically critical review of the film. Is the film historically accurate or not? How do the accounts of eye witnesses and professional historians jibe with the Hollywood (or Bollywood) version? You will need to consult scholarly works on the topic.

RESEARCH NOTE: Because we live in a world that is dominated by electronic media, it is important that I establish rather strict guidelines for what kinds of sources are acceptable. I absolutely forbid students in this class to use Wikipedia or any other encyclopedia or web-based resource (including blogs, personal web-pages, etc.) which is not connected to a legitimate university or government agency. As a general rule, the only acceptable internet sources are those that are accessed via Ithaca College Library’s website. These include such sites as J-Stor, Project MUSE, etc. There are also useful internet sources that are connected with major research libraries. If you are not clear about an electronic source (and I would err on the side of caution), speak with me first. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in a failing grade on the final paper.

Final Examinations(10%): In Class Essay exam will cover material from lectures, readings, discussion and films.

Participation 10%: Students are expected to come to class prepared to answer questions from the readings. Please bring Andrea and Overfield to class on the day that I have assigned documents for discussion. A consistent failure to show up with some level of preparation will hurt your participation grade. Put another way, if you hate history, try to fake it for 50 minutes three times a week!

Attendance Policy

Excused absences include medical and family emergencies, religious holidays, and IC sanctioned activities. Whenever possible, please give me advanced warning that you will be absent. Every three unexcused absences will lead to a ½ step reduction in your final grade. Although getting notes from a classmate is fine, you should not count on getting a full report of discussions, observation of films, etc.

Academic Honesty

“Academic honesty is a cornerstone of the mission of the College. Unless it is otherwise stipulated, students may submit for evaluation only that work that is their own and that is submitted originally for a specific course. According to traditions of higher education, forms of conduct that will be considered evidence of academic misconduct include but are not limited to the following: conversations between students during an examination; reviewing, without authorization, material during an examination (e.g., personal notes, another student's exam); unauthorized collaboration; submission of a paper also submitted for credit in another course; reference to written material related to the course brought into an examination room during a closed-book, written examination; and submission without proper acknowledgment of work that is based partially or entirely on the ideas or writings of others. Only when a faculty member gives prior approval for such actions can they be acceptable.”

-Article 7.1.4. Ithaca College Policy Manual

Etiquette

Although an informal style is acceptable in brief emails to your professors, please try to make your messages to me concise, polite, and reasonably coherent. Please also sign your email message so that I know who is writing to me. In the classroom, students must behave in a manner that does not distract or annoy the instructor or fellow students. Sleeping, passing notes, communicating via cell phone or laptop, etc. are strictly forbidden. Both the classroom and my office are “cell phone free zones”—ie, phones are shut off and out of sight. The only exception to this rule is if you have a family emergency and you need to stay in contact with someone. In such cases, please tell me before class.

Learning Resources

The Writing Center, Roy H. Park Hall, Room 228 2744-3315

writcen@ithaca.edu

Class Schedule

* I reserve the right to modify the schedule, within reason.

Week One

8/27 Introductions: The course, Ithaca Seminar, me, you, etc.

8/28 “What is History?” and Jorge Luis Borges, “Story of the Warrior and the Captive”

Week Two

9/2 River Valley Civilizations: Near East

9/4 Gilgamesh and Hammurabi

Andrea and Overfield, Documents # 1-2

Ryszard Kapuscinksi, “Crossing the Border” in Travels with Herodotus (reader)

* FAMILY MYTH PAPER DUE

Week Three

9/8 (Monday) “Academic Integrity” with Tiffani Ziemann in Clark Lounge

9/9 River Valley Civilizations: Far East

A & O, #5-6

9/10 (Wednesday) “Diversity in College” with Dr. Cullen, Ithaca College @ Emerson 9pm

9/11 Spiritual Traditions of South Asia

AO # 14-17

Week Four

9/15 “Library Resources” with Liz Chabot in Business 111

9/16 Film: Doing time, doing Vipassana (1997, India)

9/18 Mediterranean and the Middle East, 2000-500 BCE

AO #11

Film: “Black Athena”

Week Five

9/22 “Historical Research and the Perils of the ‘internets’” with Ablard

9/23 “And starring Charleton Heston as Moses…”

AO, #12-13, 19

9/25 Moses and the African American Religious Experience

* Search this University of North Carolina website for sources that are relevant and of interest to you. Print and bring to class

http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/religiouscontent.html

Week Six

9/29 “Self Defense” with Shura Gat in Clark Lounge 9/30 Ancient Greece

9/30 History and the Greeks

AO # 25-27

Week Seven

10/6 No class at Noon but…. “Media Coverage of Election” (7pm @ Emerson Suites)

10/7 MID TERM In-CLASS ESSAY

10/8 (Wednesday 7pm @ Emerson) “The Education of Shelby Knox”

10/9 Rise of the Roman Empire

AO #31

Gina Hahn, “As the Romans Did,” The Atlantic Monthly (2007) (In Reader)

10/10 MID-TERM PAPERS ARE DUE BY 4pm (Muller 403)

Week Eight

10/13 Life of Brian

10/14 Rise of Christianity, or “The Greatest Story Ever Told”

AO # 45-50

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/

Rodney Stark, “Conversion and Christian Growth,” in The Rise of Christianity (In reader)

10/16 NO CLASS

Week Nine

10/20 “Pre-registration” by Kathy Lucas in Clark Lounge

10/21 Ancient justifications for 19th Century Slavery

http://www.assumption.edu/users/lknoles/douglassproslaveryargs.html

10/23 Han China

AO #32-33

Ross Terrill, The New Chinese Empire (available through Google books)

* Read a chapter

Week Ten

10/27 “Career Planning” with John Bradac in Clark

10/28 Cross-cultural Contacts in the Ancient World

AO # 36-38, 52, 60

10/30 Islam

AO, #55-56, 62-64

Week Eleven

11/3 “History of Ithaca College” with Michael Trotti in Business 111

11/4 Islam in the Contemporary World

Edward Said, “Islam through Western Eyes,” The Nation (January 1998)

Marjane Satrapi Persepolis

* find an article that disagrees with Said. Possible sources include the following news outlets: National Review, Christian Broadcast Network, Commentary

11/6 The Crusades: Causes and Consequences

AO #84, 85 , 76, 87-89

Week Twelve

11/10 Movie TBA

11/11 Modern Debates: Essays by Edward Said, Samuel Huntington, and Bernard Lewis (In Reader)

11/13 Pax Mongolica and Global Integration: The Cases of Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta

AO # 100-105

Films about the Mongols: Genghis Khan, Alexander Nevksy, Mongol

Week Thirteen

11/18 Seaborne Expansion: China and Portugal (?)

AO 107-108

http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/chinawh/

11/20 The Debate about Columbus and Zheng He

* Documents TBA

Week Fourteen

11/25 THANKS

11/27 GIVING

Week Fifteen

12/1 Group Presentations

12/2 Group Presentations

12/4 Group Presentations

Document Review #2 is Due

Week Sixteen

12/8 Group Presentations

12/9 Group Presentations

12/11 Group Presentations

FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE: December 16th @ 10:30am-1pm