1. Definition of civilization:

Civilization is often contrasted with nature. They remind one of man-made artifacts, such as concrete things like dams, buildings, and more intangible things like societies and social customs.

Our definition of civilization is often heavily influenced by our values, which include how distant we are from nature. The better we are able to protect us from elements of nature, the higher we value the civilization.

Another criterion we have of civilization is how self-consciously humans distinguished themselves from nature, e.g. through artifacts, such as pottery and language.

2. How to characterize Western Civilizations:

Although this course is primarily on Europe, the title, Western Civilizations, emphasize the interconnectedness of civilizations in the Western hemisphere and how they contributed to European civilization. That is why we begin the class with ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations before proceeding on to ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.

The reason why the civilization here ends with a plural shows that the civilizations we discuss here were multifaceted. We could see that the roots of European language, certain beliefs, and religion could be traced to ancient Egypt and West Asia. European civilization itself was the result of the mingling of various civilizations, of the Greeks, the Romans, the Celts, the Germans, and the Slavs, among others. Indeed, the interactions of civilizations is one of the major themes of this class, not only among the civilizations mentioned above, but also the interactions and exchanges of ideas between Europe and elsewhere throughout the period of European civilization that we cover for this semester.

3. Goals of the class:

1. Develop a sense of historicism: learn to analyze historical changes and how historical events were interrelated.
2. Develop the ability of synthesis of historical materials through take-home papers.
3. Develop the ability to comprehend historical materials: primarily achieved through homework and take-home papers.
4. Knowledge of basic historical facts during the period of time in question.

4. Rules of Class:

1.Class attendance and participation: class attendance is expected. 3 per cent of the grade goes to who miss class twice or fewer in the semester. If you cannot make it to class, it will be helpful if you call ahead. This is especially important because some homework have deadlines and cannot be accessed after the deadline. If you call ahead, I can extend the deadline of your homework.

2. If you need to leave early during a class session, it is important that you notify me before class. Proper respect to the instructor and fellow students is important and constitute the "impression grade" which gets its way into your final grade. On the other hand, class participation constitutes the good "impression grade."

3. If you cannot make it to the midterm in-class test, you need to let me know ahead so I can reschedule your test with you. I usually do not reschedule the final because the final grade needs to be turned in days after the test. Regarding the three quizzes, I allow make-ups if you notify me before the quiz you cannot attend and why.