what is western civilization college course

Full Answer

Who needs to study Western civilization?

Those who are committed to democracy and human rights as fundamental values will want to engage Western civilization to understand its development and the tensions that exist between individual rights and the good of society.

What will replace Western civilization?

• Don't stop asking questions
• Can a bad historian be a good politician?
• Short of staycation ideas? Try a pilgrimage to Irish philosophy sites

What could end Western civilization?

With rising population, depleting natural resources and stretching social divide, civilization could be facing collapse within the next few decades, according to a scientific study funded by NASA. And if you think this is a load of scaremongering, it’s happened before. Remember the Roman Empire?

Is Western civilization on the brink of collapse?

Western Civilization has been collapsing for quite some time already. Except it's not a Wiley Coyote style cliff, it's more like a mountain with a steep grade you lose your footing on and then go tumbling down, breaking bones a few at a time. In the grand history of humanity, yes, we are in the brink, we have been there for decades.

What is Western Civilization class in college?

An introduction to the history and historical traditions of “Western Civilization” – that is, of the peoples and cultures of the ancient Near East, the classical Mediterranean and Europe from the middle ages to the dawn of the modern age in the fifteenth century.

What do you study in Western Civilization?

Western civilization refers to the art, literature, culture, and enduring ideas that emerged from the eastern Mediterranean basin in the centuries before the common era, that developed in myriad forms through the Middle Ages, and that ultimately took modern shape after the Renaissance.

Is Western Civ a history course?

Program(s): Undergraduate Courses 13100: The first course focuses on the history of Classical civilization, beginning with the world of Homer and ending with the world of St.

What does Western Civ class cover?

This course is a survey and critical examination of Western human history and explores the social, political, religious, intellectual, and artistic achievements from the earliest human civilizations to the Age of Reason.

Why is it important to teach Western civilization?

Those who are committed to democracy and human rights as fundamental values will want to engage Western civilization to understand its development and the tensions that exist between individual rights and the good of society.

What are examples of Western civilization?

French culture, Spanish culture, and British culture are all sub-categories under the broad, loose category of Western culture. Europe and much of the Western Hemisphere is Western in culture.

What is modern Western civilization?

Modern Western Civilization examines the cultural, political, economic, and religious evolution of Western thought and the development of Western Civilization from 1500 to the present.

What is not Western civilization?

The term "non-western" implies a primary focus outside of Europe, the U.S. and Canada or on the indigenous peoples of North America.

What is Western civilization1?

The Western Civilization I exam covers Ancient Greece, Rome, and the Near East; the Middle Ages; Renaissance and Reformation.

Is Western civilization a required class?

In 1964 the Western Civ course had been required in virtually every American university, but the requirement had almost vanished by 2010. Some universities kept the course for students to take voluntarily — but increasing numbers replaced it entirely with a World Civilization course.

What is the difference between Eastern and Western civilization?

Eastern and Western cultures have a different perception of power and power distance. Eastern cultures tend to have a very hierarchical structure, where Western cultures are more egalitarian. “Western cultures value independence and tend to promote individuals who are task orientated and individualistic.”

Is Western civilization the same as European history?

Western civilization arose in Europe, and then spread across the world. As it grew geographically scope, it became an increasingly dominant strand in world history – to the extent that the histories of every civilization and region of the world was impacted by it in a profound way.

What is the Western Civilization course at Arizona State University?

The Arizona State University course, Western Civilization: Ancient and Medieval Europe Learn, teaches the origins and development of Western societies and institutions from the ancient world through the Middle Ages. This course is also part of Global Freshman Academy (GFA), which means students can earn transferable ASU credit toward a college degree.

What is Western civilization?

The term Western Civilization refers broadly to a constellation of customs, beliefs, political systems, and events rooted in European history and Western culture. The influence of Western Civilization is global; defining American culture and North American culture among others.

What are the major moments of Western civilization?

Defining moments in Western Civilization that you will find discussed in just about any Western Civilization textbook include the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, the Scientific Revolution, and the development of Liberal Democracy.

What is the Arizona State University course?

The Arizona State University course, Western Civilization: Ancient and Medieval Europe Learn, teaches the origins and development of Western societies and institutions from the ancient world through the Middle Ages.

Who were the philosophers of Western civilization?

The written history of Western Civilization begins in the Greco Roman period where philosophers including Plato, Socrates and Aristotle would lay the groundwork for all Western philosophical thought.

Is Western civilization a competitive advantage?

If you’re more interested in education, studying Western Civilization gives you a competitive advantage for pursuing dozens of positions currently available on Indeed.com under “Western Civilization Jobs.” The majority of those positions are full-time, part-time or adjunct professor positions at colleges and universities, and as social science teachers at high schools across the country.

Who is the director of the Western Civilization Program?

Director of the Development of Western Civilization Program and Associate professor of History, Dr. Jennifer Illuzzi, discusses her vision for the DWC program and what students can expect for the upcoming semesters.

What do you learn in a DWC seminar?

When you’re in your DWC seminar, you learn how to read deeply, how to analyze text, how to speak coherently with your classmates. You build confidence in your thoughts and ideas in a small classroom setting.

What is Providence College?

A Providence College education prepares a student to be someone, more than to do something. It prepares students to hear more when they listen, reach deeper when they think, and say more when they speak. The Development of Western Civilization (DWC) program is at the heart of this preparation. You’ll explore human history through many perspectives ...

Why is DWC important?

Just as important, DWC will prepare you for a career and life because it teaches you to think. And that will prepare you to make history.

Overview

The Western Civilization I: Ancient Near East to 1648 exam covers material that is usually taught in the first semester of a two-semester course in Western civilization. Questions deal with the civilizations of Ancient Greece, Rome, and the Near East; the Middle Ages; the Renaissance and Reformation; and early modern Europe.

Knowledge and Skills Required

Questions on the Western Civilization I exam require candidates to demonstrate one or more of the following abilities:

Add Study Guides

The Western Civilization I exam deals with Ancient Greece, Rome, and the Near East; the Middle Ages; Renaissance and Reformation.

Why was the Western Culture course so popular?

The protesters in 1987 got all the attention, as they always do, but in fact, the Western Culture course was quite popular because it gave students a coherent story, an overarching structure. The diversity approach scrapped it because the identification or “construction” of a lineage, a canon or a core excludes other things.

What happened to Western CIV in the 1980s?

What appeared during the 1980s to be an invigorating and just revision of a narrow curriculum turned out to be no curriculum at all.

Is diversity a curriculum?

Humanities educators prefer to avoid this problem: diversity is not a curriculum. A Chinese menu of offerings tells students that civilization has no central thread; the American heritage flows in many streams. Which one is most important? Don’t ask. Why pick this one over that one? No reason. Diversity leads precisely to this indifference. No wonder the fields have lost their appeal, collecting only 12 percent of all bachelor’s degrees.

Was Western Civ false?

The NAS report shows in detail that the claim that Western Civ was but an invention of a nativist moment in U.S. history was false, but who in 1988 wanted to oppose more diversity in humanities assignments? To displace Western Civ would respect disadvantaged groups, it was said: more women authors in English class, samples of Africa in Art History 101, and how about grand historical episodes such as the “discovery” of America told through the eyes of the natives, not the invaders?

When did Stanford require students to take a survey of Western civilization?

In 1964, 15 of the 50 premier universities in America — including Stanford — required students to take a survey of Western civilization. All 50 offered the course, and nearly all of them (41) offered it as a way to satisfy some requirement. But in the 1980s, minority students and faculty at Stanford asserted that requiring students to take ...

What is the history of the West?

The history of the West lays a foundation on which to build more specialized knowledge of art, literature, science, politics, philosophy and economics. No matter what field students enter, they are well-served throughout their lives if they know how we got here.

Why was the Western Culture course so popular?

The protesters in 1987 got all the attention, as they always do, but in fact, the Western Culture course was quite popular because it gave students a coherent story, an overarching structure. The diversity approach scrapped it because the identification or “construction” of a lineage, a canon or a core excludes other things.

What happened to Western CIV in the 1980s?

What appeared during the 1980s to be an invigorating and just revision of a narrow curriculum turned out to be no curriculum at all.

What was the Stanford culture?

Stanford replaced Western Culture with Culture, Ideas & Values, a course with works by women and persons of color, class/race/gender themes, and at least one non-European culture covered. Teachers had wide latitude. Within a few years, however, it was scrapped.

Is diversity a curriculum?

Humanities educators prefer to avoid this problem: diversity is not a curriculum. A Chinese menu of offerings tells students that civilization has no central thread; the American heritage flows in many streams. Which one is most important? Don’t ask. Why pick this one over that one? No reason. Diversity leads precisely to this indifference. No wonder the fields have lost their appeal, collecting only 12 percent of all bachelor’s degrees.

Was there a curriculum in the 1980s?

What appeared during the 1980s to be an invigorating and just revision of a narrow curriculum has turned out to be no curriculum at all, writes Mark Bauerlein.

Is the West a fiction?

But the "West" itself is a fiction as having had a sort of flat-rate-common set of mores, assumptions, practices, etc. There is more diversity in ethnic heritage, mores, assumptions etc historically, artistically and philosophically than commonality.

Do good world civilizations undermine the values of the West?

Moreover, good world civilizations classes do not necessarily undermine the values of the "west," whatever the "west" might. mean. Indeed, it is interesting to look at the ways in which different. cultures in the world attempted to deal with similar problems that emerged at roughly the same times in the past.