The textbook reading (Mason) complements our discussions and the lectures by providing you with further contextual information and different interpretations of past events. You should try do the textbook reading for the day it is assigned, and this is even more important if this is the first time you have studied these topics. It should be available at the Almost Corner Bookshop (Via del Moro, 45).

Please note that I have chosen a textbook that provides a very short and basic introduction to major developments in nineteenth-century Europe in light of the extensive nature of our other required readings.  Given the global scope of the course, we will rarely be able to discuss specific historical events to the extent that they merit.  As such, you may find it useful to refer to one or more of the following to get a fuller, deeper review of European and world History during the 19th century:

Robin W. Winks and Joan Neuberger, Europe and the Making of Modernity, 1815-1914
C.A. Bayly, The Birth of the Modern World, 1780-1914
Jonathan Sperber, Revolutionary Europe, 1780-1850 and Europe 1850-114: Progress: Participation and Apprehension

All other readings provide the basis for our classroom and on-line discussions. You must read and think about those assigned for a particular class period and/or the deadline for making a related forum post.  Otherwise, you will be unable to participate adequately and your participation grade will suffer. You should also bring this material to class on the days that we are discussing it.

Please note that in using on-line primary sources I am not necessarily endorsing the more general content and intent of the websites on which they are found.

Important Course Policies

All assignments should be handed in through the Moodle portal for the assignment.

All late work will be penalized by at least one letter grade. No late work will be accepted following the final examination.

Any documented case of academic dishonesty on any assignment will result in a failing grade for the assignment in question and may also result in a failing grade for the course as a whole, regardless of the assignment's weight in terms of the final course grade. Please remember that, as the University's policy states, "Plagiarism can be deliberate or negligent; students are responsible for ensuring that any work submitted with their name on it is properly referenced."  If you have questions about how to cite material properly, refer to the appropriate sections of the MLA Style Manual or Chicago Manual of Style--if you have questions as to whether particular pieces of material should be cited, ask me. Note that submitting work that you have previously submitted (or plan to submit) for credit in another course is also a form of academic dishonesty, unless you obtain explicit approval from both instructors to do so. For this course, no such double submission is allowed. Please note that your papers and take-home exams are to be submitted to turnitin.com to check their content for plagiarism.  I am setting up the turintin submission options so that you can see the similarity reports the service generates and resubmit your papers up until the due date.

Office Hours, Scheduling Appointments, E-mail Guidance, etc.

My office hours are posted on the course Moodle page along with a link for attending them--following JCU suggestions, they will be carried out remotely using MS Teams this semester.  If you need to schedule an appointment to speak with me, simply send me an e-mail identifying times during the upcoming week when you are available.  Please know that I do not normally respond to e-mails during the weekend or after 6:30-7 p.m. (but do feel free to write me at those times--I'll answer at the beginning of the next week or the next day).  In the context of mixed on-line and in-class education, it is even more important for all of us to set aside time to work on other things, disconnect, recharge, and 'stay human.'  I encourage you to do the same in ways that work with your schedule, and am trying to do what I can to provide as much flexibility as possible for you in structuring on-line and other out-of-class activities. 

Types and Formats of On-line Moodle Discussion Forums

“Questions for the Professor” Forum:  Use this forum to ask for clarifications regarding material that we discussed in class or if there is something in the readings that you feel remains unclear, confusing, etc..  Also try to read through this regularly to see if a classmate asked a question that you too have, but just hadn’t thought of yet.  When you do so, if you feel that you can answer a classmate’s query, please feel free to go ahead and do so.  I will review this forum the Mondays and Wednesdays before class meetings—depending on the nature of the question I’ll either respond directly in the forum or we’ll talk about it at the beginning of the next class session.  (This forum closes at noon on Monday of the following week—if you realize you have a question after it’s closed simply post your question on the next week’s “Questions for the Professor Forum under the “Questions about something from earlier in the semester” topic.”)

“Your Discussion Questions and Observations” Forum:  For at least one of our two weekly sessions, you should post a question or observation about the discussion readings (e.g., for the second class of the first week of class, “The Declaration of the Rights of Man”) that you believe would provide a good way of starting a discussion about them and the subject they treat.  You should post your questions/observations by 5:30 p.m. on the day before the class in which we will be discussing the readings in question (e.g., if they are on Tuesday’s reading, make your post by 5:30 on Monday) so that I have time to read them, think about them, and try to work them into our classroom discussions the next day.  Try to read through them before class yourselves too—in that way you can better prepare yourself for whatever we end up talking about.  Feel free to build on your classmate’s questions/observations, and if there’s a post you want to respond to that we don’t end up talking about in class, please feel free to continue the discussion here.  There is no specific required length for your posts (if you likely need 2-3 sentences to situate and raise your question/make your prompt).  This weekly forum closes at 12 p.m. on Monday of the following week, but if there’s a strand of discussion you think we should continue into the next week because it remains relevant to the next topics we are discussing feel free to start it anew in the next week’s forum. (Maximum expected time per week, not including the time needed to do the reading: 10-20 minutes)

“Reflecting on the Week, Continuing our Classroom Discussion” Forums: For this weekly forum, I will post a few discussion questions or prompts based on the week’s discussion readings and the material I anticipate us discussing in class.  On occasion, as the week goes on, I’ll also add a few of the questions/prompts that you put up on the “Your Discussion Questions and Observations” Forum.  You should post at least one response to at least one of these threads and at least one response to a classmate's post each week. Of course, feel free to post as much as you like. There is no specific required length for your posts (if you likely need a few sentences to make your point effectively).  This weekly forum closes at 12 p.m. on Monday of the following week. (Maximum expected time per week, not including the time needed to do the reading: 15-30 minutes)

In-Class Organizational Matters Whenever Some Students Are Either Absent or Attending Remotely

In light of the very particular nature of this semester, should any member of the class not be physically present in the classroom, we will have to record the class session.  In addition, whenever one or more members of the class are following the day's session remotely, I will need to ask one or more of those of you who are present to monitor the MS Teams stream and inform me should a remote student raise the hand icon or intervene by means of the Teams chat.

Accessing the Course Remotely

If you are obliged to follow the course remotely, you can find a link for accessing the course stream at the top of the course Moodle page.  Clicking on the link there should then bring you to the MS Teams meeting where we will stream class sessions.

Course Schedule (Please note that the following is subject to change--any updates will be made directly to the course Moodle page.  All discussion readings are available on the course Moodle page.)

9/22 Introductions—Modernity and the Old Regime

9/24 The Old Regime and the Atlantic Revolutions

9/29 The Atlantic Revolutions and their Napoleonic Aftermath

10/1 The Birth of Modern Ideologies, Part I—Conservatism, Liberalism, and Democratic Radicalism

10/6 The “Restoration” and Its Discontents

10/8 The Industrial Revolution, I—Global Causes, Comparisons and Technology

10/9 OFFICIAL FRIDAY MAKE-UP FOR TUESDAY CLASSES (for December 8)  The Industrial Revolution, II—Local Social and Cultural Consequences

10/13 The Industrial Revolution III—Global Impacts I, or Slavery and Antislavery

10/15 The Birth of Modern Ideologies, Part II—Economic Liberalism and Early Socialisms

10/16 OFFICIAL FRIDAY MAKE-UP FOR TUESDAY CLASSES:  Questions of Feeling—Religious Revival, Cultural Romanticism and the Changing World of Artistic Production

10/20 The Birth of Modern Ideologies, Part III—Nationalism

10/22 Mid-Century Transitions, I—China, the British Empire and the Opium Wars

10/26 (MONDAY) TAKE-HOME MIDTERM EXAM DUE, 11:59 p.m.)

10/27 The Making of the Global North and Global South—A First Look at the Second Half of the Century

10/29 Mid-Century Transitions, II—Global Instability from the 1840s to the 1860s

11/3 Mid-Century Transitions, III—The European Revolutions of 1848

11/5 Mid-Century Transitions, IV—The “Second Industrial Revolution” and the “Great Depression of the Nineteenth Century”

11/10 Uniting the World, Dividing People and Spaces, I—Transportation, the Telegraph and Mass Migration

11/12 Uniting the World, Dividing People and Spaces, II—Disease, Sanitation, and Urban Transformations

11/13 OFFICIAL FRIDAY MAKE-UP FOR THURSDAY CLASSES:  Modern Living—Consumption, Class and Culture in Paris and Latin America

11/17 Modern Beliefs—Religion and Science in the Age of Darwin

11/19 The Evolution of Modern Ideologies, I—Marxist Socialism, Anarchism, and Russian Populaism

11/24 The Evolution of Modern Ideologies, II–-Nationalism Transformed?

11/26 Global Empires and the “Gap,” I—Means and Motivations

12/1 Global Empires and the “Gap,” II—Colonial Experiences in the Congo Free State

12/3 Global Empires and the “Gap,” III—Metropolitan Experiences, Racism, and “Civilization”

12/10 Is This The End?—Fin de Siècle Culture and the Rise of an Avant-Garde