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• 1 media/Blake Key Image.jpg 2016-07-27T13:20:34+00:00 Course Introduction 97 image_header 2018-09-03T19:17:26+00:00

  Getting Started

  Profs. Michael (Mike) Driedger and Daniel (Danny) Samson welcome you to HIST2F90! We're glad you have chosen to join us in our adventure in online learning. Please be aware that this course is designed for you to do all of your learning online on your own time. There are no scheduled classes.
  
  
  
  Once you've read the course syllabus, take some time to look over the materials on this page. It's best to use a laptop or desktop computer to view course resources such as this online e-textbook as well as the Brock University Sakai learning management system. You can also view Sakai or this book on a smartphone or tablet. If that helps you keep up with the course, great! Keeping up is important. Just be aware that a larger screen and keyboard will help you to be able to make the best use of your time and the resources we provide.
  
  When you go into Sakai you will notice a series of tool icons on the left-hand side of the screen. These will help you navigate between the various components of the course that are not part of this online textbook. The Sakai learning management site gives you access to course sources (i.e., "the readings"), plus quizzes, assignments, a messaging system, a calendar, etc. We will make more of these options and tools available as the course progresses. Please familiarize yourself with Sakai in the first week of the course (the Week starting on Wednesday, Sept. 5), but be aware that more and more Sakai resources will become available as the weeks of the course progress.

  Note: Unless we tell you otherwise, each course "week" will start on Wednesday and finish on the following Tuesday!!!

  For you to succeed in this course - and indeed for the course to succeed for all of you - we will all have to progress through the course on the same weekly schedule. A common schedule allows all of you to respond to one another in the weekly Forums. Therefore, while you can work mostly at your own pace within each course week, you will have to make sure that you complete each week's learning activities within the scheduled time. This is especially important for the Forums. Please plan your time well! The syllabus has all the details. The Calendar in Sakai is there to help remind you of activities and deadlines (note that the Calendar in Sakai will only be available starting in the second or third week of the course, and it will be updated from time to time -- so check back on the Calendar as well as other resources on a regular basis).
  
  We strive to keep the structure of each Lesson the same, so that you know what to expect from week to week. With very few exceptions (such as this "Getting started" entry) each Lesson will include these headings:
  • This week's big question
  • Video introductions
  • Learning outcomes
  • Questions to consider, and learning activity
  • Background
  • Toolbox
  • Primary sources
  • Secondary sources
  • Supplemental material
  You'll be working with these headings every week, so let's have a look at what they contain. 

  This week's big question

  Each lesson has a "big question" focused on that week's theme. You should use this question to help you organize your learning for the week, and also help you think in a step-by-step way about the overall course question. Recall that we have a big over-arching question for the course:

  For the period between 1500 and 1850, what were the most significant factors in the rise of the liberal-capitalistic West?

  Each week's big question is what you will be discussing with other members of your Forum group. You will use the primary and secondary sources in the Lesson to provide you with evidence as you think about and discuss the question.
  
  So, the course has a big question, each week has a big question, and each week has a series of smaller questions. They're all connected. The smaller questions help focus our attention on facets of the weekly big questions; the weekly big questions help us to think about the the big question for the entire course.
  
  For this week the "big question" is meant to help you introduce yourself to your Forum colleagues to each other, while also getting you to start thinking historically. The question or task for the week is:    

  Introduce yourself to your Forum group. Tell everyone something about your perspective on the world (i.e., where you're from, what your first "historical" memory is, and what have been the most important experiences, ideas, technologies, or social conflicts that have shaped your life).

  Video introductions

  The videos are meant to help you get started with the Lesson. Watch them before you begin each Lesson.

  Learning outcomes

  Each week under this heading we will outline a series of benchmarks to help guide your learning. These "outcomes" are meant to help you and us evaluate whether you are learning something substantial.

  The syllabus also includes a list of learning outcomes for the course as a whole. In summary, the course outcomes fall under three categories (knowledge, professional practice, and skills). At then end of this course you should have the ability to:

  1. Describe and explain the significance of the major developments in the early modern Atlantic world;
  2. Communicate ideas/arguments effectively and honestly in all course work;
  3. Ask good historical questions and form strong arguments that answer these questions using the best evidence you can find.

  For each week of the course the learning outcomes will be much more specific. For example, by the end of this Introduction (the first course week) you should have:

  • Read the syllabus and be able to answer questions about the main aspects of the course (themes, organization, and policies); and
  • Read about and be able to name the 6 dimensions of historical thinking, as outlined on the Historical Thinking website.

  Although you might not notice a direct connection between this week's learning outcomes and the outcomes for the course as a whole, you should keep the general outcomes from the syllabus in mind as we move through the course. In a month or two you should recognize yourself building more and more overall abilities in knowledge, professional practice and skills.

  Questions to consider, and learning activities

  Under this heading we will usually give you more detailed questions. These further questions are meant as elaborations on the big question for the week. Therefore, you should always keep the big question in front of you.
  
  The questions are meant to guide not only your personal learning but also your discussions with other students in the course Forum. You should contribute to the Forum AFTER you have read and thought about all the assigned sources for the week, but you should also follow the schedule as outlined in the course syllabus and in on the Calendar. This will require that you PLAN CAREFULLY.

  Background

  Every week, a "background" section will provide you with some general context for the Lesson's subject. 

  In addition to introducing you to the history of the early modern Atlantic world, this course is also designed to teach you more generally about the practice of history. In everyday speech we often use the word "history" to mean "the past." To learn about history at the university level, however, you need to be aware of another more advanced meaning of "history": inquiry about the past. One of the most basic questions about the past is: How do we know anything? Where does our knowledge about the past come from? You might think the answer to this basic question is that knowledge about the past comes from textbooks. But where does the knowledge in textbooks come from? The answer to this question has many parts. The short answer is that we learn about the past most fundamentally not from sources about the past but rather from sources from the past. Historians call these primary sources. Learning how to work effectively with sources from (and about) the past takes lots of practice.

  As the course progresses, we will reveal more and more aspects to the study of history to you. The skills we will be teaching you are meant to be cumulative. This means that they build on each other. In other words, you should not think about each week's Lesson as an isolated unit but rather as one part of a larger whole. Our intention in teaching you about the practice of historical inquiry is that you will be able to apply the overall skills of inquiry to questions outside of the course.

  Toolbox

  Under this heading you learn the basic skills of historical interpretation.
  
  This course teaches you not only about the history of certain times and places, but also about the practice of history -- about making history. To practice a trade, you need tools. Under this heading we will provide you with tools or exercises that will help you improve your reading, writing, inquiring and thinking in this course -- and we hope also in your life beyond the course.
  This week we will get you to acquire an overview of the principles of thinking historically. Historical thinking is a variation on critical thinking. To start learning about it, you should read the following introductions from The Historical Thinking Project (click on the links):

  • The general introduction to the 6 components of historical thinking;
  • The introductions to the concepts of perspective and evidence in historical thinking.

  One of the purposes of the Forum exercise this week is to get you to think about your perspective as an interpreter of evidence about and from the past.

  Primary sources

  Sources are the building materials of historical studies. You might already have a good idea about the differences between primary and secondary sources. Here's a quick refresher.

  Primary sources take lots of forms: personal journals, travel accounts, letters, posters, and books and newspapers from the time. In this course, most our primary sources are written/textual sources, but they can include paintings, prints, music scores, oral accounts,and archaeological remains (even bones or DNA samples). 
  
  In Sakai, under the "Primary Sources" heading you will normally find information about and links to the required primary readings for each week. For this introductory week, however, we will not provide you with any primary materials.

  Secondary sources

  Most secondary sources you will use in history courses are published texts. Usually these take the form of essays in academic journals and books about historical subjects. Although the formats that secondary sources take is less varied than is the case for primary sources, not all secondary sources take the form of printed materials. Lectures are an example, as are documentaries.
  
  The thing that all secondary sources have in common is that they provide interpretations of evidence from the past. Think about this when you write your answers to each week's big question. You are writing your own interpretation of evidence -- your own secondary source.

  Learning tip: Whenever you read a source, always make sure you associate the main themes of the source with the author. Knowing who wrote the text is usually a very important step for effective critical and historical thinking.

  Supplemental material

  Under this heading we'll provide you with some extra notes that are significant but are not required for the course.

  For this first supplemental section we'll provide you some tips on how to succeed in this course.

  How to Succeed in the Course

  Plan your time: To succeed at a high level in most university courses, you need devote between 6 and 9 hours of time to each course, each week. We have structured the expectations in HIST 2F90 to be more modest in the first few weeks, so that you have a chance to get used to learning in the online environment. However, the workload will increase as the course progresses, so you need to plan your time effectively and be disciplined every week. You will need to stay disciplined, of course, in all of your university courses, if you wish to succeed, but disciplined and regular work is especially crucial for success in an online course such as this one. Based on the experiences of students in other online courses, those who keep up with course work tend to do better than they might in face-to-face courses, while those who do not keep up tend to do more poorly. We would like you all to succeed.

  Taking responsibility for your own learning: One of the great advantages of an online course is that it offers you great flexibility in your time; one of the great disadvantages of an online course is that it’s easy to ignore.  Success in this course demands that you schedule your time wisely and take responsibility for your own learning.

  To be an effective and active learner we expect that you will: 

  1. Check Sakai regularly (including Messages and the Calendar);
  2. Make sure that you read all available resources thoughtfully and carefully;
  3. Review readings and materials thoughtfully and reflectively before you make contributions to each week's Forum;
  4. Be self-motivated and self-directed rather than passive;
  5. Manage your time effectively;
  6. Troubleshoot problems rather than simply waiting to be told what to do;
  7. Keep records of your research and learning (this includes all essay notes and drafts and copies for assignments).

  Now it's time for you to introduce yourself in the first Forum online in Sakai. See the instructions above (in the section "This week's big question") for more details.

• 1 media/Vallard Atlas Berkeley edit.jpg 2016-08-09T14:09:14+00:00 Syllabus 89 image_header 2019-01-16T22:12:14+00:00

  HIST 2F90 - Money and Power in the Atlantic World, 1400-1850

  Brock University 2018-19
  
  Syllabus Version: 30 August 2018
  
  Instructors: Profs. Mike Driedger (GLN 221) and Danny Samson (GLN 119)
  Teaching Assistant: Trudy Tattersall
  Liaison Librarian: John Dingle
  Contact Information: Please use the Messages tool in Sakai to contact members of the teaching team.

  Times and Locations: There are no scheduled lecture or seminar meetings. However, there are weekly online readings and assignments, and you must plan time throughout each week during the academic year to work on these. It is your responsibility to keep up with assignments and stay on schedule.
  
  This course explores the practice of history through an examination of the early modern Atlantic World. We will combine an emphasis on traditional historical practices and digital research tools.

  ​Additional Description:

  Take a close look at the image above. Few works of art get at so much history, so simply. William Blake, a radical Romantic artist of the late 18th century, depicts three women in mutual embrace and support, portraying an allegory of human mutuality, particularly the way Africa and America supported Europe. The illustration looks peaceful and idyllic. It is from a book about a British officer’s experience in suppressing a rebellion of African slaves in America. Not much mutuality in that event! But the book’s author, John Stedman, used his experience to speak out against slavery and against the gross exploitation of indigenous Americans. The book, like many of its kind, was not unambiguous (you’ll look at the full picture, and read an excerpt from Stedman’s writing later in the course). Indeed, some historians have commented that the illustration speaks more to the hypocrisies of Europeans in the colonial world than it does to any actions directed at fostering genuine mutuality. But as we'll see the world was not divided into simple good-and-bad, black-and-white characters. Progressive abolitionists could sometimes be misogynistic; conservative anti-democrats could sometimes be forceful critics of empire. In history as in life, contradictions and complications abound.
  
  

  Europe was very clearly “supported” by African labour and American land – that is, we can see that Europe exploited America and Africa. But Blake saw something more. He meant his illustration as an allegory for an imagined future – of what might be, not of what was. Both Blake and Stedman saw clearly that Europe benefited by grossly unequal and decidedly non-mutual relationships. Both were particularly active in the campaign to end the slave trade. Their vision of a mutually supportive Atlantic world economy and society was utopian.
  
  The early modern era – roughly 1400-1800 – marks the rise of the West (essentially Western Europe, with the gradual addition of America) in global history. In 1400, Arab, Turkish, and Chinese empires were far more powerful, richer, and technologically advanced than any political force in the West. By 1800, the reverse was true. This course tracks that shift, that series of changes which brought about what we might call “the rise of the West”. That story is complex and even in this full-year course we will only scratch the surface of some of its many facets. But what we will see is that Blake, taken literally, was quite right: Europe was very much supported by Africa and America. Europe’s wealth came through many sources, but the real advances cannot even be imagined without the use of African labour and American land and resources. The Atlantic World (Europe, Africa, and the Americas) was in many ways a unified cultural and economic system, but its major players experienced that system very differently. This course explores that emergent Western dominance, with a keen eye to understanding the very different experiences that shaped it.

  Course  Structure

  The course does not have fixed class times, but all students must progress through the course at roughly the same pace, week by week. The course consists of an introductory week plus five modules of varying lengths:

  • Module 1. The Pre-Modern West (3 weeks)
  • Module 2. Colonial Expansion (5 weeks)
  • Module 3. Conflicting Worlds (6 weeks)
  • Module 4. Revolutions (5 weeks)
  • Module 5. The Early Liberal Era (3 weeks)

  Each module has between three and six lessons which we'll complete at the rate of one per week. 
  
  This course operates in two main online locations: in your course e-textbook (where you’re reading this syllabus), and on Sakai. The e-textbook is not a traditional textbook, of course, but it is meant to function in many regards like one. In it you'll find outlines, learning outcomes, and questions for each week, as well as general guidelines for the assignments. There are also links to video introductions and screencasts, as well as links to relevant online information. Your Sakai page is your workbook. The weekly readings and other sources are there, as are the forum where you'll post your comments (like an online seminar), the message app, and the tools you'll use to submit your actual assignments. 
  
  Each week’s lesson plan will follow the same structure. It will consist of the following categories:

  • This week's big question (course e-text)
  • Video introduction (course e-text
  • Learning outcomes (course e-text)
  • Questions to consider, and learning activity (course e-text, plus activities on Sakai)
  • Background (course e-text)
  • Toolbox (course e-text)
  • Primary sources (listed in course e-text, but access through Sakai)
  • Secondary sources (listed in course e-text, but access through Sakai)
  • Supplemental materials (course e-text)

  You'll need to pay attention not only to the weekly readings and discussions, but also to the schedule of assignments. In addition to weekly forum contributions, module quizzes, and a final exam, there are three other graded assignments for the course:
   

  • a transcription assignment,
  • a Voyant Tools assignment, and
  • a final project.

  Detailed instructions will come in due time. These three assignments are closely linked (the material you transcribe will be used in the Voyant Tools assignment, and you'll use those outcomes to conduct your final project).
  
  Assignment guidelines will also follow a template that consists of these parts:

  • Introduction
  • Detailed instructions
  • Required resources
  • Deadline and submission details

  For more details on each assignment, see the Assignments Tool in Sakai. The details for the assignments will be available after the start of the course.

  Learning  Outcomes

  Historians (i) contribute to public debates (ii) by making arguments (iii) that answer research questions (iv) using evidence analyzed according to thoughtful methods. The items on this list are examples of what you might consider learning outcomes for your overall university studies in history. Learning outcomes are meant to help the instructors and you gauge your learning and progress. Your work in this course will help you improve your knowledge, professional practice, and skills related to the abilities listed above. More particularly, you should pay attention to the following learning outcomes in your work in HIST 2F90.
  
  By the end of the course a successful student will be able to...

  KNOWLEDGE:

  • Describe the major developments in the early modern Atlantic world.

  PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE:

  • Communicate ideas/arguments effectively and honestly in all course work.

  SKILLS:

  • Ask good historical questions and form strong arguments that answer these questions using the best evidence we can find.

  
  In addition to this overall set of course learning outcomes, there are also more specific learning outcomes that are listed with each weekly lesson in Sakai.
  
  

  Required Readings:

  You are NOT required to buy a textbook for this course. All the readings will be provided to you online through Sakai. See each weekly lesson plans for details.

  Reading Expectations:

  Here’s an important note: In 2nd-year history courses it is common to read 40 to 60 pages per week. In this course we will not assign this much in the first few weeks, but we will increase the reading load as the course progresses. See the note about workload expectations that is included in the Introductory Lesson.

  Course Communications:

  This course will not work if you are not checking its online resources regularly. This includes checking this online textbook AND the Sakai Messages tool. You should use the Messages tool to write the instructors or other students. You are also welcome to visit the instructors regularly during their office hours on campus. You may also call them by telephone. To arrange a phone discussion, please send an email to arrange a time.

  Note: Before you ask a question about the course, please make sure you try to answer it yourself by reading the syllabus and other course materials carefully. The instructors reserve the right to ignore frivolous messages.

          * * * Remember: Make sure that you check your Sakai Messages regularly!!! * * *

  Course Grade Components

  Evaluation Component	Weight
  Module quizzes (Modules 1-4)	10%
  Forum discussions	30%
  Transcription assignment	10%
  Voyant assignment	10%
  Major project	25%
  “Take-home” final exam	15%
  Total	100%

   

  Forum Discussion Instructions

  Description

  Sakai places you in a group of approximately 10 students. This will be your discussion group for the entire year.
  
  Each week, everyone is expected to contribute to the discussion. Remember that you have a limited time to complete your discussion contribution in the week’s “Forum”. If you do not post within the time allotted, you will not get credit for that week. Unless otherwise noted, each week’s Forum will open on Wednesday and close at the very end of the day the following Tuesday. Plan to post early in each Forum so that you and others in your group can develop a rich discussion online. You’ll all learn more this way!
  
  You read documents every week in preparation for the discussion group, so be aware of what you need to do to prepare, when you’re expected to comment, and plan your time accordingly. Also plan to read all the previous posts for the week’s Forum before you post anything new. When we grade your work, we’ll expect that you’ve done this. The strongest posts will show evidence that you’ve read the previous discussion for the week.
  
  Be sure to post on time so that others have time to read, think and respond.
  
  Few of our questions for discussion in the Forums have simple, correct answers. We’re most interested in seeing all class members engage with each other in meaningful dialogue. Therefore, try to establish positions or arguments based on evidence in the assigned sources, rather than simply stating facts or opinions. Furthermore, each time you post you should choose one or two posts and really engage with what those people are saying:
   

  • agree or disagree with their interpretation of evidence,
  • ask for clarification based on good reasons, or
  • challenge them to provide more examples / take their thoughts further.

  How long should my posts be? Most posts should be in the range of 150 to 250 words. Sometimes, you may need to say more, others less. But generally, whatever number of words you write, you should be answering one (or more) of our questions, using evidence from that week’s sources, and engaging with your classmates.

  Forum Assessment

  You are required to post each week. Some weeks have more activities than others, but they are all listed on the module page and in the Course Schedule so you will have plenty of time to prepare yourself for all activities.
  
  Hence, your discussion/participation grades will be determined on the basis of not just regular posts in the weekly discussion activities but by creating engaging, thought-provoking commentary and responses to questions that we provide, as well as by initiating new discussion threads that show creative and critical engagement with the topics.
  
  Weekly discussions will be assigned grades from 0 to 3:

  • 3 - Thoughtful, timely and excellent contributions that stimulate discussion and provide insightful comments with solid grounding in the sources and other students’ comments for the week.
  • 2 - Effective contributions that invite comment and demonstrate some knowledge of the sources and other students’ comments. (These are clearly on the right path, but could still be improved.)
  • 1 - Little or no effort given to posting, and / or the contribution was divergent from the discussion and the readings, and / or the post demonstrated little effort to engage with other students’ ideas.
  • 0 - No contribution.

   

  Late Submission Policy:

  Unless otherwise outlined, the penalties for late submission of assigned coursework (e.g., transcription assignment, Voyant assignment, major paper, and final exam) are 10% of the assignment grade for the first day late and 5% per day thereafter, unless accompanied by medical documentation, or documentation of other serious reasons. See Medical Exemption Policy and the medical health certificate at
  https://brocku.ca/registrar/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/Medical-Certificate.pdf .
   

  Relationship between regular online participation and grades:

  Forum discussions are the heart of this course. Your grades will reflect the regularity and most especially the quality of your weekly contributions. Posts should strive to build conversations – that is, they should engage, and offer thought-provoking commentary and questions for deepening the discussions. New posts should engage with the reading material and posts from other participants, and should always bring out evidence from the readings. The point is to analyze our sources through discussion, and to build and develop the conversation with other students to that end.
  
  Failure to participate in Forum discussions will lose you points!! Students are expected to contribute each week to all Forum discussions. Forum discussions are allocated 30 points on your final grade. Failure to contribute to more than TWO weekly forums will be penalized 1.5 out of the 30 points per late or missed week thereafter. Late Forum posts will not be accepted for credit.
  
  We will provide you detailed instructions for Forum discussions via Sakai Messages.

  Important dates:

  (check the section on important dates in the relevant online University calendar)

  • Friday, January 11, 2019, is the date by which you will be notified of 15% of your course grade.
  • Friday, January 18, 2019, is the last date for withdrawal from the course without academic penalty.

  
  Academic  Policies

  Academic Integrity:

  The principle of academic integrity, particularly of doing one’s own work, documenting properly (including use of quotation marks, appropriate paraphrasing and referencing/citation), collaborating appropriately, and avoiding misrepresentation, is a core principle in university study. Academic misconduct is a serious offence. Students should consult Section VII, “Academic Misconduct”, in the “Academic Regulations and University Polices” entry in the Undergraduate Calendar, available at  http://brocku.ca/webcal to view a fuller description of prohibited actions, and the procedures and penalties.

  Plagiarism software:

  You will submit most of your assignments (Voyant assignment, course project, and take-home exam) through Turnitin.com, a phrase-matching program online. See the assignment details on Sakai for more information. If you have a principled reason for objecting to uploading your assignments to Turnitin.com, please notify the instructors before the end of Week 4 to discuss alternative ways to submit your assignments. Alternatives will include some mechanism for you to demonstrate your adherence to the principles of academic integrity.

  Academic Accommodation:

  As part of Brock University's commitment to a respectful work and learning environment, the University will make every reasonable effort to accommodate all members of the university community with disabilities. If you require academic accommodations related to a documented disability to participate in this course, you are encouraged to contact Services for Students with Disabilities in the Student Development Centre (4th floor Schmon Tower, ex. 3240). You are also encouraged to discuss any accommodations with the instructor well in advance of due dates and scheduled assessments.

  Academic Accommodation due to Religious Obligations:

  Brock University acknowledges the pluralistic nature of the undergraduate and graduate communities such that accommodations will be made for students who, by reason of religious obligation, must miss an examination, test, assignment deadline, laboratory or other compulsory academic event.

  Students requesting academic accommodation on the basis of religious obligation should make a formal, written request to their instructors for alternative dates and/or means of satisfying requirements.

  Medical Exemption Policy:

  The University requires that a student be medically examined in Health Services, or by an off- campus physician prior to an absence due to medical reasons from an exam, lab, test, quiz, seminar, assignment, etc. The Medical Certificate can be found at: https://brocku.ca/registrar/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/Medical-Certificate.pdf.
   
  

  
   

  Schedule of Themes and Assignments

  
  See the course home page (aka, the Course at a Glance) for schedule details.