Online Course Syllabus:
World History from 1500
Course Links: 
Lectures & Readings

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VICTOR VALLEY COLLEGE
Summer 2008
WORLD HISTORY 104
Section 20225
Instructor: Dr. Eric Mayer,
Office No. ScL26
College Email: mayere@vvc.edu
EMAIL: history104@gmail.com
Website: www.emayzine.com
All lecture notes, online quizzes and course resources and can be downloaded for free from the site. Please do not bring lecture notes to class…they are for home study and Online Student use only. Prerequisite: None—But there is an intensive amount of analytical writing in this course as well as critical thinking. However, it is assumed that most of you do not have college level or academic writing skills and there will be online help available.
*Note: Syllabus subject to possible revision
Requirements: Students must stay up with all assignments and must check email daily. The key for doing well in this course and understanding the history that we cover is that you be informed as to what is happening about you. History is not "dead", it is constantly affecting your reality, and if it is dead, then we all are affected by the ghosts of the past. History is the analysis and understanding of processes that have created our present reality

The hours/week arranged listed for online classes must be fulfilled through an arrangement established between the instructor and the student. They do not represent an increase in the total number of hours for an online course. Hours/week arranged do not have to be fulfilled by in-person class attendance.….….
Course Description: Survey of world history since 1500, stressing the interdependency of
regional histories and socioeconomic development. Of primary importance is understanding the history of the "Modern World System" as it developed from 1500 to 1993. Special attention is devoted to the historical changes and problems of economic development on a global scale. Social history is also stressed, particularly how economic development (or lack thereof) affected and affects society, culture, the status of diverse peoples, and the distribution of wealth and resources at the global level. Beginning with the conquest and exploitation of the "New World" and its inhabitants, the course will focus for the first three weeks on the rise of a global trading system. In the first two weeks, the course will attempt to explain how a bunch of bearded, violent "barbarians" conquered the great civilizations of the world and changed the course of almost 5,000 years of history. The second three weeks of the course will examine how these handful of northern European countries were successful in grafting their mode of production onto the rest of the world and the dislocating impact this had on the European and non-European world. The last three weeks of the course will focus on the struggle, and at times inability of the "modern" countries to control the rest of the world. In this light, struggle and resistance in the Third World will be examined, as well as the relative decline of the US and the ascendancy of European Community and especially the Pacific Rim.

Required Texts:

(1) A Penguin History of the World, by Roberts
(2) Europe and the People Without History, by Wolf
(3) The Age of Extremes, by Hobsbawm

The books are available for purchase at the VVC bookstore Books bought at the VVC Bookstore will help the collge's UN Club and their travel to Washington DC
Finally…there are lecture notes and links on the site that proceed in order. And you will click to them when you get to the course readings. The audio lectures no longer function
Attendance: Students must check their email regularly/daily. It is the students’ responsibility to make sure that they have been dropped, reinstated, or are currently enrolled in the course. I will not do any grade changes that are related to attendance policy. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE BEEN DROPPED. DO NOT ASSUME THAT I WILL DROP YOU AS A MATTER OF COURSE DUE TO YOUR LACK OF ATTENDANCE. I DO NOT DROP STUDENTS AND I DO NOT GIVE INCOMPLETES. I DO ACCEPT LATE WORK BUT THE HIGHEST GRADE LATE WORK MAY RECEIVE IS A "C". I DO NOT ACCEPT LATE WORK AFTER THE LAST DAY OF CLASS.
Grading: The grade break down is as follows: Essay Exam 1 = 20% of final grade; Book Analysis = 20% of final grade; Essay Exam 2 = 20% of final grade; Final Essay Exam = 20% of final grade; Book Review = 20% of final grade. In order to pass the course all outstanding assignments or essay exams must be turned in via email by the day of the final essay examination. Finally the course is progressively graded in that grades can only help you. GRADE SCALE: 90%-100% A; 80% -89% B; 70% -79% C; 60% -69% D; 0% -59% F. I do not round up grades. Late work is accepted up until the last day of class which is when the final essay exam and book review are due, but the highest grade possible for late work is a C.
Course Mechanics: The course is lnternet driven. Therefore it is essential to surf the net regularly and check your email. My ultimate goal in the course besides teaching world history is to create students who will be able to argue logically, and back up their assertions with evidence. An objective of this course is to teach students the analytical, reading and writing skills that they need to educate themselves. While the course is "text" driven I will suggest films and movies, that students can analyze. This course will not be a passive learning experience, it will be highly interactive in terms of how you explain historical causality and outcome.