Southern Utah University

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Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2026

European History I (Online)

HIST 1100-30I

Course: HIST 1100-30I
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2026
Department: History, Sociology & Anthro
CRN: 32537

Course Description

This course examines the political, social (including gender roles), and intellectual history of Western society from the urban revolution in Mesopotamia to the later Middle Ages. Special emphasis is placed on the reading and analysis of primary historical sources. (Fall, Spring) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Registration Restriction(s): Intensive English Program majors may not enroll General Education Category: Humanities

Required Texts

Required e-book:  Lynn Hunt, et al., The Making of the West:  Peoples and Cultures, vol. I, To 1750, 7th ed., (Boston and New York, 2021).  ISBN: 9781319381646 for 1-Term Access.  There is no hardcopy textbook for this course.  Access to the course e-book is obtained in Achieve, which is acquired through the link "Macmillan . . . Course Tools" or through "Inclusive Access" on the left of the course page. 

Learning Outcomes

2.2. Humanities: Upon successful completion of the General Education Humanities requirement, students will be able to:
2.2.1. Examine: Examine how humanities artifacts (such as oral narratives, literature, philosophy, media, and artworks) express the human condition;
2.2.2. Explain: Explain how humanities artifacts take on meaning within networks or systems (such as languages, cultures, values, and worldviews) that account for the complexities and uncertainties of the human condition;
2.2.3. Analyze: Analyze humanities artifacts according to humanities methodologies, such as a close analysis, questioning, reasoning, interpretation, and critical thinking;
2.2.4. Compare and Contrast: Compare and contrast diverse humanistic perspectives across cultures, communities, and/or time periods to explain how people make meaning of their lives; and
2.2.5. Apply: Using humanities perspectives, reflect on big questions related to aesthetics, values, meaning, and ethics and how those apply to their own lives.

These outcomes are set by the Utah System of Higher Education, R470 Appendix, Essential Learning Outcomes (Adopted December 1, 2023; amended November 21, 2024)

Course Requirements

The course content is arranged in "Modules" (on the left of your screen) according to fifteen topics, beginning with Topic 1 on "Mesopotamia Civilizations" and ending with Topic 15, "Women in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe."  Lectures on the subject matter have been provided on each of these topics.  In addition to that material, background and supplementary information can be found in the chapters assigned in the e-book, Lynn Hunt, et al., The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures, accessible through Achieve, which you will need to register and pay for through the Canvas portal.  First, read the lecture notes for a topic, then the designated chapter in Making of the West and next, answer the LC quiz in Achieve.  There is no time limit for how long you spend on an LC quiz.  Achieve will inform you of the topics you did well and not so well.  If you score 80% or better on an LC quiz, you will be awarded 10 points; a score between 60% to 79% receives 7 points; a score below 60% is not awarded any points.

After taking one or two LC quizzes (it varies), the next assignment will be a mini-test, accessible in Modules.  To prepare for a mini-test, you must study the texts in the relevant "Reading for Mini-test. . . ." for whichever mini-test you will be answering.  Deadlines for taking LC quizzes and mini-tests are clearly indicated.  For mini-tests 1 through 3, you have forty-five (45) minutes to answer all statements.  For mini-tests 4-8, you will have 13 minutes and two attempts on those mini-tests.  After taking mini-tests 1 through 6, it is time to tackle the "Components of a College Essay" assignment.  After completing this assignment, you will move on to lecture topics 13, 14, and 15 and complete LC quizzes 13 and 14 (if needed) and mini-tests 7 and 8 (necessary).  After completing the last LC quizzes and mini-test 8, you should review the "Final Exam Study Guide" and prepare for that exam.

Assignments in this course consist of 8 mini-tests, 11 LearningCurve quizzes, a "Components of a College Essay" assignment, and a final, multiple-choice exam (click to see its study guide).  All assignments except for the LC quizzes are in Canvas.  The mini-tests are weighted at an 18-point value; most of them have bonus statements that, if answered correctly, will earn extra points.  There are also bonus points available on the Components assignment and the final exam.  Answering the survey on Achieve will give you 5 extra points.  No extra credit or make-up work is available except in extraordinary circumstances, such as if a student has been forced to miss several days owing to illness.  See the Home page for acceptable requests for extensions.  The notion that "it does not hurt to ask" is fallacious; why waste your time and mine?  Disregard Canvas's accounting of grade percentages; it does not factor in bonus points, nor does it recognize how I construe 'O's as indications that an assignment was not submitted and should not necessarily lower a student's final grade..

You must answer 11 of 13 LearningCurve quizzes in Achieve, earning you a possible 110 points.  You may answer more than 11 LC quizzes to test your knowledge or for other reasons, but no extra points can be earned outside your 11 best scores. Please note that LC quiz grades do not automatically sync into Canvas's grade book; it may take up to 48 hours or so for a score on an LC quiz to appear in Canvas, and often, a '0' will appear before the actual score is synced into Canvas.

Grading Scale:  Total points possible: 8 mini-tests X 18 (144) + 11 LearningCurve quizzes (110) + Components assignment (100) + Final exam (100) = 454.  Letter grades are based on the percentages of the total points earned.  An 'A' corresponds to 93% and higher of the total points possible; an 'A-' corresponds to 90-92.9% earned and so on.

Course Outline

Week 1:  Early Western Civilization, 400,000–1000 B.C.E.
Week 2:  Near East Empires and the Reemergence of Civilization in Greece, 1000–500 B.C.E. 
Week 3:  The Greek Golden Age, c. 500–c. 400 B.C.E.
Week 4:  From the Classical to the Hellenistic World, 400–30 B.C.E..
Week 5:  The Rise of Rome and Its Republic, 753–44 B.C.E..
Week 6:  The Creation of the Roman Empire, 44 B.C.E.–284 C.E.
Week 7:  The Transformation of the Roman Empire, 284–600 C.E
Week 8:  The Heirs of Rome: Islam, Byzantium, and Europe, 600–750
Week 9:  From Centralization to Fragmentation, 750–1050
Week 10:  Commercial Quickening and Religious Reform, 1050–1150
Week 11:  The Flowering of the Middle Ages, 1150–1215
Week 12:  The Medieval Synthesis — and Its Cracks, 1215–1340
Week 13:  Crisis and Renaissance, 1340–1492
Week 14:  Women in Early Modern Europe

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Late Policy:  Deadlines are imposed and enforced.  If you know an assignment will be late, you must contact me via an e-mail in Canvas before the assignment is due.  After a 1-hour grace period allowed on the mini-tests and the Components assignment, for every hour or portion thereof an assignment is late, a 3-point penalty will be imposed.  Achieve does not allow a grace period for the LC quizzes.

Attendance Policy

 Required  Attendance or Extra Co-curricular Activities:  None

Course Fees

There is a $15 course fee on online courses.

Statement on Use of AI

 Preparing this statement brings back exciting memories of one of my top five movies:  Terminator 2; the first was incredible too.  Using AI to search for information is acceptable.  Copying from AI without a citation to that source constitutes plagiarism and will be penalized according to SUU's policy on violating the academic code of conduct. Policy 6,33 Academic MisconductLinks to an external site..  Note that verbatim copying is not the only standard or, one might say, test, to determine plagiarism in the case of AI.  SUU's administration has three different software programs to detect AI usage.  If any of those programs corroborate Copyleaks' determination of AI usage, every incident will be investigated.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.