Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2026

World History to 1500 C.E. (Face-to-Face)

HIST 1500-01

Course: HIST 1500-01
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2026
Department: History, Sociology & Anthro
CRN: 33309

Course Description

This survey examines the political, social, cultural, economic, religious, scientific, and intellectual influences on the development of world civilizations to 1500 C.E. The emphasis is global, comparative, and multicultural. (Fall, Spring, Summer) [Graded (Standard Letter)] Registration Restriction(s): Intensive English Program majors may not enroll General Education Category: Social and Behavioral Sciences

Required Texts

Eugene Berger et al., World History: Cultures, States, and Societies to 1500.  (2016). History Open Textbooks. 2. https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/history-textbooks/2
  • Note: this is a digital textbook available free of charge as an OER publication.  The text is 50 MB, so plan accordingly with downloading and browsing.

Procopius, The Secret History.  Translated by G.A. Williamson.  London: Penguin, 2007.  ISBN: 9780140455281

The following (required) readings will be available on CANVAS.
  • M. E. Kislev, “The Emergence of Wheat Agriculture”
  • Egypt: Selections from The Book of the Dead
  • Egypt: The Shipwrecked Sailor
  • Mesopotamia: The Code of Hammurabi
  • China: Excerpts from The Mahabharata
  • China: The Mandate of Heaven
  • China: Excerpt from Confucius, The Analects
  • Greece: Lysias, On the Murder of Eratosthenes
  • Greece: Pericles, Funeral Oration (as recounted by Thucydides)
  • Rome: The Twelve Tables
  • Rome: The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
  • Mesoamerica; The Popol Vuh, Part III
  • Islamic Arabia: Qur'an, Sura 1 & Sura 47
  • Islamic Arabia: Selection from The Arabian Nights
  • Christian Europe: Acts 18-28
  • Mongolia: Rubruck & Marco Polo on the Mongols

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the General Education Social and Behavioral Sciences requirement, students will be able to: 
(1) Examine institutions and human behavior through social and behavioral concepts, methods, or theories; 
(2) Identify diverse perspectives to explore and examine social and behavioral phenomena; and 
(3) Apply discipline-relevant and scientific theories and methods to make inferences about or applications to social and behavioral phenomena at personal, institutional, or cultural levels.

 For more information about SUU’s General Education Program, see: https://catalog.suu.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=28&poid=10745

Course Requirements

The final course grade will be based on the best 11 scores out of 13 quizzes (i.e., drop the two lowest scores), (worth 20% of total grade), a digital map assignment (10%), a written essay (20%), a midterm exam (25%), and a final exam (25%).  Borderline grades will be influenced by attendance record.

20%     Best 11 scores on 13 weekly quizzes (taken on CANVAS)
15%     Essay on Procopius’ Secret History. Details provided on CANVAS.
15%     Map Assignment (Story Map). Details provided on CANVAS.)
25%     Midterm Exam 
25%     Final Exam


The quizzes, available on CANVAS, will generally focus on the lecture & readings for the week, both in the textbook and the primary source documents found on CANVAS. They are open-book / open-note (but please don't use AI or a google-search; do your own work). In some weeks, the quizzes might cover material from more than one week as part of a comparative question. It is expected that quizzes will take no more than 10 minutes and should be completed BEFORE CLASS BEGINS on the Friday they are due.  There will be no make-up quizzes provided; if a student misses a quiz, that quiz will be considered one of the dropped scores.  If a student should miss more than two quizzes, the third (and subsequent) will be recorded as 0.

The midterm and final exams will include an essay.  The instructor will provide more information under separate cover.

The written essay involves the critical examination of a primary document: The Secret History by Procopius in a 4 - 5 page typed (1000 – 1250 word) essay. More specific details, guidelines, and criteria are available on CANVAS.
 
The map assignment will introduce students to the “Digital Humanities.” Students will create a digital map highlighting specific events in World History. More specific details, guidelines, and criteria are available on CANVAS.

 
A  =     100 – 94.0
A- =     93.9 – 90.0
B+ =    89.9 – 87.5
B  =     87.4 – 82.5
B- =     82.4 – 80.0
C+ =    79.9 – 77.5
C  =     77.4 – 70.0
D  =     69.9 – 60.0
F  =      59.9 – 0.0                                The conventional rules of number-rounding will apply.



Course Outline

Week 1: Introduction to World History and the Emergence of Agriculture
Week 2: Ancient Egypt
Week 3: Mesopotamia
Week 4: Ancient India
Week 5: Ancient China
Week 6: Persia and Greece
Week 7: Persia and Greece (continued)
Week 8: The Roman Republic
Week 9: The Roman Empire
Week 10: Africa and the Americas
Week 11: The Islamic World
Week 12: Christian Europe
Week 13: The Silk Road & Story Maps
Week 14: The Mongols, Japan, and China

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

  • CANVAS quizzes cannot be made up. 
  • Any student who misses an exam must notify the instructor in advance; otherwise no makeup exams will be offered. Makeup exams must be completed within one week of the missed day.
  • Late submissions of The Secret History essay will be penalized 25% per day, beginning on the due date.
  • Late submissions of the Story Map assignment will be penalized 25% per day, beginning on the due date.

  • Extreme cases will be addressed on an individual basis.
  • Students who miss class for SUU-approved reasons will be accommodated according to SUU Policy 6.30.


Attendance Policy

Attendance is encouraged, but not required.
Borderline grades will be influenced by attendance.

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.