This is Dr. Eric Oberle's course on Western Civilization from the Age of the Religious Empires to the Enlightenment.
This is the third course of a three-part introduction to Western Civilization. Covering the period from the rise of the scientific worldview to the present day, this course will focus on the political, social and intellectual meanings of modernity. Asking what it means to be a citizen in the modern world, we will explore the series of revolutions—scientific, political, economic, cultural—that have shaken Europe and the world in the course of the past three centuries. Central to our examination will be the changing meanings of citizenship and the nation, legitimate authority and scientific knowledge, creativity and individuality. Our weekly readings in primary texts will help us build our skills as historical interpreters and develop our sensitivity to ideas and modes of expression remote from our own; these will be supplemented by lectures and the chronological overview provided by Kagan, Ozment & Turner’s Western Heritage.
This course surveys the ancient world from the beginning of written time to the rise of Islam