Just a Taste...

This is the first syllabus that has been posted for my classes (I cut out the more mundane blahblahblah stuff):

History of Religious Wars

REQUIREMENTS

1. Questions. For almost every class you will have a set of questions which will be posted in the study guides posted on Blackboard. These questions will mainly be drawn from Western Civilizations but will also draw from other readings or from the quotations in the study guides. You will receive either a check or an unsatisfactory for each answer. You will start out with an A+ for the homework portion of the grade, and for each unsatisfactory homework or for each one not turned in, you will lose part of a grade. Thus, if you miss one homework, the grade will drop to an A, if you miss two it will drop to an A-, and so forth. Each homework will be due at the beginning of class. Students who enroll after the first day will have some leeway in turning in the first few assignments late. However, after Tuesday, Feb. 3rd, no late assignments will be accepted. In preparing for the assignments, keep in mind that the length of the readings varies widely, from a few pages to over thirty. Make sure to plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time for the longer readings.
3. John Locke assignment. For the last day of class you will read an early modern letter which is one of the foundational works for the history of toleration in the west. You will answer some questions on this reading, write a paragraph on what makes this such an important document in the history of toleration, and attend a class discussion on the work. This assignment will count for ten points on the final scale of 100. You will get up to 4 points for the questions, up to 4 points for the paragraph, 1 point for attending the class and 1 point for contributing at least briefly to the discussion.
3. Midterm. The midterm will be based on the questions on the readings (about 1/4) and on the lectures (about 3/4). In each lecture I will highlight several points and themes, and these will form the basis of the test questions, along with the questions from the readings. The midterm will consist of multiple choice questions, brief answers (no more than two lines), and short paragraph questions.
4. Final. The final will have similar questions to the midterm but will focus on the material after the midterm.
5. Attendance. Attendance is required. More than two unexcused absences can result in the lowering of your grade.

ALL STUDENTS MUST COMPLY WITH THE UM HONOR CODE

Breakdown of Grade
Questions 20%
Midterm 30%
Assignment on John Locke 10%
Final 40%

WEEKLY READING ASSIGNMENTS

Jan. 20 Introduction
Jan. 22 Paganism, Religion, and War
Western Civilizations, 15-17 (Sumerian Religion), 21-22, 55-60
Mesha Inscription; http://www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/westsem/mesha.html

Jan. 27 Ancient Israel
Western Civilizations, 52-55, 63-65, 110-12, 123-24
Jan. 29 The Birth of Christianity and Early Pacifism
Western Civilizations, 150-56

Feb. 3 The Militarization of Christianity and Just War
Western Civilizations, 156-59, 163-65
Feb. 5 The Birth of Islam and the meanings of Jihad
Western Civilizations, 182-92

Feb. 10 Jihad and Christian Holy War in the Early Middle Ages
Western Civilizations, 177-78, 179-80, 181, 195-97
Feb. 12 The Crusades: Part I
Western Civilizations, 239-43, 212-19

Feb. 17 The Crusades: Part II
Western Civilizations, 247-49, 279-81, 291-93
Feb. 19 Jewish responses to War after the Fall of the Second Temple
Western Civilizations, 152, 249-50
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1096jews-mainz.html
A Jewish account of the attacks on the Rhineland Jews during the First Crusade

Feb. 24 Midterm
Feb. 26 Religion and the Creation of the Spanish Empire
Western Civilizations, 305-18

March 3 The Reformation and the Wars of Religion I
Western Civilizations, 336-40, 345-56, 359-66
March 5 The Wars of Religion II
Western Civilizations, 371-76, 379-84

March 10 Second Thoughts on War among Christians
Western Civilizations, 398-404
March 12 The British Colonies
Western Civilizations, 416-23

March 24 The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
Western Civilizations, 428-64
March 26 The American and French Revolutions
Western Civilizations, 425, 479-91

March 31 The American Civil War and Christianity
Western Civilizations, 572-76
April 2 War, Religion, and Colonialism
Western Civilizations, 587-93, 596-606

April 7 The Spanish Civil War and the Crusade against Communism
Western Civilizations, 539-40, 615-16, 625-26, 662-69, 689-90
April 9 Religion and violence in the modern Christian World: South Africa, Northern Ireland, and Bosnia
Western Civilizations, 535-36, 606-7, 636, 647-48, 731, 756-60, 768

April 14 Modernist Interpretations of Jihad
Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam, 59-82, 94-101 (Course Reserves)
April 16 Israelis, Palestinians, Secularism, and Religion
Western Civilizations, 619-21, 675-78, 697-701, 729, 731, 770-72
Islam in Transition, 433-43: Hamas Charter (Course Reserves)

April 21 The Rise of violent Jihadist Movements
Western Civilizations, 728-29, 732-34, 772-77
Islam in Transition, 430-32: Bin Laden’s Jihad Fatwa (Course Reserves)
April 23 Thoughts on the future
US Catholic Bishops’ statement on the Iraq War
http://zenit.org/article-5376?l=english
Jerry Falwell, “God is Pro-War.”
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36859
Charles Stanley, “A Nation at War.”
Will be posted on Blackboard as a PDF file

April 28 No class
April 30 Discussion of John Locke
Locke’s Letter on Toleration; http://www.constitution.org/jl/tolerati.htm