Western Civilization

These two courses together satisfy the College’s general education requirement in History (History 101/102); each course also counts as three hours towards satisfying the general education requirement in the Humanities.

Each age or society has its own way of viewing itself and the world around it. These ways of looking at the world arise from the social, cultural, economic, and political conditions of the time and, in turn, affect how each society interacts with the world. This course examines the arts, literature, philosophies and religions of the various periods to see how people looked at themselves and at their relations with one another, gods and the physical world. HONS 120 will focus upon the development of Western Civilization from its origins in the Near East through the sixteenth century, with emphasis on Classical Greece and Rome, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance and Reformation. HONS 130 will examine developments from the seventeenth century to the present day with emphasis on the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, and contemporary world issues.

Click here for a current Western Civilization syllabus.