HIS 121 DLU1: MILLENNIUM -- WORLD HISTORY SINCE 1000 CE
North Island College Fall 2025
Delivery Format: Digital Learning Unscheduled (We will not meet regularly as a group via videoconferencing, though there will be some optional Kaltura group sessions).
Instructor: Dan Hinman-Smith
Office: Trades 112
Office Hours: In Person -- M 4:00 - 5:00 pm; F 10:00 - 11:20 am
On-Line-- F 11:30 am - 12:30 pm (or by appointment). I ask that you email me beforehand if you would like to meet with me on-line. You can access on-line meetings through the Mister Dan's Room link.
Office Phone: 250-890-2524
Web-Site: http://www.misterdann.com/contentsmillennium.htm and https://mycourses.nic.bc.ca/
E-Mail: dan.hinmansmith@nic.bc.ca
North Island College is honoured to acknowledge the traditional territories of the combined 35 First Nations of the Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka'wakw and Coast Salish traditions, on whose traditional and unceded territories the college's campuses are situated. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's final report calls for 94 actions toward restoring a balanced relationship between indigenous peoples and settler communities in this country.
Course Description
This course surveys world history from the early Medieval period to contemporary times. The focus will be upon identifying broad themes, issues and patterns in world history, and upon accounting for political, social, cultural, intellectual, religious and economic change. The approach will combine sweeping analytical overviews with recurrent intensive investigation of selected societies and topics. Class time will be divided between lecture and slide presentation, video documentaries, and discussion based upon common course readings and a series of student research exercises.
Books
**The different course books rest at the centre of the curriculum. It is fundamentally important that you acquire these books and then access them throughout the semester. They are available for purchase at the NIC Bookstore while two copies apiece of the Weatherford and Mann volumes are on short-term Reserve in the NIC Library. I have also provided links to e-text editions below.
Jack Weatherford
, Genghis Khan And The Making Of The Modern World (New York: Crown, 2005).Charles C. Mann
, 1493: Uncovering The New World Columbus Created (New York: Vintage, 2012).Rutger Bregman, Humankind: A Hopeful History, trans. Elizabeth Manton and Erica Moore (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2019).
Learning Outcomes
1. Trace in broad outline the basic chronology and major contours of world history during the last millennium.
2. Demonstrate a more in-depth knowledge of particular societies and topics featured in the course.
3. Discuss the relationships between the economy, the political structure, the culture, and the social organization of individual societies
4. Identify central themes and issues from the past, compare and contrast different societies, and theorize about the complex connections between the medieval, early modern and modern eras.
My Assumptions About This Course
That you are interested in world history and eager to learn as much about it as possible in this course.
That it will be impossible to learn all that you would like to learn given the massive amount of relevant material and the time constraints involved.
That history should involve not merely the struggle to understand past events but also to find meaning from those events.
That my job as instructor is to strike an appropriate balance between providing a common core curriculum and setting up structures that also allow you to study materials of personal interest.
That this course should help to set you up for future formal or informal study of world history rather than being a survey that teaches you "all that you need to know" about the ancient past.
Comox Valley Territory Acknowledgement
Tentative Class Schedule
Week 1 (September 2 - 7): Course Introduction And The Crusades
Brightspace Postings
History Playhouse -- The Crusades: Select one or more audio or video that you reviewed for this week's curriculum. What was interesting about this documentary and where would you begin in commenting upon it? (You will find a forum for this discussion on the HIS 121 DLU1 Brightspace Page).
Listening And Viewing
"The
Crescent And The Cross, Part Two,"
[The Third Crusade]
BBC World Service, November 16,
2009.
(Click on the download icon
to listen to this 25-minute audio documentary).
"Holy
Warriors: Saladin And Richard The Lionheart,"
PBS, 2011. (89 mins) Uses the showdown between Richard
III and Saladin during the twelfth century as a window into the Crusades.
Watch at least one of the following episodes (a major Al Jazeera series that explores the continuing relevance of the Crusades):
"Shock: The First Crusade And The Conquest Of Jerusalem," Crusades: An Arab Perspective, Al Jazeera, December 7, 2016. (47 mins)
"Revival: The Muslim Response To The Crusades," Crusades: An Arab Perspective, Al Jazeera, December 14, 2016. (47 mins)
"Unification: Saladin And The Fall Of Jerusalem," Crusades: An Arab Perspective, Al Jazeera, December 21, 2016. (48 mins)
"Liberation: Acre And The End Of The Crusades," Crusades: An Arab Perspective, Al Jazeera, December 28, 2016. (47 mins)
Reading Assignment
Jonathan Phillips, "The
Crusades: A Complete History," History Today, 65 (May 5, 2015).
Browse extensively in the Crusades In The News Discussion Topic.
Optional Extras:
Vicente Millan Torres, "The
Assassins: The Muslim Warriors Of Alamut," National Geographic
History Magazine (November/December 2018): 62-71.
"
The Battle For Jerusalem," Throughline, NPR, October 3, 2024 (50 mins): The American public broadcaster focuses in on the First Crusade in this audio documentary.
"
Paul Freedman, "Medieval Crusades And Today's Global Conflicts," Yale Podcasts, July 1, 2008 (42 minutes): A Yale historian offers a very thoughtful perspective on the Crusades and collective memory.
Week 2 (September 8 -14): Islamic Civilization
Brightspace Postings
History Playhouse: Islam And The History Of Science
Islamic Civilization And Science Mini-Assignment
Watch at least two of the following nine videos about Islam and the history of science:
Science In A Golden Age, Al Jazeera, 2015.
"Science
In A Golden Age: Optics -- The True Nature Of Light,"
Al Jazeera, October 6, 2015. (25 mins)
"Astronomy
-- The Science Of The Stars,"
Al Jazeera, October 13, 2015. (25 mins)
"Science
In A Golden Age: Al-Khwarizmi -- The Father Of Algebra,"
Al Jazeera, October 20, 2015. (25 mins)
"Science
In A Golden Age: Pioneers Of Engineering -- Al-Jazari And The Banu Musa,"
Al Jazeera, October 27, 2015. (25 mins)
"Science
In A Golden Age: Chemistry -- The Search For The Philosopher's Stone,"
Al Jazeera, November 3, 2015. (25 mins)
"Science
In A Golden Age: Al-Razi, Ibn Sina And The Canon Of Medicine,"
Al Jazeera, November 9, 2015. (25 mins)
"Science And Islam,"
BBC Four, 2009 (physicist Jim Al-Khalili traces the vast
expansion of scientific knowledge in the Islamic world between the 8th and
14th centuries):
Episode 1, The Language Of Science (59 mins)
Episode 2, The Empire Of Reason (59 mins)
Episode 3, The Power Of Doubt (59 mins)
Other Listening And Viewing
"Episode 2, The Awakening," Islam: Empire Of Faith, PBS, 2000 (53 mins).
Reading Assignment
Tony Perrottet, "From
Fabled Palaces To Ancient Medinas, A Journey Through Spain's Islamic History,"
Smithsonian (September/October 2023).
Optional Extras:
"Ornament
Of The World," PBS,
2019 (116 mins.): An excellent overview of the history of
Islamic Spain.
"Episode
9, Islam In Africa,"History Of Africa With Zeinab Badawi,
BBC World Service, 2020 (45 mins): An episode from a
major 20-part BBC series on the history of Africa. Some of you may want to
view 
Andrew Lawler, "Isfahan:
Iran's Hidden Jewel,"
Smithsonian (April 2009).
"Episode
281 -- Spain: The Caliphate Of Cordoba,"
The Rest Is History, December 2022. (50 mins)
"Rumi: The Journey," Hindsight, Al Jazeera, May 10, 2021 (34 mins): An audio documentary about the 13th-century Persian poet.
"Ibn
Khaldun: 14th Century Sage,"
The Forum, BBC World Service, December 15, 2019 (44 mins):
Explores the life and works of the 14th-century North African historian.
"
The Idea Of The Caliphate," Analysis, BBC Radio 4, October 26, 2014. (30 mins) Click the Download icon to access.Edward Stourton, "What's The Appeal Of A Caliphate?," BBC Newsmagazine, October 26, 2014.
"The Caliph," Al Jazeera, 2016: A major three-part Al Jazeera
documentary series that traces the history of the Caliphate through the
centuries.
Part 1, Foundation (49 mins)
Part 2, Division (49 mins)
Part 3, Decline (49 mins)
"The Persians: A
History Of Iran," BBC, 2020:
Episode 1 (51 mins)
Episode 2 (52 mins)
Episode 3 (52 mins)
Week 3 (September 15 -21): History Of The World In 100 Objects
Brightspace Postings
History Of The World In 100 Objects
History Of The World In 100 Objects Mini-Assignment
Follow the instructions p
osted in the History In 100 Objects Discussion TopicReading Assignment
"Treasures
Of Timbuktu,"
National Geographic History Magazine, 7 (September/October 2021): 68-81.
Optional Extras:
"The Empire Of Mali," Extra Credits, April 14, 2018 (A well-done cartoon introduction to the history of the Malian Empire):
"The
Twang Of A Bow,"
Extra History #1 (9 mins)
"An
Empire Of Trade And Faith,"
Extra History #2 (10 mins)
"Mansa
Musa," Extra History
#3 (8 mins)
"The
Cracks Begin To Show,"
Extra History #4 (9 mins)
"The
Final Bloody Act,"
Extra History #5 (11 mins)
"Mansa
Musa," You're Dead To
Me, BBC Radio 4, September 20, 2019 (46 mins):
Introduces Mali's most famous emperor
Browse in the Treasures Of Timbuktu Discussion Topic: A collection of resources about the ancient Malian capital
"The
Empire Of Mali," In
Our Time, BBC Radio 4, October 29, 2015 (43 min): The
curmudgeonly BBC institution Melvyn Bragg interviews a roundtable of scholars.
***Saturday, September 20: First Half Journal Due For Ungraded Check-In
Week 4 (September 22 - 28): Genghis Khan And The Making Of The Modern World
Brightspace Postings
Genghis Khan And The Making Of The Modern World
Genghis Khan And The Making Of The Modern World Seminar Note
Genghis Khan And The Making Of The Modern World
Reading Assignment
Jack Weatherford, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World (New York: Three Rivers, 2004).
Listening And Viewing
"The Meaning Of Mongol," Documentary, BBC World Service, April 8, 2015 (28 minutes). Click the Download icon to access the program.
"Mongolia:
Rise And Fall Of An Empire,"
DW Documentary, September 10, 2023 (52 mins): Frames today's
Mongolians against the backdrop of their nomadic past.
Optional Extras:
Veronica Walker, "Kublai Khan's Realm," National Geographic History Magazine (March/April 2020): 58-71.
"Kublai
Khan: The Barbarian,"
Episode 2, China: As History Is My Witness, BBC Radio 4, October 9, 2012.
Genghis Khan, Extra Credits, February 17, 2018 (This cartoon biography of Genghis Khan may be a helpful complement to Weatherford's book for some of you):
"Temujin
The Child," Extra History #1 (10 mins)
"The
Rivalry Of Blood Brothers," Extra History #2 (10 mins)
"The
Debut Of Temujin Khan," Extra History #3 (10 mins)
"Khan
Of All Mongols," Extra History #4 (10 mins)
"Beginnings
Of The Great Mongol Nation," Extra History #5 (11
mins)
"The
Final Conquering Years," Extra History #6 (10 mins)
*** Sunday, September 28: Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World Seminar Note Due
Week 5 (September 29 - October 5): Travelers -- Marco Polo, Ibn Batttuta, and Zheng He
Brightspace Postings
Travelers -- Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, and Zheng He
Travelers Mini-Assignment
Research Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, or Zheng He as entry points into exploring the Medieval and Early Modern World using the resources available in the Traveler's Mini-Presentations Discussion Topic
Week 6 (October 6 - October 12): The Ottoman Empire
Brightspace Postings
Ottoman Empire In The News
Listening And Viewing
"Episode 3, The Ottomans," Islam: Empire Of Faith, PBS, 2000 (53 mins): The final episode is a major PBS series on the history of early Islam.
Listen to at least one of the
Ottoman Podcast Episodes.Reading Assignment
Browse extensively in the Ottoman Empire In The News Discussion Topic
Optional Extras:
"The Ottomans: Europe's Muslim Emperors," BBC Worldwide Learning, 2013 (Rageh Omaar hosts this in-depth overview of the Ottoman Empire):
Episode 1 (53 mins)
Episode 2 (51 mins)
Episode 3 (52 mins)
Murat Metinsoy, "The Empire And The Republic," History Today, 73 (October 2023): 28-41.
"Turkey:
Ottoman Or Turk," How
To Invent A Country, BBC Radio 4, November 20, 2023. (28 mins)
***Saturday, October 11: First Half Journal Due
Week 7 (October 14 - 19): 1493
Brightspace Postings
1493
1493 Seminar Note
Listening And Viewing
"When
Worlds Collide,"
PBS, 2010 (86 mins): An excellent documentary analyzing the
legacies of the Conquest of the Americas.
Reading Assignment
Charles Mann, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created (New York: Vintage, 2012).
Browse in the
500th Anniversary Of The Conquest Of Mexico And 700th Anniversary Of The Founding Of Tenochtitlan Discussion Topic.Optional Extras:
"Panama's Brutish Conquistador Who Found The Pacific And Lost His Head," Empire, July 16, 2025 (46 mins): Anita Anand and William Dalrymple tells the story of Francisco Balboa.
"The
Aztecs: A Clash Of Worlds, Part 1," Episode 9, Fall Of
Civilizations, October 28, 2020 (104 mins): A two-part
episode from the impressive Fall Of Civilizataions podcast series.
"The Aztecs: A Clash Of Worlds, Part 2," Episode 9, Fall Of Civilizations, October 28, 2020 (148 mins)
"Episode
384 -- The Fall Of The Aztecs: The Adventure Begins (Part 1),"
Rest Is History, November 2023. (49 mins)
"Episode 385 -- The Fall Of The Aztecs: The Woman Who Changed The World (Part 2)," Rest Is History, November 2023 (51 mins): A deep dive into Aztec history from Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook.
"Episode 386 -- The Fall Of The Aztecs: The City Of Gold (Part 3)," Rest Is History, November 2023. (47 mins)
"Episode 387 -- The Fall Of The Aztecs: Prisoners Of Montezuma (Part 4)," Rest Is History, November 2023. (42 mins)
"Episode 388 -- The Fall Of The Aztecs: The Festival Of Blood (Part 5)," Rest Is History, November 2023. (47 mins)
"Episode 389 -- The Night Of Tears (Part 6)," Rest Is History, November 2023. (42 mins)
"Episode 390 -- The Fall Of The Aztecs: War To The Death (Part 7)," Rest Is History, November 2023. (36 mins)
"Episode 391 -- The Fall Of The Aztecs: The Last Emperor (Part 8)," Rest Is History, November 2023. (54 mins)
Week 8 (October 20 - 26): Slavery And Stuff The British Stole
Brightspace Postings
Stuff The British Stole
Slavery And Stuff The British Stole Mini-Assignment
Listen to your group's podcasts through the
Stuff The British Stole Discussion TopicReading Assignment
Browse in the Slavery In The News Discussion Topic.
Optional Extras:
"Brazil's
Palmares: A Beacon Of Freedom,"
The Forum, BBC World Service, September 4, 2022. (40 mins)
Browse in the Benin Bronzes Discussion Topic.
Browse in the Empireland And Empireworld Discussion Topic.
***Friday, October 24: 1493 Seminar Note Due
Week 9 (October 27 - November 2): India
Brightspace Postings
Incarnations
Listening And Viewing
Listen to episodes and/or read the chapters of at least three individuals from your choice of any of the four
Incarnations groupsReading Assignment
Browse extensively in the Indian History And Ayodhya Discussion Topic.
Browse extensively in the Mughals In The News Discussion Topic.
Optional Extras
Story Of India, PBS, 2008 (Michael Wood's excellent 6-part introduction to Indian Civilization)
"Ages Of Gold," Episode 4 (55 mins)
"Meeting Of Two Oceans," Episode 5 (55 mins)
"Freedom And Liberation," Episode 6:
Browse in British India In The News Discussion Topic.
Week 10 (November 3 - 9): China
Brightspace Postings
Opium Wars
Listening And Viewing
"
The Ming," Episode 4, The Story Of China, PBS, 2017 (59 mins)Reading Assignment
Greg Pasciuto, "Confucius
Meets Christ: The Jesuits In Imperial China,"
The Collector, May 22, 2023.
Browse extensively in Opium Wars Discussion Topic.
Optional Extras:
Story Of China, PBS, 2017 (Episodes from Michael Wood's six-part series on the history of Chinese Civilization):
"The
Taiping Rebellion,"
In Our Time, BBC Radio 4, February 24, 2011 (42 mins):
Click the Download icon to access.
"Matteo
Ricci: Jesuit And Geometrist,"
Chinese Characters, BBC Radio 4, April 12, 2018 (14 mins):
Historian Rana Mitter recounts the biography of the 16th-century Jesuit
missionary Matteo Ricci.
"Hong
Xiuquan -- The Rebel," Episode 9, China: As History Is My Witness, BBC
Radio 4, October 18, 2012 (15 mins): Carrie Gracie profiles
the 19th-century rebel. Click on the Download icon to access.
"Empress Dowager Cixi," In Our Time, BBC Radio 4, May 26, 2024. (50 mins)
***Saturday, November 8: Second Half Journal Due For Ungraded Check-In
Week 1
1 (November 10 -16): JapanBrightspace Postings
History Playhouse: Horror In The East
Medieval And Tokugawa Japan Scavenger Hunt
Follow the instructions as outlined in the
Medieval And Tokugawa Japan Scavenger Hunt.Reading Assignment
Browse extensively in the
Meiji Japan (1868-1912) Discussion Topic.Listening And Viewing
"Horror In The East,"
BBC, 2008 (A brilliant, humane,
and extraordinarily intense documentary in which Laurence Rees traces the
history of Japan from the end of World War I through to the August 1945
surrender):
Episode 1, Turning Against The West: Viewer discretion is strongly advised. (47 mins)
Episode 2, Death Before Surrender: Viewer discretion is strongly advised. (48 mins)
Week 12 (November 17 - 23): Humankind -- A Hopeful History
Brightspace Postings
Humankind: A Hopeful History
Humankind Journal Entry
Reading Assignment
Rutger Bregman, Humankind: A Hopeful History (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2019).
Optional Extras:
"War
And Nation Building In Latin America,"
Episode 225, Crash Course World History, February 11, 2015. (12 mins)
Greg Beyer, "El
Libertador: Who Was Simon Bolivar,"
The Collector, February 7, 2023.
"Simon
Bolivar," You're Dead
To Me, BBC Radio 4, February 10, 2024 (57 mins): An
introduction to the Latin American revolutionary.
Week 13 (November 24 - 30): The Great War In Global Perspective
Brightspace Postings
The Great War Through Asian And Arab Eyes
Listening And Viewing
Watch two documentaries on World War I in Asia and the Middle East from the options listed below:
Asia In The Great War,
CNA:
Episode One, "India: The Forgotten War," November 14, 2018. (48 mins)
Episode Two, "China: Behind The Trenches," November 14, 2018. (48 mins)
Episode Three, "Vietnam:
War And Rebellion,"
November 14, 2018. (48 mins)
Episode Four, "
World War One Through Arab
Eyes, Al Jazeera, December 2014:
Episode One, The Arabs (45 mins)
Episode Two, The Ottomans (43 mins)
Episode Three, The New Middle East (47 mins)
Reading Assignment
Browse extensively in Great War As World History Discussion Topic.
***Saturday, December 6: Second Half Journal Due
Evaluation
|
Letter Of Introduction |
1% |
|
Genghis Khan Seminar Note |
15% |
| First Half Journal | 25% |
|
1493 Seminar Note |
15% |
|
Second Half Journal |
30% |
|
Brightspace Contributions And Participation |
14% |
a) Letter Of Introduction (1%)
Write a short letter of introduction to me at the beginning of the semester. This should be at least 100 words in length and is designed to give me a beginning idea of who you are and how I might be serve you as a teacher, and to provide me with an opening snapshot of the class as a whole. You need not use the following questions as cue, but they may be helpful. Who are you? Where are you from? How might you begin to describe your community and what life is like there if you've come to NIC from far away? What do you miss and what do you think would most surprise me if I were to visit your hometown? What are your interests? Why are you taking this course? What are your thoughts and reflections as you begin HIS 121? How familiar are you already with World History? Are there topics associated with the course that you know will be of potential interest? Do you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions as we start the course? Although this is not a graded assignment, I would appreciate it if you took several minutes writing a thoughtful introduction. If you are enrolled in more than one class with me this semester, a single letter of introduction will suffice, but do include some thoughts about world history. If you have already taken a class with me, please update what you sent me before and send me a new letter of introduction.
b) Seminar Notes (30%) [2 x 15%]
Seminar notes are commentaries of at least two double-spaced pages apiece (500+ words) upon Genghis Khan And The Making Of The Modern World and 1493 -- Uncovering The New World Columbus Created. and Humankind -- A Hopeful History. You will not be expected to write a seminar note on Humankind -- A Hopeful History, but you will be required to complete a Journal entry about that book. It is fundamental that you get copies of each of these books. All three are available for purchase at the NIC Bookstore, while I have also provided e-links for purchasable digital copies.
The purpose of the seminar notes is to provide you with the opportunity to organize your thoughts after each of the common major readings. The notes should be analytical in nature and should highlight key themes from the reading. Your own interpretations must be at the centre of each seminar note. I want to see you engaging directly with the text rather than paraphrasing someone else's descriptions or review. Although you should write concisely, it is great if one or both of your seminar notes are considerably longer than the recommended length. Seminar Notes can be typed or hand-written, though I recommend that for either format you should take some notes and carefully organize your thoughts before attempting to write your reflections. You should hand in these rough notes with your completed Seminar Note if you indeed have these. Although the Seminar Notes will be graded separately, they also will become part of your First and Second-Half Journals. Particularly strong notes, then, can serve as one foundation for an excellent Journal..
Rather than being graded on a letter scale, the seminar notes will be evaluated on a check, check-plus, check-plus+, and check-minus basis:
Check: A fully satisfactory seminar note (7.3/10, B) -- The seminar note offers evidence that you have engaged directly and substantially with the text and drawn something of larger meaning from it. Your ideas may not be fully developed or as clearly stated as might be the case, but you do demonstrate that you have taken something away from your encounter with the book.
Check-Plus: A strong seminar note (8.6/10, A) -- The strong seminar note will offer thoughtful analysis and/or a well-developed commentary upon the text. It will probe chosen themes in an original, organized, and analytical manner. The commentary with effectively connect together your larger ideas with the particularities of the reading, using examples and specific text to accentuate your writing.
Check-Plus-Plus: An outstanding seminar note (9.5, A+) -- Such a note pushes far beyond the basic expectations for this assignment in terms of both its originality and the extent to which it probes the reading.
Check-Minus: A weak seminar note (6.1, C) -- The seminar note includes some material of relevance and evidence of direct engagement with the text. However, it seems to be based upon limited reading and/or a lack of understanding of the book's core themes.
Check-Minus-Minus-: An unsatisfactory seminar note. (0, F) A note in which it is impossible to tell whether there was any direct engagement with the text. The assignment seems to have relied entirely upon secondary sources and/or to have been completed using Artificial Intelligence tools.
There typically will not be the opportunity to revise Seminar Notes and submit them a second time.
c) HIS 121 Journal (55%) [25% + 30%]
The most substantial assignment in HIS 121 will be the on-going Millennium Journal. The purpose of the journal is to provide you the opportunity for frequent thoughtful, analytical and personal commentary upon course-related material. The Journal should consist of a series of short writings or entries of varying lengths that offer your analysis of and responses to the curriculum.
The regular starting place for the Journal should be the weekly Reading, Viewing, and Listening Assignments on the Syllabus Page. Although you certainly are not expected to write about all these resources, you should demonstrate sustained engagement with the core curriculum. It is expected that you work regularly on the Journal throughout the semester, writing in it on a weekly basis. The Journal is meant to be coordinated with our class discussions and your willingness and ability to stay current with your course responsibilities will have a major impact upon the overall quality of this course.
You will be handing in your Journal four times during the semester. I want to check at the three-week mark of the course that you have got a good start on your Journal that we share a mutual understanding as to the nature of the assignment. This will be an ungraded submission. You then will hand in your completed First Half Journal at the mid-way point of the course. This submission will be worth 25% of your course grade. We'll follow a similar procedure in the second half of the semester in which you will be expected to hand in your In-Progress Second Half Journal in early November for an ungraded check-in and then again at the end of the semester for a formal evaluation (30% of your course grade).
The emphasis in the Journal should be upon your own commentary rather than upon a mere repeating of historical information. What are you learning? What is most interesting? What analysis might you offer? How might you draw connections between different topics; between the history discussed and more contemporary times; or between the course resources and your own experiences, interests, and knowledge?
In order to give you a basic structure for the Journal, I have provided you with Recommended Journal Entries for both your First Half and Second Half Journal in the Assignments sections of the course web-site. You should return several times throughout the semester to these lists. But while these lists should provide the core structure of your Journal, you need not treat it as an everything-on-this-list-must-be-completed mandated. You are encouraged to be imaginative in your own investigation and analysis of World History and to devote extra time to those parts of the course that you find to be most interesting.
Some of you may find it useful to take notes on different course resources. If you do this, I encourage you to hand these in at the same time as your Journal. Rather than being folded into your Journal, however, such notes should be in a separate file labeled as your Note-Taking Appendix. These notes can be hand-written or digital, and can be in whatever format works best for your own learning. Some of you may want to engage in active note-taking in which your own voice and comments are interspersed with your notes. Some of you may want to draw out main points from the resources and summarize these in your own words, while others of you may choose to frequently highlight and lift key passages verbatim from the readings or documentaries to your notes.
Creative use of Artificial Intelligence is not inappropriate for some sections of your Note-Taking. However, it is fundamental that you consistently engage directly with the core curriculum yourself rather than encounter it indirectly and inauthentically. And the Journal entries themselves must be entirely in your own words.
d) Brightspace Contributions And Participation (14%)
We'll use Brightspace to facilitate the sharing of ideas and to try to provide you some sense of connection to your classmates. I will regularly provide you with questions or other cues under the "Brightspace Contributions" heading within the syllabus and ask you to post your responses to these on Brightspace. A number of these will be associated with feature documentaries or with small group exercises.
We also will be holding optional Kaltura discussions. Although there is no requirement that you attend these sessions, you are encouraged to do so and I hope that they will foster a sense of group learning. Participation here will have a positive impact on this portion of your course grade.
Although the Brightspace postings and your Journal writing are two separate assignments, I've deliberately designed them with considerable overlap. It is perfectly appropriate to include your Brightspace postings as entries within your Journal.
I will typically leave Brightspace Forums up for two weeks after we have moved on to new topics but then will close old Forums as we proceed. You do not need to contribute to every single Forum, but you should contribute to at least most of them, and in a timely manner. It is expected that you will put considerable time and thought into each posting and that each contribution will represent your own original ideas. Much better to have short commentaries that represent your own engagement with the course material than Wikipedia-style summaries. I consider AI-generated submissions here to be deeply disrespectful towards your classmates.
Time Commitment
Although the time it takes individual students to complete course responsibilities varies individually, I have set up the course with the expectation that you devote at least an average of 5 hours a week to HIS 121. You should do your best to work your way through the different weekly reading, viewing, and listening assignments, and should write regularly about several of these resources.
Late Policy
The curriculum for this course is organized on a week-by-week basis, with both individual and group learning being dependent upon students keeping pace with their studies. Late assignments are also often an extra burden from an instructor standpoint. Due dates should be noted and met.
The Journal is designed as an on-going exercise that is broken up into regular small writing exercises rather than being a project to be completed all at once. I need to see your In-Progress Journal by the listed due dates in both the first half and second half of the semester.
I do appreciate that there may be occasions where a very few extra days to polish an assignment in the midst of competing deadlines can be helpful, and thus I deliberately assume a good-faith effort on the part of students to meet the due dates and provide a small cushion of flexibility for all the graded assignments without any academic penalty. That does not mean the due dates are unimportant or that extensions are automatically granted. You should discuss possible extensions with me directly and I reserve the right to refuse to accept any late major assignment if you do not check in with me first. As a general rule, no assignment will be accepted more than two weeks late.
It is fundamentally important that you set up a meeting with me if you are falling behind with your studies. Please do not come to me at the end of the semester anticipating that you can submit a portfolio of work that will compensate for a semester of academic inactivity. This will not be possible. I appreciate that courses at NIC can be very expensive. However, I have set up the structure of my courses so that those students who approach their studies in good faith and with effort should attain success. Moreover, registration within a course carries with it not just the expectation that you will engage with it, but also a responsibility towards your fellow students. The decisions you make in regards to your approach to your studies will have a direct impact upon their educational experience.
Writing Support And Peer Tutoring
Writing Support is available to all students at no additional cost. Go to Writing Support for any or all of your assignments. Every visit is a step toward becoming a better writer. Use Writing Support as many times as you like, and at any point in your writing process. The writing support faculty can help you understand the assignment, develop your ideas, outlines, thesis, and revision -- and anything else in-between. Book your appointment through the library website, or visit the library desk to inquire about drop-ins. There's also WriteAway, an online tutoring platform that allows you to upload your papers and assignments for detailed written feedback. Both services may be found at https://library.nic.bc.ca/WritingSupport .
Student Technical Services
Our Student Technical Service team is available to help you with any technical issues that you may be experiencing as a student. Please go to https://library.nic.bc.ca/studenttech for more information.
Learn Anywhere
NIC's Learn Anywhere website is geared to provide a collection of information that will help you be successful learning digitally by covering area such as: What is digital learning? How to be a digital learner while using NIC-supported technologies during your studies? A list of key skills and knowledge all students should have for successful learning in today's world, knowing your rights and responsibilities and Technology Readiness Checklists. More details at: https://learnanywhere.opened.ca/
Community Supports (24/7)
There are several supports available to help any student in distress. If you are in distress, please reach out for support.
Vancouver Island Crisis Line: 24/7 1-888-494-3888 (
Available to students located on Vancouver Island only)Crisis Suicide helpline: 24/7 1-800-784-2433 (
Available to students located in Canada only)BC 211: Full list of community services available across BC. Dial 2-1-1 on BC cellphone (
Available to students located in BC only).Here2Talk: 24/7 counselling support for post-secondary students: 1-877-857-3397 (
Available to students located in Canada and offshore).Academic Integrity, Artificial Intelligence, And My Approach To This Course
In my opinion, a culture of academic dishonesty currently permeates significant sections of North Island College. Although there are complex reasons for this, its impact upon the educational experience of all those associated with the college is profound.
As a separate but related theme, Generative AI has appeared as a new revolutionary technology within the field of education. That the role this technology might play within formal education is not yet understood and is at present very ill-defined is hardly surprising. Nor is it surprising that many teachers and students may have very different assumptions in regards to what currently represents an appropriate use of AI.
How to balance ensuring student accountability with student learning has always been a challenge. But it is even more so now given current realities and developments. Not surprisingly, many instructors are radically altering their course structures with an emphasis upon accountability.
Let me state my own position as clearly as possible.
In regards to the use of Artificial Intelligence, I agree that this technology has great utility as a research and study tool and that it can be used in these ways in this course. I expect, though, that your Journal Entries, Seminar Notes, and Brightspace Postings be fully in your own words; to reflect your own ideas; and to be based upon your own direct engagement with the core curriculum, including the course readings and documentaries.
I cannot be an effective teacher if I am working against you or if you are working against me. I have no interest in engaging in such an arms race. This does not mean that I am naive nor that there will be no consequences if I determine that you are not proceeding throughout the course with full academic integrity.
However, rather than attempting to set up the course in such a way that student accountability becomes its virtual raison d'etre, I continue to believe it is best to adopt a structure based upon my own beliefs about what approach can best meet the needs of student learning assuming honest, good, faith, responsible, and engaged effort on the the part of each class member.
We are all connected in a web of learning and mutual influence. As a result of my own teaching choices and philosophy, it is easier to cheat in my classes than in some others. You should be under no illusions, however. The individual choices you make will have a significant impact upon others' experience of this course. And, collectively, it is within your power to sabotage the course or, at your best, to transform the course into something special.
Related Policy
Community Code of Academic, Personal and Professional Conduct (3-06)
Instructional Accommodation and Access Services for Students with Disabilities (3-17)
Student Complaint Resolution Policy (3-31)
Evaluation of Student Performance Policy (3-33)
Sexual Violence and Misconduct Policy (3-34)
Academic Standing and Progression (3-37)
Welcome To The Course