Fall 2009 Textbook for History 102: World History Since 1500 (sections 2 and 4) June 9, 2009
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The textbook we’ll be using is;
Voyages in World History: Volume 2 Since 1500 by Valerie Hansen and Kenneth R. Curtis.
If you want to order it online, make sure that you get the second volume: the ISBN for that is 978-0618077250
This is a new textbook for me, and looks quite readable and complete. I’ve used Valerie Hansen’s textbook on early China for years and have great respect for her scholarship and writing.
Finals Week Office Hours May 12, 2009
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I’ll be in my office in the morning from 10-12 on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and Friday afternoon until about 3. If you want to pick up graded tests and papers, that’s the time to do it. If you want to check your grade, you can come in, or send me an email.
If you want your graded final back, you can give me a self-addressed stamped envelope with your final, or come get it in the Fall — I don’t throw these things away for years.
Remember: your final essays are due in my office no later than 11 am on Friday the 15th.
Test 4 Results May 8, 2009
Posted by jdresner in administrative, grading, hist 102 (Spring 2009).add a comment
As I expected, about a third of the class exercised the “drop this grade” option and didn’t take the test, so the distributions are a little odd. The most popular terms were Einstein and the Holocaust, followed by a near tie between penicillin, Hitler, atomic bombs, WW2, the Great Depression, UN and the greenhouse effect. What a century! Humanism, nationalism, secularism and the EU were the bottom of the pack.
The high score in the class was 44 out of a possible 48 (again!), but I used the second-highest score, 40, to preserve a reasonable distribution. The median score was a B again, but only barely. Here’s how the grade scale worked out:
| Grade | minimum points | distribution |
| A+ | 40 | |
| A | 38 | 15% |
| A- | 36 | |
| B+ | 33 | |
| B | 29 | 50% |
| B- | 26 | |
| C+ | 23 | |
| C | 19 | 30% |
| C- | 16 | |
| D+ | 13 | |
| D | 9 | 5% |
| D- | 6 | |
| F | 0 |
The extra credits were a little helpful, but seemed more challenging than I thought they’d be (each person was responsible for the two quotes immediately to their left, in order!)
History of Print and Blogging in the Arab World May 7, 2009
Posted by jdresner in current events, doing history, hist 102 (Spring 2009), historiography.add a comment
I will be taking a moment in class Friday to reflect on this article by Brian Ulrich, describing the history of print and other media up to the present in the Ottoman Empire and its offshoots.
Extra Credits May 6, 2009
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To get credit for any extra credit events you attended, please hand in the 1-2 page summary/reaction by Friday, the last day of class.
On the test, I’m awarding half a point for trying, and half a point for each person you correctly connect with a quotation, up to a maximum of 2 points total.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights assignment: A thought May 4, 2009
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How can you argue that a document which is explicitly trying to change the world has “no bias”?
Extra Credit Opportunity: PSU Jazz April 27, 2009
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The final PSU Jazz Concert will be held on Tuesday April 28 at 7:30 PM in Memorial Auditorium (503 N. Pine). The two jazz ensembles will be playing a variety of music including works from the Count Basie Library and the Charles Mingus Big Band as well as works by Pat Methany and Maynard Ferguson alumni Steve Wiest. We will also feature faculty trombonist Robert Kehle on a beautiful ballad arranged for the US Air Force Airmen of Note called “Somewhere Out There.” We hope you will attend this free event.
Final Exam: Take-home essays due May 15th April 24, 2009
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The final exam can be found here. You have to do two essays, out of the seven listed (and there are actually more choices than that in some of the questions), and hand them in the morning of the 15th of May. I know that one section had a final scheduled for Thursday, but I want to give everyone as much time as possible. The downside is that late papers will not be accepted except in cases of medical emergency.
We’ll talk more about the exams on Monday, when you’ve had a chance to look them over.
Test 3 Results April 23, 2009
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The most popular people were Charles Darwin, Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill; other popular terms include fossil fuels and coolies. There weren’t any real outliers in terms of unpopularity, except maybe Scramble for Africa.
The high score in the class was 44 out of a possible 48, but I used the second-highest score, 42.5, to preserve a reasonable distribution. The median score was a B again, and there were no D-level grades. Here’s how the grade scale worked out:
| Grade | minimum points | distribution |
| A+ | 42.5 | |
| A | 40 | 12.5% |
| A- | 38.25 | |
| B+ | 35 | |
| B | 30.75 | 62.5% |
| B- | 27.5 | |
| C+ | 24.25 | |
| C | 19 | 25% |
| C- | 15.75 | |
| D+ | 12.5 | |
| D | 8.25 | |
| D- | 5 | |
| F | 0 |
About 1/6 of the class got both extra credit questions correct; about half got one.
Industrial Revolution History April 16, 2009
Posted by jdresner in doing history, historiography, not homework.add a comment
I know we’re done with it, technically, but if you want a quick review of the technology, there’s a nice book review in the Wall Street Journal of a history of industrial revolution innovation. It’s a good model, actually, of how a book review is done: informative, critical, and ends up giving you a great sense of whether the book would be worth your time.
