Unit Syllabi

Department of History
Fieldston School
The Birth of Modern Europe

Andrew Meyers (Office Phone:718 329 7277; Emergency Phone: 718 548 5204)

Constant revolutionising of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation distinguish the [modern]epoch from all earlier ones. All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses, his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind.

- Karl Marx and Friederich Engels, The Communist Manifesto,1848

The course will trace the development of European culture from the Revolutions of 1848 to the start of World War I, focussing on three modern metropolises that emerge during this tumultuous period: London, Paris andVienna. As absolute monarchy gave way to liberal democracy, and artisan production yielded to industrialization, both the middle and lower classes placed new demands on the ruling class, leading to upheavals in politics (the Revolutions of 1848), economics (the birth of the corporation), and culture, (new artistic movements). We shall explore the result: the birth of “modernity.”

Major themes will include:

defining ‘modernity’
the role of art in cultural change
the creation of bourgeois institutions and cosmopolitan culture
gender: the invention of domesticity and the emergence of feminism
class conflict: the tension between laissez-faire capitalism and democracy
race: imperialism and definitions of 'the other'
the rise and fall of bourgeois liberalism

These themes are interwoven in the historical periods/units we shall study:

Unit I                     Introduction to the Modern City
Unit II                    The Liberal City, 1830-48
Unit III                 The Victorian City, 1850-1871
Unit IV                 The Fin-de-Siecle Metropolis, 1870-1900
Unit V                   The Promise of the Modern City, 1900-1914

Readings, Quizzes and Homeworks

Each week you will be expected to read from one or all of the following:
• a selection from Olsen, The City As aWork of Art
• a selection from Richard Sullivan, et al, A Short History of Western Civilization
• visual, written and/or musical primary sources in your reader or as handouts
                (including Charles Dickens' Hard Times)
• secondary sources in your reader or in one of the following:
                Schorske, Fin-De-Siecle Vienna
                Nochlin, The Politics of Vision

All students are expected to read the assigned works and to participate actively in class discussions.

The unit syllabus contains all reading assignments, along with daily questions, reading questions and identifications. You should write out, for your own use, brief responses to the questions and defintions for the ids. You will be asked to research these historical events and ideas on your own. Please choose a good survey text and/or encyclopedia. On occasion, the syllabus will ask you to write out these answers and ids to turn in. Please follow the homework guidelines for these assignments (see also homework grader). There will be periodic spot quizzes on the ids and readings.

The Web Walks Project and Grading

There is one, semester-long Web Walks project that contains several smaller projects due at the end of each unit. You will be graded on class participation (40%), the Web Walk project and unit projects (40%) and homeworks and quizzes (20%)

The semester project is a virtual walking tour of a city and topic in urban history. You will choose a time period from the unit list above and city (London, Paris or Vienna) as a means of exploring a topic of your choosing. (Please see the list of recommended topics.) The final product will be a "walking tour" that explores your own original thesis concerning your topic using visual and textual sources. As we are able to travel in neither time nor space to visit your chosen historical city, you will construct a web page using both historical and contemporary texts, both written and visual. We will have regular web tutorials as well as time in class for research.

Academic Honesty Policy

Academic honesty is essential for learning and for maintaining a sense of mutual trust and respect within the Fieldston community. Teachers must know that all of the work students present orally or in writing is their own. To present the work of others as one’s own is dishonest.

Copying from another student’s test, using hidden notes, giving or receiving information on tests, and receiving help on take-home tests without the specific permission of the teacher are clearly dishonest and constitute cheating. An equally serious violation of academic honesty is plagiarism. This involves taking words, ideas, images, text, or data created by others, wherever one might find them, and presenting them as one’s own, without giving proper credit to the source. It includes the Internet and the copying and pasting of words, images, and data from a web site into a report or essay. The methods for using and citing these sources will be discussed in classes.

Students are expected to take responsibility for their own academic work within the guidelines established by teachers. Students should assume that all work, including homework, is to be done individually unless the teacher states that collaboration on a particular assignment is permitted. Any assistance a student receives from another person, including a parent, peer, or tutor, should be limited to help in understanding concepts and methods. Any help beyond this must be acknowledged.

The work on any assignment should be one’s own and not that of another person. When in doubt, students should either cite the source or consult their teacher. An open exchange of ideas and knowledge can be achieved only in an atmosphere of mutual trust and understanding.

Back to Top

Questions, Comments Problems? Don't Hesitate to contact us: webmaster@kirschnet.com