INITIAL POST SATURDAY-TUESDAY AND REPLIES TUESDAY-FRIDAY.
Our course begins at the terror and trauma of war has finally subsided throughout Europe. On the Continent, 30 years of warfare (yes, thirty real years…a far cry longer than the wars we moan and whine about here such as the events in Afghanistan—hard events for sure, but not 30 years yet) finally came to an end, with a quite shocking conclusion….the people in Central Europe battered from the experience. On the island north of Europe, the 6 years of Civil War (their second in 100 years; the first the romantically titled “War of the Roses” but a bloody civil war nonetheless) had come to its own shocking conclusion with the King beheaded.
This course, then, deals with the world that emerged in that time. In 1650, the world isn’t quite “modern” yet, but the ideas and thoughts of our modern age will emerge from here. Why? What are those modern ideas? How does the Thirty Years War point ahead to those changes?
Check out this video from the Department Chair as it helps set the tone of the discussion (we will see it again later in another discussion as a reminder). Besides the laughter of the wonderful Monty Python gang, pay close attention to the points made about government.
Discuss the political writings of Thomas Hobbes
Links to an external site.
Links to an external site..
Links to an external site.
Links to an external site., John Locke,
Links to an external site. and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Links to an external site.Explain what these men thought was the correct style of political theory and government. Make sure you connect both men and their ideas to the two major political developments of the age: absolutism and constitutionalism. Which man’s thoughts, if either, do you see as most dominant today in the USA?
Let your discussion range across the issues of human liberty, humanism, impact to government and warfare. You do not have to feel like you must address everything in one post; in fact, please do NOT do that, but rather write a thoughtful contribution to our discussion. The textbook will help you too; use the index to find each man. Here are two more to see a comparison: Link One
Links to an external site. and Link Two
Links to an external site.
DO NOT feel like you must address everything in one post; in fact, please do NOT do that, but rather write a thoughtful contribution to our discussion. Ask questions of one another from whatever your peers post. We are having a conversation…join in.
Remember: at least two posts, one early in the week (before Tuesday), one later in the week before the deadline on Friday
Rubric for the Online Discussions.docx
Download Rubric for the Online Discussions.docx
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Engaged Others |
Failure to read majority (80%+) of classmates’ postings will result in the loss of at least 2 points. |
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Timeliness |
Failure to post in both parts of the grading week (Sat-Mon; Tue-Fri) or ONLY posting on one single day, will result in the loss of at least 2 points. |
This rubric will be used in assessing the quality of your participation. This assessment will be applied to each discussion topic in conjunction with the requirement of visiting the course website regularly. The grading is qualitatively derived in that you will receive one overall score based on the quality of your postings. I will look at ALL of your postings, grading your best two posts. You should strive to post at least twice, but more posts would be helpful as long as you are contributing to the conversation because I can look for the BEST two posts. Your final grade for each discussion will be combining the scores (1-5) of the best two posts, for a total, up to 20 points.