Course Syllabus for World Foundations 201
To begin, read through the course syllabus (a brief list of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes students are expected to achieve). Knowing this information can help you focus your attention on learning the things that are most important.
Once you finish reading the Learning Outcomes, open the activities folders, and begin reading through the information. You will find explanations for this online course as well as general instructions for online classes. In this course, the general rule is to complete the activities in order, as they build on each other; the exception to this would be the weekly class discussions, which can be completed at any time. After you have completed all of these activities, you will be prepared to begin the first lesson, The Renaissance and Reformation. The learning activities for that lesson will be made available to you by Friday.
Note: The estimated time to complete each week’s lesson is 9 hours
(3 hours per credit, per week)
Course Schedule
The course has been designed to follow a weekly schedule in which students complete one lesson per week. You are expected to complete all of the learning activities for each lesson in the order that they are listed for each lesson. The instructor may shift the order of completion for some assignments, and may even extend the deadlines, if circumstances warrant it for the whole class. However, for most assignments and quizzes, you are expected to have them completed by Friday at 10:00 PM each week. At that time, all access to the quizzes and assignments for that week's lesson will be removed. In addition, any assignments or quizzes submitted after that time will receive zero points.
On average, it takes approximately 9 hours to complete all the learning activities for each lesson. So, if you want to do well in this course, you should plan on spending about 9 hours on "homework" each week. Throughout the course, you will be invited to participate in several online class meetings. These meetings will allow you to get to know your peers and instructor better, as well as give you the chance to both teach and learn from one another. You will be asked to view a recording of the meeting if you are unable to attend the live session. You will be expected to complete work each week by the appointed deadline, even if Monday happens to be President’s Day or some other holiday.
Lesson Schedule
One week for each lesson. The due date for the lesson materials can be found by viewing the course schedule.
| Week | Lesson Title |
|---|---|
| Week 01 | Course Introduction |
| Week 02 | Lesson 01: Renaissance and Reformation |
| Week 03 | Lesson 02: Hamlet |
| Week 04 | Lesson 03: Baroque and Classical Worldviews, Art, and Music |
| Week 05 | Lesson 04: The Enlightenment and Candide |
| Week 06 | Lesson 05: The French Revolution and Candide |
| Week 07 | Lesson 06: Romantic Worldview, Industrial Revolution, and Neo-Imperialism |
| Week 08 | Lesson 07: World War I and World War II |
| Week 09 | Lesson 08: The Cold War and Neo-Imperialism |
| Week 10 | Lesson 09: Orwell's "1984" — The Will to Power |
| Week 11 | Lesson 10: Orwell's "1984" — The Will to Power Continued |
| Week 12 | Lesson 11: "Fahrenheit 451" — The Culture of Distraction |
| Week 13 | Lesson 12: The Foundations of Your World |
| Week 14 | Course Conclusion |
Required Texts
Compare prices for your textbooks through the University Store Price Comparison site. They will show you all of the options from the University Store plus several online options to help you find the best price.
- Hamlet by William Shakespeare: ISBN 9780451527295
- Candide by Voltaire: ISBN 0451528093
- 1984 by George Orwell: ISBN 9780451524935
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury: ISBN 0345342968
- World Foundations 201 Reader*
Custom Edition for BYU-Idaho: Available only from the BYU-Idaho Bookstore
Note on Texts
It is strongly recommended that you purchase the required texts through the BYU-Idaho bookstore, as a discounted bundle. If that is not possible, the ISBNs have been included so that the correct edition can be acquired. Documents in the 201 reader may be found online.
Grading
Grades will be based on a percentage of the total number of points students may earn from assignments and quizzes, participation in online class meetings, and completion of any other learning activities assigned by the instructor. Grades will be determined as follows:
A = 94-100%
A- = 90-93%
B+ = 87-89%
B = 84%-86%
B- = 80-83%
C+ = 77-79%
C = 74%-76%
C- = 70-73%
D+=67-69%
D = 64%-66%
D-=60-63%
F = 0-59%