Assignment:
The paper is to be ten (10) pages in length. It must be based on primary source research. Three (3) different primary sources must be incorporated into the paper. A primary source is typically a contemporaneous account of the events described. The research paper may focus on any topic covered in the course and survey period. It should try to explore, contrast and comprehensively analyze the selected issue as a proposition.(For example: Was the Augustan Principate a continuation of the oligarchic Republic or a radical departure from the Roman system and how?) Students should provide footnotes and a full bibliography. You may not cite Wikipedia or the textbook in bibliography. Students may use the research and annotation style of their choosing, as long as it is consistent throughout. Students will be graded on the originality of argumentation, thoroughness in research and presentation. Students should focus on primary sources whenever possible.
Western Civilization Research topics:
I. To what extent do the Hebrew Scriptures use monotheism as a unifying political ideology?
2. How did Achemenid Persia, under Cyrus and his successors, successfully administer a multi-cultural empire?
3. Was there a Trojan War? What do the historical sources say?
4. Why did Mycenaean culture collapse?
5. What led Archaic Greece to develop constitutional government?
6. To what extent were Solon's reforms effective?
7. Compare and Contrast the Constitutions of Athens and Sparta
8. Compare and Contrast the role of women in Sparta and in Athens
9. How was the Roman Republic structured? How did the elite exercise control?
10. To what extent did Christianity become a unifying political ideology?
I I. How did the Papacy manage its conflict with the Holy Roman Empire?
12. How did Machiavelli's humanism argue for a secular political philosophy?
13. What was the nature and purpose of Absolutism?