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Choose a Topic
This milestone has two parts: 1. Choose a prompt and a topic, and 2. Find three scholarly sources about it. Keep reading for the details.
Part 1. Your assignment for this part of the milestone will only require a couple of sentences, but there will be a lot of brainwork behind those sentences.
Your first decision will be which of the three essay prompts you’ll follow. Remember that you can find these prompts in the “Final Essay” folder near the top of our course.
Your second decision involves selecting a topic to examine through the lens of those essay prompts. As you think about your topic, you can choose anything from our class, which covers chapters 1-12 in our textbook. You’re welcome to look ahead.
Once you’ve chosen the general area for your topic, narrow down the scope. If you compare all of Buddhism with all of Christianity, your paper will only be able to skim the surface and will not produce satisfying work. If you look at one specific aspect of doctrine or one specific leader, you will have a tight enough focus that you can dig deep.
Finally, when you have your tightly focused topic, revisit the three prompts and make sure that you’ve chosen the prompt that will best serve your topic.
After all that contemplation, write us a couple of sentences explaining your topic and how it will work with your prompt. This is our first chance to touch base about your final, so it’s an important moment.
Part 2. Find 3 scholarly sources on your topic.
Your final paper will require 5 or more scholarly sources, but for this milestone, I just want to get you started on that research, so I’m only looking for 3 scholarly sources. Your job for this part of the milestone is to give us the full citations for 3 scholarly sources on your topic.
Week 7
Your list of things to do this week:
Take a virtual field trip if time allows. This is an optional field trip.
Read Chapter 9 in our textbook.
Review the PowerPoint from the textbook publisher if that helps you as you read.
Watch three videos that highlight topics in your readings.
Take the self-assessment for Chapter 9.
Complete Milestone 1 of your final paper.
My friend, the Sufi, is the friend of the present moment. To say tomorrow is not our way.
~Rumi
Readings
Please read the following chapter(s) in your course textbook and view any other listed resources:
Chapter 9, Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources
These optional PowerPoint slides are a handy way to see the main points as you read.
Videos
How Islam Began – In Ten Minutes, YouTube (8 minutes)
Youtube Link1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDxKxnVZtgo
Introduction to Sufism | Belief | Oprah Winfrey Network, YouTube (0:15 minutes)
Youtube Link 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD4vvlPMQrw
Web Link: http://digital.films.com.ezproxy.bellevue.edu/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=5168
This program examines the historical relations between Islam and Christianity and the long history of conflict between them. Iran’s ambassador to the Vatican, Mohammad Masjed Jame’i, explains the basic differences and similarities between Islam and Christianity: the roles of Christ and Mohammad, the Bible and the Koran, and the main differences of approach. The program also examines the reasons for the continuing conflict between Islam and the West and whether an understanding can be reached between them.
Virtual Field Trip (Optional)
Do you have time for a virtual field trip? The National Museum of Korea has many treasures on display from a proud nation. This field trip is optional, so feel free to browse as time allows. You might find something to use in your weekly discussions.
“Dear visitors, as Director General, I would like to welcome you to the National Museum of Korea (NMK), where history and culture are alive. NMK is designed to help visitors better appreciate Korean history and culture, as well as world culture. By fostering artistic and cultural sensitivity, it is a place that helps us fully appreciate and enjoy culture.”
Web Link: https://www.museum.go.kr/site/eng/home
Chapter Overview
Chapter 9 Overview
Are you curious about the reasons behind the vast expansion of Islamic rule in the seventh and eighth centuries C.E.? Begin with a physical map of the Islamic world. Ponder the nature of early armies, including Arab reliance on sudden raids moving from desert into settled lands, the need for horses, and the potential of camels in this process. What can the map tell them about the conquests? Did the Arab conquerors reach a “natural” limit to expansion because they moved into geographical zones that no longer favored their fighting style? What political reasons, drawing on earlier chapters, might also have limited the expansion, for example, the defensibility of Constantinople and political consolidation under the early Carolingians in Francia?
You might also want to consider the massive Byzantine-Persian war of the early decades of the seventh century, including Heraclius’s final victory and the devastating impact of the war on both states. You might also want to consider the nature of rule in both the Byzantine and Persian empires and how both systems oppressed large sectors of the population, the unpopularity of Vandal rule in North Africa, the role of the caliphs in directing the course of the conquest, the Arab culture of raiding, and the religious propulsion behind the conquests. Don’t forget to ponder Arab moderation toward conquered peoples.
Mysticism played an especially great role in the development of the medieval Islamic world, but of course the individual’s quest for direct, personal contact with the divine is common to most religions. From roughly 1100 to around 1450, mysticism flourished, especially in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. There are common threads of the mystic tradition. It is helpful to recognize how common mysticism is in world history, rather than seeing Islam as novel in this regard. As you compare mystic traditions, you might consider what makes some periods and regions more mysticism-oriented than others. For further exploration, you might want to examine:
Gertrude of Helfta: The Herald of Divine Love
Julian of Norwich: Showings
Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment
The Early Kabbalah
Early Islamic Mysticism
Ibn al-‘Arabi: The Bezels of Wisdom
Who became known as mystics
Whether mystics were loners or part of communities
Biographical details of the mystics you have chosen to highlight
Tensions between mystics and the mainstream religious establishment
Regions where mystics were especially prevalent and possible reasons why
Gender issues and mysticism
You may enjoy delving in greater detail into Islamic culture during the golden age of Islam before the Mongol conquests as well as reviewing Chinese and European material. Take some time to read the snapshot: “Key Achievements in Islamic Science and Scholarship.” Compare Islamic scholarly achievements to those of the Tang and Song dynasties in China. Compare Islamic scholarly achievements to those of Byzantium and Western Europe during the High Middle Ages.
A key aspect is the learning environment in the Islamic world of the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. Examine literacy levels, the existence of lower schools as well as institutes of higher learning, and how class issues, gender, and region affected the ability to get a good education. From there, you can take a variety of approaches. Some possible areas for your focus: Key inventions and discoveries, talking about the context in which the discovery was made and the use to which it was put, for example, why did al-Khwarizmi popularize the use of Arabic numerals and write a book on algebra? Comparisons with achievements in Europe and Asia. Demands imposed by Islamic society in trade, in supporting a large population in the cities, in interpreting Islamic law, and how specific needs led to specific solutions from the community of scholars. Similar difficulties and solutions in Europe and Asia. Major figures cited in the Snapshot, discussing the life circumstances that led to their achievements.
Your main assignment this week is milestone 1 of your final paper. I know that seems simple, but I want to give you plenty of space for it so that you have time to give it the thought and attention it deserves.
This milestone has two parts: 1. Choose a prompt and a topic, and 2. Find three scholarly sources about it. Keep reading for the details.
Choose a topic.
Your assignment for this part of the milestone will only require a couple of sentences, but there will be a lot of brainwork behind those sentences.
Your first decision will be which of the three essay prompts you’ll follow. Remember that you can find these prompts in the “Final Essay” folder near the top of our course.
Your second decision involves selecting a topic to examine through the lens of those essay prompts. As you think about your topic, you can choose anything from our class, which covers chapters 13-22 in our textbook. You’re welcome to look ahead.
Once you’ve chosen the general area for your topic, narrow down the scope. If you compare all of Buddhism with all of Christianity, your paper will only be able to skim the surface and will not produce satisfying work. If you look at one specific aspect of doctrine or one specific leader, you will have a tight enough focus that you can dig deep.
Finally, when you have your tightly focused topic, revisit the three prompts and make sure that you’ve chosen the prompt that will best serve your topic.
After all that contemplation, write us a couple of sentences explaining your topic and how it will work with your prompt. This is our first chance to touch base about your final, so it’s an important moment.
Find 3 scholarly sources on your topic.
Your final paper will require 5 or more scholarly sources, but for this milestone, I just want to get you started on that research, so I’m only looking for 3 scholarly sources. Your job for this part of the milestone is to give us the full citations for 3 scholarly sources on your topic.
Remember what you learned in Week 5 about scholarly sources, particularly that the most promising ones are often those you’ll find through our library that come from peer-reviewed journals or academic publishers, and that our 24/7 online reference librarian chat is a fabulous tool. You may also want to explore the LibGuide the library has created for our course—it has lots of books and articles that relate to our materials, all gathered into one place for you already. I’m excited to see you begin this journey!
Remember, your job with this milestone is twofold: you will choose a topic for your final paper, and you will give us the citations for at least three scholarly sources on your topic.
Web Link: https://libguides.bellevue.edu/World_History_I
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