History of Western Civilization I

This course begins with the evolution of the human species and its biological capacity to create “culture” and then continues into the Neolithic Revolution and the birth of some of the first civilizations in the Fertile Crescent. It also includes Bronze Age cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean. Topics include: Mesopotamian civilizations, Ancient Egypt, the Hebrews, Ancient Persia, the Minoans, the Mycenaean Greeks, Archaic and Classical Greece, Alexander the Great and Hellenistic Greece, the rise of Rome (republic and empire), the development and spread of Christianity, the Celts, the Germanic Invasions, Medieval Europe, the Renaissance and Reformation, and the Age of Exploration and Conquest.