Readings & Assignments by Unit

Each unit pairs primary-source, historiographic, and textbook readings with a written or analytical assignment. Full source packets are distributed at the start of each unit; page-level assignments are posted to the class site.

Unit	Readings	Assignment
1 The World Before Progress: Stability-Seeking Societies	Excerpt: Robert Nisbet, History of the Idea of Progress, ch. 1 (historiographic — traces progress as a belief with a specific origin, not a historical given) Selections from a medieval guild charter (primary source) Excerpts from a medieval communal charter granted to a religious minority (primary source)	Source analysis: compare two charters (guild and minority community) and identify the stability mechanisms each encodes. In a short reflection, note what assumptions a “progress” narrative would have to overlook to call this era simply “backward.”
2 New Empires, Old Worlds (1400–1600)	Primary source: the 1492 Edict of Expulsion (excerpted) Excerpt: Petrarch, letters articulating the “Dark Ages” — the original decline-and-light narrative that later gets inverted into a story of progress Excerpt: Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists, preface (primary source — an early narrative of artistic “progress” from Cimabue to Michelangelo) Excerpts from Machiavelli, The Prince Excerpts from Bodin	Short essay: how did the Spanish state use religious policy to build a unified, stable realm? In a short reflection, trace the line from Petrarch's “Dark Ages” (a story of decline from a lost golden age) to Vasari's story of artistic “progress” (a story of ascent) — what does each narrative assume, and what does the course ask students to question in both?
3 Reformation, Absolutism, and Religious War (1600–1700)	Primary source: excerpts from the Peace of Westphalia (1648) Excerpts from Descartes Excerpts from Reuchlin Primary source: an Ottoman millet decree Eyewitness account excerpt describing the Khmelnytsky Uprising Historiographic excerpt: interpretations of absolutism as stability vs. tyranny	Document-based question: was absolutism a rational response to the instability of religious war? Support with at least three sources.
4 The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment (1700–1789)	Primary source: excerpt from a philosophe (e.g., Condorcet) on progress and reason Primary source: a Haskalah maskil's essay on education reform (excerpted) Historiographic excerpt: Peter Gay or comparable historian on the Enlightenment's origins Textbook: “Science, Reason, and the Enlightened State” survey chapter	Reading response: identify one Enlightenment idea and trace how a minority reform movement adapted it.
5 Revolution and Empire (1789–1815)	Primary source: Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) Primary source: National Assembly debate excerpt on minority citizenship Primary source: excerpt from the Congress of Vienna settlement Historiographic excerpt: debate over the meaning of “emancipation” as a bargain	Essay: was revolutionary-era emancipation a genuine expansion of rights, or a conditional bargain? Use at least two primary sources.
6 Industrialization, Nationalism, and Reform (1815–1880)	Primary source: factory inspector's report or worker testimony (industrial England) Primary source: excerpt from an Ottoman Tanzimat reform decree Historiographic excerpt: comparing top-down and bottom-up models of 19th-century reform Textbook: “Industrialization and Nationalism” survey chapter	Comparative chart and short response: Tanzimat reform vs. Italian/German unification as two paths to modern statehood.
7 Imperialism, Race, and the Crisis of Progress (1880–1914)	Primary source: newspaper coverage excerpt of the Dreyfus Affair Primary source: excerpt from a nationalist manifesto (Balkan, Zionist, or Arab) Historiographic excerpt: critique of “scientific racism” in the 19th century Textbook: “The Age of Empire” survey chapter	Source analysis: what does the Dreyfus Affair reveal about the strength and limits of liberal institutions circa 1900?
8 War and Revolution: The Unraveling of the Old Order (1914–1939)	Primary source: soldier's letter or diary excerpt from WWI Primary source: excerpt from the Treaty of Versailles or a Mandate document Historiographic excerpt: debate over the causes of interwar instability Textbook: “War, Revolution, and the New Map” survey chapter	Timeline project: chart the collapse of one interwar state's institutions and identify the turning points.
9 World War II and the Holocaust: A Crisis for the Ideology of Progress	Survivor or witness testimony excerpt (approved course text) Primary source: an official Nazi state document (e.g., a discriminatory decree) Historiographic excerpt: Hannah Arendt or comparable historian on bureaucracy and atrocity Textbook: “The Second World War” survey chapter	Analytical essay: did the machinery of the Holocaust discredit the ideology of progress, or did its architects simply claim to be advancing a progress narrative of their own? Defend a position.
10 Postwar Order: Cold War, Decolonization, and a New Middle East (1945–1970s)	Primary source: UN Partition Plan (1947) or Declaration of Independence excerpt Primary source: a decolonization-era independence declaration from another postwar state Historiographic excerpt: comparing models of postwar state formation Textbook: “The Postwar World” survey chapter	Comparative essay: place the founding of one 1945–70s state in the broader pattern of postwar decolonization.
11 The Contemporary World (1970s–Present)	Recent journal article or op-ed excerpt on a current regional conflict or diplomatic development Primary source: a contemporary human-rights charter or treaty excerpt Historiographic excerpt: a historian's reflection on whether “progress” remains a useful framework Textbook: “The Contemporary World” survey chapter	Capstone essay: revisit the course's central question — has the idea of progress held up across 600 years of this region's history? — drawing evidence from at least three units.