The Western Tradition
Parts I & II

Description:
The Western Tradition is a two-semester telecourse, built around the classroom lectures of Eugen Weber, internationally renowned author, historian, and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Professor Weber spins thousands of years into a seamless story, making the abstract more concrete and developing the ability of students to analyze and appreciate history. By weaving together history, art, literature, religion, geography, government and economics, The Western Tradition helps students recognize the pendulum swings of history, identify parallels in the modern world, and gain a sense of their own place in the evolution of human institutions.

Part I begins with the influential pre-Western civilizations and continues through the classic period to the High Middle Ages.

Part II commences with the end of the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance, and continues through industrial modernization to the present.

Goals and Objectives:

• To address the need for compelling and academically sound history course materials
• To bring the finest teaching talent to a wide audience
• To use images to show how historians draw conclusions from evidence, with film footage and over 2,700 images of paintings, sculpture, architecture, and artifacts, assembled by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art
• To demonstrate how history, literature, philosophy, ideals, and practices of the past have shaped Western society
• To integrate political, social, cultural, economic and religious events into a clear, coherent history of the region
• To help students understand and appreciate the unique events, people, and vocabulary of each major period

Part I

101) The Dawn of History
From the beginnings of life to the first agricultural settlement.

102) The Ancient Egyptians
Politics, religion, and agriculture intersect to create one of the first civilizations in the Western tradition.

103) Mesopotamia
Trade, religion, and technology are, in part, responsible for the great river civilizations of the Middle East.

104) From Bronze to Iron
War and trade extend the power of the great empires of the Middle East.

105) The Rise of Greek Civilization
Democracy and philosophy arise in a collection of Greek cities at the edge of the civilized world.

106) Greek Thought
Greek thinkers lay down the main paths of the Western intellectual tradition.

107) Alexander the Great
For a brief moment, his empire rules the world from Greece to India.

108) The Hellenistic Age
After the break-up of Alexander's empire, a series of Hellenistic kingdoms extends Greek culture throughout the Mediterranean world.

109) The Rise of Rome
A small city in central Italy builds an empire that will shape the whole of the Western tradition.

110) The Roman Empire
Building an empire, Rome begins to destroy its own greatness.

111) Early Christianity
In the midst of the greatest empire of its time, Christianity preaches its message of another kingdom, not of this world.

112) The Rise of the Church
After centuries of contempt and persecution, Christianity becomes the official religion of the most powerful empire of its time.

113) The Decline of Rome
While empires slash at Rome's borders, civil war and economic collapse destroy the empire from within.

114) The Fall of Rome
Exhausted by centuries of power, the Western empire collapses before its enemies.

115) The Byzantine Empire
From Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire carries on the traditions of Greece and Rome.

116) The Fall of Byzantium
Nearly one thousand years after the fall of Rome, Constantinople is conquered by the forces of Islam.

117) The Dark Ages
In the West, a series of barbarian kingdoms take possession of the fragments of the Roman Empire.

118) The Age of Charlemagne
For a brief moment, Charlemagne revives hope for a new empire in western Europe.

119) The Middle Ages
In the midst of invasion and civil disorder, a military aristocracy dominates the kingdoms of Europe.

120) The Feudal Order
Society divides itself into three parts: those who pray, those who fight, and those who work.

121) Common Life in the Middle Ages
Life may have remained nasty, brutish and short, but gradually it becomes less nasty and much less brutish.

122) Cities and Cathedrals
As Europe's cities come back to life, the great churches embody the material and spiritual ambitions of the age.

123) The Late Middle Ages
Dissent within the church and wars between the great powers exhaust European society.

124) The National Monarchies
As Europe recovers from the wars of the 15th century, some rulers make themselves more powerful than ever before.

125) The Renaissance and the Age of Discovery
In art, scholarship, and exploration, Europe is possessed by a new passion for knowledge.

126) The Renaissance and the New World
The discovery of the Americas presents new challenges to Europe's ideas and institutions.

Part II

127) The Reformation
A new kind of piety shatters the unity of the Catholic Church.

128) The Rise of the Middle Class
As the cities grow, the middle class gains power, including the power to worship God in its own manner.

129) The Wars of Religion
For a century and a half, the quarrels of Protestants and Catholics tear Europe apart.

130) The Rise of Trading Cities
In the midst of religious wars, a few cities learn that tolerance is good for society and good for business.

131) The Age of Absolutism
Exhausted by war and civil strife, many Europeans surrender liberty for the sake of peace and order.

132) Absolutism and the Social Contract
England develops an ideal that governments exist to protect the rights of the governed.

133) The Enlightened Despots
Many of Europe's rulers see the need for reform, although not at the expense of surrendering any of their powers.

134) The Enlightenment
Intellectuals come to believe that it is possible to change the world with theories.

135) The Enlightenment and Society
Scientists and social reformers believe that they are finally learning lessons that will bring happiness to peoples throughout the world.

136) The Modern Philosophers
Freedom of -thought and expression are the great engines that are supposed to bring virtue, happiness and enlightenment to the whole world.

137) The American Revolution
The British colonists fight first for their rights as Englishmen and then for universal freedoms.

138) The American Republic
The new republic demonstrates that a revolution can create a free, stable society.

139) The Death of the Old Regime
In France, the old order collapses under the attacks of revolutionists and the burden of its own weaknesses.

140) The French Revolution
Liberty, fraternity, equality - must they be won by total war and revolutionary terror?

141) The Industrial Revolution
Technology and mass production create a new kind of wealth and a new kind of servitude.

142) The Industrial World
Industry transforms Europe, from the heights of political power to the details of everyday life.

143) Revolution and the Romantics
Art, literature, and political theory all agree: people will never lead decent lives until they have freed themselves from the tyranny of other nations or ruling classes.

144) The Age of the Nation-States
Throughout Europe, nations struggle against foreign oppression or to expand their own power at the expense of others.

145) A New Public
Mass education and mass communications create a new political life and a new life and a new life of the mind.

146) Fin de Siècle
Everyday life is transformed as leisure becomes a mass industry in its own right.

147) The First World War and the Rise of Fascism
As the old empires crumble in the war, totalitarian states arise throughout Europe.

148) The Second World War
The war leaves Europe balanced between the first two superpowers: the Soviet Union and the United States.

149) The Cold War
The rivalry between the superpowers is played out across the globe, although the United States and the Soviet Union never face each other in direct conflict.

150) Europe and the Third World
Can the Third World squeeze 200 years of history into one generation?

151) The Technological Revolution
Many people still living can remember the invention of antibiotics, computers, and atomic weapons. Can we keep up with the promises and threats of technology?

152) Toward the Future
No longer at the center of the world stage, Europe has suffered or celebrated every variety of the human experience.

Produced by WGBH/Boston. 1989.

For more information: E-Mail: learning@unctv.org