Saint-Louis University - Bruxelles
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HIST1140A - The History of Western Societies and Cultures



Credits : 3

Lecturer :
Mode of delivery :
Face-to-face , first term, 30 hours of theory.

Timetable :
First term
Monday from 14:00 to 16:00 at 43 Botanique 1

Language of instruction :
French

Learning outcomes :
The course aims to provide students with basic knowledge about the Western history. They should master the basic historical concepts that will help them throughout their university studies.

Prerequisites :
None

Co-requisites :
None

Course contents :
Over recent years, in the wake of globalisation, a number of social scientists (see Selective Bibliography) have sought to understand and put the foundations of western culture into context. Yet, while these authors generally agree in saying that the “West” has played a fundamental role in the history of humanity, there are significant differences in their interpretations.
Consequently, to come to an independent opinion, it is necessary to plunge back into history. But retracing the history of western civilization does not mean retracing every event, every date, but analysing history from a very long-term certain perspective. Such a view of history has both advantages and drawbacks. On the one hand, it means reasoning and explaining in unfamiliar terms, as well as deploying long-run historical explanation to understand our own time; on the other hand, it is important to avoid the pitfalls of simplistic generalisations, of a deterministic philosophy of history, or of a history that is more mythical than recognised or proven. It is therefore essential to systematically revisit real cases, statistics, maps, precise chronologies, in short, to verify facts.


The course has two main parts, the goal being to identify the foundational and structuring ‘ingredients' of western societies and cultures.

Part 1 deals with definitions, of “civilisation”, of “culture” and of “society” not only in terms of vocabulary (Section I), but also by drawing on insights from the human sciences (Section II) including history (Section III).

Part 2 deals with the geography of European societies and cultures by examining the questions of the Spaces (Section  I) and the Freedoms (Section II) of Christianity and rationalism (Section III). Finally, since the world today is arguably “for better or for worse, a product of the West, exclusively the latter's invention, its own registered trademark”, a final section places the last two centuries in historical context by revisiting the idea of progress and the concerns that progress itself appears to generate.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
This is a lecture. Students have a framework syllabus. It includes a detailed plan as well as technical terms, proper nouns discussed in the course.

Assessment methods and criteria :
Assessment is by written examination. Questions address cross-cutting issues with the goal of evaluating students' knowledge and understanding.

Recommended or required reading :
The syllabus includes a selected reading list.

Other information :
The syllabus can be obtained from the university's reprographics unit, or downloaded from the site eSaintLouis. The documents listed in the syllabus are also available from the eSaintLouis platform.