At the time of this writing I have only got to read Allardyce, Gilbert, “The Rise and Fall of the Western Civilization Course.” It seems very reminiscent of Peter Novick’s That Noble Dream where the whole history profession is called into question. Allardyce does a good job of showing the history of the Western Civ class and the state of history teaching on the collegiate level that it represents. It was all new to me, so I kind of just soaked it up.
I did come away with a couple of questions, though. What is George Mason’s position? They have a Western Civ course, do they not? And it’s manditory for all undergraduates, right? How is it taught, and received by the undergrads? Mason was founded in the 70’s, right? So how did the recent past affect how Mason chose to do a generals course?
Anyhow, I’m hoping to find the rest of the readings before class, so I shant be too out of the loop.