Western Civilization I: Ancient Near East to 1648 Exam Info
The Western Civilization I: Ancient Near East to 1648 exam covers material that is usually taught in the first semester of a two-semester course in Western civilization. Questions deal with the civilizations of Ancient Greece, Rome, and the Near East; the Middle Ages; the Renaissance and Reformation; and early modern Europe. You may be asked to choose the correct definition of a historical term, select the historical figure whose political viewpoint is described, identify the correct relationship between two historical factors, or detect the inaccurate pairing of an individual with a historical event. Groups of questions may require you to interpret, evaluate, or relate the contents of a passage, a map, or a picture to other information, or to analyze and utilize the data contained in a graph or table.
Knowledge and Skills Required
Ancient Near East8%
- Political evolution
- Religion, culture, and technical developments in and near the Fertile Crescent
Ancient Greece and Hellenistic Civilization15%
- Political evolution to Periclean Athens
- Periclean Athens through the Peloponnesian Wars
- Culture, religion, and thought of Ancient Greece
- The Hellenistic political structure
- The culture, religion, and thought of Hellenistic Greece
Ancient Rome15%
- Political evolution of the Republic and of the Empire (economic and geographical context)
- Roman thought and culture
- Early Christianity
- The Germanic invasions
- The late empire
Medieval History23%
- Byzantium and Islam
- Early medieval politics and culture through Charlemagne
- Feudal and manorial institutions
- The medieval Church
- Medieval thought and culture
- Rise of the towns and changing economic forms
- Feudal monarchies
- The late medieval church
Renaissance and Reformation13%
- The Renaissance in Italy
- The Renaissance outside Italy
- The New Monarchies
- Protestantism and Catholicism reformed and reorganized
Early Modern Europe, 1560-164810%
- The opening of the Atlantic
- The Commercial Revolution
- Dynastic and religious conflicts
- Thought and culture
