Photo by Michael R. Maitzen, teleproductions supervisor for the School of Liberal Arts Communication Technology Laboratory, IUPUI, 2013.

The lord mayor and clergy London at the founding of King Henry VII's chantry and almshouses at Westminster (1504; National Archives, E 33: Exchequer: Treasury of the Receipt).

HIST-B 309, section 25533	Dr. Thomas A. Mason
HIST-H 509, section 24114	e-mail: masonta@iupui.edu
British History to 1688	cell phone: 317.985.6905
Fall semester 2019	Office: Cavanaugh Hall 313-H
12:00–1:15 PM, Mondays and Wednesdays	Office Hours: Mondays
Cavanaugh Hall 215	3:00–4:00 PM and by appointment

Welcome to HIST-B 309, section 22611, and HIST-H 509, section 25533, British History to 1688! The goal of the course is to instill historical knowledge concerning the development of Britain and its institutions from its ancient origins through the Revolution of 1688. In fulfillment of that goal, students will be able to:

distinguish between historical cause and effect
assess objectivity versus advocacy in source materials
write clearly
evaluate written, artistic, and architectural evidence
extract information from maps; and
assess research-based scholarship.

The course addresses the prehistoric society that produced Stonehenge; the Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norman invasions; the development of medieval social, economic, and religious structures; feudalism; and the interplay of monarchy and Parliament. The course emphasizes political and constitutional change with economic, social, cultural, religious, and intellectual history interwoven. The course introduces historical literature, source material, and criticism.

Unfortunately Dr. Erik Lindseth, who was scheduled to teach this course, suffered a stroke last week, and I have agreed to teach the course in his place. If you have already purchased the books for the course, please note that the assigned books have changed, but the Barnes & Noble @ IUPUI bookstore tells me that they will exchange books purchased at their store. The new books may not yet be in stock but soon will be. If you have any problems concerning the books, let me know and we’ll try to figure out a solution. I will be populating this Canvas site during the coming week.

I have been teaching courses on British History, Western Civilization, and American History, online and in person, at IUPUI for the past twelve years, and before that at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. I edited the Papers of James Madison at the University of Virginia and the Papers of Lew and Susan Wallace at the Indiana Historical Society.

You can access the course content on this Canvas site in the following ways:

The course syllabus is your primary guide to the content, requirements, and organization of the course.
The modules provide a guide to the learning objectives, learning outcomes, and reading assignments for each class meeting.
The review sheets provide a guide to the exams: Review Sheet 1 (for the mid-semester examination) and Review Sheet 2 (for the final examination).
Instruction sheets for the two book reviews / essays: Book Review Bede and Book Review Fortescue or analysis of a work of art, and the Research Paper.

To get started, click on the link on the left to the Syllabus, or click on: Syllabus.