Assignment
Imagine that you could create a civilization from the ground up. What would it be called and why? What would be the ideals of the society be (i.e., What kind of society your civilization wishes to promote? What does goals does it promote? What does it wish to achieve)? What would it be like? What would it include?
Your project must address all of the following aspects of civilization (These were discussed at the beginning of the course):
Note: You should dedicate at least one full page to each of these aspects. (20 points each)
Label each aspect clearly with a heading and present it in a separate section!
You should explain your reasons for each of the different aspects of your civilization (i.e.: Why did you choose to have each of these for your civilization?).
Remember that a civilization ideally represents a coherent system; therefore, each aspect should work together with the others. Please discuss the aspects of your civilization in this order:
1 Urban Focus
You must address each of these questions:
Will your civilization have cities? If so, how many cities will there be? How large will the population be? What kind of fortifications will it have (if any)? How will they be planned or arranged? Will the streets be laid out in a pattern? Will there be specific sections of the cities for specific functions? If there are no cities, what kind of population centers will there be and why?
- Social Structure
You must address each of these questions:
Will your civilization have a class system? How will it be ordered? How many classes will there be? How will they be determined? Would there be different roles for women and men or not? What are the reasons for this? If you do not have a class system, what kind of social institutions would there be?
- Political and Military Structures
You must address each of these questions:
What would be the theory behind the government (i.e.: creating stability, building an empire, preventing one person from having all power, making the lives of the people better, etc.)? What kind of government would it have (think of the different kinds of governments we have examined)? What branches would the government include and what would be their functions? What kind of legal system would it have?
How will your civilization defend itself? Will it have a professional army (full-time, standing)? If not, how will soldiers be recruited when it is necessary to do so?
- Material Complexity
You must address each of these questions:
How would agriculture activity be undertaken? What kind of professions would civilization have? What kind of outside trading of goods with other societies would there be? Would they use the currency for financial transactions or would they barter? If a currency is used, what would it consist of? What kind of luxury goods would there be available to those who could afford them?
- Writing
You must address each of these questions:
What kind of writing does your civilization have? Is it based on an alphabet, syllables, pictographs or ideographs? What materials are used to preserve texts? What kinds of texts would be written? If your civilization does not have writing, why not? Without writing how is information preserved?
- Religious Structure
You must address each of these questions:
What kind religion does your civilization have? Is it polytheistic, henotheistic or monotheistic? Do you have a professional priesthood? What functions do they perform? If you do not have a professional priesthood, who performs religious ceremonies and how are they chosen? Are there sacred texts associated with the religion? If so, what kinds are there?
- Artistic and Intellectual Activity
You must address each of these questions:
What kinds of visual, performing, literary and architectural arts would be pursued in your civilization? What subjects would they have? What kinds of scientific and technological practices would it have?
Sample Solution