Discussion Directions You will need to participate in one discussion this week. Select the button below to access the thread. When posting, keep the following in mind: Your task for this week’s discussion is to watch the videos and read the required resources. You must then respond to ONE of the questions. This is called your INITIAL POST. Select the button to post your Initial Post. Your Initial Post is due by the fourth day of the academic week at 11:59 pm ET. Your Initial Post is worth 30 points and should be 250 words in length, which is equal to about 1 page of double-spaced writing in Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman 12 point font in a Word document. You must then read your classmates’ Initial Posts. After you have read their Initial Posts, you must respond to TWO of your classmates by the last day of the academic week at 11:59 pm ET. These are called your PEER RESPONSES. Each Peer Response is worth 10 points and should be 100 words in length, which is equal to about 0.4 page of double-spaced writing in Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman 12 point font in a Word document. To recap, each weekly discussion is worth 50 points (30 for your initial post and 10 each for your peer responses). Please make sure to follow the rubric in the syllabus. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to say so. You have three ways to do this: 1) Post a question in this week’s discussion; 2) Post a question in the Ask the Professor module; or 3) Directly email your instructor. Describe the rule of the Germanic peoples over former Roman territories in Western Europe. How did these territories change and evolve? What factors led to the eventual adoption of Christianity in the Roman Empire? What factors contributed to the spread of Christianity across the empire? Which of Byzantine Emperor Justinian’s policies had the longest-lasting contributions to the development of Western Civilization? In what ways did the Byzantine state reorganize itself to face the challenges of seventh- and eighth-century invasions? How did geography play a role in early Islamic history and its expansion? In what ways did the Five Pillars of Islam contribute to the early expansion of the faith? What were the different roles that the Prophet Muhammad played in Medina? In what ways are these roles different from those of the founders of other religions studied thus far in class? What accounts for the splits in the Islamic community? Summarize the major differences between the Shi’a and Sunni sects of Islam. Discuss how women and eunuchs were described in the Byzantine Empire. How did women and eunuchs navigate an incredibly misogynistic political and social system and participate in the political life of the empire?
