World History
Overview:
World History is survey course structured around the
investigation of five themes woven into 19 key concepts covering six distinct
chronological periods. Furthermore it
will investigate the history of World Regions – The Americas, Europe, Africa,
Asia, and Oceania – each individually and how they interconnect with each other
and the world as a whole. The course
emphasis is on balancing global coverage, with no more than 20% devoted to
European History.
This course includes texts, a wide variety of primary
sources, and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. These resources are designed to develop the
skills required to analyze point of view and to interpret evidence to use in
creating plausible historical arguments.
These tools will also be used to assess issues of change and continuity
over time, identifying global processes, comparing within and among societies,
and understanding diverse interpretations.
The difference between the AP class and the regular World
History class is that the regular class will not be required to do additional
readings or essays. Also they will have
less homework for each unit and the unit tests will be multiple choice and
short answer with no essay questions.
Here is the break down of grades:
Class Assignments – 20%
Projects – 20%
Tests – 20%
Quizzes – 10%
Blogs – 10%
Essays – 20%
Scale:
100- 93 = A
92.49- 90 = A-
89.49- 87 = B+
86.49-83.00 = B
82.49- 80.00 = B-
79.49-77.00 = C+
76.49- 73 = C
72.49-70.00 = C-
69.49-67.00 = D+
66.49- 63.00 = D
62.49- 60 = D-
Below 60 = F
Late Work: Mark down
10% per day. You are expected to turn in
work on the deadlines due.
Students should
expect homework 3-4 nights a week.
World History THEMES
and CONCEPTS:
The five AP World History Themes that connect the key
concepts throughout the course and serve as the foundation for student reading,
writing, and presentation requirements are as follows:
THEME 1: Interaction Between Humans and the Environment:
Demography and disease, Migration, Patterns of settlement, Technology
THEME 2: Development and Interaction of Cultures: Religions,
Belief systems, philosophies and ideologies, Science and technology, The arts
and architecture.
THEME 3: State-building, Expansion, and Conflict: Political
structures and forms of governance, Empires, Nations and nationalism, Revolts
and revolutions, Regional, trans-regional, and global structures and
organizations.
THEME 4: Creation, Expansion, and interaction of Economic
Systems: Agricultural and pastoral production, Trade and commerce, Labor
systems, Industrialization, Capitalism and Socialism
THEME 5: Development and Transformation of Social
Structures: Gender roles and relations, Family and kinship, Racial and ethnic
constructions, Social and economic classes
TEXTBOOK:
Strayer, Robert W. Ways
of the World: A Global History.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009.
Secondary Sources:
The Human Web: A
Bird’s-Eye View of World History by J.R. McNeill and William McNeill (2003)
The World that Trade
Created by Kenneth Pomeranz, M.E. Sharpe (2000).
Guns, Germs, and Steel
by Jared Diamond (1997).
Primary Sources:
Textual: World History, A Collection of Primary
Sources by Dr. Richard Cruz, Dr. Chris Guthrie, and Dr. Janet Schmelzer
Visual: Most of
the images for analysis will originate from the textbook and/or internet. Samples will include art, photos, political
cartoons, as well other sources.
Quantitative: From
textbook and the internet.
Writing Assignments:
This course will include thesis development workshops and
writing assignments for every unit. The
writing assignments will include formatting and refining the following types of
essays:
Document Based Question (DBQ): Students analyze evidence
from a variety of sources in order to develop a coherent written argument that
has a thesis supported by relevant historical evidence. Students will apply multiple historical
thinking stills as they examine a particular historical problem or questions.
Change and Continuity Over Time (CCOT): Students identify
and analyze patterns of continuity and change over time and across geographic
regions. They will also connect these
historical developments to specific circumstances of time and place, and to
broader regional, national, or global processes.
Comparative Essay: Students compare historical developments
across or within societies in various chronological and/or geographical
contexts. Students will also synthesize
information by connection insights from one historical context to another, including
the present.
Unit I: Technological
and Environmental Transformations
Periodization: to 600
B.C.E
Reading: Ways of the World: A Global History chapters
1-3. The
Human Web: A Bird’s-Eye View of World History chapters 1-2. Guns,
Germs and Steel chapter 6.
Key Concepts:
1.1: Big Geography
and the Peopling of the Earth
Archeological
evidence indicated that during the Paleolithic era, hunting-foraging bands of
humans gradually migrated from their origin in East Africa to Eurasia,
Australia, and the Americas adapting their technology and cultures to new
climate regions.
1.2: The Neolithic
Revolution and Early Agricultural Societies
1.
Neolithic
Revolution leads to new and more complex economic and social systems
2.
Agricultural
and pastoralism begins to transform human society
1.3: The Development
and Interactions of Early Agricultural, Pastoral, and Urban Societies
1.
Core and
foundational civilizations developed in a variety of geographical and
environmental settings where agriculture flourished.
2.
The first
states emerged within core civilizations
3.
Culture
played a significant role in unifying states through laws, language,
literature, religion, myths, and monumental art.
Unit I Assignments:
1)
Practice outlining and synthesizing textbook
reading (directed by teacher).
2)
Introduction to comparative essay. Thesis workshop. Comparative essay regarding foraging and
early agricultural societies or analyzing the similarities and differences in
culture between Mesopotamia and Egypt.
3)
Timeline – students will create a timeline for
the period connecting events by relationships between the causes and
consequences of the events.
4)
Reflective Blog – the students will write a
reflective commentary discussing how the history of the era or a region of the
era fits into the larger story of world history.
5)
Primary Source Analysis – Using soapstone – Epic
of Gilgamesh, Code of Hammurabi, creation stories in Rig Veda, Popul Vuh, and
the Bible. Visuals from Easter Island,
cave paintings, pyramids, hieroglyphs, iron weapons and chariots.
6)
Students will participate in a debate discussing
whether or not Egyptian Civilization Originated in Africa.
UNIT ONE TEST – 20 multiple-choice questions, in-class
compare/contrast essay.
UNIT TWO:
Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies
Periodization: 600
B.C.E. to 600 C.E.
Length of Class Time:
4 weeks
Reading: Ways of the World chapters 4-7. The
Human Web: A Bird’s-Eye View of World History pages 60-108. “The Other Third of the Globe” (essay on the
development of Oceania) by Ben Finney.
KEY CONCEPTS
2.1
The
Development and Codification of Religious and Cultural Traditions
1.
Codification
and further developments of existing religious traditions provided a bond among
the people and ethical code to live by.
2.
New
belief systems and cultural traditions emerged and spread often asserting
universal truths.
3.
Belief
systems affected gender roles. Buddhism
and Christianity encouraged monastic life and Confucianism emphasized filial
piety.
4.
Other
religious and cultural traditions continued parallel to the codified, written
belief systems in core civilizations.
5.
Artistic
expressions, including literature and drama, architecture and sculpture, show
distinctive cultural developments.
2.2.
The Development of States and Empires
1.
The
number and size of key states and empires grew dramatically by
imposing political unity on areas
where previously there had been competing states.
2.
Empires
and states developed new techniques of imperial administration based, in part,
on the success of earlier political forms.
3.
Unique
social and economic dimensions developed in imperial societies in Afro-Eurasia
and the Americas.
4.
The
Roman, Han, Persian, Mauryan, and Gupta empires political, cultural, and
administrative difficulties that they could not manage, which eventually led to
their decline, collapse, and transformation into successor empires or states.
2.3
Emergence of Transregional Networks of
Communication and Exchange
1.
Land
and water routes became the basis for transregional trade, communication, and
exchange networks in the Eastern Hemisphere.
2.
New
technologies facilitated long-distance communications and exchange.
3.
Alongside
the trade in goods, the exchange of people, technology, religious and cultural
beliefs, food crops, domesticated animals, and disease pathogens developed
across far-flung networks of communication and exchange.
Topics for discussion: World Religions (Judaism,
Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Daoism, Confucianism and Animism in Australasia,
Ancestor in East Asia); Classical Civilizations (Persia, Qin and Han, Maurya
and Gupta Empires, Phoenicia, Greece, Rome, Teotihuacan, Maya, and Moche);
Trade Networks (Silk Road, the Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and Trans-Saharan).
Assignments:
1)
Writing – students will continue to work on
comparative essay. Possible prompts
include: compare the basic features of two classical civilizations; or compare
two the major religions or philosophic systems (Hinduism, Buddhism,
Confucianism, Daoism, Judaism, Christianity, or Greco-Roman philosophy);
compare the reasons for and the outcome of the fall of two classical
civilizations (Rome, Han China, and the Gupta).
Students will also be introduced to the CCOT essay with a thesis
development workshop.
2)
Timeline – students will create a timeline for
the period connecting events by relationships between the causes and
consequences of the events.
3)
Reflective Blog – students will write a
reflective commentary considering the trans-regional networks of communication
and exchange and the consequences of long-distance trade during this era and
its connection to the larger story of world history.
4)
Primary Source Analysis: Using soapstone
students will investigate the following primary sources: Journeys of Faxian,
Leviticus, Bhagavad Gita, Aristotle’s Politics, plus visuals of coins from
Rome, Han, Gupata and Yap. Visuals of
architecture in Mediterranean, Middle East, South Asian, East Asia, and
Mesoamerica; and ancient maps.
5)
Debate (Point/Counterpoint) – Did Christianity
liberate women? Or did the benefits of the First Emperor of China’s rule
outweigh the human cost?
6)
Create of notecards of key terms to be used for
review.
Unit Two Test: 25 multiple-choice question, in-class essay
CCOT.
UNIT THREE: Regional
and Transregional Interactions
Periodization: 600
C.E. to 1450 C.E.
Length of Class Time:
5 weeks
Readings: Ways of the World chapters 8-13. The
Human Web: A Bird’s-Eye View of World History pages 108-153.
Topics for discussion: Byzantine Empire, the rise of Islam,
Crusades; Sui, Tang, Song, and Ming empires; The Turkish Empires; Kingdoms in
Africa, the expansion of trade and rise of trading cities in East Africa;
Polynesian Migration; Empires in the Americas; The Mongols; The Caliphates; the
black plague; new forms of labor organization.
Assignments:
1)
Writing – students will continue to develop the
CCOT essay – comparing historical developments and assess the effects and
changes over time. Prompts could include
questions from previous released AP exams; Compare Japanese and European
feudalism; Compare the effects of Islam and Christianity on social on social
systems and gender roles. Students will
also be introduced to the DBQ and practice using the DBQ on the spread of
Buddhism to China.
2)
Timeline – students will create a timeline for
the period connecting events by relationships between the causes and
consequences of the events.
3)
Reflective Blog – students will write a
reflective blog on the spread of disease along trade routes and military
expansion.
4)
Primary Source Analysis – students will analysis
using soapstone the following primary sources: excerpts for the books of Marco
Polo, Ibn Battuta and the Secret History of the Mongols; excerpts from the
Koran; Magna Carta; The Tale of Genji (excerpts); oral story from Micronesia;
stick maps from the Marshall Islands (with discussion of canoe travel in
Micronesia); photos of Nan Madol; Byzantine art; and others.
5)
Point/Counterpoint (debate): Were the Crusades
an early example of western imperialism? Does the modern University have its
roots in the Islamic World?
6)
Notecards – key terms for review
Unit Test – 30 multiple-choice question. DBQ in-class essay.
UNIT FOUR: GLOBAL
INTERACTIONS
PERIODIZATION: 1450
to 1750
Class Time: 5 Weeks
Reading: Ways
of the World chapters 14-16; The
Human Web chapter 6.
Key Concepts
4.1
Globalizing
Networks of Communication and Exchange
1.
In
the context of the new global circulation of goods, there was an
intensification of all existing regional trade networks that brought prosperity
and economic disruption to the merchants and governments in the trading regions
of the Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, Sahara, and overland Eurasia.
2.
European
technological developments in cartography and navigation built on previous
knowledge developed in the classical, Islamic, and Asian worlds, and included
the production of new tools, innovation in ship designs, and an improved
understanding of global wind and currents patterns – all of which made
transoceanic travel and trade possible.
3.
New
transoceanic maritime reconnaissance occurred in this period.
4.
Technological
developments enabling trans-oceanic trade
5.
Environmental
exchange and demographic trends: Columbian Exchange
6.
Spread
and reform of religion
7.
Global
and regional networks and development of new forms of art and expression
4.2
New
Forms of Social Organization and Modes of Production
1.
Labor
systems and their transformation
2.
As
new social and political elites change, they also restructured new ethnic,
racial, and gender hierarchies.
4.3
State
Consolidation and Imperial Expansion
1.
Rulers
used a variety of methods to legitimize and consolidate their power
2.
Imperial
expansion relied on the increased use of gunpowder, cannons, and armed trade to
establish large empires in both hemispheres.
3.
Competition
over trade routes, state rivalries, and local resistance all provided
significant challenges to state consolidation and expansion.
Topics for discussion: Ming and Qing Rule in China; Japanese
Shogunates; The Trading Networks of the Indian Ocean; Islamic Empires (Ottoman,
Safavid, and Mughal); the Columbian Exchange and Atlantic Slave Trade.
Assignments:
1)
Writing – students will continue to develop essay
writing. Possible prompts include
questions from previous released AP exams: Compare coercive labor systems in
the Americas; economic and social effects of the Columbian Exchange; DBQ on the
Global flow of sliver.
2)
Timeline – students will create a timeline for
the period connecting events by relationships between the causes and
consequences of the events.
3)
Reflective Blog – students will write a
reflective commentary considering the impact of the Columbian Exchange during
this era and its connection to the larger story of world history.
4)
Primary Sources – students will analysis using
soapstone the following primary sources: Journals of Christopher Columbus;
Letters from King Kong; Martin Luther’s 95 Theses; Native American Account of
Cortes’s Conquest of Mexico; visual sources: the Codex Mendoza, outrigger
canoes; coins, cannons, weapons and maps of the period.
5)
Debate – Did Tokugawa policies strengthen
Japan? Should Columbus be considered a
hero?
6)
Student groups will research and be responsible
for explaining the political and cultural developments in Europe, the Ottoman
Empire, China, Japan, the Mughal Empire, Africa and the Americas.
7)
Notecards on key terms for review.
Unit Test – 25 multiple-choice questions and an in-class
essay.
Unit 5
PERIODIZATION: 1750
to 1900
Class Time: 5 weeks
Reading: Ways of the World chapters 17-20; The Human Web chapter 7
Topics for Discussion:
The Age of Revolutions, Scientific Revolution and
Enlightenment, American Revolution, French Revolution and its Fallout, Haitian
and Latin American Revolution; Global Transformations: Demographic Changes, the
End of the Atlantic Slave Trade, Industrial Revolution, Rise of Nationalism,
Imperialism and Its Impact on the World; Decline of Imperial China and the Rise
of Imperial Japan.
Key Concepts
5.1
Industrialization
and Global Capitalism
1.
Industrialization
fundamentally changed how goods were produced
2.
New
patterns of global trade and production
3.
Transformation
of capital and finance
4.
Developments
in transportation and communication
5.
Responses
to the spread of global capitalism
6.
Social
transformations in industrialized societies
5.2
Imperialism
and the Nation-State Formation
1.
Industrializing
powers established transoceanic empires
2.
Imperialism
influenced state formation and contraction around the world
3.
New
racial ideologies, especially Social Darwinism, facilitated and justified
imperialism
5.3
Nationalism,
Revolution, and Reform
1.
The
rise and diffusion of Enlightenment thought
2.
18th
century peoples develop a sense of commonality
3.
Increasing
discontent with imperial rule propelled reformist and revolutionary movements
4.
Spread
of European political and social thought spark new transnational ideologies and
solidarities
5.4
Global
Migration
1.
Changes
in demography and urbanization
2.
Migrants
relocated for a variety of reasons
3.
Consequences
and reactions to migration
Assignments:
1)
Writing – Students will continue to work on how
to write essays. Prompts could include –
DBQ on Indentured servitude; Development of Global trade patterns 1750-1914;
Comparing the French and Haitian Revolutions; Compare nationalism – China and
Japan, Cuba and the Philippines, Egypt and Nigeria, and possible others.
2)
Timeline – students will create a timeline for
the period connecting events by relationships between the causes and
consequences of the events.
3)
Reflective Blog – students will write a
reflective commentary on their blogs considering the roots of the enlightenment
and it influences throughout this era and connect it to the larger story of the
world.
4)
Primary Sources:
Students will analysis the following primary sources identifying point
of view, intended purpose, audience, and historical context: Declaration of the
Rights of Man and Citizen, Jamaica Letter, Karl Marx; statistics about bonded
labor migrations from Asia to the Americans and Africa.
5)
Debate – students will form sides and debate the
following topics: Were Confucian values responsible for China’s failure to
modernize? Did the West define the
modern world?
6)
Project: In groups students will research and
create a presentation about the following topics: Seven Years’ War, Napoleonic
Wars, Great Game in Central Asia, Berlin Conference, Opium Wars, Zulu,
Formation of Hawaii, German and Italian Unification, Meiji restoration,
Abolition, Marxism, Indian Nation Congress, Industrialization; or Migration
Suffrage, Scientific Revolution, Indian Revolt of 1857, Taiping rebellion,
Wahhabi Movement, Boxer Rebellion, Atlantic revolutions, Latin America
Independence movements, Liberalism, Socialism, Communism, Anarchism.
7)
Notecards on key terminology.
Unit Test – 30 multiple choices questions and in-class
essay.
UNIT SIX:
Acceleration Global Change and Realignments
PERIODIZATION: 1900
to present
Class Time: 5 weeks
Reading: Ways of the World chapters 21-24
KEY CONCEPTS:
6.1 Science
and the Environment
1.
Rapid
advances in science spread assisted by new technology
2.
Humans
change their relationships with the environment
3.
Diseases,
scientific innovations, and conflict led to demographic shifts
6.2
Global
Conflicts and Their Consequences
1.
Europe’s
domination gives way to new forms of political organization
2.
Emerging
ideologies of anti-imperialism contribute to dissolution of empires
3.
Political
changes accompanied by demographic and social consequences
4.
Military
conflicts escalate
5.
Individual
and groups oppose, as well as, intensify conflicts
6.3
New
Conceptualization of Global Economy, Society, and Culture
1.
States,
communities and individuals become increasingly interdependent
2.
People
conceptualize society and culture in new ways
3.
Popular
and consumer culture become global
Topics for discussion: Crisis and Conflict in Early 20th
Century: Anti-Imperial Movements, World War I, Russian, Chinese and Mexican
Revolutions, Depression, Rise of Militaristic and Fascist Societies, World War
II; Internationalization: Decolonization, the Cold War, International
Organizations, the Post-Cold War, World Globalization
Assignments:
1)
Writing - Students will continue work on
how to write essays. Possible prompts include questions from previous released
AP exams: Compare the notion of the “East” and the “West” in Cold War ideology;
DBQ- Muslim Nationalist Movements; Choose two revolutions (Russian, Chinese,
Cuban, Iranian) and compare their effects on the roles of women; Compare the
causes and effects of the World Wars on areas outside of Europe; Compare
legacies of colonialism and patterns of economic development in two of the
following regions: Asia, Latin America, Africa; Compare patterns and results of
decolonization in Africa and India
2)
Timeline – students will create a timeline for
the period connecting events by relationships between the causes and
consequences of the events.
3)
Reflective Blog – on blogs students will write reflective
commentary considering social movements during this era and its connection to
the larger story of the world.
4)
Debate – taking sides students will look at the
following topics: Did the Bolshevik Revolution improve the lives of Soviet
women? Does Islam revivalism challenge a
secular world order?
5)
Primary Source Analysis – students will use
soapstone to analysis the following primary sources: excerpts from Gandhi,
Nkrumah, and Ho Chi Min; political cartoons from the era; data on the growth of
outsourcing and business cycles of multinational corporations.
6)
Projects - Students will be making individual
presentations this unit. Topics include: WWI, WWII, Cold War, International
Organizations, Decolonization in Algeria, Decolonization in sub-Saharan Africa,
economic developments in Argentina/ Brazil, Cuban Revolution, Great Depression,
economic developments in the Pacific Rim, Communism in Russia and China,
Feminist movements, globalization, Indian/ Pakistani Partition, Jewish
settlement/Palestine, Irish partition, Great Depression, Gurkha soldiers, ANZAC
troops, Nuclear weapons, Marshall Plan, NATO, Warsaw Pact, Bandung Conference,
Genocides, Civil Rights Movements, Green movements, World Bank, NAFTA, European
Union, Quantum Mechanics, Antibiotics, and HIV/AIDS.
7)
Notecards on key terms
Unit Test
– 30 multiple choice questions and an in-class DBQ essay.
