AP World History Angelee Rusk Skyline High School

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Gertrude Reynolds
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1 History Angelee Skyline High School Course Description: History is an academic yearlong course that meets every other day for 90 minutes. The course traces the development of world history from the emergence of cities to the present focusing on the period after 1000 C.E. and emphasizes the analytical and writing skills necessary for success in a college-level history course. To this end, the course devotes considerable time to the critical evaluation of primary and secondary sources, analysis of historiography, oral presentations, short essays, research, and the development of a document-based question (DBQ). In addition, objective exams, simulations, and integrated computer-technology assignments will also be given. The vast majority of daily lessons are divided into two segments lecture and workshops. Lectures are prepared to present outside information or to clarify particularly difficult aspects of the text or the subject matter. Workshops are designed to use students strengths in classroom instruction while remediating areas of difficulty. The topics of the workshops are varied. Role-plays, mock trials, debates, seminar discussions, writing labs, cartographic labs, group research, and individual research are the more significant modes of workshop instruction. The thematic and comparative components of History are the focus of workshop instruction. Course Themes: Theme 1: Interaction between Humans and the Environment ( Demography & disease, Migration, Patterns of settlement, Technology) How do the environmental factors such as rainfall patterns, climate, and available flora and fauna shaped shape human societies? How does human exploitation of the environment in the form of new technologies, the introduction of new foods and textile crops, and the exploitation of energy sources impact the environment? Additionally, what then is the impact of these environmental changes and technological developments on demography and settlement patterns? 1

2 Theme 2: Development and Interaction of Cultures (Religions, Belief systems, philosophies, and ideologies, Science and technology, The arts and architecture) What do the dominant belief system(s) or religions, philosophical interests, and technical and artistic approaches reveal about how major groups in society view themselves and others, and how they respond to multiple challenges? How does the interaction between cultures lead to adopting or adapting new belief and knowledge systems? How does this interaction create complex new cultural blends? What does an investigation into comparative societies and cultures reveal both what is unique to a culture and what it shares with other cultures? What common particular cultural trends or ideas can be found across human societies, and why do those commonalities exist? 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) Questions to Ponder How have the functions of political control and/or governance changed over time? How is government legitimacy acquired, affirmed, maintained and lost? How attitudes towards governments evolved as their role have has changed? How do families, lineages, associations also govern, especially at local levels? How do different state forms (for example, kingdoms, empires, nation-states) compare across time and space, and what do the interactions among them look like? What role do cultural and ideological foundations, gender role, and religions and philosophy play in the development and expansion of various forms of state political structures? How does the environment impact the stability of political structures? In what ways do states interact with each other, including: warfare, diplomacy, commercial and cultural exchange, and the formation of international organizations? 2

3 Theme 4: Creation, Expansion, and Interaction of Economic Systems (Agricultural and pastoral production, Trade and commerce, Labor systems, Industrialization, Capitalism and socialism) What types of diverse patterns and systems have human societies developed as they exploit their environments to produce, distribute, and consume desired goods and services across time and space? What factors were necessary for the growth and spread of agricultural, pastoral, and industrial production? How and why did humanity development of various labor systems associated with these economic systems (including different forms of household management and the use of coerced or free labor)? Why did the differing ideologies, values, and institutions (such as capitalism and socialism) develop in the time and regions where they emerged? What geographic, social and political elements were in place to create the regional and global patterns of trade and commerce between various societies? How did these global networks of communication and exchange effect economic growth and decline in these various regions? How did these webs of interaction in turn strongly influence cultural and technological diffusion, migration, state formation, social classes, and human interaction with the environment? Theme 5: Development and Transformation of Social Structures (Gender roles and relations, Family and kinship, Racial and ethnic constructions, Social and economic classes) How have different societies dealt with class and gender? How do these structures compare within societies and over time between places? How do different regions develop ways of grouping their members such as kinship systems, ethnic associations, and hierarchies of gender, race, wealth, and class as well as norms that govern interactions between individuals and social groups? What processes created, maintained, and transformed these social categories, roles, and practices? What is the relationship between changes in social structures and other historical shifts, especially trends in political economy, cultural expression, and human ecology? 3

4 Course Assessment Examinations are given at the end of each unit and at the end of each semester and include multiple-choice and essay components. Semester examinations are cumulative and focus on the comparative and thematic components of the course. Quizzes and other written homework assignments such as response papers and map activities are designed to check and reinforce student progress through the course material. Response papers are assigned as needed. Essays are assigned on a regular basis, and students will have one to two weeks to complete each essay assignment. The length of each assignment varies with each topic. These essays will exercise those writing and analytical skills necessary for success on the AP Exam. The First-Semester Project is a 10-page research paper on a topic selected in consultation with the instructor. Students will use this opportunity to explore a topic of interest to them while sharpening research and writing skills. The paper will be presented to the class, and students are required to use one of several available technologies in their presentation. The Second-Semester Project is the preparation of a DBQ. Students will research a topic and prepare a set of primary source documents. They will write a question asking a reader to draw on the information in the documents in order to formulate a response. Finally, students will draft what they consider to be the ideal response to the question. Course Materials: The following texts will be used in the course. The asterisk denotes the primary textbook used in the course. Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Knopf Publishing Company Benjamin, Jules R. A Student s Guide to History. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford Books, Bentley, Jerry H., and Herbert F. Ziegler. Traditions and Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past. 3 rd ed. McGraw-Hill, 2006 * Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, & Steel. WW Norton & Company, 1997 MacDonald, Charles, Ed. Historical Atlas of the World. Skokie, Ill: Rand McNally, Reilly, Kevin. Worlds of History: A Comparative Reader. 2 nd ed. Boston: Bedford Books, * Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. New York: Random House, Wiesel, Elie. Night. Translated by Stella Rodway. Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1982 Wiesner, Merry, et al. Discovering the Global Past: A Look at the Evidence. (Vol. I -Wiesner) (Vol. II -Wiesner II) Houghton-Mifflin,

5 Course Unit Plan Unit 1: Complex Civilizations 8000 to 500 BCE Prehistory Ancient Civilizations of: Mesopotamia, India, China and the Americas Duration: 2 Weeks Text Chapters: Chapters 1-6 Guns Germs, & Steel Jared Diamond Unit 2: Classical Civilizations 500 BCE 550 CE Classical Civilizations of: China, India, Greece, & Rome Classical Cross-Cultural Connections Duration: 2 Weeks Text Chapters: Chapters 7-12 Unit 3: Post-Classical Era 500 to 1000 CE Post Classical Societies of: Byzantium, Islam, China, the Indian Ocean, & Sub-Saharan Africa Medieval European Society (Political, Social, & The Church) Nomadic Empires Postclassical Cross-Cultural Connections Duration: 4 Weeks Text Chapters: Chapters Unit 4: Afro-Eurasian Interconnected World 1000 to 1500 CE Transoceanic Encounters Pre-contact Americas Post-Contact Americas Oceania Atlantic Africa East Asia The Mongols Duration: 4 Weeks Text Chapters: Chapters

6 Excerpts from Genghis Khan & the Making of the Modern World Project: Research Paper Unit 5: Age of Global Integration 1450 to 1750 Transformation of Europe The Atlantic World East Asia & Oceania Islamic Empires Duration: 5 Weeks Text Chapters: Chapters Semester 1 Book Review: Read & Review one of the books from the list of approved titles or have a title that is not on the list pre-approved by the teacher. Unit 6: Age of Revolution, Industry, & Empire 1750 to 1914 Revolutions Industrialization The Americas Societies at a Crossroads Imperialism Duration: 6 Weeks Text Chapters: Chapters Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe Unit 7: The Modern Era 1914 to Present The Great War Age of Anxiety & Depression World War II The Cold War Duration: 6 Weeks Text Chapters: Chapters Night, by Elie Weisel Second Semester DBQ Project 6

Bergen Community College School of Arts, Humanities, & Wellness Department of History & Geography. Course Syllabus

Basic Information about Course and Instructor Bergen Community College School of Arts, Humanities, & Wellness Department of History & Geography Course Syllabus HIS101-Western Civilization to the Reformation