Advanced Placement World History Syllabus and Course Description

Tallwood High School

Advanced Placement World History Syllabus and Course Description

Teacher: Mrs. Kathleen LaRoue

2012-2013

Course Overview [CR2]

This full-year course explores the expansive history of the human world. You will learn many facts, but also the critical thinking skills necessary to analyze historical evidence. Five themes will be used as a frame of reference in the chronological study of our world’s history; these themes are: Interaction between humans and the environment; development and interaction of cultures; state building, expansion and conflict; creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems; and development and transformation of social structures.

An important skill you will acquire in the class is the ability to examine change over time, including the causation of events as well as the major effects of historical developments, the interconnectedness of events over time, and the spatial interactions that occur over time that have geographic, political, cultural, and social significance. It is important for each student to develop the ability to connect the local to the global, and vice versa. You also will learn how to compare developments in different regions and in different time periods as well as contextualize important changes and continuities throughout world history.

Our study of the expanse of world history will begin with something more familiar, the recent past. We will attempt to answer the historical question of “What is the state of the world today?” before we explore how the world came to this state.

The Five Themes of AP World History [CR2]

Theme 1: Interaction Between Humans and the Environment

Theme 2: Development and Interaction of Cultures

Theme 3: State-building, Expansion, and conflict

Theme 4: Creation, Expansion, and Interaction of Economic Systems

Theme 5: Development and Transformation of Social Structures.

Historical Thinking Skills

Historical Argumentation

-Constructing and evaluating arguments with evidence

-Using documents and other primary data: developing the skills necessary to analyze point of view, context and bias, and to understand and interpret information

Chronological Reasoning

-Assessing issues of change and continuity over time, including the capacity to deal with change as a process and with questions of causation (including periodization).

Comparison and Contextualization

-Seeing global patterns over time and space while also acquiring the ability to connect local developments to global ones and to move through levels of generalizations from the global to the particular.

-Comparing within and among societies, including comparing societies’ reactions to global processes.

-Being aware of human commonalities and differences while assessing claims of universal standards, and understanding diverse ideas in historical context.

4. Historical Interpretation and Synthesis

-Understanding diversity of interpretations through analysis of context, bias, and frame of reference.

Textbook: [CR1]

Bentley, J, & Ziegler, H (2011). Traditions and Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past, 5th Ed. (AP Edition), McGraw Hill, 2011.

Primary Source Textbook

Reilly, Kevin. Worlds of History. Vols. 1 and 2: Second ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin, 2004.

Stayer, Robert W. Ways of the World: A global history with sources. Bedford/St. Martin, 2011

Document Reader

Book and CD Rom included with Spodek, Howard. The World’s History. Third ed. Combined Volume. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2006.

Outside Reading (books)

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor, 1994.

Barron’s Review Guide for the Advanced Placement World History Exam

Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel. New York: Norton, 1996.

Fage, J.D. and William Tordoff. A History of Africa. 4th ed. London: Routlege,

2002

Kurlansky, Marc. Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World. New

York: Penguin Press, 1998.

Kurlansky, Marc. Salt. New York: Walker and Co, 2002.

Parker, John and Richard Raithbone. African History: A Very Short

Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007

Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. New

York: Three Rivers Press, 2004.

Outside Readings (Articles)

Anderson, Carol, 2008. “International Conscience, the Cold War, and

Apartheid: The NAACP’s Alliance with the Reverend Michael Scott for

South West Africa’s Liberation, 1946-1951,” Journal of World History, 19/3: 297-325.

Bentley, Jerry H. “Cross-Cultural Interaction and Periodization in World History” The

American Historical Review, Volume 101, no. 3 (June 1996): 749-770.

Bentley, J.H. 1999, “Sea and Ocean Basins as Frameworks as Historical

Analysis,” Geographical Review, 89: 215-224.

De Lorenzi, James, 2008. “Caught in the Storm of Progress: Timoteos

Saprichian, Ethiopia, and the Modernity of Christianity,” Journal of World History, 19/1: 89-114.

Diamond, Jared 1987. "The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race,"

Discover Magazine, May 1987, pp. 64-66.

Du Quenoy, 2008. “The Russian Empire and Egypt, 1900-1915: A Case of

Public Diplomacy,” Journal of World History, 19/2: 213-233.

Hughes-Warrington, Marnie, 2009. Coloring Universal History: Robert

Benjamin Lewis’s Light and Truth (1843) and William Wells Brown’s

The Black Man (1863),” Journal of World History, 20/1: 99-130.

Shaffer, L. 1994. “Southernization,” Journal of World History, 5/1: 1-21.

Slack, Edward R., 2009. “The Chinos in New Spain: A Corrective Lens for a

Distorted Image,” Journal of World History, 20/1: 35-67.

Stuurman, Siep. 2008. “Herodotus and Sima Qian: History and the

Anthropological Turn in Ancient Greece and Han China,” Journal of

World History, 19/1: 1-40.

Xinru, Liu. 1995. “Silks and Religions in Eurasia, 600-1200,” Journal of World

History 6:1, 25-48.

Reference

Hammond Historical Atlas

Course Units – no more than 15% of course time will be devoted to European History.

Unit 0:

What, how, and why we study history.

This unit will be one week. The students will be doing Critical readings in historiography for identifying the purpose of the historians’ writing. Thefirst two will be: “Why Study History” by Peter Stearns and “Why Study History” by William H. Mcneill. . The students will also will examine works by Sam Wineburg, Bob Bain, and Chauncey Monte-Sano who all study the way that teachers teach and students learn history. Finally, we will debate the definition of the term “modern”

by comparing excerpts from four articles on Chinese economic developments before 1800 found on the Columbia University website: http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/chinawh/web/help/readings.html [CR7]

1. Shaffer, L. 1986. China, Technology and Change. World History Bulletin Fall/Winter.

2. Elvin, M. 1999. “The X Factor”. Far Eastern Economic Review:162/23.

3. Chanda, N. 1999. “Sailing into Oblivion”. Far Eastern Economic Review: 162/36.

4. Chanda, N. 1999. “Early Warning”. Far Eastern Economic Review:162/23. [CR1c]

Unit 1 To 600 BCE: Technological and Environmental Transformations

Key Concepts: [CR3]

• Big Geography and the Peopling of the Earth

• Neolithic Revolution and Early Agricultural Societies

• Development and Interactions of Early Agricultural, Pastoral, and Urban Societies

Topics for Overview include:

• Prehistoric Societies

• From Foraging to Agricultural and Pastoral Societies

• Early Civilizations: Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Oceania

Special Focus:

Issues Regarding the Use of the Concept of Civilization Activities & Skill Development

• Students will identify and analyze the causes and consequences of the Neolithic Revolution in the major river valleys as well as in Sub-Saharan Africa and Papua New Guinea [CR5a], & [CR5d]

Class Discussion - How were gender roles changed by the Neolithic Revolution?

• Collaborative Group-Jigsaw - Students will analyze how geography affected the development of political, social, economic, and belief systems in the earliest civilizations in:

Mesopotamia

Egypt

South Asia

East Asia [CR5c]

Mesoamerica [CR5b]

Andes

Each group will examine a different civilization then compare findings with a new group where each student examined a different civilization.

• Parallel Reading--Students will read Ch. 1-2 of The Human Web and evaluate the authors’ perspective on the existence of a very loose knit global web during this early period [CR7]

Historians Journal (CR8, CR9, CR10, CR12, CR13, CR14)

Each student will be provided with excerpt from The Code of Hammurabi, with which they will be asked to use the four basic historic thinking skills to complete an investigation and analysis. As an introductory lesson, this event will be more scripted than the ones that follow.

a. Historical argumentation: Using your knowledge of history and this document, provide arguments to support or refute the following statement: Documents such as the Code of Hammurabi provide the foundation for the creation of any state or civilization.

b. Chronological Reasoning: Describe the rationale behind the issuing of the Code of Hammurabi (i.e. what caused the Code to be issued), as well as the consequence of its issuing. Provide arguments and challenges to the traditional classification of the Code as an ancient document. What are the characteristics of the document that would make it a modern document?

c. Comparison and Contextualization: As there are examples of bias and prejudice in the Code of Hammurabi, does this suggest that prejudice something that doesn’t die? Is it still present in today’s legal system?

d. Historical Interpretation and Synthesis: How do our modern day views on crime and punishment impact our assessment of the accomplishments of previous peoples?

e. Students will write an FRQ: DBQ (2010 past exam) “Using the following documents, analyze similarities and differences in the mechanization of the cotton industry in Japan and India in the period from the 1880s to the 1930s. Identify an additional type of document and explain how it would help your analysis of the mechanization of the cotton industry.” (material covered in lecture and readings) (CR6)

Historians Journal (CR8, CR9, CR10, CR12, CR13, CR14)

Each student will be provided with excerpt from The Analects (Confucius), with which they will be asked to use the four basic historic thinking skills to complete an investigation and analysis.

Historical argumentation: Using your knowledge of history and this document, provide arguments to support or refute the following statement: Documents such as the The Analects are essential in understanding the growth of nations as they formulate an intellectual and cultural justification for social inequalities.
Chronological Reasoning: Describe the motivation for continuing the teaching of Confucian ideals by groups of people in power. To what extent are these rational arguments to teach a particular set of ideals or promote a particular worldview still used in modern societies? What are the causes and effects for the maintenance of a particular philosophy /ideology?
Comparison and Contextualization: How can one read the Analects with different lenses, namely, in view of the elements of PERSIA (Political lens, Economic lens, Religious lens, Social lens, Intellectual lens, Artistic lens)? Are all sources able to be read on multiple levels/ with multiple lenses?
Historical Interpretation and Synthesis: How do our modern day views on social structures impact our assessment of the accomplishments of previous peoples?

Thematic Connections: Literature Review

Upon completion of the module on the meaning of the five AP World History themes, students will be asked to use the sources listed in the source analysis above to write a brief paper explaining how their chosen readings represent the meaning of each theme. (CR2, CR4)

Thematic Connections: Graphic Organizer

Students will be provided with a customized graphic organizer (see below) in which they will be asked to reflect upon the content and understandings from the first unit of study and be asked to explain the connections that they see between their unit learning and each of the AP World History themes. This activity will be used as the basis for a class discussion as well as a review. For this unit, the class will study the readings by Slack (The Chinos in New Spain) and Bentley (Cross-Cultural Interaction) to complete this assignment. (CR 2, CR4, CR13, CR14)

Assessments (beyond the usual tests and quizzes)

FRQ: DBQ (2002 past exam) Using documents, compare and contrast the attitudes of Christianity and Islam towards merchants and trade from the religion’s origins until about 1500. Are there indications of change over time in either case, or both? What kinds of additional documents would you need to assess the consequences of these attitudes on merchant activities?”

FRQ: C/C (2002 past exam) “Analyze and compare the differing responses of China and Japan to western penetration in the nineteenth century” (material covered in lectures) (CR6, CR12)

Primary and supplemental sources:

Chapters 1-8 in Bentley and Ziegler

Documents (Reilly, Vol. 1)
Chapter 1 Prehistory and the Origins of Patriarchy
Chapter 2 The Urban Revolution and “Civilization”
Chapter 3 Identity in Caste and Territorial Societies
Chapter 4 Women in Classical Societies
Confucius: The Analects

Diamond, Jared 1987. "The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race," Discover Magazine, May 1987, pp. 64-66.
The students will read parts of:

The Epic of Gilgamesh

The Egyptian Book of the Dead

The Workings of Ma’at

Ch’u Yuan and Sung Yu: Individual voices in a chaotic Era

The Code of Hammurabi

TeNaKh

Bible

Rigveda

Shaffer, L. 1994. “Southernization,” Journal of World History, 5/1: 1-21.
Bentley, J.H. 1999, “Sea and Ocean Basins as Frameworks as Historical Analysis,” Geographical Review, 89: 215-224. (CR7)
Fage, J.D. and William Tordoff. A History of Africa. (CR7)

Visuals, Charts, Graphs, and Maps

Cave Painting
Reconstruction of the City of Ur
Indus River Valley
Ancient China
Ancient Cities of Sumer

3 Historical Thinking (CR7):

Slack, Edward R., 2009. “The Chinos in New Spain: A Corrective Lens for

a Distorted Image,” Journal of World History, 20/1: 35-67.

Bentley, Jerry H. “Cross-Cultural Interaction and Periodization in World

History” The American Historical Review, Volume 101, no. 3 (June 1996): 749-770.

Unit 2 600 BCE-600 CE: Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies

Key Concepts: [CR3]

• Development and Codification of Religious and Cultural Traditions

• Development of States and Empires

• Emergence of Transregional Networks of Communication and Exchange

Topics for Overview include:

• Classical Civilizations

• Major Belief Systems: Religion and Philosophy

• Early Trading Networks

Special Focus:

• World Religions

 Animism focusing on Australasia and Sub-Saharan Africa

 Judaism and Christianity

 Hinduism and Buddhism

 Daoism and Confucianism

• Developments in Mesoamerica and Andean South America:

 Moche and Maya

 Bantu Migration and its Impact in Sub-Saharan Africa

 Transregional Trade: the Silk Road and the Indian Ocean

 Developments in China—development of imperial structure and Confucian

Activities & Skill Development:

• Writing a Comparison Essay [CR12] Methods of political control in the Classical period, student choice of two Han China, Mauryan/Gupta India, Imperial Rome, Persian Empire

• Writing a Change and Continuity over Time Essay [CR10] Political and Cultural Changes in the Late Classical Period, students choose China, India, or Rome

• Students will evaluate the causes and consequences of the decline of the Han, Roman, and Gupta empires [CR9]

• Students will map the changes and continuities in long-distance trade networks in the Eastern Hemisphere: Eurasian Silk Roads, Trans-Saharan caravan routes, Indian Ocean sea lanes, and Mediterranean sea lanes

• Student Group Presentations

Each group will research and present a major world religion/belief system examining:

 origin

 beliefs and practices

 diffusion

• After reading excerpts from A Forest of Kings by David Friedel and Linda Schele and seeing the PBS Nova program “Cracking the Maya Code,” students will assess the impact that archaeology and iconography have had on the study of history [CR7] & [CR15]

• Parallel Reading--Students will read Ch. 3 of The Human Web and trace the development of civilization in each region utilizing a linear thematic organizer for note-taking and a circular organizer for the big picture evaluate the periodization in Ch.3—i.e. the use of 200 CE as a break as opposed to

the periodization of the course curriculum [CR11]

Historians Journal (CR8, CR9, CR10, CR11, CR12, CR13, CR14)

Each student should consider the lecture material, as well as the material covered in the source analysis, with which they will be asked to use the four basic historic thinking skills to complete an investigation and analysis.

Historical argumentation: Using your knowledge of history and this document, provide arguments to support or refute the following statement: If slavery is economically viable, but morally repugnant, the core question slavery brings up is whether society adheres to economic values or religious ones. In other words, economics and morality are polar opposites.
Chronological Reasoning: As the Islamic slave trade differs in motivation from the Atlantic slave trade, is it safe to assume that historians can place different periodization of the history of West Africa based on the type of slave trade being discussed? Explain your answer.
Comparison and Contextualization: After reading through the sources, answer: what commonalities exist between slavery and gender inequality? What differences are there? Why do these similarities and differences exist?
Historical Interpretation and Synthesis: After reading through the sources, answer: are empires and societies that employ the use of inequalities (such as coercive labour, etc) destined to fail? Explain your answer.

Thematic Connections: Literature Review

Thematic Connections: Graphic Organizer

Students will be provided with a customized graphic organizer (see below) in which they will be asked to reflect upon the content and understandings from the second unit of study and be asked to explain the connections that they see between their unit learning and each of the AP World History themes. This activity will be used as the basis for a class discussion as well as a review. For this unit, the class will study the reading by Anderson (International Conscience” to complete this assignment. (CR 2, CR4, CR13, CR14)

Assessments

FRQ: Compare/Contrast (2010 past exam): “Analyze similarities and differences in techniques of imperial administration in TWO of the following empires.