AP EUROPEAN HISTORY – Course Syllabus - MR. W.B. BROOKS
Course Description: The Advanced Placement European History course is considered the equivalent of a full-year, freshman college survey course in Western Civilization. It is designed to prepare students for the AP European History Exam in May. Students who pass the exam (3 or better out of 5) may earn college credits.
What sets this course apart from an “honors” course is extensive reading of college level texts, combined with a heavy emphasis upon analytical skills that include forming and substantiating various historical hypotheses. Major themes of the course include the basic chronology and major events and trends in European history from approximately 1350 to the present, as well as various interpretations of the European past. Significant emphasis is given to political and diplomatic history, intellectual and cultural history, and social and economic history.
In addition to providing a basic exposure to the factual narrative, the goals of the AP®European History course are to develop: (1) an understanding of the principal themes in modern European history (2) the ability to analyze historical evidence, and (3) the ability to express that understanding and analysis effectively in writing. [C1, C2, C3, C4]
C1—The course emphasizes relevant factual knowledge about European history from 1450 to the present to highlight intellectual, cultural, political, diplomatic, social, and economic developments. / C2—The course teaches students to analyze evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. / C3—The course includes extensive instruction in analysis and interpretation of a wide variety of Texbook and Textbook and Primary sources, such as documentary material, maps, statistical tables, works of art, and pictorial and graphic materials. / C4—The course provides students with frequent practice in writing analytical and interpretive essays such as document-based questions (DBQ) and thematic essays (see the AP European History Course Description for more information).All students enrolled in AP European History will take the AP European History exam in May. There is an assistance program to help students in need cover some, if not most, of the $80+ cost.
Texts: Kagan, Donald, Steven Ozment, and Frank M. Turner. The Western Heritage. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2009. This will be our Texbook and Textbook and Primary textbook; however, I use a selection of short Texbook and Textbook and Primary and secondary sources, or excerpts from them, for each unit rather than entire works
Assignments: All necessary forms may be obtained from the class website on the District Website
Class Structure: A combination of lecture, discussion, group presentation, project work, and independent study along with various multi-media outlets will be used in class. My goal is to provide the best vehicle possible for you to understand the content. Any suggestions you have to improve the class performance will be appreciated. LATE WORK WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED ACCORDING TO AP STANDARDS.
IF YOU NEED TO MAKEUP AN ASSIGNMENT, THEN YOU MUST EARN A HOMEWORK PASS FROM THE BLOG SITE AFTER DOING THE MISSED ASSIGNMENT (Example, you did not turn in Unit 1, Homework Assignment #2; therefore, you must do the assignment for zero credit and then earn a homework pass from the blog site to eliminate the zero in the gradebook).
Absence/Missed Work Policy:
Attendance in this class is essential. Much of the material for success is provided through lecture/discussion. Missing class can create problems. Work missed due to an excused absence may be made up within 5 school days (per district and school policy). All work not made up will result in a grade of ZERO. **If a student is absent the day of a test or essay, it will be taken the first day you return as the assignments are posted on the board in two week increments.**
If you are present when a test, essay, or quiz is assigned, you will be expected to take it at the assigned time (unless new material was covered during an excused absence). Project due dates are non-negotiable. If you are absent on a project due date you will be expected to turn in the completed project and/or present your project on the day you return to school.
Classroom Expectations
• Responsibility: Responsibility is the key to success, and the remedy for failure. No excuses - ever!
• Respect: Respect the person and property of those around you.
• Right: Right action, right effort, right speech, and right thought.
• Late homework will NEVER be accepted without a full-day excused readmit.
• No credit will be given for incomplete or sloppy homework. If you’re tardy, so is your homework.
• Neatness, spelling, and grammar ALWAYS count!
• The Windsor’s Academic Policy on cheating policy will be strictly enforced - no exceptions
Scoring & Assessments for AP European History
Based Upon One Semester
Summative Assessments (75% of Grade)
Unit Tests (Points Vary)
Each unit test will include 30-40 AP quality multiple choice questions worth two points each. If any question is missed by more than half of the class, I will add back one point per question.
Free Response Questions (Points Vary per unit)
Along with each unit test, there will be 2-4 AP quality free response questions. These questions will ask students to use the root knowledge from each unit and evaluate or analyze it. Each question will be worth either 10 or 20 points.
Chapter Quizzes/Tests (Points Vary)
Each Quiz will include 5 short answer questions worth 5 points each from the chapter that is being covered. At the end of each semester, I will drop each student’s lowest score.
Formative Assessments (25% of Grade)
Various Class Projects, Assignments, Homework (points vary per unit)
Throughout the year, the class will engage in several projects to enrich the material Points for these projects will vary between 50 and 100 points and scored as formative assessments.
Article Summaries ((points vary per unit)
Students will be give one article per unit to read, summarize, evaluate and reflect upon. Reponses will be one to two Chapter(s) and typed. We will discuss these articles in class.
Current Events Journal ((points vary per unit)
Students will keep a journal throughout this class. Throughout the class, students will be required to watch, read and listen to the news. They will then document articles or stories in their journals and reflect upon them. Possible sources include CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Time, Newsweek, The Post Dispatch, the New York Times and many more. Students will be graded on the number, quality and reflections of each article. We will use these journals to enlighten class topics.
Participation (Non-graded)
While participation will not be officially graded, it will be required. Class discussion and lectures will be based around student participation and to truly master the material, total engagement will be necessary
Chapter Notes and Outlines (Non-graded)
Students will be required to read each chapter on a scheduled basis and will be quizzed over each. It is also suggested that each student outline each chapter (the first one or two may be required) to keep in their notes. If students do complete these chapter outlines they will be allowed to use them periodically on quizzes and will always be guaranteed a “C-” grade on quizzes. While I am not requiring most of these outlines, they are critical to your success. Also, there are sufficient incentives for you to complete them.
Grading
/Grading Scale
A 90 % – 100% B 80% – 89%C 70% - 79% D 60% - 69%
F 59% and below /
Grading Breakdown
75%: Tests25%: All other assignments (i.e. homework, projects, class work, quizzes, etc.)
Semester Final: 20% of Semester Grade
Grading: Students will not be exempt for the semester final (Therefore, No Renaissance Exemptions)
Tests: We will have at least 3 major unit tests each semester.
Essays: About every other week, an essay will be due related to topics of European History. They will be due on Friday at the beginning of the period. They may be emailed earlier than the due date.
Projects, Homework, and Current Events: From time to time, we will have class projects, group discussions, quizzes, and homework related to your readings and topics. They are always due at the beginning of class. I do not accept late work.
Semester Final Exams (20% of grade) Students will not be allowed to exempt out of either of these exams.
The first semester final will be a cumulative test covering all units from the first semester.
Themes in Modern European History
· Intellectual and Cultural History
· Changes in religious thought and institutions
· Secularization of learning and culture
· Scientific and technological developments and their consequences
· Major trends in literature and the arts
· Intellectual and cultural developments and their relationship to social values and political events
· Developments in social, economic, and political thought
· Developments in literacy, education, and communication
· The diffusion of new intellectual concepts among different social groups
· Changes in elite and popular culture, such as the development of new attitudes toward religion, the family, work, and ritual
· Impact of global expansion on European culture
· Political and Diplomatic History
· The rise and functioning of the modern state in its various forms
· Relations between Europe and other parts of the world: colonialism, imperialism, decolonization, and global interdependence
· The evolution of political elites and the development of political parties, ideologies, and other forms of mass politics
· The extension and limitation of rights and liberties (personal, civic, economic, and political); majority and minority political persecutions
· The growth and changing forms of nationalism
· Forms of political protest, reform, and revolution
· Relationships between domestic and foreign policies
· Efforts to restrain conflict: treaties, balance-of-power diplomacy, and international organizations
· War and civil conflict: origins, developments, technology, and their consequences
· Social and Economic History
· The character of and changes in agricultural production and organization
· The role of urbanization in transforming cultural values and social relationships
· The shift in social structures from hierarchical orders to modern social classes: the changing distribution of wealth and poverty
· The influence of sanitation and health care practices on society; food supply, diet, famine, disease, and their impact
· The development of commercial practices, patterns of mass production and consumption, and their economic and social impact
· Changing definitions of and attitudes toward mainstream groups and groups characterized as the "other"
· The origins, development, and consequences of industrialization
· Changes in the demographic structure and reproductive patterns of Europeans: causes and consequences
· Gender roles and their influence on work, social structure, family structure, and interest group formation
· The growth of competition and interdependence in national and world markets
· Private and state roles in economic activity
· Development and transformation of racial and ethnic group identities
AP European History Units
Semester One / Qtr
1st / 1 / The Renaissance and Age of Discovery (Voyages East and West) / 10 / 6
2 / The Reformation, Counter Reformation, Religious Wars / 11, 12 / 10
3 / Political Philosophy and Organization in the 16th and 17th Centuries / 13, 15 / 8
4 / Society, Science, and Philosophy in the 16th through 18th Centuries / 14, 16, 17 / 12
2nd / 5 / French Revolution, Napoleon, and Romanticism / 18, 19 / 20
6 / Nationalism and The Conservative Order / 20 / 7
7 / Post-Napoleonic Europe (Industrial Rev) to Mid-Century, 1815-50 / 21, 22 / 12
7 Units / 13 Chapters / 75
Semester Two / 3rd / 8 / Unification, Imperialism, Society & Culture (Up To WWI) / 23, 24, 25, 26 / 20
9 / World War I and the Russian Revolution / 26 / 5
10 / Interwar Era and World War II / 27, 28 / 15
4th / 11 / Cold War, and Post-Cold War Europe / 29, 30 / 18
12 / Review Unit / ALL / 20
4 Units / 9 Chapters / 78
Sources & Unit Focus
The Renaissance and Age of Discovery
Documents selected for instruction may include but are not limited to:
Textbook and Primary Sources
Ø Kagan, The Western Heritage. Ch: 10
Ø Niccolo Machiavelli “The Prince”;
Ø Baldesar Castiglione “The Book of the Courtier”
Ø Heinrich Kramer “The Hammer of Witches”
Secondary Sources
“Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy”
Peter Burke, “The Myth of the Renaissance”
Visual Sources
• The School of Athens: Art and Classical Culture Raphael
• Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride: Symbolism and The
• Northern Renaissance – Jan van Eyck
• Wealth, Culture, and Diplomacy – Hans Holbein
• The Assets and Liabilities of Empire – Frans Fracken II
• The Conquest of Mexico as Seen by the Aztecs
Unit Focus
The politics, culture, and art of the Italian Renaissance
Political struggle and foreign intervention in Italy
The powerful new monarchies of northern Europe
The thought and culture of the northern Renaissance
The Portuguese chart the course
Spanish voyages of Christopher Columbus
The Church in Spanish America
The economy of exploitation
Sources & Unit Focus
Reformation Counter Reformation, Religious Wars
Documents selected for instruction may include but are not limited to:
Textbook and Primary Sources
Ø Kagan, The Western Heritage. Ch: 11, 12
Ø John Tetzel, The Spark for the Reformation: Indulgences”
Ø Martin Luther, “Justification by Faith”
Ø Martin Luther, “Condemnation of Peasant Revolt
Ø John Calvin, “Institutes of the Christian Religion: Predestination”
Ø “Constitution of the Society of Jesus”
Ø Teresa of Avila, “The Way of Perfection”
Ø Peter Paul Rubens, “Loyola and Catholic Reform”
Secondary Sources
John C. Olin, The Catholic Reformation”
Steven E. Ozment, “The Legacy of the Reformation”
Marilyn J. Boxer and Jean H. Quataert, “Women in the Reformation”
Visual Sources
• Luther and the New Testament
• Luther and the Catholic Clergy Debate – Sebald Beham
• Loyola and Catholic Reform – Peter Paul Rubens
• War and Violence – Jan Brueghel and Sebastian Vrancx
• Germany and the Thirty Years’ War
Unit Focus
The social and religious background to the Reformation
Martin Luther’s challenge to the church and the course of the Reformation in Germany
The Reformation in Switzerland, France, and England
Transitions in family life between medieval and modern times
The war between Calvinists and Catholics in France
The Spanish occupation of the Netherlands
The struggle for supremacy between England and Spain
The devastation of central Europe during the Thirty Year’s War
Sources & Unit Focus