Course Outline: 2014-2015

International Baccalaureate Higher Level History

Sam Myovich

ValenciaHigh School

The present sheds

Light on the past.

The past sheds

Light on the future.

International Baccalaureate (IB) Higher Level (HL) History (2) is the culmination of the IB two-year history course. This course will consolidate and expand knowledge in the required areas of the IB curriculum. The required areas correspond to three “papers” (exams, also known as External Assessments) in prescribed topics and a research paper (Internal Assessment) that follows a set format. The IB program is especially concerned to develop a world perspective among its diploma candidates. Consequently, efforts will be made to develop a comparative and integrative understanding from the four regions (Africa, The Americas, Europe, and Asia).

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE REQUIREMENTS

Paper One

IB program administrators at VHS have chosen as the subject for Paper 1 “Communism in Crisis, 1976-1989.” The assessment for this paper requires analysis of sources similar to the Document Based Questions of the Advanced Placement exam. The particular focus of this subject is on the factors that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union and its alliance system. Special emphasis is given to the split in the communist world between the Soviet Union and China as well as the development of China in the 1980s. This is a one-hour exam and represents twenty percent (20%) of the IB Subject Area Diploma Assessment.

Paper Two

Paper two is an essay response paper based on five 20th Century topics. They are:

  1. The Causes, Practices, and Effects of War
  2. Democratic States: Challenges and Responses.
  3. Origin and Development of Authoritarian and Single-PartyStates.
  4. Nationalist and Independence Movements in Africa and Asia and post-1945 Central and EasternEuropeanStates.
  5. The Cold War (1945-1990)

This course will generally develop topics 1, 3, and 5 in preparation for Paper Two, which requires that students answer two questions from two separate sections of the five 20th Century topics. Students will respond to two questions from a total of twenty-five questions divided into groups of five from each of the 20th Century topics. Ninety minutes are scheduled for these two questions, which represent twenty-five percent (25%) of the IB Subject Area Diploma Assessment.

Paper Three

Paper three is an essay response to three questions related to our regional option, “Aspects of the History of the Americas.” While it is expected that candidates have an integrative understanding of the region, it has been possible on past examinations to successfully complete this component with a strong grounding in U.S. History. You will have one hundred fifty minutes (two and a half hours) to answer the three questions (50 minutes each). Paper Three represents thirty-five percent (35%) of the IB Subject Area Diploma Assessment.

Internal Assessment

The Internal Assessment is a historical investigation that requires students to exhibit the ability to contribute interpretive historical analyses based on examination of various sources in relation to significant questions raised in the historiography of a given topic. Students may choose from a wide range of topics but are encouraged to work in subject areas related to topics selected for the External Assessments. The deadline for this paper will be just prior to the Winter break. The IA represents twenty percent (20%) of the IB Subject Area Diploma Assessment.

TEXTBOOKS

Griffith, Robert and Baker, Paula. Major Problems in American History. 3rd edition. Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, 2008.

Keylor, William R. The Twentieth-Century World and Beyond: An International History Since 1900. 6th Edition. Oxford University Press: New York, 2011.

LaFeber, Walter. America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945-2002. Updated 10th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008.

Paxton, Robert O. Europe in the Twentieth Century . 2nd Edition. Orlando,FL: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1985.

Skidmore, Thomas E. and Smith, Peter H. Modern Latin America. 5th Edition. New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 2001.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Fall Semester

Unit I: Historical Investigation/Internal Assessment (ca. 5 weeks)

Identifying research topics

Evaluating sources

Historiography

Research methods

Assessment:

  • Plan of Investigation with annotated bibliography (Due Wednesday, 9/10)
  • Internal Assessment Final Draft (Due Monday, 12/15)

Unit II: World War I and the Russian Revolution (October 13 – November 7)

Required reading:

  • Keylor, pp. 1-93.
  • Paxton, pp. 47-71, 96-193.
  • LaFeber, Forward, Preface, and Introduction.

Discussions and presentations

Video

  • Oliver Stone, Untold History of the United States, “Prologue, Chapter A: WWI and the Russian Revolution”

Assessment:

  • Quizzes
  • Essay Exam 1
  • Discussion and presentations

Unit III: The Great Depression and the Challenges of Fascism and Communism (November 10- December 12)

Required Readings:

  • Keylor, pp. 96-138
  • Paxton, chs. 7-10, 12.
  • US Academic Decathlon Social Science materials, 2011
  • Skidmore, chapter 2.
  • Selections from Mein Kampf

Discussions and presentations

Videos:

  • People’s Century: Master Race: Nazism Overtakes Nazi Germany
  • Oliver Stone, Untold History of the United States, “Prologue, Chapter B: 1920-1940: Roosevelt, Hitler, Stalin: The Battle of Ideas”

Assessment:

  • Quizzes
  • Essay Exam 2
  • Discussion and Presentations

Unit IV: World War II and the Origins of the Cold War (December 15–January 23).

Required reading:

  • Pedersen, Susan. “Back to the League of Nations.” American Historical Review 112:4, 1091-1117.
  • Keylor, pp. 139-258.
  • Leffler, Melvyn. “What Do, ‘We Now Know’?” The American Historical Review 104:2, pages 501-524.
  • LaFeber chs. 1 - 3.
  • Griffith, chs. 1-2.

Discussions and presentations

Videos

  • People’s Century: Total War: World War II and the Home Front, 1939-1947.
  • Stone,
  • Chapter 1: WW II
  • Chapter 2: Roosevelt, Truman and Wallace
  • Chapter 3: The Bomb
  • Chapter 4: The Cold War

Assessment:

  • Quizzes
  • Essay Exam 3
  • Internal Assessment due (December 15)

Spring Semester

Unit V: Boomtime and the Post-Stalin Era (January 26– February 13)

Required Readings

  • Keylor, 258-368.
  • LaFeber, chs. 4-6.
  • Griffith, ch. 3.

Videos:

  • Stone, Chapter 5: The 50s: Eisenhower, the Bomb, and the Third World
  • People’s Century: Great Leap: Communism in China, 1949-1977.

Discussions and presentations

Assessment:

  • quizzes
  • Essay Exam 4
  • Discussions and Presentations

Unit VI: A Generation of Vietnam (February 16- March 20)

Readings

  • Keylor, 369-413
  • LaFeber, chs. 7-11.
  • Griffith, chs. 4-9.

Stone

  • Chapter 6: JFK: To the Bring
  • Chapter 7: Johnson, Nixon, and Vietnam: Reversal of Fortune

Discussions and presentations

Assessments:

  • quizzes
  • Essay Exam 5
  • Discussions and presentations

Unit VII: The End of the Cold War (March 23-May 1)

Readings

  • Keylor, pp. 432-592
  • LaFeber, chs. 11-12.
  • Skidmore, ch. 11 (recommended)
  • Griffith, chs. 10-14.

Stone

  • Chapter 8: Reagan, Gorbachev & the Third World – Rise of the Right
  • Chapter 9: Bush and Clinton: Squandered Peace – New World Order

Assessment:

  • quizzes
  • Essay Exam 6
  • Discussions and presentations.

STUDENT EVALUATION

Grading for the Fall Semester will be based on the following criteria:

  • Essay exams (55%)
  • Internal Assessment (20%)
  • Plan of Investigation (5%)
  • Classroom Presentation (10 %)
  • Quizzes and participation (10%)

Grading for the Spring Semester will be based on the following criteria:

  • Essay exams, including Paper 1 document analysis (55%)
  • Internal Assessment (20%)[*]
  • Classroom Presentation (10%)
  • Quizzes and participation (15%)

The following grading scale applies:90% - 100% = A

80% - 89% = B

70% - 79% = C

60% - 69% = D

Below 60% = F

**No extra credit will be given or accepted for grading purposes**

**All deadlines are final**

The purpose of grading in an advanced level history course is to provide students with metrics that will correspond to those that they will experience at the university level. Because the IB curriculum and assessment criteria closely parallel those used by major universities, achievement on the IB exam may result in a positive grade change for those students whose course grades are lower than their achievement on the IB exam. For those students, the following grade changes apply for both or either semester in which student assessment was below the achievement on the IB exam.

  • An IB subject score of 5will raise the student’s grade ONE letter grade for ONE semester. The highest grade possible is a B.
  • An IB subject score of 6-7 will raise the student’s grade ONE letter grade for BOTH semesters. The highest grade possible is an A-.

This grading policy, however, is a reasonable courtesy extended by the instructor with the permission of the school administration. The instructor reserves the right to withhold grade changes for students whose participation (including attendance), diligence, or behavior in class does not warrant this courtesy.

Quizzes will occur on a regular basis once the class begins to engage the curriculum related to Papers 1, 2, and 3. Most of the questions for the quizzes will relate to reading materials from the Keylor text. Quizzes will be assessed on a pass/fail basis. In addition, every third quiz score will be dropped. Because of the policy for dropping quizzes, there will be no make-up quizzes under any circumstances.

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[*]The grade from the Internal Assessment carries over from the first semester despite the fact that the assignment is completed in the first semester. It is important to carry over this grade so that the student and instructor have a proper foundation for evaluating the overall performance of the candidate with reference to all components of the IB Higher Level History curriculum. NB: Plagiarized Internal Assessments are NOT eligible for revision.