High School for Environmental Studies
AP World History Syllabus 2014-2015
Instructor: Mrs. Compton
Contact Information:
Office: Humanities Office, room 2032
Overview: AP World History (APWH) is based on a multi-perspective global approach; students should have considerable analytical, research, and self-disciplinary skills. Students will be reading, discussing, and analyzing secondary and primary sources, as well as literary sources from the various cultures and time periods explored. The course is designed to encourage self-direction and self-discipline among the students. Socratic discussion, position papers, lectures, and student-led presentations will enhance the goals of the course to provide a rigorous and challenging curriculum. Course evaluations will consist of presentations, analytical essays, document-based questions (DBQs), position papers, and various historiographic assessments. By focusing on a student centered learning environment with independent ideas, constant writing and analytical exercises, students will refine their skills in preparation for the Advanced Placement World History Exam.
General Assignment Expectations: The expectations for APWH assignments may be much greater than you may have experienced in your previous class. Your answers to all assignments should be more analytical than descriptive, and should never be copied directly from the book!
All major assignments for APWH must be typed, Times New Roman font, and double spaced, or neatly written in blue or black ink on loose-leaf paper (if I cannot read your handwriting, your assignment will not be graded). Your writing should be clear and concise, Writing effectively for a college-level history course requires you to include the most relevant and germane information. Overly verbose writing will cost you time and could potentially negatively impact your grade. Your answers should tie in not only specific ideas but also the larger picture. Remember, in AP World History we are looking for themes and generalities, so your answers should reflect this type of thinking.
Course Text and Other Reading:
· Main Text: Bulliet, Richard. The Earth and it’s Peoples. United States: Wadsworth Publishing
· Alternate Texts (with primary source material):
o Bentley, Jerry H and Ziegler, Herbert F. 2011. Traditions and Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past. 5th ed. AP ed. McGraw Hill.
o Strayer, Robert W. 2011. Ways of the World: A Global History with Sources. Bedford/St. Martins.
· Primary Source Texts:
o Sterns, Peter N; Gosch, Stephen S; Grieshaber, Erwin P. Documents in World History, 5th Edition, Volumes I and II. 2009. Pearson Education.
· Secondary Source Texts:
o Mitchell, Joseph R; Mitchell, Helen Buss. Taking Sides: Clashing Views in World History. 3rd Edition. Volumes I and II. 2010. McGraw Hill.
o Sterns, Peter N. Cultures in Motion: Mapping Key Contacts and Their Imprints in World History. 2001. Yale University Press.
o Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. 1999. W.W. Norton & Company.
Course Themes: There are 5 major course themes that we will be exploring in AP World History. Because of the breadth and scope of World History content, the 5 themes will be applied and examined throughout the course so that we may explore the common threads that exist in human history. AP World history focuses on the “big picture” of world history—comparing and contrasting different cultures, and examining continuity and change over time. We will be using the acronym SPICE to organize these themes.
Social—Development and Transformation of Social Structures
· Gender roles and relations
· Family and kinship
· Racial and ethnic constructions
· Social and economic classes
Political—State Building, Expansion, and Conflict
· Political structures and forms of governance
· Empires
· Nations and nationalism
· Revolts and revolutions
· Regional, transregional, and global structures and organizations
Interaction Between Humans and the Environment
· Demography and disease
· Migration
· Patterns of settlement
· Technology
Cultural—Development and Interaction of Cultures
· Religions
· Belief Systems, philosophies, and ideologies
· Science and technology
· The arts and architecture
Economic—Creation, Expansion, and Interaction of Economic Systems
· Agricultural and pastoral production
· Trade and commerce
· Labor systems
· Industrialization
· Capitalism and socialism
Historical Periodization: The AP World History course is broken down into 6 chronological periods. Although historians have often struggled with dividing history into such periods because it gives preference to certain cultures and developments, it is necessary to structure the course. The period titles, date ranges, and instructional importance and assessment weighting follows:
Period / Period Title / Date Range / Weight1 / Technological and Environmental Transformations / To c. 600 B.C.E. / 5%
2 / Organization and Reorganization of Human Societies / c. 600 B.C.E. to c. 600 C.E. / 15%
3 / Regional and Transregional Interactions / c. 600 C.E. to c. 1450 / 20%
4 / Global Interactions / c. 1450 to c. 1750 / 20%
5 / Industrialization and Global Integration / c. 1750 to c. 1900 / 20%
6 / Accelerating Global Change and Realignments / c. 1900 to the Present / 20%
Because this is a 2-year course, we will begin with Period 4, Global Interactions. You are responsible for the content covered in Periods 1-3 for the AP Exam. These will be reviewed briefly at the end of the year.
Homework:
1. Homework assignments are designed to reinforce material covered in class or to prepare for the next day’s work. Written assignments will be collected and graded. Reading assignments will be checked with a brief reading quiz given at the beginning of class. Students that miss a reading quiz because of an excused absence are required to complete all the of the study questions for the assigned reading. Make-up reading quizzes will not be given.
2. Essays are a critical part of this course and require students to master three specific skills: document analysis, comparative analysis, and change-over-time analysis. Practicing these skills leads to success on the AP exam while improving writing skills in all subject areas. Short projects such as presentations, research essays, and ongoing notebook checks are part of this category.
3. In addition to the reading quizzes, other quizzes (announced and unannounced) will be given throughout each unit. These may be in either multiple choice or essay format.
4. Examinations are given at the conclusion of each unit and include a variety of questions designed to assess students’ mastery of the materials and skills taught in each unit. These examinations will include a combination of short answer, short essay, and essay questions, some of which will be based on documents, maps, graphs, charts, or other visual sources.
5. A history notebook will be maintained by all students in AP World History throughout the year. Organized as a right and a left side, students will keep all lecture and reading notes as assigned in the notebook. Also many handouts will be included in this notebook. Students will interact with their notes by developing a concept or skill on the left side, next to the notes they have taken. Unannounced notebook checks will be included in the essay/project category. More information on this will be distributed in class on the first day.
6. Class participation is an important part of any course. Students are expected to participate in all class discussions, seminars, and debates. Additionally, absences and lateness will be reflected in the participation grade as well as other off-task behaviors such as talking off topic, doing other class homework, writing notes to classmates, or in not participating at all during a class or classes.
Classroom Policies and Procedures
A. Materials: All students are expected to bring their textbook, a pen, notebook, and binder to class each time unless otherwise advised. Students will generally need the following supplies for class:
§ Three-ring binder
§ Filler paper
§ Black or blue pen
§ Lead pen or pencil
§ Colored pencils
B. Assignments
1. Homework will be randomly checked and/or collected. If a student misses a class because they were late to school or dismissed early, then they are responsible to hand in their assignment that same day. Homework may be done in pencil or blue/black pen or typed. Bringing homework to class on a USB does not mean it is “on-time.”
2. Students that were excused absent for a class may turn in the assignment that was due as well as the assignment they missed (by being absent) the next time the class meets. Students are responsible for getting notes and assignments from their classmates or by checking the class webpage. Write “Make Up” on the top of the assignment and place it in your class bin when turning it in.
3. Any assignment not turned in on time may be turned in by the end of the next consecutive calendar day for partial credit (50% deduction). Write “Late” at the top of the assignment. Remember that homework is not just checked for “completion” so a late assignment might earn less than 50% if incomplete or lacking in quality of work.
4. Assignments may be written in pencil or blue or black ink only on white, lined filler paper (8 ½ by 11). Write your name, date, and class on the upper right hand side and the title of the assignment on the first line on the left side of your paper.
5. In class essays are handwritten, on filler paper, in blue or black ink only. Essays assigned for homework may be neatly written or typed.
C. Unit Exams
1. Write in blue or black ink only. Use filler paper to write any exam essay.
2. Students are responsible for making up missed tests if the absence is excused. Make up tests are given after school and you have one week to make up this test.
3. Semester exams will be given and weighted more highly than other exams for a student’s final semester grade. Students will also take a full mock exam in April, before the actual AP test is administered in May that will count as their second semester exam.
D. Quizzes
1. Write in blue or black ink only on filler paper.
2. Based on the format, quizzes vary in length and time. The longest type of quiz will be an essay quiz (to simulate the AP Exam). Students that are excused absent on the day of a quiz are responsible for making up the quiz the very next day (if they return to school the next consecutive day for example). Contact Mrs. Compton immediately to schedule your make up quiz.
3. Reading quizzes announce themselves whenever students are assigned specific readings as part of their homework assignments.
E. Class Rules
1. Be Prepared
2. Be seated before class begins.
3. Respect yourself and others
4. No food or drink in class.
5. Observe other rules as stated in the HSES student handbook.
Sample Assignments and Instructions:
· Current Events Assignment
Students will be required to identify an article from a newspaper (The New York Times, Washington Post) or a magazine (Newsweek, The Economist). Then they will pick a recurring theme (impact of technology on societies) and explain how the article or event in the article relates/connects to the theme. Students will be responsible for identifying continuities and changes throughout history, comparing and contrasting current and historical events. This explanation is written on filler paper, the article attached, and is placed in the class bin by the end of the due date.
· Generic Annotated Trace/Timeline Assignments
Select one of the AP World History themes and 10 events for the time period assigned that the show the largest changes related to that theme for the time period and place each on the timeline. The annotations go below the timeline and explain why each event was significant to world history, as well as why the events might indicate a specific periodization. At the very bottom of the page, write a thesis statement about how the changes in the “theme” in this period show continuity and change over time. An example of a thesis might be: “Although manufacturing technology rapidly changed in the nineteenth century, many farmers continued to use the same tools their ancestors developed in the past.” Remember to title the timeline.
· Generic Annotated Map Assignment
Take note of the large event or process assigned for the annotated map (for example industrialization, imperialism, World War II). Find 10 events related to that larger process or event and place them on the map. The annotations should go near the location on the map and explain why the event was important. Write a thesis statement at the bottom or on the back of the map on how the process or event shows continuity and change over time. Remember to title the map.
· Study Cards/Vocabulary Assignment
For each of the terms identified in each unit, write the term on the front of an index card; on the other side, write a definition, historical example, explain the historical significance of that example, and the general significance of the term for world history. Students may instead, if preferred, write the assignment on regular paper.
· Document Based Question Essay/DBQ Creation
Students will be responsible for writing essays that use a variety of primary source documents as evidence. In this essay, students will identify the veracity of the document, the point of view the document was written from, the purpose and/or intended audience of the documents, and the historic context of the document. Compose a well-organized essay that critically analyzes the documents presented and come to a conclusion about a historical event or problem. In addition, students will create their own Document Based Question Packets, which will include sources from different social sciences, including anthropology, archaeology, visual arts, literature, economics, geography and political science. Students must collect a variety of sources, including but not limited to written documents, maps, images, quantitative data (charts, graphs, tables), works of art. Students will then compose an essay answering a central question of their creation. (Component 15)
· Generic Instructions for Socratic Seminars
1. Understand the question(s) for the seminar.