AP World History Syllabus - Download Now DOC

							                               Modern World History 2011-2012
Jonathan King
Office: Bliss 320
Jonathan.King@lakesideschool.org
206.440-2732
Website: http://teachers.lakesideschool.org/us/history/king/default.htm

One never goes so far as when one doesn't know where one is going.
--Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

I actually like history and find it fascinating! It’s all about human beings and their lives. It’s a puzzle that
is constantly shifting. The skills you learn from studying it will help you navigate your way through life,
help make sense of what is happening in the world, and deepen your understanding of and
communication with other people.

I.     Course Description
This course is survey of Modern World History from about 1200 CE to 1800 CE. Our emphasis will be
on using a global perspective to look at the ways in which people, ideas, and societies have been
connected through time. Basically this course sets itself an impossible goal. There is no way that we can
possibly cover this time period adequately in the one school year. That said, we can accomplish some
valuable things! We can explore the past while finding its relevance to the present using current events
and historical readings. We can also use art, literature, poetry, and film to explore historical
developments. We can find out how to interpret different types of historical evidence.

II.     What is World History?
World history is the study of patterns of human interaction with a particular focus on change over
time, global exchange, and those phenomena that connect people, places and ideas across regional
boundaries. By focusing on human interaction on all levels we can look at the details of individual
lives and use this to see the big picture. World history also gives us a perspective of the past that goes
beyond a national or regional viewpoint.

III.     Course Philosophy and Approach
My priority is fostering your ability to think in Big Picture terms and to use evidence from a variety of
sources, not just written documents. What, for example, does studying the layout and architecture of
Paris in 1789 tell us about the storming of the Bastille that set off the French Revolution? You will read
and evaluate primary- and secondary-source materials, engage in classroom discussions, acquire a good
foundation of geographic skills, practice writing,, create PowerPoint presentations, and practice oral-
presentation skills through debates, skits, and presentations both in front of the whole class an in small
groups.

IV.     Required Readings
Christian, David This Fleeting World (summer reading)
Johnson, Donald James, and Johnson, Jean Elliott The Human Drama from 1450-1900 (text)
Reilly, Kevin Worlds of History Volume Two: Since 1400 (text)
Voltaire, Candide
Supplemental readings, as assigned.


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V.     Major Units of Study
(These are subject to change.)
    Unit 1: Intro to World History and Thinking as Historians
    Unit 2: The World, Circa 1300
    Unit 3: Early Modern Empires and States 1400-1650
    Unit 4: Global Economic Integration, Maritime Empires & the Americas 1450-1700
    Unit 5: Gender Roles and the Family in the Modern World
    Unit 6: “Modern Ideas”, the Enlightenment and Revolutions”
    Unit 7: The Industrial Revolution & European Capitalism
    Unit 8: Research Project/Paper

VI Major Assignments, Tests, and Grades

Grading
Your grade will be based on a variety of activities inside and outside of class, including:

      Tests, quizzes and a year-end final assignment (TBD)
      Written papers and projects
      Engagement in class, particularly discussions and group work
      Group and individual projects
      Periodic checks of notes

Projects/ Papers/ Presentations
Students will be expected to complete at least one major assignment each term. These will require
research and writing outside of class. All projects demand long-range planning and effort. There will
be some shorter projects as well. A major research project will take place during the second half of the
year.

Tests
Test multiple choice, multiple choice, map identification, short answer, essay, or a combination. We
will usually have a test at the end of a unit, often on related group of readings and activities. Tests
must be your individual work, while projects and some papers will be group or individual work.
Quizzes may be unannounced, but also long as you are keeping up with the work, you should do fine.
I will prepare Study Guides to help you study for tests. These are for your use. I will not collect or
grade them.

Writing
We will do a variety of writing assignment in this class. Papers may be major or minor, in-class or
outside of class. In some cases, you will have a chance to draft and rewrite. You will be graded on
organization and analytical content as well as sentence and paragraph construction. Papers may also be
part of a project assignment. I may ask you to journal write as well.

VII.   Class Policies:

Attendance
Your attendance matters. We only meet as a class for 2 hours and 45 minutes/week. Missing class
means you miss valuable discussions and activities which help to deepen your understanding of the
material. If you are absent, please make every attempt to complete the necessary assignment using

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your syllabus, contact a fellow student to find out what the missing work is, or email me. It is your
responsibility to collect make-up hand-outs when you return. Tests should be made up within one
week of returning to school. If there is a major assignment due on the day you are absent, please
email me with an explanation asap.

Preparedness
    You should come to class ready to work. Notebooks must be kept neat and in order.. Three-
      ring binders for papers and handouts are required. You should keep these papers in order.
    You are also expected to participate actively in class discussions, group activities, and homework
      review. This will be part of your grade. I realize that this can be more difficult for some students
      than others and I will try to take this into account
    Comments, assignments, and discussions in class and on-line should reflect respect for one
      another and each other’s ideas: cooperation with peers; and conscientiousness about the world
      around you.

Discussion and participation
Expressing your ideas and participating in class is an important part of your work. I will evaluate your
engagement in our class discussions as part of your quarter and semester grade. As you lead or
participate in discussions, think about the type of questions or comments you want to generate from
the class.
    Level 1: comments on the factual content of readings. What did it say? Who wrote this and
        when?
    Level 2: thoughts on how this reading links with something else. Are there other events like it in
        history? Is there a common theme or pattern here? Did the author have a bias or a direction in
        which to take us? What happened because of this?
    Level 3: evaluation of the readings and developing larger concepts. Is this good or bad? Who
        benefits and who loses—and what? How did this affect history? What could have been
        different? What if this had not happened? Why do we care about this? Is it still important in
        some way?

What are Participation and Engagement ?
Engagement includes arriving on time for class, being prepared; participating actively in discussions;
successfully completing all assignments graded or not.
        “… arriving for class on time …”
           Arriving on time is pretty much self-explanatory. If you are unavoidably detained, e.g.
           another teacher lets you out late, come in quietly and speak to me about it after class.
        “… being prepared …”
           You are prepared if you’ve done any required work ahead of time, including printing out
           assignments that need to be submitted or notes that need to be referred to.




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         “… participating actively in discussions …”
         A very important component of your performance as a history student: is the ability to listen
         carefully and respond to the ideas of your classmates as well as the instructor. When
         determining your Engagement grades, I will place significant emphasis on the quality (not
         quantity!) of your class participation. If, for example, you are repeating what someone else
         has already said, you are not participating effectively.
        “…successfully completing all assignments, including many that are not graded.”
         You can’t participate meaningfully if you haven’t done your assignments. Many routine
         assignments are not graded, but that doesn’t mean you can be careless with them. They will
         affect your grade on larger tests and assignments as well as your ability to participate in class.

Reading Notes are required. Do them for each reading assignment. If you want help on note taking,
I’d be happy to help. I will probably check your notes from time to time. Note taking is really for
your benefit. It will help you retain and understand what you read and will save you time on tests and
writing assignments.

Academic Integrity
I expect each of you to comply with community expectations here at Lakeside. Failure to follow these
underlying guidelines here at the Upper School will result in no credit given for assignments. This
includes cheating as well as plagiarism. If you have any question about attribution of sources (either
from on-line sources, text sources or peers), please feel free to ask ahead of time. Consider reading the
Bedford Guide on Avoiding Plagiarism.

Work Policy
Students can expect to have a homework assignment for each class that will be either discussed or
collected in class. Homework will include reading (@30 pages a week), note-taking, map work,
current events, and thought pieces or journaling. Work must be neat and show reasonable effort and
thought. Typing is always preferred and usually required. Expect about 45 minutes of homework for
each class preparation, slightly more during project season. I do understand that extenuating
circumstances sometimes get in the way of good intentions. Please speak to me at least 24 hours in
advance for major assignments, if you foresee a problem.

Laptop Policy
Laptops are a part of the classroom at Lakeside and they are great tools. Like almost any technology,
they can be misused. I don’t want you using your laptop for non-class related activities. This includes
playing games, I’Ming, Facebooking, shopping, emailing or looking at Gawker.com. That said, I fully
expect that each of you will fail to resist the lure of the screen at some point during the year and that
there will be some who will do it repeatedly. Repeated offenses will lower your participation grades.

Late work
If you are going to be late turning in your homework or other assignments because of extenuating
circumstances, please let me know in advance—I will work with you to make accommodations.
Longer-term assignments will be accepted late but will be penalized 10% for each day beyond the due
date, unless you’ve talked with me. Keeping up with the assignments, including reading and note-
taking for discussion is key to success in this class.

Extra help
I will gladly provide extra help. Just talk to me or email me to set up a time. I am very accessible by
email. Please do not hesitate to get assignments and clarification by email.
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