VI. Curriculum Pacing

 

Course Overview by Timeframes, addressing main ideas (Subject to changes)

 

1. Foundations (5 weeks in fall)

      World Geography/Skills Overview

             Physical and environmental conditions. Draw the world; develop thinking skills for world cultures

             Distribution of populations and languages; Patterns of diffusion and independent invention

             Human development, languages, agriculture

      Early Civilizations

             Emergence of hominids and of Homo sapiens

             Distribution of language groups; Centers of agriculture and animal husbandry

             "Complex societies": Mesopotamia, Egypt, Harappa, early China

             Classical age: Mediterranean world, South and West Asia, East Asia

             Global connections in commerce and religion

      Late Antiquity and Continental Migrations.

             Roman and Han empires (management of empire and commerce); Migrations in Europe, Africa, and `Asia.

      Religion in the First Millennium.

             Christianity and its divisions; Buddhism in expansion; Local religious traditions

      Connections in Society and Economy.

             Commercial techniques (... or "technology and winds"); Indian Ocean commerce

 

2. 600-1450 (6 weeks)

      The World in 600. (2  weeks)

             Questions of periodization- why this time period? turning points within?

             Nature of philosophy and knowledge; Spread of Islam (General topics- Roots of European

             Renaissance, Muslim, Chinese, Hindu philosophy, Sundiata. 

             Questions of interpretation- cultural areas vs. nation-states, nomadic migrations vs. urban growth,

                  feudalism (in Europe and in Japan?),

             Renaissances around the world. A world economic system?

      Interregional Networks as a Theme throughout this period. (1 week)

             Trade : Indian Ocean trade, Trans-Saharan Trade Routes, Silk Road and Spice Routes across  Eurasia,

                 Intra- American trade

             Technology : military, transportation, communication

             Cultural change: movement of religious ideas and merchants, migrant communities

      Asserting Influence: Greater East Asia. (1 1/2 weeks)

             The Eurasian steppe- Mongol movement / Importance of the Song economic revolution

             Case Study: Chinese influence on Japan and its limits

      The Islamic World. (1 week)

             Role of Islam as a unifying cultural force in Eurasia and Africa;

             Islam's impact on the Sudanese kingdoms and West Africa; the Delhi Sultanate

             Impact of migrations and religious reform movements in expanding Islamic society

             Impact of Islam on the arts and sciences

 

      Changes in Christianity. (1 week)

             Restructuring of European society, including the growth of central monarchies in the west

             Division of Christendom into Eastern and Western Christian cultures

      Technological Achievements in Isolation: Case Studies of Amerindian Civilizations and

             Non-Islamic Africa. (1 week) Great Zimbabwe, Maya, Toltec, Aztec, Inca

      Demographic and environmental changes. (1 week)

             Using demographic indicators to "read history"

             Impact of nomadic migrations on Afro- Eurasia

             Migration of agricultural peoples

             Consequences of plague pandemics in the 14th century

 

3. 1450-1750 (5 weeks)

      Global Interaction (1 weeks)

             Exploration in the Americas (the three G's) Case studies: Spain, Aztec and Inca. Ottoman Empire  and the West;

                  Russia's interaction with Europe; Tokugawa Japan and Portugal; Mughal India and  the West; The Dutch and SE

                  Asia Fur trade in Americas

      Consequences of Encounter (1-2 weeks)

             Population changes (migrations, mortality and marriage: the three M's)

             Environmental change ( land use, agricultural product exchange, urbanization)

             Cultural interaction - Social hierarchy/ change

             Economic relationships - Mercantilism, Early capitalism- labor systems

      Growth and Stability of Empires ( 1-2 weeks)

             General empire building : political succession, involvement of segments of society, foreign affairs, commerce,

                  relationship between religion and state, military expansion

             Case studies: Europe- England and France; China: Ming and Qing; Ottoman; African empires  (case study Kongo,

                    Benin, Ono or Songhay)

      Developments in Knowledge and Culture (1-2weeks)

             Scientific Revolution (advances as well as limits on European knowledge)

             Enlightenment - Renaissance, Religion- Reformation, Astronomy, Politics

             Global causes and impacts of cultural change - Family/ social changes (Europe, China, Japan);Religion

                 (Indigenous religions in Americas and in Africa, Christianity in China); Foods (dietary changes in China, Europe,

                   sub-Saharan Africa);

             Trade- crops, porcelain, technologies

             Neoconfucianism (and reaction against) in China and Japan;

             Chinese literature: Dream of the Red Chamber and Journey to the West; Japanese theater (kabuki and bunraku)

             Developments and Exchanges in the arts; Mughal - cultural patronage, cultural conservatism (i.e. printing press);

             Russia- Peter the Great, Catherine the Great

 

4. 1750-1914 (6 weeks)

      Revolution and nation. (1 week)

             Migration and identity

             Revolution in America and Europe

      Demography and environment. (1 week)

             Population growth (Europe, Americas, East Asia) and decline (Africa)

             Declining death rates

             Changing family structures

             Forests, plains, and cultivable land

      Industry, trade, and technology. (1 weeks)

             International commercial competition

             Factory production

             Global linkages in production and transportation

             Emergence of industrial work forces

      Social change - emancipation. (1 weeks)

             Emergence of anti-slavery movements

             Movements for workers' emancipation

             Campaigns for emancipation of serfs in Russia and women in China

             Maintenance of African slavery under colonial rule

      Politics - Nations and Empires. (1 week)

             Coalescence of nations in Europe and the Americas

             Monarchy and republic

             Expansion of new empires

 

      The West. (1 week)

             The debate of the Ancients and the Moderns

             European notions of classification and progress

             Development of the idea of The West

 

5. 1914-PRESENT (5 weeks)

      Ideology (1 week)

             Political ways of looking at the world (Authoritarian states, Democracy, Fascism, Marxism)

             Economic systems (Socialism, Capitalism, Communism)

             Cultural lenses (feminism, postmodernism, religious etc.)

      Change: Politics and War (2 weeks)

             Revolution- Russia, China, Cuba, Iran - New forces of revolution and political innovations

             Dictatorship - Spanish Civil war (Franco), Chile (Allende, Pinochet),

             Stalinist Russia, Cultural Revolution in China

             Colonial rule and Decolonization- Interwar years (Overview and Case study of India)

             Independence Struggles (Ghana (Nkrumah) and Algeria)

             Decolonization: Overview and case study of two places (Vietnam & England in Africa)

             Break-up of the Soviet Union

             War - World Wars, Causes, Russian role, Japanese actions, Effects of wars outside Europe (in colonies and in

                   Pacific esp.), Nuclear proliferation; Ideological vs. Ethnic struggles

      Identity (2 weeks)

             Social Reform and Revolution - Issues of Gender, Race, Class and Age

             Global Culture and Science - Developments in global and regional cultures; MTV, Coca Cola, McDonalds.

             Use of English; Interactions between elite and popular culture and art; Impressionism/ cubism (Picasso); Artistic

                 Modernism; Existentialism, Freudian psychology

             Literary movements: post war (Orwell), post independence (Achebe); Global cultural forces and

             patterns of resistance; Mass communications; Education; Scientific Developments

             (Physics, Communications (radio, TV, movies, computers)).

             Human Rights - Universal Declaration of Human Rights

             The Holocausts (Bosnia, Jewish, Rwanda, Kosovo)

      Community: Social and Economic (1 weeks)

             Urbanization - Migration; Environmental impact; Literacy

             Global Economy - Great Depression- international repercussions

             Legacies of Colonialism in Africa, Asia and Latin America

             Technology/ global industrialization ;Pacific Rim; Multinational Corporations/ International

             Organizations-WTO, ASEAN, EU, OPEC, NAFTA); Environmental implications.

             International organizations (Third World, West, power balance) contrasted with the goals of international

                 organizations; League of Nations; United Nations; Others ( OAS, NATO);

             Case study: Population (statistics, medical revolution, urban population density)