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AP World History
Introduction: Advance Placement World History is a two semester course. It will start with the nomadic
period and conclude with the world today. The course is built around the investigation of five specific
themes. These themes will be researched using key concepts as the class covers distinct chronological
periods. AP world History is the equivalent of a survey college course. The same tactics used to succeed
in college must be used be used in this class; discipline, interaction, and analysis.
The course is designed with three overarching principles: college placement, preparation, and
enjoyment. First, it is designed to prepare students for success, not only on the AP test, but also in
higher-level college classes. Second, it is designed to further your success in high school by emphasizing
the skills of analysis and thematic thinking. Third, it is the attempt of this class to bring about enjoyment
in learning and studying history and the human interactions that make up all of world history.
Themes: Viewing any history class thematically is important because it allows the current time frame of
history to better understand the motivations and reasons of the ancients. Since all this class is designed
on the interactions of human beings from nomadic peoples to today’s high paced city dweller it is
important that we have tools to connect the wide scope of years. These “tools” are called themes. They
can be applied to any history course taken and can be remembered with the acronym “SPICE.”
Social: Development and transformation of social structures
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Gender roles and relations
Family and kinship
Racial and ethnic constructions
Social and economic classes
Political: State building, expansion, and conflict
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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
Culture: Development and Interaction of Cultures
Religions
Belief systems, philosophies, and ideologies
Science and technology
The arts and architecture
Economy: Creation, expansion and interaction of economic systems
Agricultural and pastoral production
Trade and commerce
Labor systems
Industrialization
Capitalism and socialism
AP World History
Themes: Students in this course will learn to view history with a wide lens. It is based on a thematic
approach versus just learning specific peoples and dates. The AP world History course is organized
around five themes. These themes are used to connect the nomadic people of ancient to the current
student today. The themes are also an organizational tool.