Download World History/World Geography Syllabus Mrs

World History/World Geography Syllabus
Mrs. Murphy
Course Goal: This is a survey course of world history and world geography.
Attention will be given to major periods of history and development of world
civilizations. The student will be able to discuss, comprehend, write and effectively
communicate about events in the history of the world and the cultures that have
resulted from that development.
In addition to the textbooks, we will also be reading A World Lit Only By Fire by
William Manchester. All students will need to purchase a copy of the book and
reading must be complete by November 28th. There will be some essays during the
course as well as two projects and a six page research paper. Information on these
special projects will be handed out in class in time to prepare.
Topics to be covered:
8000 BCE to 900 CE 8/10-8/17
Rise of agriculture and agricultural civilization
The Neolithic Revolution
Mesopotamia
River Valley Civilizations
The Classical Period
Classical period in China
Art, culture and physical geography
World religions 8/18- 8/30
Political Institutions
Religions and Cultures
Hinduism
Buddhism
Basic Judaism
Confusianism and Daoism
Classical Civilization: India
Art, Culture and Geography
Essay 8/31
The Greeks and the Romans 9/1-9/9
Essay- What is an empire? 9/12
Greek and Roman architecture
Geography of Greece and Rome
Culture
The decline and fall of the Greeks and Romans
Test 9/12
The Han Empire and the Gupta Empire 9/13-9/21
Comparing empires to Rome
The Persian tradition
Engineering in major empires
Test 9/22
600-1450 CE 9/23-9/30
Rise and spread of Islam
The Arabian world
Civilizations and gender
Early Abbasid Era
Artistic refinement, physical geography
Islam’s global expansion
African Society
Latin West and Song empire
Vikings
Silk Road
Project Due 10/3
Byzantine Empire 10/3- 10/7
The spread of Civilization in Europe
Russian Christianity
Medieval Europe and the world 10/7-10/21
The Crusades
Essay on religious views 10/20
Schism
Aztecs
Archeology
The Incas
The Americas
Geography of each region
Project on either the crusades, the Aztecs or Incas due 10/21
Test 10/21
Renaissance 10/24-31
Europe
Tang and Song Dynasties
Poetry/ art influences in West and East
Comparing feudalism systems
Essay on period due 10/31
The Spread of Chinese Civilization 11/1-11/8
Imperial Age Japan
Warrior Dominance
Korea
Vietnam
Geography of each country
Nomadic challenges
Mongol Empire 11/9-11/17
Ghenghis Khan
Mongol drive to the west
Black Death
Changing world order
Ming treasure ships
Calvinism
Art Influences
Test 11/30 on A World Lit Only By Fire
1450-1750 CE 12/1-12/9
Italian Rennaisance
Western expansion
Colnial expansion
Versailles
European conqistadors
1750- 1914 1/5-1/22
Europe and the world
Russia under the Tsars
Geography of Russia
Spaniards and Portuguese
Geography of Spain and Portugal
Brazil: Plantations/geography
Colonial America
Latin American civilization and geography
Test 1/23
Slave trade and Africa 1/26-2/3
African societies
Geography of Africa
Slavery and human society
Africa and the African Diaspora
Essay 2/3
The Ottoman Empire 2/6- 2/10
Frontier warriors
Shi’a Challenge
Gunpowder empires
Asian trading
Japanese reunification
The Age of Revolution 2/13- 2/17
The French Revolution
Napoleon
The Industrial Revolution
The US during this time
Test 2/28
Pre WW1 2/27-3/8
Diplomatic Tensions
Land Empires in Asia
European world dominance
Latin American nations and the world
Latin America Geography
Fall of the Qing Empire
Russian revolution
Turkey and geography
The Great War 3/9- 3/16
Causes of WWI
The war
The 1920’s
Test 3/16
The Great Depression 3/19-3/23
Decline of the west
Latin America
Stalinism
Military in Japan
The depression in America
Essay 3/23
WWII 3/26-4/12
Causes of WWII
The war
The Holocaust
Japan during and after
New leadership
Art project due 4/13
Test 4/13
The Cold War 4/16-4/20
Allies, including geography of Canada, Australia and New Zealand
New Soviet culture
Latin America after WWII
Civil Rights and the 60’s 4/30-5/4
Civil rights movement
Kennedy and Martin Luther King
Cuban Missile Crisis
Space exploration
20th and 21st Centuries 5/5/7-5/27
Cultural Creativity
Pacific rim growth
Communism in the 20th century
Terrorism, current issues
Important historical figure essay due 5/16
Research paper due 5/20
Final exam