COLLIERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL, AP WORLD HISTORY
Course Description/Objective
The purpose of the AP World History course is to develop greater understanding of the
evolution of global processes and contacts in interaction with different societies. The
course highlights the nature of changes in international frameworks and their causes
and consequences, as well as comparisons among major societies. In simpler
terms, the course presents a broad view of the history of the world between 8000 BCE
to the present in order to understand from where we've come and to better predict where
we are going.
Chronological Boundaries of the Course
The following is an approximate number of weeks per content era leading up to the exam.
Introduction, Writing instruction, Map study 1 week
Foundations (8000 BCE – 600 CE) 5 weeks
600 – 1450 7 weeks
1450 --1750 7 weeks
1750 – 1914 7 weeks
1914 -- the present 7 weeks
Review and course evaluation 2 weeks
Themes: AP World History highlights six overarching themes. These themes will
serve as the unifying threads throughout the course. They are:
1. Impact of interaction among major societies (trade, systems of international
exchange, war, and diplomacy).
2. The relationship of change and continuity across the world history periods.
3. Impact of technology and demography on people and the environment (population
growth and decline, disease, manufacturing, migrations, agriculture, weaponry).
4. Systems of social structure and gender structure (comparing major features within
and among societies and assessing change).
5. Cultural and intellectual developments and interactions among and within
societies.
6. Changes in functions and structures of states and in attitudes toward states and
political identities (political culture), including the emergence of the nation-state (types
of political organization).
Habits of Mind or Skills: The following skills will be used:
1. Constructing and evaluating arguments
2. Using evidence appropriately
3. Using documents appropriately (primary and secondary source)
4. Assessing issues of change and continuity over time
5. Enhancing the capacity to handle a diversity of interpretations
Additionally you will develop the ability to:
A) See global patterns over time and space while connecting and traversing
local and global particularities. B) Compare within and among societies. C) Assess
claims of universal standards while remaining aware of human commonalities and
differences; putting culturally diverse ideas and values in historical context, not
suspending judgment but developing understanding through documents.
The AP Exam will consist of:
1. Multiple-choice 70 questions 55 minutes
2. Document-based question 1 question 50 minutes
3. Change-over-time essay 1 question 40 minutes
4. Comparative essay 1 question 40 minutes
Necessary Supplies:
1. A (3 in.) 3-ring binder (exclusively for this course)
2. Black or blue pens, #2 pencils, colored pencils
3 Text book, World Civilizations, AP Edition by Stearns, Adas, Schwartz, and Gilbert
4 Dividers for class notes, sample questions, documents, maps and handouts
5. Outside reading journal – spiral bound notebook
Student Responsibilities:
1. Courtesy and respect for all people at all times.
2. Come to class daily with completed work and all necessary supplies.
3. See me for extra help as often as you need it! Schedule time with me after school.
Do not wait until it is too late. I am available after school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays,
and Thursdays.
4. Follow school policies as set forth in the student handbook.
5. Complete all summer work.
6. Email me with problems and concerns at shines@scsk12.org
Advanced Placement World History Course Outline
The following developments will be discussed within the assigned course sections:
Foundations: 8000 BCE to 600 CE
1. From human prehistory to the early civilizations
2. Classical civilization: China
3. Classical civilization: India
4. Classical civilization in the Mediterranean: Greece and Rome
5. The classical period: directions, diversities, and declines by 500 BCE
600 – 1450
6. The first global civilization: the rise and spread of Islam
7. The Abbasid decline and the spread of Islamic civilization to South Asia and
Southeast Asia
8. African civilizations and the spread of Islam
9. Civilization in eastern Europe: Byzantium and Orthodox Europe
10. A new civilization emerges in Western Europe
11. The Americas on the eve of invasion
12. Reunification and Renaissance in Chinese civilization: the era of the Tang and
Song dynasties
13. The spread of Chinese civilization: Japan, Korea, and Vietnam
14. The last nomadic challenges: from Chinggis Khan to Timur
15. The West and the changing world balance
1450 – 1750
16. The world economy
17. The transformation of the West
18. The rise of Russia
19. Early Latin America
20. Africa and Africans in the age of the Atlantic slave trade
21. The Muslim Empires
22. Asian transitions in an age of global change
1750 – 1914
23. The emergence of industrial society in the West
24. Industrialization and imperialism: the making of the European global order
25. The consolidation of Latin America, 1830-1920
26. Civilizations in crisis: the Ottoman empire, the Islamic heartlands and Qing
China
27. Russia and Japan: industrialization outside the West
1914 -- Present
28. Descent into the abyss: World War I and the crisis of the European global order
29. The world in the 1920’s: changes to European dominance
30. The Great Depression and the authoritarian response
31. A second global conflict and the end of European world order
32. Western society and Eastern Europe in the decades of the Cold War
33. Latin America: Revolution and reaction into the 21st century
34. Africa, the Middle East, and Asia in the era of independence
35. Rebirth and revolution: nation building in East Asia and the Pacific Rim
36. Globalization and resistance: world history 1990 to the present
Course Goals:/Desired Outcomes/ Student Expectations
Grades
Grades will be calculated on a point system:
Essays and Tests ~ 100 pts
Class work/Homework 10-30 pts
Reading journal entries 10 pts
All homework assignments are due at the beginning of class.
Absences and Make-up Work
All work from an excused absence/school activity/college visit can be made up within
3 days after the student returns to class; this does NOT include previously posted,
long-term assignments. Those assignments will receive the grade of zero if not
turned in.
Make-up work: Missing work following an excused absence can be made up on
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays after school. All long-term assignments are
due the day assigned. They can be delivered by momma, friend, sled dog, Fed-Ex,
etc. Extraordinary crises are cause for exceptions, of course.
Class Behavior Expectations
1. Be on time.
2. Be prepared.
3. Be respectful.

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