World History Course Themes

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orld History 10 is a thematically designed course. Class activities and research proj= ects reinforce a common theme in history, enabling students to make connections between world events across time and place, and to interpret human response= s to these events in literature, art, music and drama. The course spans classical Greece to the present with an emphasis on the twentieth century. The first term of= the class will center on themes one through three below; the second term will center on themes four through six.

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Theme 1: “HUMAN QUEST”

Guiding Questions

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Projects=

* Who = are we?

* What= do all humans have in common?

* What= do we leave behind?

* What= do we hope for?

* Why = do we move?

* How = do art, music and literature reflect the times and express values?

* Introduction to the discipline of history and its relationship to the humanities and social sciences

* Movement & migration across = time and place

* Five “themes” of geo= graphy with case study: I= ndonesia

* O= ral History Project: “= ;Exploring Another’s Journey”: interview with an immigrant; reflective paper; and visual representation.

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Theme 2: “QUEST FOR DEMOCRACY”=

Guiding Questions

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Projects=

* What= is the individual’s role/duty in society?

* What is an appropriate relationship between individuals and their rulers or religious authorities?

* Are = humans capable of governing themselves?

* What= are human rights? To what are we entitled?

* What options to individuals have to protect against oppression and tyranny?

* Orig= ins and history of democracy in the western world

* Classical = Greece and Rome; Middle Ages, Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution wi= th comparisons to the American Revolution

* Reli= gion, ethics and justice across the ages

* Art = & music in the western world

* Non-Western democracies: the Iroquois and the Igbo (Nigeria)

* Modern-Day, Greek-Style Tragedy (= group project)

* Canterbury Tales: a literary lens into Med= ieval society (mini-project)

* Biography Box (individual researc= h

project)

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Theme 3: “QUEST FOR WEALTH”   19^th- & 20^th-Century Materialism=

Guiding Questions

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Projects=

*What = is progress? Who does it help = and hurt?

*What = are the costs and benefits of living in a “material world”?

*What motivates colonial expansion?

*What = is the impact of imperialism on indigenous peoples?

*Indus= trial Revolution: causes and effects

*Capit= alism vs. Socialism

*Luddites vs. Mechanization

*Class struggles

*Imper= ialism

*Case = Study: The British in Ind= ia and Indian Nationalism

*Power Loom on Trial simulation

Theme 4: “QUEST FOR TRUTH in = the 20^th CENTURY”

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Guiding Questions

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Projects=

* Is it human nature to be violent?

* When= and why does propaganda have a strong influence over individuals?<= /span>

* How = do individuals respond to crisis?

* How = is “truth” clouded or clarified by nationalism?

* What= or who creates enmity between people?

* Human behavior: conformity and altruism

* The = power of propaganda and dehumanizing images

* Nationalism: bookends of the 20^th century

* Self-determination

* Case Studies: World War I; Rwanda; Iraq (a longer historical view)

* Vers= ailles Peace Conference (simulation)

* Oral Histo= ry Project contined…

* Book Club (start)

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Theme 5: “QUEST FOR POWERR= 21; Revolution, War, Genocide, & Hope

Guiding Questions

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Projects=

* Why = do individuals and nations seek power?

* Unde= r what conditions are people willing to place their trust and faith in an absolu= te ruler?

* What motivates people to join revolutionary movements?

* Does= power corrupt?

* What= are the costs and benefits of totalitarian rule?

* Revolutions: Mexican, Russian, Chinese, Cambodian

* Totalitarianism: Stalin, Hitler, Mao,   Pol Pot

* Comm= unism and Fascism

* Geno= cide: Holocaust, Kymer Rouge

* War:= WWII, Cold War

* 20th-Century Investigation (individual research paper and creative respon= se)

* Socr= atic Seminar on Elie Wiesel&#= 8217;s memoir, Night

* Anal= ytical Essay: Reflections on Power

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Theme 6: “QUEST FOR HOME in O= UR GLOBAL VILLAGE”

Guiding Questions

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Projects=

* What= is "home"?

* How is our world increasingly a “glo= bal village”?

* What hap= pens when people are displaced from their homeland?

* Is it possible to share land with those who are different from us?

* What= leads to territorial conflicts?

* Israel: Zionism, Statehood, Palestinian Conflict and Prospects for Peace

* South Africa: Apartheid

And, time permitting:

* The Balkans Today: Ethnic Zones

* Amaz= onian Rainforest: Whose Home Is It? A Local, National, and Global Dilemma

* Area Studies: presentations on non-western contemporary cultures and conflicts= OR…

* Land= mines Conference

* World History Portfolio with selected work and reflections on course themes (individual project)<= /b>

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