World History

Course Description: Students will also study the major turning points that shaped the modern world, from the late eighteenth century through the present, including the cause and course of the two world wars. Students will trace the rise of democratic ideas and develop an understanding of the historical roots of current world issues, especially as they pertain to international relations. The students will also extrapolate from the American experience that democratic ideals are often achieved at a high price, remain vulnerable, and are not practiced everywhere in the world. Students will develop an understanding of current world issues and relate them to their historical, geographic, political, economic, and cultural contexts. And lastly, students will consider multiple accounts of events in order to understand international relations from a variety of perspectives.
During the course students will:
• Relate the moral and ethical principles in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, in Judaism, and in Christianity to the development of Western political thought.
• Compare and contrast the Glorious Revolution of England, the American Revolution, and the French Revolution and their enduring effects worldwide on the political expectations for self-government and individual liberty.
• Analyze the effects of the Industrial Revolution in England, France, Germany, Japan, and the United States.
• Analyze patterns of global change in the era of New Imperialism in at least two of the following regions or countries: Africa, Southeast Asia, China, India, Latin America, and the Philippines.
• Analyze the causes and course of the First World War.
• Analyze the effects of the First World War.
• Analyze the rise of totalitarian governments after World War I.
• Analyze the causes and consequences of World War II.
• Analyze the international developments in the post-World World War II world.
• Analyze instances of nation-building in the contemporary world in at least two of the following regions or countries: the Middle East, Africa, Mexico and other parts of Latin America, and China.
• Analyze the integration of countries into the world economy and the information, technological, and communications revolutions (e.g., television, satellites, computers).