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Unit Overviews
Unit 1: Foundations (8000 BC-500 CE)

September
This unit is really well labeled. It's difficult to discern right away, you sort of have to get to February and then look back, but there is so much happening in this (relatively brief) unit that lays the groundwork for a lot of things to come. This is especially true for western Europe and for China, so keep your eyes on those regions.

We'll start each unit with "Main Ideas", but as the year progresses, you tend to forget what they are, so the unit reviews will stay on this page so you can refresh your memory. They can, occasionally, be very important in essay construction. The big ticket items for the Foundations period are as follows. All of them are actually developments of a small section of the Foundations Period, the Classical Period (about 250 BCE-500CE).
 
bullet All but one of the major world belief systems are inventions of the Foundations  period. During the Classical Period we see a major shift away from polytheism to monotheism, and monotheism takes hold, and endures, though polytheism doesn't entirely disappear.
bullet Once we get past the major demarcation line of the Neolithic Revolution, all facets of civilization (as we'll define it) begin to emerge. This is NO coincidence. Among them; social inequities, which prompt social class distinctions and ensuing socio-economic structures.
bullet People have always fought with other people (or hominids, or homo-sapiens, or whatever), but ideas of militarism are somewhat new. It's the difference between a couple of Geiko commercial stars hitting each other with sticks, and organized armies and warrior classes that are responsible for almost every success and failure for the core civilizations. Apparently, militarism is NOT so easy even a caveman could do it.
bullet Speaking of core civilizations...what are they? We'll talk about that, as well as what makes them "core". One big feature of the time period is that these core regions (i.e. China, India, and the Mediterranean civilizations) are in contact with one another in one form or another. If we're involved with global development (and we are), then this contact is critically important for what we do during the rest of the year.
 

So there you have it. As you grow more accustomed to the way the course works and what's really important, you'll be able to anticipate where major essay questions dealing with the major issues will appear, and in what context.
 
Unit 2: Post-Classical (500-1450)

October-November
This is the "monster" unit of the course. We'll be in this one pretty much until Thanksgiving Break. Obviously, there's a lot of stuff going on, but a lot of it revolves around one thing. I'll start this unit with a personal teaching anecdote. We'll test on "Europe" just because there are some nice comparative opportunities between East and West that we'll want to explore.
 
bullet I will say on several occasions that Islam is the story of the Post-Classical period. Mostly because so many other stories are contingent upon it. Pay attention to how the religion operates as both a spiritual and secular force.
bullet We started with three principal classical civilizations and in this period we will see those three expand to breed other civilizations, hence the beginning of this substantial "change and continuity" form element. The world gets more complicated now.
bullet This is the period of "World Religions", belief systems being exported like trade goods; prior to this point they were regional...as most things were. As you might imagine, at times, it causes some problems.
bullet Interregional to Global Networking. Whether or not we have a "global" economy at this point or not is debatable. I tend to think not, but you can make up your own minds. What we certainly do have his the establishment of interregional trade networks that link areas far more expansive than we saw during the Classical Period.
 
Unit 3: Early Modern Period (1450-1750)

December-January
First off, let me congratulate you again for surviving the Post-Classical Period and finally having that behind you. It's a big, cumbersome, daunting unit; difficult to organize or to grasp conceptually. In other words, it's easy to identify our "major ideas" from the unit, but difficult to get an overall picture. Perhaps there is no overall picture. Here's another question I have about the Post-Classical Period. I know we talk about the "collapse" of Classical Civilizations and all, but did you really notice any striking difference in the world in the years 500-700? Was there anything unique (besides Islam) or was it just business as usual? The reason I ask, is because the Early Modern Period is radically different than it's predecessor, and I really don't believe we can say that about each and every unit transition.
 
bullet What you should do is look at a globe. Have the eastern hemisphere turned towards you so that you are looking at Eurasia, Africa, and the Indian Ocean. Now reach out and slowly rotate the globe counterclockwise so that Europe, Africa, and the Americas appear with the Atlantic Ocean in the middle. This is the major story of the Early Modern Period.
bullet I have had a lot of fun at Europe's expense these past few months describing them as an "uncivilized" region in comparison to other parts of the world. And though I've overdone it at times, there is validity in it, relative to Asia or the Middle East. The fun is over. The Early Modern Period establishes Europe as the global superpower, and the rest of the planet will live in its shadow for many centuries to come. For those of you who have been waiting to get back to sophomore European History...your time has arrived.
bullet With the emergence of Europe comes also the significant shift away from the Indian Ocean Trade network to what we'll call the Atlantic Economy. This will change how business is done and global commerce will finally develop in ways that even outstrip the networks built and maintained by Arab traders.
bullet Concurrently, these new global trade patterns will fully incorporate all areas of the world, most notably the Americas, which has, up to this point, been isolated from Eurasian developments. Africa and the Pacific Rim will also feature more heavily in economic and cultural developments. We're getting closer to globalization (though we're not there yet).
bullet We are not quite finished with Mongol legacies. The power vacuum left in the wake of the Mongolian "interlude" will be filled by new efforts at empire building in the Middle East and central Asia. Sometimes referred to as the Gunpowder Empires (an inflammatory label many people take exception to), they are all Muslim in orientation (though not Arab) and will reorganize Eurasia politically and culturally.

This one will seem short, but will be interrupted by the semester exams; the product of trying to divide 5 units into 2 semesters. We'll do our Atlantic Economy material (and their respective textbook chapters) before the exam and then return to Asia in late January. Things tend to get a little bit more familiar now, which will be a welcome respite from all those places where we can't pronounce (or spell) any of the names of places or people.
 
Unit 4: Modern Period (1750-1914)

February-March
The next two units will seem to be brief to you after the Post-Classical and Early Modern Periods. That has to do with chronological context for the most part. The Modern Period is only a little over 150 years, and the 20th century is less than that (our 20th Century begins in 1914). By the time you get to Spring Break, we’ll be fighting World War I. The shorter the time period, the easier it can be to organize along singular principles (this may not be true for the 20th century). Early Modern World history is a lot easier to organize than the Post-Classical Period, for example. The key to understanding the time period is in recognizing the significance of its periodization dates: 1750-1914.
 
bullet  Western Industrialization; 1750 marks the beginning of the Industrialization Revolution in England (an abstract date choice to be sure), and it will be industrialization that changes forever the position of the “west and the rest” during the 19th century. The Modern Period is really about the 19th century, and it is during this century that the European (and American) industrial complexes vault the west into a position of global dominance. You might very well think that this has already happened…and you might be right…but there is absolutely no doubt about it after 1800.
bullet New Imperialism; part of this dominance is economic, but another part is cultural and political. After 1850, Europe will no longer be satisfied exporting products and capital, and will move into exporting their political and intellectual culture. The impact of this will be the first phase of what becomes known in the 20th (and 21st) centuries as “globalization”. It could be argued that this, more than the economic subjugation and evolving “core-dependency” of which you’re already familiar, is the most seriously egregious offense, the thing that causes the most problems in the future.
bullet Population Growth; the world will witness unprecedented population growth in the Modern Period (to be continued in the 20th century). This will have long and short term ramifications socially, economically, demographically and environmentally. This growth, mixed in with the two preceding developments produces a volatile hybrid effect and will impact labor, nationalism, global trade and interaction, and have serious consequences for resource distribution.
bullet Diversity In Development; an interesting construct in the 19th century is that while almost everyone is dealing with similar crises and circumstances, they go about dealing with those challenges in diverse way, contingent upon local variance and precondition. All “core” nations are the same; and all “dependent” nations are the same…and yet they react differently, with different consequences.

 

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