AP World History
Course Syllabus
Course Description
The AP course in World History invites students to take a global view of historical processes and
contacts between people in different societies, with an emphasis on the past thousand years. The
class will, however, spend the first 4 weeks in a “foundations” period reviewing major themes
you learned in your World History I course. Students will learn selective factual knowledge in
addition to certain analytical skills. Major interpretative issues among historians will be
explored, as well as the techniques used in interpreting both primary historical evidence and
secondary sources. The basic approach will be chronological. Students will pay particular
attention to change and continuity over time, characteristics and values of societies, and the way
these values were affected as a result of contacts among peoples.
Attention will also be given to preparing students with the skills necessary to engage the AP
World History Examination given this spring. An extensive list of outside readings, including the
textbook, and writing different types of essays will be the hallmarks of this course. The ultimate
benefits of this course will be an informed view of how the world has developed to the start of
the third millennium, stimulating intellectual growth and promoting important “habits of mind”.
Course Theme: Our examination of World History will begin with the theme “Contact”. This
means contact between peoples, societies, countries and even the idea of contact being taken
away. When these encounters occur history is generated. From the theme “contact” comes 5
fundamental and powerful concepts:
1. Interactions between humans and the environment
2. Development and interaction of cultures
3. State-building, expansion, and conflict
4. Creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems
5. Development and transformation of social structures
All content will be viewed through these lenses. We will visit them frequently. Know them well!
Chronological Boundaries of the Course: The following is a “tentative” schedule of the
course:
Foundations Period: 8000 B.C.E. –600 C.E.
600 C.E.-1450
1450-1750
1750-1914
1914-present
Opening Weeks of School 19-20%
9 weeks
22%
8 weeks 19-20%
8 weeks 19-20%
8 weeks 19-20%
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Course Units
First Nine Weeks
1. World History I Review
2. Classical Civilizations: Greece, Rome, China and India
3. Emergence of Major Belief Systems: Christianity, Buddhism and Islam
4. Spread of Islam into North Africa, South and Southeast Asia
5. China during Medieval Times and the Mongol Invasions
6. Medieval Europe, West Africa and Japan
7. Americas on the eve of invasion
8. European Age of Exploration: Columbian Exchange and the Atlantic Slave Trade
Second Nine Weeks
1. Second Generation of Muslim Empires: Ottoman and Mughal
2. Asian societies and their reaction to European Exploration
3. Transformation of the West: Reformation, Absolutism, Intellectual Revolutions
4. Age of Political Revolutions in France and Latin America
5. Industrial Revolution
6. Midterm Exam
Third Nine Weeks
1. Age of European Imperialism in Africa
2. Asian reactions and resistance to Imperialism
3. World War I and Great Depression
4. World War II and Genocide
5. Cold War
Fourth Nine Weeks
1. 5 Major Revolutions of the 20th Century: Russia, China, Cuba, Mexico and Iran
2. Independence movements in the non-western world
3. Nation Building since independence
4. Japan and the Pacific Rim
5. AP Exam Review
Textbook. Entitled World History: Comprehensive Volume. Duiker and Speilvogel
CREDIT INFO: This course provides one of the credits required for a Standard or Advanced
Studies Diploma. Students will take the College Board Advanced Placement exam at the end of
this course.
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