AP World History Syllabus
Crowder / Oco
Course Overview
Welcome to AP World History! This is a year-long course covering the history of the human world. For
possibly the first time, you will learn to think like a historian—using critical thinking and categorical skills
to examine, interpret, and analyze history. The class will cover six major time periods from the beginning
of mankind to the present. These periods will be taught through a frame of reference using five major
themes that are further outlined below.
Textbook
Stearns. 2007. World Civilizations: The Global Experience, 5th edition. Pearson.
Course Themes:
Organizing around the acronym, “S.P.I.C.E,” the following themes provide a way to compare and analyze
the six course-specific time periods from a big-picture viewpoint.
Social- Development and transformation of social structures

Gender roles and relationships

Family and kinship

Racial and ethnic constructions

Social and economic classes
Political- State-building, expansion, and conflict

Political Structures and forms of governance

Empires

Nations and nationalism

Revolts and revolutions

Regional, transregional, and global structures and organizations
Interaction between humans and environment

Demography and disease

Migration

Patterns of settlement

Technology
Cultural-Development and interaction of cultures

Religions

Belief Systems, philosophies, and ideologies

Science and technology

The arts and architecture
AP World History Syllabus
Crowder / Oco
Economic- Creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems

Agricultural and pastoral production

Trade and commerce

Labor systems

Industrialization

Capitalism and socialism
Grading Policy
Unit Exams: (30%) Exams will be given periodically throughout the course, typically at the end of each
Unit (though additional exams may be added). All exams will be announced ahead of time.
Projects: (25%) Projects will typically be given one or two times a unit. They will be completed both
collaboratively and individually
Notebook: (10%) You will be required to maintain a notebook exclusively for this class. Notebook should
be kept in date order and will be collected and throughout the year.
Classwork and Homework: (15%) Daily classwork assignments may be taken up and graded. Included in
this category are written assignments in preparation for the AP Exam. Assignments may be checked for
completion and/or accuracy
Quizzes: (20%) Quizzes will be given occasionally as a follow-up for reading assignments and class
discussions.
Course Plan
Unit
1: 8000 B.C.E to 600 B.C.E
2: 600 B.C.E to 600 C.E.
3: 600 C.E.-1450 C.E.
4. 1450 C.E. to 1750 C.E.
5: 1750 C.E. to 1900 C.E.
6: 1900 C.E. to Present
Text Chapters
1
2-5
6-15
16-22
23-27
28-35
Estimated Length
1 week
4 weeks
6 weeks
6 weeks
5 weeks
6 weeks