AP EUROPEAN HISTORY syllabus 2012/2013
Instructor:
Course Description:
The study of European history since 1450 introduces students to cultural, economic,
political, and social developments that played a fundamental role in shaping the world in
which they live. Without this knowledge, we would lack the context for understanding the
development of contemporary institutions, the role of continuity and change in presentday society and politics, and the evolution of current forms of artistic expression and
intellectual discourse. In addition to providing a basic narrative of events and
movements, the goals of AP European History are to develop (a) an understanding of
some of the principal themes in modern European history, (b) an ability to analyze
historical evidence and historical interpretation, and (c) an ability to express historical
understanding in writing. This course is taught at the college level. Students will have a
greater amount of reading and depth of focus then is found in a regular high school
history course. Students will frequently be required to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate
primary and secondary historical sources, in addition to comprehending,
memorizing, and applying facts. The course is divided into four quarters. The first and
second quarters will cover six units, the third quarter five units, and the fourth quarter
four units. Each unit concludes with a multiple choice test and a thematic essay. Items
and essay prompts from released AP exams as well as original items and prompts
will be used. Each quarter students will write one DBQ and one Quarter Paper.
Textbook: Chambers, Mortimer, et al. The Western Experience. 6th Ed. Boston:
McGraw-Hill, 1995
Primary and Secondary Source selections: Sherman, Dennis. Western Civilization:
Sources, Images and Interpretations. 7th Ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2008.
Nystrom, Elsa. Primary Source Reader for World Hstory United States, Thomson
Wadsworth 2006.
Perry, Marvin. Sources of the Western Tradition Volume II. 5th Edition Boston, Houghton
Mifflin, 2003.
Primary internet sources:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook.html
http://www.historyteacher.net/
Course Themes: AP European History highlights three overarching themes that should
receive approximately equal attention throughout the course: Intellectual and Cultural
History, Political and Diplomatic History, Social and Economic History
Skills:
Periodization:
Students will periodize European history from 1450 to the present in a variety of ways,
including politics, international relations, and opportunities for women. Categories in
History will be used such as political events, social changes, economic trends and
intellectual and cultural movements. Such categories and periods will show overlapping
or parallel timing of each other. Students will date transitions and cite reasons for their
choices. Art Movements will be categorized into Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical,
Romantic, Impressionist, and Modern both in the beginning of and the end of each and
the characteristics of each. Time Lines will be used to visualize the chunks of History.
After periodization, analysis will begin of the periods and further DBQ’s will be added to
the analysis.
Causality and Multiple Causality:
Students will understand the distant (preconditions), intermediate (precipitants) and
immediate (triggers) causes of events. In addition, students will cite differences of
explanations by various historians in their analysis. Analysis writing will be used to teach
this skill.
Historical Phenomena and Experiences:
Students will define important historical phenomena and experiences and explain their
meanings. In addition, the students will apply and compare their definitions with other
historical experiences and events. Sample FRQ’s will be given to teach this skill.
Point of View (POV):
Students will read and interpret primary and secondary sources for point of view.
SPITRAGE and SOAPS formats will be used in assisting with the point of view. In
addition, the students will compare various sources and determine the bias of each
which will lead to grouping skills. A Venn Diagram approach will be used for grouping.
Differences in Experience:
Students will learn and write about the events in relation to various groups i.e. gender
roles, race and societal class. Comparative primary and secondary sources will be used
for analysis.
Development or Construction of Identity:
Self Identity of members in classes, communities, religions and other categories from
changes of time and place will be discussed and written in the context of FRQs. Primary
and secondary sources will be grouped in a various ways included but not limited to:
Class, nationality and/or gender of author; similar ideology, opposing ideology; type of
document and time period; recognize bias and interpret author’s point of view; analyze
various sources as examples: diaries, private letters, experts in field, government
reports, etc.; discuss, debate or write effectively your findings; expand analysis and
details for expanded core on Essays and DBQs
AP Exam:
The AP exam is 3 hours and 5 minutes in length. It consists of a 55-minute multiplechoice section and a 130-minute free-response section. The multiple-choice section
consists of 80 questions designed to measure the student’s knowledge of European
history from the High Renaissance to the present. Approximately one-half of the
questions deal with the period from 1450 to the French Revolutionary and
Napoleonic era and one-half from the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic era to the
present. The questions covering the nineteenth century and the twentieth century are
divided evenly (approximately 25 percent of the total number of questions for each
century). Approximately one-third of the questions focus on cultural and intellectual
themes, one-third on political and diplomatic themes, and one-third on social and
economic themes. Many questions draw on knowledge of more than one chronological
period or theme. Students are not expected to be familiar with all the material
covered.
Course Format:
This course will be largely based on discussion. Your analysis and inquiry of the
assigned readings will be a crucial element of our success. Class sessions will not be
based around a review of the materials assigned, but rather will be based around a
deeper discussion and interpretation of the read material. It is thus vital to complete the
reading assignments in a prompt fashion as to allow for your effective participation in
class.
Grading and Exam Format (per trimester)
The grade for the Semester will consist of the following: 80% for homework and 20% for
exam.
Grading Scale
Tests and Quizzes: Multiple Choice questions conform to the standard AP format of 5
answer options, and you will learn and be assessed by Document Based Questions
(DBQs) and Free Response Questions (FRQs).
Classroom Environment:
Respect others:
Come prepared for class
Participate in class; share your ideas and knowledge
Wait for others to express their ideas…and listen to them
Address people’s arguments not the individual
Don’t waste other people’s time
Do not be a wall flower
I may disagree with what you have to say but I will defend your right to say it.
School Policies: You will be responsible for following the policies as outlined in the
student handbook including the tardy policy. Read the IPAD guidelines.
A = 93-100% A- = 90-92%
B+ = 88-89% B = 83-87% B- = 80-82%
C+ = 78-79% C = 73-76% C- = 70-72%
D+ = 68-69% D = 63-66% D- = 60-62%
E = 59 and below
Makeup Work:
Generally you have the amount of days absent to complete the assignment. For
example, if you are absent two days and have missed something, you will have two days
upon your return to complete it. This policy does not apply in the case of long term due
dates. For example, if I have told you that a take home essay is due on a certain date, I
require that it be turned in on the due date, absent or not. It is your responsibility to
approach the teacher for missed work on the day of your return and to make up tests
and quizzes.
Student Performance:
Students who take this course should realize that AP courses are taught and graded at
the college level; they significantly exceed the demands and expectations for typical
high school courses. But the class is
truly manageable, and I am aware that you have other classes and extracurricular
responsibilities.
Reading:
There is NO substitute for reading. This cannot be overstated. Reading assignments
should always be completed for the following day. All studies show that truly talented
and gifted students read and read well. And the one single ingredient to remedy low
grades and low performance is to read. Other aspects of preparation enhance learning
and understanding, but a student MUST read to be prepared. You cannot read too
much.
Writing:
The writing process takes practice and considerable attention to the details of the
formula the College Board has laid out in their rubrics. Students will learn three different
types of essays. National test requires students to write one of each essay.
Habits of Mind:
The AP World History course addresses habits of mind in two categories (1) those
addressed by anyrigorous history course, and (2) those addressed by a world history
course.
Four habits of mind are in the first category:
• constructing and evaluating arguments: using evidence to make plausible arguments
• using documents and other primary data: developing the skills necessary to analyze
point of view and context, and to understand and interpret information
• assessing continuity ad change over time and over different world regions
• understanding diversity of interpretation through analysis of context, point of view and
frame of reference
Five habits of mind are in the second category:
• seeing global patterns and processes over time and space while connecting local
developments to global ones
• comparing within and among societies, including comparing societies’ reactions to
global processes
• considering human commonalities and differences
• exploring claims of universal standards in relation to culturally diverse ideas
• exploring the persistent relevance of world history to contemporary developments
What we will be doing in class:
First Trimester:
DBQ Choices: The Calamitous 14c, The Protestant Reformation, The Catholic Church.
Essay choice:
Interpretive Biography or Social History [C4]
Primary source readings including: Burkhardt, Castiglione, Macchivelli, Cellini, Luther,
Calvin, Council of Trent, Charles V, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Bossuet, Bodin, James I,
Louis XIV, Laws of Peter the Great.
Visual sources: maps, charts, graphs, and images from Sherman anthology and online
sources [C3]
Historiography reading: Historians’ essays from Sherman on a theme from this unit. [C2]
Art Days lecture and slide show: Italian Renaissance, Northern Renaissance,
Mannerism. [C3]
Unit 1: The Urban Economy and the Consolidation of States (Chambers Chap. 10)
Cities, Trade, and Commerce
Monarchies and the Development of Representative Institutions
Government in the East
The Papacy and the Church
Learning and Literature
Unit 2: Breakdown and Renewal in an Age of Plague (Chambers Chap. 11)
Population Catastrophes
Economic Depression and Recovery
Popular Unrest
Challenges to the Governments
The Fall of Byzantium and the Ottoman Empire
Unit 3: Tradition and Change in European Culture (Chambers Chap. 12)
The New Learning: Humanism
Art and Artists in the Italian Renaissance
The Culture of the North
Scholastic Philosophy and Religious Thought
The State of Christendom
Unit 4: Reformations in Religion (Chambers Chap. 13)
Piety and Dissent
The Lutheran Reformation
The Spread of Protestantism
The Catholic Revival
Unit 5: Economic Expansion and a New Politics (Chambers Chap. 14)
Expansion at Home
Expansion Overseas
The Centralization of Political Power
The Splintered States
The New Statecraft
Unit 6: War and Crisis (Chambers Chap. 15)
Rivalry and War in the Age of Philip II
From Unbounded War to International Crisis
The Military Revolution
Revolution in England
Revolts in France and Spain
Political Change in an Age of Crisis
Second Trimester:
DBQ Choices: Absolutism, The Enlightenment, The French Revolution, Napoleon
Essay r: Social History or Interpretive Biography [C4]
Primary source readings including: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Voltaire, Paine,
Wollstonecraft, Montesquieu, Beccaria, d’Holbach, Goethe, Fichte.
Visual sources: maps, charts, graphs, and images from Sherman anthology and online
sources [C3]
Historiography reading: Historians’ essays from Sherman on a theme from this unit. [C2]
Art Days
Lecture and slide show: Baroque, Neoclassicism, Romanticism. [C3]
Unit 7: Culture and Society in the Age of the Scientific Revolution (Chambers Chap.
16)
Scientific Advance from Copernicus to Newton
The Effects of the Discoveries
The Arts and Literature
Social Patterns and Popular Culture
Unit 8: The Emergence of the European State System (Chambers Chap. 17)
Absolutism in France
Other Patterns of Absolutism
Alternatives to Absolutism
The International Empires
Unit 9: The Wealth of Nations (Chambers Chap. 18)
Demographic and Economic Growth
The New Shape of Industry
Innovation and Tradition in Agriculture
Eighteenth-Century Empires
Unit 10: The Age of Enlightenment (Chambers Chap. 19)
The Enlightenment
Eighteenth-Century Elite Culture
Popular Culture
Unit 11: The French Revolution (Chambers Chap. 20)
Reform and Political Crisis
1789: The French Revolution
The Reconstruction of France
The Second Revolution
Unit 12: The Age of Napoleon (Chambers Chap. 21)
From Robespierre to Bonaparte
The Napoleonic Settlement in France
Napoleonic Hegemony in France
Resistance to Napoleon
Third Trimester
DBQ Choices: Irish Potato Famine, Industrial Revolution, Marxists, Colonialism World
War I, World War II, The Cold War, The European Union
Essay: Historians or Historiography [C4]
Primary source readings including: Malthus, Smith, Riccardo, Marx and Engels, Herbert
Spencer, , Stalin, Count Witte, Woodrow Wilson, Hitler, Treaty of Versailles, Marshall
Plan, Charles de Gaulle, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir. Syllabus of Errors,
Metternich, Baudelaire, Wagner, Mill, Bentham, Bismarck, Freud, Darwin.
Visual Sources: maps, charts, graphs, and images from Sherman anthology and online
sources [C3]
Historiography reading: Historians’ essays from Sherman on a theme from this unit. [C2]
Art Days
Lecture and slide show: Romanticism, Realism, Naturalism, Symbolism,
Impressionism, Postimpressionism, Cubism, Expressionism, Social Realism, Nazi
exhibition of “Degenerate Art,” Soviet Art 1919-1930, Socialist Realism, modernisms,
postmodernism [C3]
Unit 13: Foundations of the Nineteenth-Century: Politics and Social Change
(Chambers Chap.
22) The Politics of Order
The Progress of Industrialization
The Social Effects
Unit 14: Learning to live with Change (Chambers Chap. 23)
Ideas of Change
The Structure of Society
The Spread of Liberal Government
Unit 15: National States and National Cultures (Chambers Chap. 24)
The Revolution of 1848
The Politics of Nationalism
Nineteenth-Century Culture
Unit 16: Progress and Its Discontents (Chambers Chap. 25)
Economic Transformations
Understanding of Nature and Society
The Belle Époque
Attacks on Liberal Civilization
Domestic Politics
Unit 17: Nineteenth-Century Empires (Chambers Chap. 26)
The Birth of the Liberal Empire
European Expansion in the Midcentury
The New Imperialism, 1870-1914
Imperialism at Its Peak
Unit 18: World War I and the World It Created (Chambers Chap. 27)
The Coming of World War
The Course of the War
The Peace
Postwar Democracy
Unit 19: The Great Twentieth-Century Crisis (Chambers Chap. 28)
Two Successful Revolutions
The Distinctive Culture of the Twentieth-Century
The Great Depression and the Retreat from Democracy
Nazi Germany and the USSR
The Democracies Weak Response
Unit 20: The Nightmare: World War II (Chambers Chap. 29)
The Years of Axis Victory
The Global War, 1942-1945
Building on the Ruins
European Recovery
Unit 21: The New Europe (Chambers Chap. 30)
The New Institutions o Postindustrial Society
The End of an Era
Contemporary Culture