Humanities
State Course Description—Investigates philosophical ideas and values in human affairs with history and philosophy as the basis. Provides an interdisciplinary
approach that embraces literature, language, composition, music and art, science and mathematics. Provides the curriculum connections that encourage
analytical, comparative and critical thinking skills development.
Lassiter Course Desription
 Humanities A and B (Grade 9)—Humanities is an introduction and foundation to high school Social Studies for ninth graders. It includes a survey of the
history of civilization, including art, language, science, religion and architecture. It provides an interdisciplinary approach that encourages the
development of critical thinking, as well as analytical writing and reading skills.
Unit
History
Humanities
Skill Building
1. Introduction to
the Humanities
-Cultural Appreciation: Art,
Philosophy, Religion, Architecture,
Music, Literature
-Foundational social organization
and processes: religion, social
class, economic systems, political
systems, diffusion, population
growth, migration, etc.
-Human Geography
-Current Events
-Literature: (1) The Demon in the
Freezer – How did we get to this
point? (2) The World Through
Historians’ Eyes – Write and
share the History of Today
-Religion: Creation Myths
-What is Humanities?
-Film: History of the World in
Two Hours by History Channel
-World Organizations: WHO, UNSummer Reading Assignments
Group Work
-Writing- Turn in Summer
Reading Assignments
-Note-taking (two
column, Cornell,
thematic, SPICE
notes, etc.)
-Reading
Comprehension:
sentence summaries
- Historical WritingStudents write a
history of the
current era (2015)
-Vocabulary
-Summer Reading
Assignments
-Compare WHO and
United Nations
-Compare Anthrax
and Smallpox
2. Prehistory and
First Civilizations
- Thinking Historically
(Historiography)
-Archaeological Dig: How do we
know?
-“Peopling” the Earth
-What is civilization?
-Art—Cave painting, including
Altamira, “Cave of the Hands”,
and Lascaux
-Film: Mankind The Story of UsFill in guide
-Critical Thinking:
Paleolithic-Neolithic
comparison
-World Food
Production and
World Population
Growth
Geography/Map/
Charts
-Population
Pyramids
- Human
Migrations
-Economic and
Political Systems
Charts
-World Religions
Map
-Human
Geography
Vocabulary
Readings
-Early River Valley
Civilizations Maps
-Africa Physical
Maps
-Africa Physical
map Quiz
-Food Production,
Life Expectancy,
-WH Ch. 1-2
-Select Readings
from the World
Geography
classroom set of
books and from
handouts and
lecture notes
-The Demon in the
Freezer summer
reading
-WHO and UN
websites
-The World
Through
Historians’ Eyes
3. Middle East and
North Africa Early
Civilizations and
Empires, 3500
BCE-500CE
(Mesopotamia
and the Fertile
Crescent to Persia,
and Egypt to the
new Kingdom)
4. South Asia Early
Civilizations and
Empires, to 500
CE (Harappa to
Gupta)
-Describe the development of
Mesopotamian societies; include
the religious, cultural, economic,
and political facets of society, with
attention to Hammurabi’s law
code.
-Describe the relationship of
religion and political authority in
Ancient Egypt.
-Explain the development of
monotheism; include the concepts
developed by the ancient
Hebrews, and Zoroastrianism.
-Describe early trading networks
in the Eastern Mediterranean;
include the impact Phoenicians
had on the Mediterranean World.
-Explain the development and
importance of writing; include
cuneiform, hieroglyphics, and the
Phoenician alphabet.
-Describe the development of
Indian civilization; include the rise
and fall of the Maurya Empire, the
“Golden Age” under Gupta, and
the emperor Ashoka.
-Explain the development and
impact of Hinduism and Buddhism
on India and subsequent diffusion
of Buddhism.
-Architecture: Ziggurats, Great
Pyramids and Great Sphinx,
Temple at Karnack, Persepolis
-Art: Reliefs
-Literature: Epic of Gilgamesh,
Code of Hammurabi Analysis,
Torah, The Story of the Flood
from the Bible
-Religion: Judaism,
Zoroastrianism
- Archeology: Tutankhamun’s
tomb
-Film: Cartoon’s from Discovery
Learning on Early Egyptian River
Valley Civilizations
-SPICE notes
-Drama: works of Kalidasa
-Literature: Hindu scripture (RigVeda, Upanishads and Bhagivad
Gita 200 BCE., The Mahabharata
200 BCE. Buddhism PhilosophySiddhartha by Herman Hesse
(novel)
-Architecture: Angkor, The
Temple of Angkor Wat and the
city of Anghkor Thom, Cambodia
800 CE.
-Religion: Hinduism, Buddhism,
Jainism
-Film: The Story of India
-Comparison Essay
Writing: Hinduism &
Buddhism
-SPICE notes
Death Rates, and
World Population
Maps
-Migration Maps
-Middle-East
Physical and
Political Maps
-North Africa Maps
Political
-Map Quiz
-South Asia Maps
-Mauryan and
Gupta Maps
-WH Ch. 1-2, 3.4,
4.1
-WH Ch. 3, 4, and
7
5. East Asia Early
Civilizations and
Empires, to 500
CE (Shang to Han)
6. Classical
European Society,
to 500 CE (Greece
and Rome)
-Explain the impact of
Confucianism on Chinese culture;
include the examination system,
the Mandate of Heaven, the
status of peasants, the status of
merchants, and the patriarchal
family, and explain diffusion to
Southeast Asia, Japan, and Korea.
-Art: Shang Bronzes, Daoist
landscapes, Tomb of Shi Huangdi
Architecture: Great Stupa at
Sanchi, India 300 BCE.
-Literature: Dao Dejing, The
Analects of Confucius, The
Tripitaka
-Religion: Daoism -Philosophy:
Confucianism, Legalism
-Archeology- Terra Cotta
Warriors from the first Qin
Emperor of China, 100 BCE.
-Compare the origins and
-Architecture: Greco-Roman
structure of the Greek polis, the
contributions, including the
Roman Republic, and the Roman
Parthenon, Roman Cities,
Empire.
Coliseum
-Describe the diffusion of Greek
-Art: Athenian Agora 600 BCE,
culture by Alexander the Great
Greek and Roman contributions;
and the impact of Julius and
Winged Victory of Samothrace
Augustus Caesar.
175 BCE, Altar of Zeus and
-Analyze the factors that led to the Athena 175 BCE, Sarcophagus of
collapse of the Western Roman
the Spouses 520 BCE, Alexander
Empire.
Mosaic Pompei 100 BCE, Head of
a Roman Patrician 75 BCE
-Architecture: Temple of
Minerva Apollo Structure 510
BCE, Acropolis 447 BCE, , Petra of
Jordan 400 BCE, Pantheon 118
CE, Colosseum 70 CE,
-Cultural Appreciation: GrecoRoman contributions in law and
science
-Drama: Greek Comedy and
Tragedy
-Literature: “Allegory of the
Cave” analysis, Virgil’s Aeneid 50
BCE , Plato’s Republic, The
Apology by Plato 300 BCE,
Odeipus Rex by Sophocles 400
-Chinese Written
Language Versus the
Spoken Language
-SPICE notes
-Chinese Dynasties
Graphic Organizer
-East Asia Maps
-Map Quiz
-WH Ch. 3, 4.4, 7,
10, 11, and 12
-Citizenship in
Athens VS. Rome
DBQ
-Alexander the Great
DBQ
-Comparison Essay:
Rome & Han
Empires
-DBQ Essay: Fall of
Rome
-Christianity DBQ
-Europe Maps
-Map Quiz
-Greece and Rome
Maps
-Alexander the
Great MapHellenistic Greek
Map
-Persian Map
-WH Ch 4.3, 5-6
7. Civilizations and
Empires of the
Americas, to
1450CE (Central
and South
America to the
Inca and Aztec)
8. Early African
societies
-Explain the rise and fall of the
Olmec, Mayan, Aztec, and Inca
empires.
-Compare the culture of the
Americas; include government,
economy, religion, and the arts of
the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas.
-Identify the Bantu migration
patterns and contribution to
settled agriculture.
-Describe the development and
decline of the Sudanic kingdoms
(Ghana, Mali, Songhai) including
the roles of the Sundiata, and the
pilgrimage of Mansa Musa to
Mecca
-Describe the trading networks by
examining trans-Saharan trade in
gold, salt, and slaves, including
Swahili trading cities
-Analyze the process of religious
syncretism as a blending of new
ideas from Islam and Christianity
Describe the development and
decline of the Sudanic kingdoms
(Ghana, Mali, Songhai); include
the roles of Sundiata, and the
pilgrimage of Mansa Musa to
Mecca.
-Describe the trading networks by
examining trans-Saharan trade in
BCE, Pericles’ Funeral Oration by
Thucydides 450 BCE, Homer’s
Iliad 800 BCE and Odyssey,
-Philosophy: Socrates, Plato,
Aristotle, Epicureanism, Stoicism
-Religion: Greco-Roman
Mythology, Christianity
-Film and Engineering:
Engineering and Empire- Rome
-Cultural Appreciation:
mathematics and astronomy of
the Americas
-Literature: Popol Vuh
-Architecture: Conical tower and
circular wall of Great Zimbabwe
100 CE, Great Mosque of Djenne,
Mali 1200 CE
-Art: ritual masks (ie. kanaga and
bakongo, Nok sculptures
-Cultural Appreciation: Griot
storytelling
-Film: Mankind the Story of US,
Crash Course Indian Ocean Trade
-Comparison Essay:
New Kingdom & the
Maya
-Latin America
Maps
-North America
Maps
-Map Quizzes
-Maya Map
-WH Ch. 9 and 16
-African Potato Art,
Jewelry, Masks,
Food, Recipe Book,
Sculpture
-Mansa Musa DBQ
-North Africa Maps
and
Sub-Saharan Africa
Maps
- Map Quiz
-Bantu Migrations
-African Trade
Maps
-WH Ch 8 and 15
8. Rise of Islam
and Islamic
Civilization,
includes empires
of South Asia and
North Africa
9. Europe in the
Middle Ages, to
1450 (up to the
fall of the
Byzantine, does
not include the
Renaissance and
Reformation)
gold, salt, and slaves; include the
Swahili trading cities.
-Analyze the role of geography
and the distribution of resources
played in the development of
trans-Saharan trading networks
-Identify the Muslim trade routes
to India, China, Europe, and Africa
and assess the economic impact of
this trade.
- Describe the development and
decline of the Sudanic kingdoms
(Ghana, Mali, Songhai); include
the roles of Sundiata, and the
pilgrimage of Mansa Musa to
Mecca.
-Describe the trading networks by
examining trans-Saharan trade in
gold, salt, and slaves; include the
Swahili trading cities.
-Mughal Empire in India
-Architecture: mosque
development, including a
discussion of the Dome of the
Rock, Great Mosque of Djenne,
and the Great Mosque of
Damascus, Hagia Sophia
-Cultural Appreciation: Discussion
of the “Islamic Golden Age”,
including the contributions of
Islamic Civilization in science and
math, and also individuals such
as Ibn Sina and Ibn Battuta)
-Literature: Arabian Nights, The
Quran
-Religion: Islam
-Film: Mankind the Story of US,
Islam by PBS
-Describe the relationship
-Architecture: cathedral building,
between the Roman and
including Chartres Cathedral,
Byzantine Empires; include the
Hagia Sophia, Notre Dame
impact Byzantium had on the
-Engineering- Constantinople
Russian Empire, and the rise of
-Film- Engineering and EmpireConstantinople as a center for law, Byzantines, Mankind the Story of
religion, and the arts.
US
-Analyze the importance of
-Music: medieval music, including
Justinian, include the influence of
Gregorian chants
the Empress Theodora, Justinian’s -Religion: Roman Catholicism,
Code, and Justinian’s efforts to
Orthodox Christianity
recapture the west.
-Literature: The Inferno by Dante
-Explain the manorial system and
Alighieri 1300 CE, The Canterbury
feudalism; include the status of
Tales 1475
peasants and feudal monarchies
and the importance of
Charlemagne. --Describe the
-Spread of Islam
DBQ
-Mansa Musa DBQ
-World Religions
Maps
-Spread of Islam
Maps
-Ottoman Map
-WH Ch. 10, 15, 18
(Mughals and
Ottomans)
-Byzantine Empire
DBQ
-Mongols DBQ
-Russia and
Northern Eurasia
Maps; Eastern
Europe Maps
-World Religions
Maps
-European Political
Changes Maps
-Byzantine Map
-Mongols
Expansion Map
-Ottoman Map
-WH- Ch. 12-14
Further Skill
Building
10th Grade World
History
Curriculum
political impact of Christianity;
include Pope Gregory VII and King
Henry IV of Germany (Holy Roman
Emperor).
-Crusades
-Russian Empire
-Mongols
-Turks
-Explain the Ottoman Empire’s
role in the decline of Byzantium
and the capture of Constantinople
in 1453CE.
-Essay Writing—Document Based Questions, Essay Writing Format (ie. general assertions, supporting evidence, etc.)
-Reading Comprehension—sentence summaries, reading passage analysis/comparison (PSAT), primary documents
analysis (APParts)
-Study Smarter activities
1. Mongols, China (Tang, Song, Yuan), Japan
2. Renaissance and Reformation
3. Exploration and the Americas—includes Inca and Aztec
4. Absolutism and Enlightenment
5. French Revolution and Napoleon
6. Nationalism, Industrialization, and Democracy
7. Imperialism and Transformation
8. The Great War and Russian Revolution; Collapse of Ottoman Empire
9. Between the Wars and World War II
10. The Cold War World and Contemporary World