Course Description

Welcome! This site is for students, parents, teachers and anyone else interested in the tenth-grade World History 2 Course at Santa Fe Prep.

The overall course covers the history of the world from roughly 1500 to the present. The first quarter opens with the time when Asia was the center of world affairs, then traces European encounters with Asia and the Americas, and the complex interactions and consequences of the so-called "Columbian Exchange" between Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa. The first quarter ends with a survey of the European Renaissance and Reformation, in both its local and global dimensions. The second quarter will focus on the rise of absolute monarchies and new ideas and practices, especially with the scientific revolution and Enlightenment. The second quarter ends with assessments of the legacies of the French Revolution, Napoleon and the emergence of the British Empire. The third quarter starts with the implications of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars in the wake of the Congress of Vienna, i.e., the discourse on rights, reaction, revolution and reform, the rise of new ideologies, in particular, Classical Liberalism, nationalism, and romanticism, and conservative reactions to the changes wrought by the American and French Revolutions. The course then examines the rise of industrialization and social change in 19th-century Europe, and the emergence of middle and working class cultures, followed by new iterations of liberalism and conservatism, the proliferation of more ideologies, e.g., socialism, communism, ultranationalism, social Darwinism, and antisemitism. Then the course examines the unification of the Italian and German nation states, and the creation of the modern welfare state. From there the course traces the rise of a new wave of Western imperialism, followed by the rest of the world's reactions to the rise of European empires and ideas, and in particular, the emergence of industrial Japan and their surprising victory over Russia. The third quarter ends with the outbreak of the First World War. The fourth and final quarter surveys the effects of the First World War, followed by the brief peak of classical liberal nation states and promises for peace, and the rapid rise of authoritarianism, in both communist and fascist variations, with a special focus on the rise of Nazism, the Nazi racial transformation of Germany and the Holocaust and Shoah of modern Europe. The fourth quarter concludes by looking at the causes and effects of the Second World War, the Cold War, the end of European empires in Asia and Africa, the emergence of the Modern Middle East and China, the end of the Cold War, history since 1989, all the way to the present, including current events.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The Story of Place Walkabout Project

Starting with a "walkabout" in the first week of the semester, students will begin to explore how local history and everyday life, the stories of Santa Fe and New Mexico, reflect world history, and will continue to trace these connections throughout the school year.  Parts of the project will include a study in "place literacy," a walking tour of campus and the acequia madre, visits to local history museums, a group mapping and photography exhibit and possible book project, based on the patterns of world history in our everyday life stories of Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico.

In Week II, students will be introduced to "place literacy" and begin to discuss what makes Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico both unique and reflect world history that we will be studying throughout the year (see the link under class readings for the "Story of Santa Fe as World History Slide Series"). Then students will plan a walkabout on campus and learn to read the history of the environment on campus in ways that reflect both the uniqueness of Santa Fe and the world history that has also shaped and is shaping the place where school takes place. The first products will include a group mapping and photography project to be shared later in the week. 

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