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.

Monday, September 1, 2014

What’s Going On? Current Events Chronicle Guidelines:


I. Definitions: What is a chronicle?
A. noun: chronicle; plural noun: chronicles
1. a factual written account of important or historical events in the order of their occurrence. Synonyms: log, diary, or journal.

B. verb: chronicle; 3rd person present: chronicles; past tense: chronicled; past participle: chronicled; gerund or present participle: chronicling
1. record (a related series of events) in a factual, orderly, and detailed way. "His work chronicles 20th-century displacement and migration" Synonyms: Put on record, write down, set down, document, register, or report.

Origins: Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French cronicle, variant of Old French cronique, via Latin from Greek khronika ‘annals,’ from khronikos (From Google Scholar).

II. Purposes:
1. Follow and document what is currently happening around the world.
2. Discuss the use of different media sources, perspectives and biases on selected topics.
3. Consider how world history influences current events and how studies of world history can help understand current events and future development.

III. Instructions:
1. Actively select areas and/or topics of interest, e.g., Russia (politics) and the Rosetta mission (science), the Islamic State (politics) and Ebola (Africa/health), China (politics/economics) and world sports. 
* Students must select at least one region or topic of interest.
* Students may follow more than one area or topic of interest.
* Students may also switch topics.
2. Take a look at the BBC online news pages for ideas; continue to follow the BBC news online for updates on your selected topics; make sure to follow the main news stories as well, and begin to look over the international news links on the right-hand side of the course blog for different perspectives.
3. Keep a weekly chronicle of the world events that you are following, as part of your class binder.
4. In your chronicle, list the topic, e.g., Ukrainian civil war, take notes on important details about what is happening, cite the article title and new source where you found the information, note any potential biases in the news source, and include, if possible, a copy of the original article.
5. Report at least once every 2 weeks on the topics you have chosen to follow.
6. Lead discussions with your peers about what is happening in the world and how it relates to world history, at least once a semester.

IV. Evaluation:
Grades will be based on:
1. Regular reporting on selected topics.
2. Organization and detail of reports, including important background, different points of view and any connections to the study of world history.
3. Taking the lead in the discussion of current events that everyone in the class should follow.
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