AP World History

Note on organization of this website

John Murnane — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:46:38 +0000

Hello students. As you may recall, the College Board revamped the AP World History guidelines for this year. As a result, I’ve had to adjust the organization of the material studied in this class. I began that process last year and over the summer, but tactical adjustments are always necessary once the school year begins. I’ve now complete a simplification of this website. Take a look at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimester pages (see tabs above). I think they are easy to follow. The schedule is approximate, but we need to stick to it as best we can. This may mean looking ahead on your part, anticipating and knowing what’s due and starting work ahead of time. Remember the “welcome letter” (click here) on the first day of school? You need to take the initiative to do well in this AP class–as you know, and as you have been doing all year (!). But now things start to accelerate. Keep up the good work. And let me know if you have questions about the goals and the organization of the course.

The Post-American World?

John Murnane — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:38:21 +0000

The World Power Balance Since the End of the Cold War ( a student debate based on Fareed Zakaria’s book The Post-American World). Resolved: China will eclipse The United States as the world power in the next 35 years. One team argues yes, the other no.

World War II

John Murnane — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:18:40 +0000

F. The Second World War and the Shift in Global Power–we will look at two things: (1) a Japanese perspective re: the war in the Pacific (this includes a debate about periodization in world history); and (2) how it sets the stage for our next unit, F, the Bi-polar world. Keep in mind, WWII dealt the death blow to The British Empire as we saw in the unit called the “Collapse of the European World Order.” How did that collapse set the stage for the Bi-polar world of the Cold War?

In terms of the War in the Pacific, can we see/find the connection between the two things below, the two videos (Frank Sinatra versus Frank Capra)? And does looking at the two give us a hint re: the origins of the War in the Pacific? Or what led to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941? After you’ve watched the videos, see my article called “Japan’s Monroe Doctrine,” click here. What was going on in the Pacific prior to the 1940s? What were the origins of World War II in Asia?

The song, Poor Butterfly, which is based on the Puccini opera “Madame Butterfly” (click here for more on the opera)

Frank Capra’s Why We Fight

tests grades are posted

John Murnane — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:15:04 +0000

Hello students. Hope you are having a restful vacation. Hope you have practiced multiple-choice and looked at the DBQ (the intro. paragraph is due the Friday we get back). Also, I posted the test grades in Power School. Look forward to see you all soon.

Oral Reports/F period

John Murnane — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:53:48 +0000

Racism and the Rise of the West

Environmental Damage and the Rise of the West

Regional Conflicts and the Legacy of Western Imperialism

Free Market Capitalism and the Rise of the West

Representative Government and the Rise of the West

Industrialism

Oral Reports/ E period

John Murnane — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:58:14 +0000

Global Impact of the rise of the West–(1) free market economies and global capitalism, (2) representative government, (3) industrialism, (4) global warming, (5) racism, (6) region conflicts (such as Israel/Palestine, India/Pakistan tensions, border disputes and ethnic tensions in Africa since 1960). Each CNN team will be assigned a topic, 1-6. You and your partner must research and then present for 5 minutes in class or create a 5 minute youtube video re: your topic–send me the link to your video ASAP. Results from your group research should be reflected on your own Impact Chart; you can then borrow information from the other groups so that your Impact Chart reflects ALL 6 of these areas above. Click here for e-portfolios from all of this year’s AP World History students.

Here are some results from 2011

Free Market Capitalism and the Rise of the West

Industrialism (this one got cut off folks)

The Rise of the West and the Environment

Regional Conflicts and the Imperial Legacy

Racism and the Rise of the West

Representative Government

Carly’s introduction paragraph on the in-class test

John Murnane — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:04:18 +0000

There are a wide range of factors that led to the rise of the West and its global dominance. These attributes can be organized under three categories: resources, ideologies, and social structure. Resources included things like that Columbian Exchange, bringing new foods from the Americas to Europe and causing an increase in population. The Columbian Exchange also made way for European disease to spread to the New World, decimating native populations. Coal was another critical resource as it led to inventions like the steam engine and drove Europe’s dominance. The ideologies of the West also affected the rise with concepts of precision making things much neater and exact, leading to mass-production and economic power. Capitalism was another key idea because it separated the government from the economy, allowing for freedom of innovation and advancements. Chivalry, the ethos of the time, was an idea that drove the Europeans, like Hernan Cortez, to explore the world in search of the glory their culture prized. Finally, there is the social aspect, with Europe’s looser structure driving them to power. With changes form the traditional top-down format, ideas like capitalism emerged, as well as protests against the Church from Galileo and Martin Luther who set way for pivotal advancements to come. The actual physical structure of Europe helped as well by naturally creating divided states, which promoted constant competition and development in technological and scientific fields. All of these factors aided and drove the West to become the global power it was.

Change in plan, CNN paper due 8 November

John Murnane — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 01:41:52 +0000

In preparation for the major essay due for this term ( your review of the first five episodes in CNN’s Millennium series), we will go back to the discussion we had on the first few days of the school year (click here). This time, we will spend more time looking at communication, how historians write, how they structure their ideas and substantiate their point of view on any given topic. We will pick up the shifting global power theme once second trimester gets underway (2nd trimester tab above).

Week of Oct 24th: Review of CNN’s Millennium, we will watch five clips from the VHS version (the ones that are not online, 3 from Century of the Scythe, and 1 from Century of the Sail), we will have class time to work on the essays, but full paper is due 8 Nov ( you need to work on it outside of class as well).

Intro paragraph due 28 Oct.

Columbus Day Weekend/ Reading to DO in AP World

John Murnane — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 14:00:33 +0000

With the long weekend coming up and the special Wednesday on 12 Oct (no classes), E and F period AP World History classes will need to use that time productively–we need to read in preparation for the next unit The Rise of the West. As a result, there will be a quiz on chapters 3 and 4 in The Origins of the Modern World by Robert B. Marks ON THURSDAY 13 OCT in both E and F periods.

The 5th chapter in Marks’ book will be due the following week–so if you are on a roll, keep reading, read all THREE chapter!

Click here to see the larger goals of the unit.

Author, Crest of the Peacock, George Gheverghese Joseph at the MAA

John Murnane — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:09:20 +0000

The Mathematical Association of America (MAA)

presents

George Gheverghese Joseph

on the Transmission to Europe of Non-European Mathematics

September 26, 2008

Click here