United States History Syllabus

Google Classroom Codes:

Fall Period VI: erhnwlx

The formal study of history offers answers to the questions which interest most people—who are we, where did we come from, how have earlier events shaped our lives? We all tell stories about ourselves, our families, and our friends which answer these questions. These stories help us to make sense of our world and our place in that world. Historians tell similar stories, but about larger groups of people and often about people that are more distant in time and space. World history looks farthest into the past and at the largest groups of people to understand the similarities and the differences in our experiences on this planet. In our modern global age, this knowledge is essential. Timewise, this course begins with the beginning of the Early Modern Period (1450-1750). The first semester focuses on several of the global processes that created our modern world. The second semester focuses on the efforts to continue to shape and re-shape the modern world throughout the 20th c. and up to the present day. Most of the units are organized around case studies that exemplify the global processes or big ideas of the unit. Readings for the course come from a variety of sources, both print and digital, and are of varying levels of difficulty.