Aims of the course

We live in an increasingly globalized world and events in a completely different region will impact upon our lives significantly. As world citizens we need to be informed. History at Dane Court aims to provide students with a broad knowledge and understanding of what happened in the 20^th century studying some of the events in South Africa, the USA, China, Germany and Russia. In addition we study international relations during the Cold War.

Students will be encouraged to think in a global context rather than seeing History from a solely Euro-centric viewpoint. They will be challenged to examine a variety of attitudes and perspectives to understand how cultural and other factors impact upon Historical enquiry. Study of GCSE History is not absolutely essential but will be of great benefit to students who take this course. The most important quality you can bring to lessons is an open, enquiring mind and a determination to work hard.

Course Outline

Standard Level

Paper 1: Rights and protest

Case study 1-The civil rights movement in the USA 1954-65 (Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and the struggle for Afro-American civil rights).

Case study 2-Apartheid South Africa 1948-64 (Apartheid; protests; Nelson Mandela and Albert Luthuli).

Paper 2: World History Topics

• Topic 10 –Authoritarian States (20^th Century)
  Mao’s China and Hitler’s Germany.

• Topic 12 – The Cold War
  The origins, developments and end of the Cold War, including crises such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and leaders such as Reagan and Gorbachev.

• Historical Internal Assessment (coursework)

• An essay (max 2,200 words) on a topic of the students’ choice.
  This is a great opportunity for students to explore an area that they find interesting. Students are encouraged to focus on a topic arising from within the syllabus (if an Extended Essay is on History this is an opportunity to explore other topics).

Higher Level

• In addition to the above:

• Paper 3: Aspects of the History of Europe

• Topic 12 – Imperial Russia, revolutions and the emergence of the Soviet State 1855 – 1924
  This will allow students to understand the context within which a Communist revolution altered the course of Russian history and will afford one half of the study of an area across over a century.

• Topic16 – The USSR and post-Soviet Russia 1924 – 2000
  This will complete the picture for Russian History and will also complement the work done for Paper 2.

• Topic 14 – European states in the Inter-war years (1918-39)
  Depending on how we progress through the course, there may be time to look at aspects of this.

Assessment

Written Papers – 5 hours in total (HL), 2 hours 30 mins in total (SL)

All students do Papers 1 & 2 and the Historical Investigation. To achieve the Higher Level, students will also take Paper 3.

• Paper 1 – Source analysis – Four short-answer/ structured questions. 1 hour.

• Paper 2 - Two essays from a choice. 1 hour 30 mins.

• Historical Investigation – on the student’s choice, internally assessed and externally moderated.

• Paper 3 – Three essays from a choice. 2 hours 30 mins.

Careers links

History is recognised as equipping students with the skills of analysis, evaluation, argument and organisation. It is therefore useful for many careers. However it is seen especially relevant for lawyers, journalism, the civil service, teaching, politics, archivists and heritage management.