Honors Modern World History

Welcome to Honors Modern World History.  History is the study of the total human experience.  It involves the political, economic, social, cultural, religious, scientific, esthetic, and intellectual aspects of human life.  The class will begin circa 1450 CE and continue through to modern times.  Topics explored include the social, political, and economic systems of the last four hundred years; the agricultural, industrial, and scientific revolutions; the political revolutions of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries; war; imperialism and colonial independence; nationalism and internationalism; tolerance and intolerance; and the crisis of the spirit associated with the modern era. Skills emphasized in the course include research (using both primary and secondary sources), writing, editing, synthesis, analysis, geographical literacy, and cultural literacy. 

 

History is comprised of events, people, and places, but none of it has relevance if we can’t put the pieces together to better gauge our present.  There was chaos and violence in the Middle East long before the U.S. involvement in Iraq.  How can we better understand it, and once we do, what can we do with our new-found knowledge?  What are the roots of democracy?  Can democracy succeed in societies in the Middle East which have never functioned under democratic ideals?  Why has The United States taken the role it has in global affairs?  Why has Europe become increasingly frustrated with this government’s actions overseas?  Has the U.S. always looked at itself as nation-builders and the beacon of democracy?  What about other powers in the world?  Why is the U.S. alone today as the world’s only super power?  There are no concrete answers to any of these questions, but there are pieces of the larger puzzle that we can continually put together so that in the end you have a solid foundation to answer all of these questions.

 

That’s our goal in this class.  You will no longer be asked only what something is, or when something happened.  Instead, you’ll be asked to analyze various viewpoints of the same event and draw your own conclusions about why something happened, and equally, its consequence then in history and now.  The days of looking up one word/sentence answers in a textbook are over. Please remember that you are in control of your success in this class.  Take responsibility for your work and be accountable for your actions.