Pre-Modern Course Syllabus: What is a Just Society?
*Note: During the long block each week, we’ll spend time on our quarterly foci (that’s the plural for focus). Click here for a general course description. Click here to see the current Groups.
1st Quarter: Foundations, Ancient Empires and Complex Societies
Unit 1: Foundations of Historical study: The Practices and Pitfalls of History (3 weeks)
What is the study of history? What is a civilization?
Unit 2: Roots of Chinese Civilization: Approaches to Governance (3 weeks)
What strategies do leaders and institutions use to gain—and hold on to—power? Which political philosophy will lead to a just society?
Unit 3: Roots of Indian Civilization: Hinduism, Buddhism and Social Hierarchy (3 weeks)
What is the origin and legacy of Indian civilization? Can religion create a just society?
2nd Quarter: The Emergence and Spread of Monotheism
Unit 4: The ancient Mediterranean: The Rise of Monotheism and Democracy (3 weeks)
How did Christianity become a world religion? Is democracy just?
Unit 5: The Early Islamic World: Tension between Pluralism and Fundamentalism (4 weeks)
How did Islam become a world religion? Is there one way to practice one’s faith? Is violence ever just?
*Special focus: Pakistan
Unit 6: Medieval African Empires: The Spread of Islam and The Economics of Trade (2 weeks)
How did Islam transform societies and how do African societies transform Islam? Is trade fair and just?
†Mid-Year Review and Mid-term Exam
3rd Quarter: Europe and The Ascendancy of Western Civilization
Unit 7: The European and Arab Middle Ages: Isolation, Intolerance (4 weeks)
What happens when religious power and political power are fused? Should there be a limit to tolerance and diversity?
Unit 8: Renaissance & Reformation: Emergence of the Individual and Humanist Arts (4 weeks)
How does Europe transform after feudalism? How does art express cultural values?
†Begin major research paper
4th Quarter: Globalization and its Impact on the Modern Era
Unit 9: Columbian Exchange: Conquest and the Formation of a Global Inequality (3 weeks)
What are the effects of European conquest of the Americas? How do we judge the conquerors and how does power shape the telling of history?
Unit 10 : Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment: Challenging authority and the Emergence of Individual Rights (3 weeks)
What new ideas in science and politics emerge to challenge hierarchies? Do individual rights or community rights lead to a just society?
†Year-End Review, Historians Banquet and Final Exam
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1st Quarter: Foundations, Ancient Empires and Complex Societies
Unit 1: Foundations of Historical study: The Practices and Pitfalls of History (3 weeks)
What is the study of history? What is a civilization?
Unit 2: Roots of Chinese Civilization: Approaches to Governance (3 weeks)
What strategies do leaders and institutions use to gain—and hold on to—power? Which political philosophy will lead to a just society?
Unit 3: Roots of Indian Civilization: Hinduism, Buddhism and Social Hierarchy (3 weeks)
What is the origin and legacy of Indian civilization? Can religion create a just society?
2nd Quarter: The Emergence and Spread of Monotheism
Unit 4: The ancient Mediterranean: The Rise of Monotheism and Democracy (3 weeks)
How did Christianity become a world religion? Is democracy just?
Unit 5: The Early Islamic World: Tension between Pluralism and Fundamentalism (4 weeks)
How did Islam become a world religion? Is there one way to practice one’s faith? Is violence ever just?
*Special focus: Pakistan
Unit 6: Medieval African Empires: The Spread of Islam and The Economics of Trade (2 weeks)
How did Islam transform societies and how do African societies transform Islam? Is trade fair and just?
†Mid-Year Review and Mid-term Exam
3rd Quarter: Europe and The Ascendancy of Western Civilization
Unit 7: The European and Arab Middle Ages: Isolation, Intolerance (4 weeks)
What happens when religious power and political power are fused? Should there be a limit to tolerance and diversity?
Unit 8: Renaissance & Reformation: Emergence of the Individual and Humanist Arts (4 weeks)
How does Europe transform after feudalism? How does art express cultural values?
†Begin major research paper
4th Quarter: Globalization and its Impact on the Modern Era
Unit 9: Columbian Exchange: Conquest and the Formation of a Global Inequality (3 weeks)
What are the effects of European conquest of the Americas? How do we judge the conquerors and how does power shape the telling of history?
Unit 10 : Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment: Challenging authority and the Emergence of Individual Rights (3 weeks)
What new ideas in science and politics emerge to challenge hierarchies? Do individual rights or community rights lead to a just society?
†Year-End Review, Historians Banquet and Final Exam
<Back to Parent's Page