Week of November 27th

Monday
  • Reading: none
  • Lecture: Scientific Revolution
  • Workshop: Scientist biography
  • Due: Matteo Ricci reading questions (the ones we worked on in class before Thanksgiving)
Wednesday
  • Reading: Strayer 477-482
  • Lecture: Enlightenment
  • Workshop: Scientist biographies
  • Due: reading note check
Friday
  • Reading: Strayer 482-486
  • Lecture: Spread of Western Thought
  • Workshop: Exam Prep
  • Due: Scientist biography
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Week of November 13


Tuesday
  • Lecture: Protestant Reformation
  • Reading: Strayer 461-467
  • Notebook check: reading notes 
  • Homework check: Comparative Chart
    • Compare New World slavery to Old World slavery using 3-4 analytic categories of your choice.
Thursday
  • Lecture: Missionary Activity
  • Reading: Strayer 467-472
  • Due: Comparative Essay
    • In a 2-3 page essay, compare and contrast New World slavery with Old World slavery. Be sure to include a comparative thesis.
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Week of November 6

Great job on exam # 2!! I was very pleased with the results and it is clear that what we're doing in class is working. We have now completed one quarter of the school year and you all have adapted admirably to the rigors of Modern World History. I recognize that it was a challenging transition in several ways. At this point, we have been through all of the major components of the course at least once, and hopefully you will take comfort in the fact that for the rest of the year things will be similar. Looking forward, we will be moving on to our next unit, which encompasses the global impact of religious and scientific developments emanating from Europe in the early modern period.

Tuesday
  • Lecture: Slave Trade
  • Workshop: reading notes
  • Reading: Strayer 449-457
    • this is the reading that was assigned for last Tuesday, but that we didn't get to in class. you may want to review the reading to help you answer the homework question.
  • Due: 2-paragraph reading response (devote 1 paragraph to each question)
    • How did the Atlantic slave trade differ from earlier forms of slavery in the Old World? How did the Atlantic slave trade disrupt native African societies?
Thursday
  • Read: Olaudah Equiano's autobiography
  • Discussion: Equiano's account and its historical uses
  • Due: 1-paragraph reading response
    • What are the three things about Equiano's story that you find most surprising. Explain why they surprise you, considering what you know about slavery in the Americas?
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Week of October 30th

Great job on the research proposals! You all outlined some very interesting projects and I can't wait to move forward and watch them take shape over the remainder of the year. But first we need to turn our attention this week to the second quarterly exam, which will take place on Thursday. We will work to prepare you for that on Tuesday. There will be opportunities to ask questions about terms you are unsure of and most importantly the lecture will be specifically targeted to provide you with the information you'll need to write the long essays; you won't want to miss this one! See you soon...

Tuesday
  • Read: Strayer 449-457
  • Due: notebook check (including exam review)
    • terms should be defined and short essays outlined
    • we will discuss long essays in class
  • Silver economy & slave trade lecture
  • Exam review
Thursday
  • exam 2
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Week of October 23rd

I am getting excited about these research projects. I have been very impressed with the breadth and diversity of your interests, and how readily you have been able to relate those interests to the development of an inter-connected world. I want you to focus all of your efforts on that assignment over the weekend. We will continue our regular course content (textbook and lecture content) as the week unfolds. I have posted our itinerary for the next two weeks so you can plan for what's coming. Note that we'll have an exam at the end of next week and reading each day between now and then. Please stay on top of your notebook as that will help ensure your success on the exam. I will check them twice in the next two weeks so bring them to class each day.

Monday
  • Read: none
  • Due: draft of your research project proposal
  • In-class: comparative empires lecture
Wednesday
  • Read: Strayer 433-439
  • Due: notebook check
  • In-class: trading-post empires lecture
Friday
  • Read: Strayer 439-445
  • Due: revised proposal
  • In-class: silver economy lecture
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Week of October 16th

Great job with the exams last week. Overall I am very pleased with how hard everyone has been working in the course and I think that work is reflected in the exam scores. No doubt some of you will want to make some adjustments to some of your study habits. There was a strong correlation between exam scores and the notebooks, so we will discuss that in class this week. But I am reassured that we now have a solid foundation in the primary aspects of the course, and this will now allow us to have some fun with the individual projects that we talked about on Friday. For Tuesday, I would like to take some time to meet with you one-on-one to talk about your ideas. Please take a few minutes to jot down some interests that you would like to explore. Don't worry if you can't immediately see how it relates to world history, I can help you with that. Bring this to class on Tuesday, and be sure to keep up with the reading.

 
Tuesday
  • Read: Strayer 445-448; 421-424
  • In-class: reading quiz
  • Due: statement of interest for research project
Thursday
  • Read: Strayer 424-429
  • Due: 1-paragraph reading response
    • Compare the Mughal emperors Akbar & Aurangzeb.
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Week of October 9th

We will be completing our first major unit of study this week with an exam on Wednesday. You now have the review sheet which includes all of the information that will be on the test, and we had a chance to go over that material one last time in class on Friday. Please spend some time preparing your essays, in particular. Also, remember that you have to submit your notebook with the exam, and that the notebook grade will be averaged with your raw exam score if it is higher, but not if it is lower.

Looking ahead, we will turn our attention to the study of empire and colonialism in the early modern world. We will begin by employing our comparative skills to the study of Russian, Chinese and Muslim empire-making to learn if those examples differed from European empires in the Americas.

Wednesday
  • Read: none
  • Due: notebook
  • In-class: exam
Friday
  • Read: Strayer, 417-421
  • Due: 1 paragraph response to reading question: What motivated Russian empire building?
  • In-class: Russian expansion & the fur trade
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