Instructor: Alisa A. Bourne

Instructor Information:

aabourne@olemiss.edu

Mrs. Bourne is a graduate of William Carey University and the University of Southern Mississippi. She holds a Mississippi Educator License with endorsements in Business, English, Mathematics, General Science, Social Studies, Psychology, AP World History, Counseling, and Administration.

Prior to accepting her current position as Guidance Counselor at South Pontotoc High School, she served as the District Data and Guidance Coordinator at the Pontotoc City School District.

Contact Information:

If you have questions concerning the content of the course, you may contact the instructor directly using the email link in the "Communications & Tools" tab. NOTE: Whenever sending an email, please be sure to indicate your Course title and number in the subject line (ie, AP Art History).

Course Description:

Advanced Placement World History is a college-level course that analyzes global patterns of historical development and exchange from roughly 8000 BCE to the present. Using primary and secondary sources, AP World History students will track historical change and continuity, paying close attention to unifying course themes and accompanying learning objectives.

This course is structured around the investigation of five "themes", and nineteen "key concepts", in six different "time periods". The key concepts support the investigation of historical developments within the time periods, while the themes allow students to make crucial connections across the time periods and across geographical regions. Students will gain an understanding of the historical developments within each time period by using the key concepts.

Required Textbook:

Bulliet, R., Headrick, D. R., Johnson, L. L., & Crossley, P. K. (2014). The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History (6th Edition).

Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. Print ISBN 978-1285436791.

It is your responsibility as a student to order your textbook. Online textbook retailers such as Amazon.com, ABEbooks.com, or Half.com usually provide used textbooks at economical prices.

You must make sure you are ordering the exact book required in this syllabus.

Course Objectives:

Students should be able to answer the following Overarching Questions after studying AP World History:

• How have people used diverse tools and technologies to adapt to and affect the environment over time?
• How and to what extent has human migration and settlement been influenced by the environment during different periods in world history?
• How has the environment changed as a consequence of population growth and urbanization?
• How have processes of industrialization and global integration been shaped by environmental factors and in turn how has their development affected the environment over time?
• How and why have religions, belief systems, philosophies, and ideologies affected the development of societies over time?
• How were scientific and technological innovations adapted and transformed as they spread from one society or culture to another?
• In what ways do the arts reflect innovation, adaptation, and creativity of specific societies?
• How have different forms of governance been constructed and maintained over time?
• How have economic, social, cultural, and environmental contexts influenced the processes of state building, expansion, and dissolution?
• How have conflicts, exchanges, and alliances influenced the processes of state building, expansion, and dissolution?
• How and to what extent have modes of production and commerce changed over time?
• How have different labor systems developed and changed over time?
• How have economic systems and the development of ideologies, values, and institutions influenced each other over time?
• What is the relationship among local, regional, and global economic systems; how have those relationships changed over time?
• How have distinctions based on kinship, ethnicity, class, gender, and race influenced the development and transformations of social hierarchies?
• How, by whom, and in what ways have social categories, roles, and practices been maintained or challenged over time?
• How have political, economic, cultural, and demographic changes affected social structures over time?

Course Outline:

This course consists of 33 instructional modules (or lessons). NOTE: you must pass the Syllabus and Orientation Quiz for the course materials to appear on the Lessons page.

Start Here

Map Activity & Quiz

Grading Scale:

93 - 100% = A
85 - 92% = B
75 - 84% = C
70 - 74% = D
Below 69% = F

The grading format is as follows:

Major grades 30% - Unit tests, proctored mid-term and midterm essay, all other essays except for the proctored final essay
Minor grades 50% - Map activities, chapter quizzes, Global View activities, article critiques
Final exam 20% - The proctored final exam and proctored final essays