Course+outlines

Here are some possible course outlines and syllabi that have been used in prior AP classes or Honors European courses at SA and the Ethel Walker School.

AP Fall term overview

AP European Curriculum/ Possible Assignments Outline

Week One: Gettin’ back into the Groove and Medieval Europe

Outcomes: -to transition back into the mentality of school -to define classroom norms and expectations for good writing and reading -to introduce the essential questions for the year -to provide a curricular overview for the year -to examine what it means to be “Western” -to brainstorm what we know and want to know about Medieval Europe -to begin reading about Medieval Europe

Texts: McKay, Chapter 12 entire Sherman, “The Decameron: The Plague in Florence”

Activities in Class: -analyze parallels between Medieval Europe and crises today

Homework: -write a newspaper story describing the plague in Florence -write an encyclopedia entry describing the key defining concepts of Medieval Europe

Weeks Two and Three: Renaissance and Protestant Reformation

Outcomes: -to investigate Europe’s transformation into a secular, modern world -to examine how and why the Renaissance started in Italy -to identify main trends in Renaissance and Reformation thinking -to investigate parallels to today’s crises with the Church

Texts McKay, Chapters 13 and 14 Perry, Chp. 1, “The Father of Humanism: Patriarch, “ “Celebration of Worldly Life” and 5. “Break with Medieval Political Theory” Perky, chp. 10, Luther “On Papal Power, Justification of Faith, and the Interpretation of the Bible” Sherman, Chp. 2, “The Reformation,” excerpts

Activities in class:

-slide show/music of the era -role play between artists, nobility and intellectuals on the definition of the ideal -role play between Luther, Calvin, Pope on the status of the Catholic Church -informal debate on the causes of the Reformation -pieces of the film “Man For All Seasons” -informal debate on whether we have a free will/ social obligations

Homework assignments: - write an obituary of Calvin, Luther, or Henry VIII analyzing their impact on the Reformation -write a letter to Luther from the perspective of a Catholic preach arguing against him -short take home essay arguing the basis of the Protestant Reformation -write a news story describing the major artistic and intellectual movements of the Renaissance -analysis of primary document, “Did Women Have a Renaissance?” -critical reaction to Luther and Calvin’s theories for religion

Weeks Four and 1/2 Five: Religious Wars and Age of Exploration

Outcomes: -to assess the devastating impact of the Protestant Reformation on all of Europe -to evaluate the rise of national states - to investigate the reasons for Spain’s rise and fall -to interact with our first DBQ (document based question)

Texts: McKay, Chapter 15 Sherman, chp.3 “Overseas Expansion/ New Politics” Sherman, chp. 4 “ War and Revolution: 1560-1660”

Activities in class:

-to do as a class our first DBQ in groups -look at the art of the North: Rembrandt, Hals, Vermeer -role play between the leaders of the 30 Years War at Peace of Westphalia demonstrating personal, political interests

Homework assignments:

-time capsule summary of the major events of the 30 Years War and Peace -travel agent brochure on newly discovered America and its impact on Europe -editorial review of the decline of Spain as a sea power -press release on the wars of religion in France -newspaper story on the Navigation Act of 1651

Weeks Five, Six and Seven: Absolutism and Constitutionalism

Outcomes: -to investigate the reasons for different theories and exercises of power -to analyze why Eastern and Western countries developed differently -to assess the role of individuals in shaping government (Cromwell, Louis XIV) -to critically assess the methods of Peter the Great

Texts: McKay, Chapters 16 and 17 Sherman, Chapter 5, “Aristocracy and Absolutism in the 17th Century” Hobbes, “Theory of Absolutism”

Activities in class:

-informal debate: was Peter the Great great? -informal debate: Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth represented a setback for parliamentary democracy -short oral presentations on Eastern developments: Austria and Prussia, Russia, and Baroque artistic movement

Homework assignments:

-write a letter from Louis XIV to Charles II of Spain on benefits of his grandson becoming the King of Spain -write a memorandum from William III of England to the other Monarch of Western Europe outlining the reasons why Louis XIV’s aggression must be halted -newspaper story on Peter’s trip through Western Europe -editorial on the Glorious Revolution in England

Weeks eight and nine: Enlightenment and Expansion of Europe

Outcomes: -to understand the philosophies of Enlightenment thinkers -to examine Europe’s role on a global scale -to orally articulate various points of view on the status of government, men, religion, human rights -to comprehend the impact the Enlightenment had around the world -to understand the psychological wrench of the new scientific findings on world

Texts: McKay, chapters 18 and part of 19 Sherman, Chp. 10 Perry, chp. 6,” Scientific Revolution” and chp. 8, “The Enlightenment” chapters from Sophie’s World

Activities in class: -roundtable of thinkers: Voltaire, Montesquieu, Kant, Paine, Rousseau, Roosevelt discuss theories of government and natural rights -group work on a DBQ -informal debate: Prussia’s designation as a Great Power was justified

Homework Assignments: -fly on the wall dialogue: between Locke and Hobbes on human nature -enclopedia entry on a synopsis of the Enlightenment -newspaper article on England and France in 1750, comparing colonial possessions, population, and government structure -memorandum from George III to Parliament on how to handle the impending revolution in America -create a pamphlet of each European country and where their possessions are

Week Ten: 18th Century Economics and Life of the People

Outcomes: -to master a particular section of this piece of history -to present in a compelling and enticing way your knowledge of that field -to take notes and learn from other students in the class

Texts: McKay and other primary sources from library

Activities in Class: -Class will be divided into five groups, each responsible for teaching one day of next week’s material from the texts and some auxiliary reading material. Your homework will be the reading from the text and short writing assignments given by the groups or by me.

Homework: -summaries of the major points/ themes of each day’s presentation -comments on how to improve presentations: self and peer evaluations

Weeks Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen: French Revolution and Napoleon

Outcomes: -to understand why historians define the French Revolution as the beginning of the ‘modern world’ and an analysis of that critique -to investigate the causes and long term effects of the French Revolution -to critically analyze Napoleon’s leadership and demise

Texts: McKay, chp. 21 Sherman, chps. 9 and 10, “The French Revolution” and “The Age of Napoleon”

Activities in Class: -role play between the three different Estates on the future of France -mock trial of Louis XVI -re-enacting Napoleon’s battles across Europe -dialogue between Napoleon and other leaders in Europe -discussion on why the world is ‘modern’

Homework: -Memo to Napoleon on the state of his military conquests at different junctures -newspaper editorial critical of the Reign of Terror -critical essay on the underlying causes of the French Revolution -newspaper article summarizing the Congress of Vienna

1450-1999: Themes and Questions for the Year**
 * AP European History

As we embark on our inquiry into European History, there are certain questions and themes that will appear throughout the year. I present them to you now and we will revisit them often so put this in a safe place. As we come to study history, we will see that it repeats itself; strife, conflict, uncertainty, triumph, revolution, and defeat reoccur throughout the past. We will look at the cycles and ebbs in European History. Focus questions will be introduced for each chapter/ unit.

Essential Question Outline

Yearlong Essential Questions

• How do we know about the past? Who tells about the past? Whose point of view are we learning it from? • How do we come to understand different experiences of the past? How do we see the human story of history? • How much diversity exists within any given society? • What does it mean to have power in a society? How do people get power? Who has it? Who does not? What changes origins and foundations of power? • What are ways people fight oppression? What is oppression? How does it happen? • What factors perpetuate racism in society and which try to stop it? Sexism? Discrimination? Racism? • What does the term “European” mean? For whom? • How are societies structured--is there more than one model? How does a democracy evolve? • How are “the other” treated in any given society? • What is the relationship between the individual and the state? • What is the relationship between imperialism and racism? • What impact does industrialization have on a society, historically, globally? • What is the relationship between urban and rural peoples in a society? • What is the relationship between the military and the rest of society? • What role does religion play in society?

Themes... to revisit, discuss, and debate:

• Nationalism. The rise of nation-states and national identities We will analyze the role it plays in creating wars, civil wars, or ethnic cleansing. • Organization of governments. Absolutism, constitutional monarchy, bureaucracy, democracy, facism,,, communism, socialism, totalitarians regimes. How did these governments form and how effective were they? • Internal Political Strife. English Civil War, Glorious Revolution, 30 Years War, French Revolution, Revolutions of 1830 and 1848, 1917 Revolutions, Spanish Civil War, 1989 Revolutions, Bosnia and Yugoslavia today. The role of dissent and conflict within countries, over race, ethnicity, religion, and politics. • Quest for dominance/ power. Acquisition of land with imperialism, Spanish Armada, 30 Years War, Louis XIV’s wars, Napoleonic Wars, Wars versus the Turks, World Wars I and II, NATO, Warsaw Pact, Common Market. What role has power played in European politics? • Separate Paths of Eastern and Western Europe. How and why do they develop on such different paths? • Economic Issues/ growth. Transition from agricultural to industrial society, mercantilism, rise of capitalism, impact of socialism, communism, distribution of the economic pie, the changing workplace. • Role of religion. One church, splits in Christendom, questioning responsibility to the Catholic Church, religion divisions between North and South, divisions within countries, relation between church and state. • Class structure. How have certain peoples been left out of the system due to finances? What forms of government promote or discourage class inequality?

• Students will think critically and analytically in looking at facts and data and producing their own historical opinion. • Students will develop precise, consice, persuasive writing skills • Students will assume a voice in the classroom and learn to express their ideas verbally. • Students will develop greater people skills by working in groups. • Students will ain a higher understanidn of assessments by being asked to critically self assess their work. • Students will develop critical reading skills by encountering a plethora of primary and secondary documents. • Students will refine ability to gather evidence and to present conclusions in a coherent and cohesive manner. • Students will encounter a set of documents and produce a coherent, logical essay in regard to the subject.
 * Skill objectives:**