Group 3:

Group 3: Individuals and Society - Higher Level History of Europe - Course Outline - Grade 12

Overview:

History of Europe is a twelfth grade required IB course designed for Higher Level

study of European history and issues from the era of the Renaissance to the

present, with emphasis on the period of the mid-18th Century to 1990. Areas

of concentration cover both Western and Eastern Europe as well as Russia/former Soviet Union. The structure of the course is designed to meet the optional regional study at the Higher Level for IB. In addition, students will prepare for the Advanced Placement examination in European History and Chicago Public School requirements for Social Studies electives.

Aims:

1. To promote the understanding of the principle themes in modern European history.

2. To gain an appreciation of the concept that the uniqueness of the individual in Western society is the driving force representing human progress.

3. To understand the appreciation of the Fine Arts as reflections of Western man's past and his visions for the future.

4. To gain mastery of the skills which demonstrate the ability to assess the relevance and worth of sources.

5. To refine the communication skills necessary to present informed, reasoned, and persuasive arguments in both essay and oral format.

Objectives:

Students will:

1. Understand the shift in the19th and 20th Centuries toward the secularization of learning and culture.

2. Appreciate the major trends in literature and the arts.

3. Understand the major intellectual, cultural, social, economic and political developments and their relationship to events.

4. Understand the impact of global expansion on European and non-European cultures.

5. Analyze the rise and function of the modern state in its various forms.

6. Explore the evolution of political elites, parties and ideologies.

7. Gain an insight into the extension and limitation of rights and liberties.

8. Evaluate the various forms that Nationalism, Revolution, Protest and Reform have taken in Europe during the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries.

9. Explore the various origins and consequences of war and conflict and the the related efforts to restrain them.

10. Understand the origins and consequences of Industrialization and Urbanization.

11. Appreciate the development of commercial practices and business competition and their economic and social impact.

12. Evaluate the changes in European family structure, demographics and gender roles.

13. Understand the changing distribution of wealth and poverty.

14. Study the development of racial and ethic group identities.

Topics:

1. Overview of changing world dynamics from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment:

The emergence of a money economy

· · Printing, thought and literature

· · Science and religion

· · Reformation: founders (Luther, Zwingli, Calvin), beliefs, practices, impact, Counter-Reformation

· · Culture and Society in the late 18^th Century.

· · Social patterns

· · Popular culture

· · Literature and the arts

· · Demographic and economic growth

· · Innovation and tradition in agriculture

2. Enlightenment, Revolution and Napoleon.

3. The philosophers and reform

· · Enlightened despots

· · The causes of Revolution

· · The First Republic and the Reconstruction of France

· · The Second Revolution: Robespierre to Bonaparte

· · Napoleon and France

· · Napoleon and Europe

4. The Industrial Revolution

Stages of individual growth

· · Economic and social effects

5. The social and political upheavals of the Romantic Age

Theories of change

· · Spread of liberal government

· · Socialist responses

· · Revolutions of 1830 and 1848

6. Nation-state building

The politics of nationalism

· · Second French Empire

· · Unification of Italy

· · Unification of Germany

· · Hapsburgs

· · Russia 1825-1914

7. European Culture 1871-1914

A new age of science

· · Literature and arts in industrial societies

8. Imperialism and competition

Meanings, explanations and patterns

· · Case studies: Great Britain, France

9. World War I

Causes

· · Course of the war

· · Peace settlements

10. Revolution in Russia and growth of the Communist state

Background

· · Lenin

· · War Communism 1917-1920

· · Civil War, 1918-1921

11. Searching for stability in the midst of Depression

The distinctive culture of the 20^th Century

· · World Depression

· · Rise of Totalitarianism: Fascist Italy, Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union

12. World War II

Path to War, 1931-39

· · European and global war

· · Victory for the United Nations

13. Cold War: 1945-69

Beginnings and post-war problems

· · Divisions between East and West

· · Soviet Union and the West, 1945-1970

14. Crisis and change in the '70's, '80's and '90's

Capitalism and Recession

· · European Recovery

· · Communist Rigidity

15. Fall of Communism

Decline of Marxist ideology

· · Disintegration of Communism in Eastern Europe

· · Fall of the Soviet Empire

16. The New World Order and the United Nations

Europe without Cold War

· · A global era

Text/materials:

A History of Civilization, Winks. [Primary text]

A History of the Modern World, Palmer.

Great Issues in Western Civilization, Vol. II, Tierney, Kagan, Williams.

Discovering the Western Past, Vol II, Wiesner.

Advanced Placement European History, Levy.

Numerous individual document/handouts. Examples include: Declaration of the

Rights of Man, Versailles Treaty, Munich Agreement, Atlantic Charter, Balfour

Declaration, Camp David Accords.

Maps: classroom and individual, graphs/charts/political cartoons and related and pertinent visuals.

A collection of relevant videos representing a cross-section of the areas of concentration. Included are: The French Revolution, The Victorian Age, Guns of August, Art of the Western World, Ten Days that Shook the World,

Russia's War, Night and Fog, Europe after the Cold War.

Assessment:

The IB Internal Assessment requires students to display skills and historical understanding in a context other than that of a formal exam. Students will do an in-depth study of any historical subject which may be directly related to an area already studied or from a historical period outside the parameters of the topics covered. Formats for this assessment may be a research essay, a paper with an audio-taped component, videos or computer presentations. The internal assessment will be weighted at 25% of the student's grade, reflecting up to 30 hours of the student's IB history time. The remaining 75% of the student's grade will be determined on the basis of the objectives outlined by the IBO. These include demonstration of historical understanding, presentation of clear, relevant and substantiated arguments, ability to evaluate and interpret historical source material, ability to identify and evaluate historical interpretations and insight to explain cause and effect related to continuity and change.

Categories and methods to be used for assessment are:

Journal/notebook evaluated quarterly

Periodic Document-Based Questions, both as analytical essays and as examinations

Periodic debates as a specialized form of oral argument

Two group projects with accompanying oral presentations

Peer assessments of essays

Book reviews

Objective exams

Precis of historical articles

A short topical paper each quarter

Special project report (visit to museum or other site or building) or cross-curricular exercises (art, literature in historical context)

Group 3: Individuals and Society, Higher Level 20th Century World History and History of Europe Course Outline, Grades 11 and 12