8/30/17, 8/31/17 Today's Frame - The Agricultural Transformation

How did sustained agriculture and the domestication of animals lead to the development of complex societies or civilizations, particularly in the ancient Middle East?

Today's Frame: Clash - The West vs. the Rest?

It was once a widely accepted idea that Western civilization both existed and was the dominant and/or "universal" civilization (think Western colonialism, for one).  With a textbook author that rejects the very term "civilization," Huntington's article proclaiming it as a central unifying force arrayed against "The Rest"...  What theories and concepts about the West and "civilization" should we bring into our curriculum this year in our study of history across the globe for the past 5,000 years?

Link to Ferguson's Civilization

Today's Frame: Rise or Descent of the West

Historiography provides perspective and theoretical approaches to interpret history. We are starting to wrestle with multiple perspectives, according to Ferguson, Fukuyama, and now Zakaria. Will Western civilization remain dominant in the current period of the "Rise of the Rest"- or will the sharing of "killer apps" dilute this singular power and diffuse it? ... And what does President Trump have to say about this phenomenon?

Today's Frame: "The Rise of the Rest"

1) How do we account for approximately 500 years of Western domination of the world- and why does it matter?

2) What lenses or approaches can we use to understand this domination and "The Rise of The Rest"?

Fareed Zakaria's Rise of the Rest excerpt (click here)

Today's Frame: Historiography

Historians interpret and contextualize evidence.  What tools do they use and how can we begin to utilize their approach and methodology, including historiography?

Welcome to Honors World History!

Welcome to class!  I'm looking forward to a great year together.  This website has all the information you will need to stay up to date for class. Here's what I'd like you to do for tomorrow:

• Return signed contracts
• Civilization: what is civilized/civilization/write-up (one paragraph, hand-written or typed hard copy)
• Respond to survey