History

World History

Lifelong learning

12 months

Core curriculum

to see where this is scheduled in your curriculum.

Description

This course combines narratives of specific events with various aspects of "Big History" to gain an understanding of the broad trends that will continue to shape human society into the future.

There are three main components to the course: 1) a series of lectures on world civilizations from the Great Courses, 2) "spine" texts that present the facts of world history, and 3) several popular history books which examine key trends in human history.

One of the spine texts is a fairly conventional choice: A History of the World by Andrew Marr. This book presents the major events from the Stone Age to the present at a level appropriate for high school.

The second spine text is The Cartoon History of the Universe series, a detailed narrative of world history in the guise of humorous graphic novels. These comic books are actually more detailed than Marr's A History of the World, and are a wonderfully entertaining way to learn about historical events and characters.

Finally, several excellent historic movies are included. These are optional but highly recommended as they bring to life the people and historical periods being studied.