Reframing Modern World History

Inquiry: What does it mean to be in “right relationship?”

Teaching Thesis:

This course seeks to examine how the last three centuries of colonialism and industrialization impacted world history and our current climate crisis and highlights possibilities for a new and different future. The course questions asks “How do we get into right relationship with the planet and each other?” To address this, we need to first explore what it would mean to be in harmony with nature and build relations among people that are based on respect, self-determination, and human rights - in other words, to ‘be in right relationship”.

Lesson Components:

This lesson introduces the overarching theme of the course and establishes a class definition of “right relationship” that can be used throughout the course. 

• Introductory videos (students watch 3 of 4)
• Notecatcher organizer
• Student posters on “right relationship”

Inquiry: What role does the environment plan in human development?

Teaching Thesis: 

Human societies are heavily shaped by the environments in which they live. Changes in vegetation, animal habitat and weather can force societies to adjust and adapt, sometimes in extreme ways. Conversely, human use of resources and other activities impact the environment on local, regional and, more recently, on global scales. Climate change in particular is posing serious and far-reaching challenges to our economic, political and social structures. How humans collectively mobilize to address this potentially existential threat needs to be a central concern of this era.  

Lesson Components:

This lesson serves to ground students in the basics of climate science and gauge students current knowledge of human impacts and relationships on the environment. 

• Environment as a historical actor: The Little Ice Age case study 
• Climate Change 101
• Root Causes & Consequences of Climate Change (IACP strategy)

Inquiry: How did people pre-1500s get their needs met to survive and thrive? What was life like before “the shift”?

Teaching Thesis:

Multiple centers of civilization before 1492 thrived, developed, and interacted with each other in ways that contrasted sharply with the post-industrial world of the 1800’s. While there were notable exceptions, the local agricultural and energy resources defined their activities. Most of these civilizations far surpassed Europe of the 1500s in science, technology and associated economic activities.

Lesson Components: 

Students explore the various ways humans lived within the “environmental limits” of their surroundings and structured their societies. Understanding the state of the world in the 1500 helps students appreciate the tremendous shift that occurred as Europe rose to dominate much of the world through colonialism and capitalism.

• Pre-shift case studies 
• Case-study organizer chart
• Writing Prompt and Frames

Inquiry: How did Europeans and Africans use power in during the trans-Atlantic slave trade?

Teaching Thesis:

A dominant narrative is told from the perspective of culture in power and are the stories most often told in society, oversimplified, and are accepted as truth. A counter narrative is a story that goes against or complicates the accepted truth about history, cultures, and institutions, often told from the perspective of those marginalized within society. As an example, slavery is often taught as a European necessity in the arc of their story, but when presented from the vantage point of Africans and the resistance, the narrative gets fuller and more complicated.

Lesson Components:

This lesson introduces the concept of dominant and counter narratives, a historical device that will be used repeatedly throughout the course, and also introduces students to the beginnings of colonialism with the early Portuguese and Spanish conquests.

• Slide presentation
• Exploring the Concept of Dominant and Counter Narratives
• Expressions of Power (IACP) analysis of dominant and counter slavery narratives

Inquiry: How did interactions with indigenous communities shape the Enlightenment in Europe?

Teaching Thesis:

The early interactions between European explorers/settlers and the indigenous societies in the Americas included frequent exchanges of ideas and reflections about each others’ societies. Indigenous leaders expressed disbelief in the brutal realities of class divisions in Europe. European explorers learned new concepts of social order that stood in stark contrast to the social order in feudal Europe. The Enlightenment was in many ways a rebranding of ideas shared by Natives in conversations with European settlers. Many of the ideas of personal liberties and political leaders needing the “consent of the governed” can be found in the Jesuit Relations accounts of discussions with indigenous leaders. These accounts force us to reconsider the Enlightenment as evidence of European exceptionalism.

Lesson Components:

Students study key content about how some Native American groups structured their societies before colonialism to understand the influence of these cross-cultural interactions on the Enlightenment.

• Close read of excerpts from Jesuit accounts
• Introduction of the “indigenous critique”
• Main concepts of the Enlightenment thinkers organizer chart

Inquiry: How did rising tensions between imperial powers lead to WWI?

Teaching Thesis:

The resources demanded by the emerging industrialism of the 1800s put ever greater pressure on the colonial powers to secure and expand their holdings throughout the world. The incumbent European powers that engaged in this early colonial scramble at first avoided serious conflict through peaceful means such as the Berlin Conference. Italy, Germany and Austria-Hungary, as late comer insurgents to the process of colonial empire, allied in an effort to counter the domination of the established powers. Tensions escalated, alliances solidified, and leaders mobilized support for the imperial cause by elevating nationalist pride. With economic survival in the balance, nations built up military reserves and strengthened alliances. Japan also began their imperialist projects around the same time, taking over Taiwan, parts of China, and Korea. When these tensions could no longer be contained through diplomacy or smaller wars, Europe erupted into war that engulfed the rest of their colonial holdings.

Lesson Components:

This lesson reframes the traditional “MAIN” causes of WWI acronym by highlighting that Imperialism was the central driver of WWI - militarism, alliances, and nationalism all developed due to tensions between imperialist powers fighting over their colonial holdings.

• 1884 Berlin Conference
• Origins and Primary Sources of Triple Entente (1882) and Triple Alliance (1907)
• Anglo-Japanese Alliance (1902)
• Continental Colonialism in the Balkans
• Inquiry of role of colonized people and colonialism during WWI

Inquiry: How do international economic institutions impact development in the ‘global south’?

Teaching Thesis:

Traditional colonialism relied on direct political control, backed by military might. The world wars and subsequent decolonization movement of the mid 20th century ushered in new global political and economic realities in which many former colonies achieved political independence. Some attempted to reconstruct society based on socialist principles and moved to nationalize land and resources to build self-reliant economies but were often met with direct military intervention to prevent fundamental change. Former colonial powers also reasserted control through international economic institutions and agreements (e.g. IMF, WTO) that placed conditions upon loans needed for economic development and in the name of free trade, superseded attempts by national or international governing institutions such as the United Nations to establish social and economic arrangements based on human needs and rights.

Lesson Components:

This lesson introduces the concept of neoliberal economics and its implications for developing countries.

• Speech by Kwame Nkrumah
• Neoliberalism Skits - helps students understand the key elements of neoliberalism)
• Neoliberalism Scenarios - applying these elements of neoliberalism in real-world scenarios
• WTO - Global/Seattle Resistance

Inquiry: How have governments and institutions responded to environmental concerns?

Teaching Thesis:

One way to address environmental concerns is for governmental institutions to establish laws and regulations that prevent people and businesses from acting in harmful ways. The success of these efforts requires political will, agreement, and broad implementation of effective measures. Some have been highly successful, such as the Montreal Protocol that reduced the emissions of ozone-destroying gasses. However, the attempt to reach, and more importantly implement, effective measures to address climate change through the Kyoto Protocol illustrates the challenges in these endeavors.

Lesson Components:

Students compare the two processes to shed light on important factors to take into account when addressing these kinds of international concerns.

• Overview Slide Deck
• DBQ: Montreal Protocol documents & Kyoto Protocol documents
• Seminar and/or Writing preparation and scaffolding