What is World History?

Per. 1-3Room 733Mr. Gasque

History of World Civilizations

• Sort of. • Individuals are important

o Creation of certain religionso Creation of certain states (USA, Israel, etc.)

• Ancient Civilizations – What did we gain from them? What can we learn from their mistakes?

• “If you don’t know history it is as if you were born yesterday.” – Howard Zinn

Global History• Sort of.

• Studies the exchanges and interactions between cultures and religions: Europeans and Native Americans, “East” and “West”, Christianity and Islam, Communism and Capitalism, etc.

• Attempts to study and examine history of humanity and not just one particular culture or civilization (Western Civilization, US History, etc.)

How Will We Study History?

• Primary Sources: (also called original source or evidence) is an artifact, a document, a recording, or other source of information that was created at the time under study. It serves as an original source of information about the topic.

• Secondary Source: a document or recording that

relates or discusses information originally

presented elsewhere. A secondary source

contrasts with a primary source, which is an

original source of the information being

discussed.

Why Study World History?

• Knowing who we are.o Individuals and Groupso How we have changed since the first humans walked the earth.o What makes us special/unique o “Historical memory is the key to self-identity, to seeing one’s place in

the stream of time, and one’s connectedness with all of humankind. We are part of an ancient chain and the long hand of the past is upon us- for good or ill- just as our hands will rest on our descendants for years to come.”

• “World history helps us think about what it means to be human and about the characteristics that all humans have in common.”

Why Study World History?

• Preparing to live in the world.o Helps prepare you for college studies, international experience and

participation in civic life.

• Becoming a “Global Citizen”o Helps prepare you for college studies, international experience and

participation in civic life.

Attaining Cultural Literacy on a World

Scale• Our study contributes to the cultural literacy.

• Collective Learningo Helps us decode and understand.

What We Will Focus On

• Humans and the Environment

• How has the changing relationship between human beings and the physical and natural environment affected human life from early times to the present? Human beings are inhabitants of the biosphere and their history is inseparable from it. This is as true today as it was 200,000 years ago.

• Humans and Other Humans

• Why have relations among humans become so

complex since early times? We live in a world of intense,

complicated, and diverse relationships among billions of

people. Throughout most of its history our species has

lived in small, scattered communities of foragers and

hunters. Questions about the ways in which humans have

multiplied on the earth and come to relate to one another

in such a variety of ways are fundamental to historical

investigation.

• Humans and Ideas

• How have human views of the world, nature, and the

cosmos changed? History is not only the study of "what

happened" but also about the ways in which humans have

thought about, questioned, interpreted, and represented

(in words, pictures, movies, and so on) what their senses

tell them about the world and the universe. Ideas influence

historical developments and, conversely, events shape

ideas as humans strive to make sense of change.

• Quick Write

• In your own words and drawing on the notes from this lecture, explain in two paragraphs (5-7 sentences each)

a. What World History is.

b. Why you think it is important to study World History.

Support your argument/response with both ideas from the notes and ideas of your own.