World History Syllabus

World History

Trillium Charter School

2006/7 Quarters 1-4

Instructor: Ken Gadbow

Email: gadbow@gmail.com

Phone: 503-348-9849

Course Structure:

This course focuses on the development of the student as a life long learner. The material we read and discuss is selected to encourage students to become more critical thinkers and practice looking at issues from multiple viewpoints. This class is interactive. It requires the participation of the students to make it a success. Small group discussions dominate this course, supported by short lectures, reading, and writing assignments.

Course Objectives:

Students will be able to compare models of domination and explore the expansion of world cultures from multiple perspectives. Students will develop their writing abilities by creating concise arguments about explorers and “explored” peoples. Students will enhance their abilities to use multiple types of resources for research including primary and secondary source documents, as well as peer-reviewed articles.

Course Overview:

This four-quarter survey course covers the span of human civilization from our ancestral, nomadic roots in Africa to the short attention span of the information highway. Through our theme, Transportation and Domination, students will explore the impact of technological developments in the way we move goods, people, and ideas, and how that movement has impacted the development of civilization. This broad course will look at many pivotal events in global history including: the development of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent; the movement of food and trade goods in the Americas; the spread of disease in Europe; aspirations and limitations of ocean exploration for Chinese, Japanese, and European sailors. This course runs all year and will be most effective if students commit to taking all four quarters of the course.

Code of Conduct:

All Trillium students and staff are accountable for respecting themselves and each other as laid out in the Trillium Constitution. This class is no exception. We may design our own practices specific to this course, but only within the framework of fair action and fair language. Any speech or action that creates an environment in which any member feels unsafe is unacceptable. Students have the right to learn in this space and the responsibility to respect the learning of others. As in any Trillium space, violating the rights and responsibilities of another student or staff member may put the student into the OVRR system.

Assignments and grading policies:

Preparation and Participation: 50%

Quizzes: 15%

Early term paper 15%

Final paper 20%

Preparation and participation will be graded according to the student’s involvement in weekly small group discussions. Assignments are due at the beginning of the class period. I will accept assignments via email. Late assignments will lose five percent of the possible credit each day the assignment is past the due date, including weekends and holidays. Rework is gladly accepted. Students may re-submit corrected or rewritten assignments in order to receive full credit. The better of the grades is always the one used.

Papers:

There are two papers due in this course, the second worth more points than the one before it. The first paper is to be 2 pages in length for 9^th and 10^th graders, and 3 pages in length for 11^th and 12^th graders. The second should be 4 pages for 9^th and 10^th and 5 pages for 11^th and 12^th. All papers require a bibliography. Plagiarism is not tolerated. Papers found to be plagiarized will receive an automatic zero with no chance of making up the assignment.

Course Schedule

The following is a tentative schedule of how the term will proceed. We are not bound by this outline. We, students and instructor, will most likely rearrange these dates, themes, and discussions, as the course proceeds.

Demonstration of learning:

Students will be encouraged to display their work from this course during the end of term ILP Exhibition Day on Friday, November 17^th.