Effective: 2022-03-31

Course Description

The course outline below was developed as part of a statewide standardization process.

General Course Purpose

HIS 102 reviews the general history of the West from around 1600 CE to the present and allows students to reach a basic understanding of the characteristic features of the West's historical development. This course also helps students to develop an understanding of the academic discipline of history and supports the general educational goals.

Course Objectives

• Communication
• Explain using written and oral communication the changing structures and development of Western civilization after 1600 CE.
• Describe key people, periods, and events of Western civilization after 1600 CE using written and oral communication.
• Critical Thinking
• Identify and evaluate the social, economic and political forces at work in the evolution of Western civilization from approximately 1600 CE to the present
• Analyze how the people, events, and periods of history have determined present practices, policies, and beliefs.
• Understand the general chronology and geography of Western history
• Evaluate the main forces or factors at work in the historical development of the West.
• Analyze and evaluate complex historical sources and materials and reach conclusions based on interpretations of primary and secondary resources.
• The Age of Absolutism: Suggested Context Absolute Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy, Hapsburg Dynasty, Philip II of Spain, Bourbon Dynasty of France, Catherine the Great of Russia,
• Identify and/or explain the origins of Absolutism and Constitutionalism
• Compare and contrast the Absolute monarchy and Constitutional monarchy
• Analyze and evaluate complex historical sources and materials and reach conclusions based on interpretations of primary and secondary resources.
• Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment: Suggested Context Kepler, Copernicus, Newton, Empiricism, Enlightenment Philosophy (Hume, Locke, Smith, Rousseau, etc.), Social Contract
• Describe how the Scientific Revolution impacted religious, political, and cultural institutions by challenging how people viewed the world.
• Explain the Enlightenment thinkers applied reason to discover natural laws.
• Analyze how Enlightenment ideas challenged practices related to traditional authority
• Analyze and evaluate complex historical sources and materials and reach conclusions based on interpretations of primary and secondary resources.
• Age of Revolution: Suggested Context Nationalism, American Revolution, French Revolution, Latin American Independence Movements, Napoleon, Metternich, Unification of Italy, Unification of Germany
• Identify how Enlightenment philosophy inspired the Age of Revolution
• Explain how the revolutionary leaders of this time embodied or complicated the philosophies of the Enlightenment.
• Describe the historical origins of the nation or nation-state, and the emergence of nationalism in the world.
• Analyze and evaluate complex historical sources and materials and reach conclusions based on interpretations of primary and secondary resources.
• Industrial Revolution: Suggested Context Child Labor, Industrial Technology, Monopoly, Strikes and Unions, Factory System, Urbanization, Marxism and Communism, The `Working Class?
• Identify the origins of the Industrial Revolution.
• Describe how the Industrial Revolution changed society.
• Analyze and evaluate complex historical sources and materials and reach conclusions based on interpretations of primary and secondary resources.
• Imperialism: Suggested Context Debate over White Man's Burden, Anti-Colonial Thought, European Colonies (i.e, the Congo, India, Vietnam, etc.), Race and Culture, Rebellions and Uprisings
• Analyze and explain the political, economic and social roots of imperialism.
• Evaluate the stated purposes/intended impacts of imperialism and how the colonized resisted them.
• Analyze and evaluate complex historical sources and materials and reach conclusions based on interpretations of primary and secondary resources.
• Analyze the importance of racial hierarchies to European imperialism.
• World War I: Suggested Context Schlieffen Plan, Trench Warfare, Russian Revolution, Treaty of Versailles, Propaganda, Home Front, Military technology (i.e, planes, tanks, automatic weaponry, chemical warfare, etc.)
• Identify the causes of World War I.
• Analyze the progression of the war and its ultimate outcomes
• Analyze and evaluate complex historical sources and materials and reach conclusions based on interpretations of primary and secondary resources.
• Era Between Wars: Suggested Context Great Depression, Russian Revolution, Lost Generation, Totalitarian Regimes, Weimar Republic, Popular Nationalisms
• Analyze the rise and impact of totalitarianism in Europe and/or the rest of the world.
• Compare the economic and military power shifts caused by World War I and/or the Great Depression.
• Analyze and evaluate complex historical sources and materials and reach conclusions based on interpretations of primary and secondary resources.
• Explain societal transformations in the aftermath of the First World War and their impact on interwar social and political movements.
• World War II: Suggested Context Appeasement, Holocaust, Blitzkrieg, D-Day, Internment Camps, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Hitler, Churchill, Home Front, Propaganda
• Explain the key causes of World War II
• Analyze the progression of the war and its ultimate outcomes.
• Evaluate the impact of genocide and the Holocaust within the context of the war.
• Analyze and evaluate complex historical sources and materials and reach conclusions based on interpretations of primary and secondary resources.
• Decolonization: Suggested Context Indigenous People, Self-Determination, Multinational States, Globalization, Algerian War, Partition of India
• Analyze the reasons for decolonization and how nationalism and nationalistic leaders led the demand for colonial independence.
• Evaluate the impact of independence for former colonies.
• Analyze and evaluate complex historical sources and materials and reach conclusions based on interpretations of primary and secondary resources.
• Cold War: Suggested Context Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, NATO and the Warsaw Pact, Cuban Missile Crisis, Korean War, Vietnam War, Brinksmanship vs. Detente, Civil Rights Movement, Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall
• Explain the ideological, economic, and military origins of the Cold War.
• Analyze the impacts of the Cold War on world politics, society, and/or the economy.
• Analyze and evaluate complex historical sources and materials and reach conclusions based on interpretations of primary and secondary resources.

Major Topics to be Included

• The Age of Absolutism
• Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment
• Age of Revolution
• Industrial Revolution
• Imperialism
• World War I
• World War II
• Decolonization
• Cold War