General Goals:

To gain a working knowledge of major historical, Biblical, and non-Biblical events from Creation through the fall of the Roman Empire (AD 476) with acceptable accuracy on unit tests

Goals By Term
Term 1: Historical civilizations and concepts from Creation to the rise of the Greeks, including; Mesopotamian Civilizations, Early Egypt, Ancient Civilizations of Palestine, Early India, and Early China

Term 2: The rise and fall of the Greek Civilization, including; The Minoans, The Mycenaean’s, The Greek City States, The Persian Wars, The Peloponnesian Wars, and The Empire of Alexander the Great

Term 3: The Roman Republic, including; Italian Geography, Early Western Mediterranean Civilizations, The Development of Early Rome, The Punic Wars, and the Rise and Assassination of Julius Caesar

Term 4: The Roman Empire, including; The Triumvirates, The Rise of Augustus, The Rise and Spread of Christianity, The Caesars, The Christian Persecutions, and The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

General Goals:

To gain a working knowledge of major historical events from the Byzantine Empire through the Congress of Vienna (1815) with acceptable accuracy on unit tests

Goals By Term
Term 1: The Byzantine Empire and Russia, the early Islamic World, civilizations of East Asia

Term 2: The rise of the Middle Ages, the High Middle Ages, and Protestant Reformation

Term 3: The Renaissance and Catholic Reformation, European Exploration and Expansion, and Asia in Transition

Term 4: Islamic Empires in Asia, the European monarchies in the Age of Absolutism, the French Revolution, and Napoleon

General Goals: To demonstrate a working knowledge of major historical events from the Industrial Revolution to the present with acceptable accuracy on unit tests

Goals By Term
Term 1: The Industrial Revolution, scientific advances of the Industrial Age, life and culture in the Industrial Age, and social reform in the Industrial Age

Term 2: European Nationalism, the Age of Imperialism, World War I, and the Russian Revolution

Term 3: The Postwar Era, the Great Depression, the Rise of Fascism and Communism, postwar Nationalist and Independence Movements, and World War II

Term 4: Post WW II Europe and North America, the Cold War in the West, the Cold War in the East, and the Arab Israeli Conflict

General Goals:

To enable the student to do the following:

• use and apply political terms and definitions with acceptable accuracy on chapter tests and written assignments.
• compare political culture, decision making, and public??? Among the seven core nations studies (Britain, China, Russia, Mexico, Nigeria, Iran, and the United States) by written responses on tests and chapter assignments
• demonstrate an understanding of political sovereignty, political institutions, political and economic change, and citizen/state relationships and their applications in the core countries
• investigate the democratic and free market transitions (or lack thereof) of formerly communist nations in a research report on one of the countries in Northeasters Eurasia.

Goals By Term
Term 1:

Unit 1 – Introductory concepts, including a review of basic terminology and concepts, the influence of government on one’s life, the nature of power, the comparative process, five themes in comparative politics

Unit 2 – Industrial democracies, including the evolution of democracy, electoral systems, interest groups, legitimacy, political socialization, basic parliamentary concepts, bureaucracy, referenda, and a comparison between Parliamentary and Presidential power and decision making

Unit 3 – Case study: Britain, including introductory orientation, brief historical overview, political parties and the electoral system, the British State, public policy since Thatcher, constitutional reform, and a comparison between written and unwritten constitutions.

Term 2:

Unit 4 – Spotlight on the European Union including concepts of supranational organization and national sovereignty, geographical and historical overview, three pillars of EU activity, European political culture, governing bodies, 1st pillar accomplishments of the EU, national sovereignty in the political and economic realms

Unit 5 – Current and former Communist regimes including a geographical overview, review of key concepts, historical overview from Marx to the fall of European communism, Gorbacheve’s reforms in the USSR, Marxist-Leninist State, Asian/Cuban communism, a comparison between transition of former communist nations since 1989, and a comparison between parliamentary and communist government structure

Unit 6 – Case study: Russia, including contemporary issues and brief historical recap, political culture and parties in Russia, Illiberal democracy, the Russian state, Russian economy and foreign policy, a comparison exercise between political structure under Yeltsin and renewed nationalization under Putin, and a comparison of political culture and attitudes in Russia with the UK through the interpretation of charts and polling data

Term 3:

Unit 7 – Case study: China, including demographics, geographical and brief historical overview, democratic centralism vs. “mass line” philosophies, political culture and participation, political culture and dissent, four modernizations and other economic and technological changes in China, media and feedback, a comparison between Soviet and Chinese communist experience, and a comparison between Soviet and Chinese state structures

Unit 8 – The Developing World, including a geographical overview, major issues, legacy of imperialism, religious and ethnic cleavages, types of states, legitimacy, corruption and power, development strategies, international financial institutions and impact, problems of feedback, and a comparison between strong and week states

Unit 9 – Case Study: Mexico, including a demographic and geographical review with a brief historical recap, PRI Single party dominance, corporatism under the PRI, overview of PRD and PAN, overview of the Mexican state, corruption, recent democratic reforms, economic development strategies, emigration and US relations, and a comparison between political and economic change and reforms in Mexico and the former Soviet Union

Term 4:

Unit 10 – Case Study: Iran, including demographic, geographical, and brief historical overview, origins of Islamic revolution, political culture in Iran, fundamentalism, theocratic rule, elections in Iran, power of charisma in politics, economic development, foreign relations, and a comparison between Christian and Muslim fundamentalism

Unit 11 – Case study: Nigeria, including geographic, demographic, and brief historical overview, ethnic cleavages, political structure and participation, parties and elections, corruption and power, democratization, economic development, and a comparison between corruption in Mexico and Nigeria

Unit 12 – US Government overview including a demographic, geographic, and historical overview, political culture and attitudes toward the “weak” American government, political parties and ideology, voting patterns and participation, the American state, federalism and state government roles, the judiciary and judiciary review, bureaucracy, public political overview, and a comparison between delegates and representatives

Additional information:

Students will complete weekly written essays responding to either a new article from the Economist or a teacher-directed article from a supplementary reading source. Twice a year, these papers will be substituted with an in-depth research paper.

Students will also answer teacher formulated questions in a spiral notebook (spiral questions) that correspond to material in the text. These questions require responses ranging from short answer, knowledge-level all the way to more through analysis and synthesis level.