topWorld History: The West and the World, Grade 12, University Preparation (CHY4U)

This course investigates the major trends in Western civilization and world history from the sixteenth century to the present. Students will learn about the interaction between the emerging West and other regions of the world and about the development of modern social, political, and economic systems. The skills and knowledge developed in this course will enable students to understand and appreciate both the character of historical change and the historical roots of contemporary issues.

Prerequisite: Any university or university/college preparation course in Canadian and world studies, English, or social sciences and humanities

 

Communities: Local, National, and Global

Overall Expectations

By the end of this course, students will:

*       demonstrate an understanding of the various types of communities that people have formed since the sixteenth century;

*       demonstrate an understanding of the nature of the interaction among diverse peoples since the sixteenth century;

*       evaluate the key factors that have led to conflict and war or to cooperation and peace.

Specific Expectations

Types of Communities and Their Development

By the end of this course, students will:

*       demonstrate an understanding of the roots and nature of a variety of communities and groups founded on religious, ethnic, and/or intellectual principles (e.g., Zen Buddhists, Jesuits, Sikhs, Mennonites, Christian Scientists, B’nai B’rith, pacifists, environmentalists);

*       compare the diverse rural communities that developed in the West and in the rest of the world (e.g., traditional communal villages, family farms and large farms or plantations, farms involved in modern international agribusiness; differing roles of elders, women, and children);

*       describe the development of modern urbanization (e.g., development of administrative, commercial, and industrial towns and cities; issues of inner cities and suburbia; issues of law, order, and infrastructure; cycles of construction and destruction of the urban landscape).

The Nature of the Interaction Among Communities

By the end of this course, students will:

*       describe factors that have prompted and facilitated increasing interaction between peoples since the sixteenth century (e.g., exploration; economic gain; modern technologies and inventions; demographic pressures; religious, dynastic, and national ambitions);

*       analyse the impact of Western colonization on both the colonizer and the colonized (e.g., enrichment and impoverishment; introduction of new foods, materials, products, and ideas; destruction of cultures through disease and policy; revival of commitment to indigenous cultural identities);

*       demonstrate an understanding of the concepts and processes associated with imperialism and of its role in shaping present world relations (e.g., historical interpretations of imperialism, including “modern world system”, Whig, Marxist, and modernist; the process of decolonization; growth of multinational corporations; “Hollywoodization”).

Conflict and Cooperation

By the end of this course, students will:

*       demonstrate an understanding of the key factors that have led to conflict and war (e.g., demographic pressures, as seen in the Bantu, Chinese, Indian, and European migrations and related conflicts; personal, religious, cultural, and racial issues, as seen in the Napoleonic Wars, the Russian pogroms, the American Civil War, the Mahdist insurrections, World War II, and genocides, including the Holocaust; national and imperial rivalries, as seen in the Seven Years’ War, World War I, and the Cold War);

*       demonstrate an understanding of the consequences of war (e.g., destruction of human life and property, changes in power balances and regimes, entrenchment of attitudes of superiority and resistance, changes in social structure and in gender relations and expectations, technological and medical advances);

*       describe the key factors that have motivated people to seek peace and to cooperate with others (e.g., war weariness, pacifism, mutual advantages of protective alliances and friendships);

*       assess the reasons for the failure or success of various approaches to maintaining international order (e.g., the Westphalian nation-state system; cultural, racial, or religious unity; Marxist class solidarity; Wilsonian internationalism; movements to defend and promote universal human rights).

 

Change and Continuity

Overall Expectations

By the end of this course, students will:

*       demonstrate an understanding of how the historical concept of change is used to analyse developments in the West and throughout the world since the sixteenth century;

*       demonstrate an understanding of how the historical concept of continuity is used to analyse developments in the West and throughout the world since the sixteenth century;

*       demonstrate an understanding of the importance and use of chronology and cause and effect in historical analyses of developments in the West and throughout the world since the sixteenth century.

Specific Expectations

Change in History

By the end of this course, students will:

*       demonstrate an understanding of the variety, intensity, and breadth of change that has taken place from the sixteenth century to the present (e.g., developments in religion, changing views of the universe, consequences of technological advances, demographic changes, medical discoveries, social reform);

*       identify forces that have facilitated the process of change (e.g., increase in literacy, humanism and liberalism, scientific revolutions) and those that have tended to impede it (e.g., rigid class or caste systems, reactionary and conservative philosophies, traditional customs);

*       assess the influence of key individuals and groups who helped shape Western attitudes to change (e.g., Luther, Montesquieu, Wollstonecraft, Marx, Darwin, Einstein, de Beauvoir, Hawking; explorers and innovators, Luddites, Fabians, Futurists, environmentalists);

*       evaluate key elements and characteristics of the process of historical change (e.g., the ideas, objectives, and methods of the people involved; the pace and breadth of the change; the planned versus spontaneous nature of the change).

Continuity in History

By the end of this course, students will:

*       describe key social institutions that have tended to reinforce continuity in history (e.g., religious institutions, inherited class positions, schools, assigned and family gender roles, rituals and traditions);

*       demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which political institutions have contributed to a sense of continuity (e.g., dynastic and national governments, political bureaucracies, legal traditions and judicial systems);

*       evaluate key factors that contribute to maintaining the flow of historical continuity (e.g., popular allegiance to and acceptance of tradition; the effectiveness of appeals to continuity in resolving issues; fear of change).

Chronology and Cause and Effect

By the end of this course, students will:

*       demonstrate an understanding of the importance of chronology as a tool in analysing the history of events in the West and the rest of the world since the sixteenth century (e.g., by tracing the expansion of political enfranchisement, military technological innovation, agricultural and scientific developments);

*       explain how viewing events in chronological order and within a specific periodization provides a basis for historical understanding;

*       explain how and why an understanding of cause-and-effect relationships is an essential tool for historical analysis (e.g., Gutenberg’s printing press and the Protestant Reformation, land redistribution by the conquistadors and contemporary Latin American social inequality, social Darwinism and modern hypotheses of racial superiority, the Long March and the victory of Chinese communism).

 

Citizenship and Heritage

Overall Expectations

By the end of this course, students will:

*       demonstrate an understanding of key Western beliefs, philosophies, and ideologies that have shaped the West and the rest of the world since the sixteenth century;

*       demonstrate an understanding of ideas and cultures from around the world that have influenced the course of world history since the sixteenth century;

*       analyse different forms of artistic expression and how they reflect their particular historical period;

*       demonstrate an understanding of the range and diversity of concepts of citizenship and human rights that have developed since the sixteenth century.

Specific Expectations

Western Beliefs, Philosophies, and Ideologies

By the end of this course, students will:

*       describe the main tenets of key modern beliefs and philosophies and explain how they have shaped Western thought (e.g., the Reformation and Calvinism, rationalism and empiricism, romanticism, various forms of socialism, Darwinism, Marxist-Leninism, Fascism and Nazism, liberal democracy);

*       assess the impact of modern Western thought on economic, social, and political developments in the West (e.g., the development of mercantile and laissez-faire economies, national identification and the rise of the sovereign nation-state system, socialism and labour movements, humanism and the concept of positive progress, the spread of popular democracy);

*       describe the impact of modern Western thought on the non-Western world (e.g., transformation or loss of indigenous religions, cultures, and economies; creation of new national boundaries and identities, as in Africa and South Asia; adaptation of Western ideas, such as those of liberalism, social democracy, and communism in Japan, China, Cuba, and some African states).

Ideas and Cultures of the Non-Western World

By the end of this course, students will:

*       demonstrate an understanding of key characteristics of and significant ideas emerging from various cultures around the world (e.g., tribalism in indigenous societies, Chinese and Indian dynastic absolutism, characteristics of Latin American Creole and mestizo culture);

*       analyse how selected non-Western ideas and cultures influenced developments in indigenous societies (e.g., Ottoman imperialism and the spread of Islam, Moghul rule in India, the effect of Manchu traditionalism and isolationism on China, the effect of the samurai code on Japan);

*       demonstrate an understanding of how European imperialism transformed traditions in the non-Western world (e.g., changing social and political elites in India, influence of Christian missionaries in China and Africa, development of the encomienda system of land holding in Latin America);

*       describe key conflicts and controversies that arose as a result of resistance to the assertive spread of modern Western ideas (e.g., isolationism in Japan under the Tokugawa, Aboriginal American resistance to European settlement, the Opium Wars, Gandhi’s passive resistance, the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution).

Artistic Expression

By the end of this course, students will:

*       describe key developments in a variety of modes of artistic expression in the West since the sixteenth century (e.g., classical, baroque, romantic, and modern literature, music, and art; traditional and modern architectural styles; rise of popular culture and entertainments);

*       demonstrate an understanding of key forms and styles of artistic expression throughout the world (e.g., Japanese painting and theatre, East Indian and African music, legend and mysticism in indigenous cultures, Latin American dance and literature);

*       describe a variety of forces that helped to bring about changes in modern Western artistic expression (e.g., the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, industrialization, urbanization, electrification);

*       assess the extent to which art reinforces and/or challenges prevailing social and political values (e.g., plays by Shakespeare, Molière, Hellman, Miller; novels by Dickens, Sand, Gordimer, Rushdie; music by Mozart, Stravinsky, R. Murray Schafer; visual art by Poussin, Goya, Cassatt, Picasso; films by Kurosawa, Kubrick, Disney).

Citizenship and Human Rights

By the end of this course, students will:

*       analyse a variety of forms of human servitude (e.g., slavery, indenture, gender role restrictions);

*       describe the efforts of individuals and groups who facilitated the advancement of individual and collective human rights (e.g., Locke, Rousseau, Kropotkin, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Rigoberta Menchú; suffragists, Amnesty International);

*       demonstrate an understanding of key factors that have slowed or blocked the advancement of human rights (e.g., poverty, religious intolerance, racial bias, imperial exploitation, authoritarian governments);

*       describe attempts of national and international bodies to recognize and enhance human rights (e.g., Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, Geneva Conventions on war, war crimes tribunals, Universal Declaration of Human Rights).

 

Social, Economic, and Political Structures

Overall Expectations

By the end of this course, students will:

*       demonstrate an understanding of diverse social structures and principles that have guided social organization in Western and non-Western societies since the sixteenth century;

*       analyse significant economic developments in the West and the rest of the world since the sixteenth century;

*       describe key developments and innovations in political organization in the West and the rest of the world since the sixteenth century;

*       demonstrate an understanding of key aspects of women’s economic, social, and political lives in Western and non-Western societies since the sixteenth century.

Specific Expectations

Social Structures

By the end of this course, students will:

*       analyse a variety of types of social organization and social relationships that have been experienced in modern times (e.g., rigid class and caste systems, minorities and majorities, client–patron relationships, relationships and systems involving racial discrimination, systems that permit social mobility);

*       describe key social developments that have occurred as a result of Western technological innovations (e.g., print and market-place revolutions, industrialization, urbanization, demographic changes);

*       demonstrate an understanding of key developments in attitudes towards religion and religious observance since the sixteenth century (e.g., changing relationships between individuals, groups, and religious institutions; Enlightenment deism and agnosticism; disputes between Darwinists and creationists; revivals of fundamentalism);

*       describe how family structures have changed or why they have remained stable in various societies throughout the world (e.g., extended and nuclear families, matrilineal and patrilineal succession, marriage conventions, status of children and of the elderly).

Economic Structures

By the end of this course, students will:

*       describe key elements of pre-industrial economies (e.g., subsistence and capitalist agriculture, cottage industries, guild institutions, commercial entrepôts);

*       explain how the first and second industrial revolutions affected the economies of the West and the rest of the world (e.g., unprecedented increase in material wealth, creation of large factories and industrial cities, increase in resource and market imperialism, rise of consumerism);

*       demonstrate an understanding of the consequences of global economic interrelationships that developed in the twentieth century (e.g., labour and resource exploitation, widening disparities of economic opportunity and wealth, globalized production and marketing, revival of economic nationalism);

*       demonstrate an understanding of the major schools of modern economic thought and evaluate their application in the post–World War II era (e.g., collectivism, Keynesianism, monetarism, free trade).

Political Organization

By the end of this course, students will:

*       demonstrate an understanding of the rise of the modern nation state in the West and subsequently in the rest of the world (e.g., the military revolution, the renaissance monarchy and national administrative bureaucracies, French revolutionary “nation-at-arms”, romantic and liberal nationalism, wars for national liberation);

*       describe key elements of the relationship between the form of government and the culture of various societies (e.g., African tribalism, Chinese and Japanese dynastic traditions, Islamic theocracies, English parliamentarianism, American republicanism);

*       compare the various political opinions that are understood to constitute the “political spectrum”, taking into account the ideological positions and political methods associated with them (e.g., communism, socialism, liberalism, conservatism, fascism);

*       describe various government responses to the social consequences of key economic changes in the West and the rest of the world (e.g., expansionist or protectionist trade legislation, labour and social welfare legislation, nationalization of essential industries);

*       analyse various efforts to create international governmental and judicial structures (e.g., ideas of Hugo Grotius, the European congress system, League of Nations, United Nations, European Community).

Women’s Experience

By the end of this course, students will:

*       describe the roles of and restrictions on women in pre-industrial societies (e.g., family roles, economic and political participation; traditional cultural limitations, property rights);

*       analyse the impact of industrialization, urbanization, and modernization on women’s lives in the West and the rest of the world (e.g., changing work and family roles, rise of middle-class status, impact of labour-saving devices and of medicines and medical procedures);

*       demonstrate an understanding of the efforts and achievements of individuals and groups who have worked for the advancement of women’s status (e.g., Mary Wollstonecraft, Florence Nightingale, Nellie McClung, Eleanor Roosevelt, Simone de Beauvoir, Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi; first- and second-wave feminist organizations).

 

Methods of Historical Inquiry

Overall Expectations

By the end of this course, students will:

*       demonstrate an understanding of historians’ methods of locating, gathering, and organizing research materials;

*       critically analyse historical evidence, events, and interpretations;

*       communicate opinions and ideas based on effective research clearly and concisely;

*       demonstrate an ability to think creatively, manage time efficiently, and work effectively in independent and collaborative study.

Specific Expectations

Research

By the end of this course, students will:

*       formulate significant questions for research and inquiry, drawing on examples from Western and world history (e.g., What were the effects of the Seven Years’ War? Why did the French execute their king? How did the atomic bomb change the nature of war?);

*       conduct organized research, using a variety of information sources (e.g., primary and secondary sources, audio-visual materials, Internet sites);

*       organize research findings, using a variety of methods and forms (e.g., note taking; graphs and charts, maps and diagrams).

Interpretation and Analysis

By the end of this course, students will:

*       demonstrate an ability to distinguish bias, prejudice, stereotyping, or a lack of substantiation in statements, arguments, and opinions;

*       compare key interpretations of world history (e.g., liberal, progressive, economic, postmodern);

*       identify and describe relationships and connections in the data studied (e.g., chronological ties, cause and effect, similarities and differences);

*       draw conclusions based on effective evaluation of sources, analysis of information, and awareness of diverse historical interpretations;

*       demonstrate an ability to develop a cogent thesis substantiated by effective research.

Communication

By the end of this course, students will:

*       communicate effectively, using a variety of styles and forms (e.g., essays, debates, role playing, group presentations);

*       use an accepted form of academic documentation effectively and correctly (e.g., footnotes, endnotes, or author-date citations; bibliographies or reference lists; appendices), and avoid plagiarism;

*       express opinions and conclusions clearly, articulately, and in a manner that respects the opinions of others.

Creativity, Collaboration, and Independence

By the end of this course, students will:

*       demonstrate an ability to think creatively in reaching conclusions about both assigned questions and issues and those conceived independently;

*       use a variety of time-management strategies effectively;

*       demonstrate an ability to work independently and collaboratively and to seek and respect the opinions of others;

*       identify various career opportunities related to the study of history (e.g., researcher, museum or archive curator, teacher, journalist, writer).