AP World History

This college-level course uses the College Board's AP syllabus to develop greater understanding of the evolution of global processes and contacts in different types of human societies. The course highlights the nature of changes in global frameworks and their causes and consequences, as well as comparisons among major societies. It emphasizes relevant factual knowledge, leading interpretive issues, and skills in analyzing types of historical evidence. The course is organized around five time periods. The first two are explored in detail in the Advanced World History and Geography to 1500 course and reviewed briefly in the beginning of this course. The last 500 years are the primary focus of this second year of the study. Specific themes provide further organization to the course, along with consistent attention to contacts among societies that form the core of world history as a field of study. In May, the students will take an AP World History Examination to qualify for Advanced standing and/or credit in college. This course has an associated Standards of Learning (SOL) test. Students will participate in these tests only when they have not yet earned sufficient credit for graduation and/or satisfied federal testing requirements.