IB Twentieth Century World Issues - Commack Schools



IB Twentieth Century World Issues

|The aim of Twentieth Century World Issues in the Diploma Program is to explain the trends and developments, continuity and change |

|through time and through individual events. The course is concerned with individuals and societies in the widest context: |

|political, social, economic, religious, technological and cultural. While analyzing history through multiple lenses, the students |

|will become aware of the historical accounts and judgments that influence our understanding of the past. Inevitably, the Twentieth|

|Century World Issues course will help to foster respect and understandings of people and events in cultures different from their |

|own. |

Text:

There is no one specific text used throughout the course. Being that Twentieth Century World Issues is a Higher Level History course, a curriculum has been put together geared towards the necessary completion of the “History” aspect of the IB program. To enhance their knowledge and understanding of the topics being covered, the students will be assigned to read a series of articles, chapters, journals, and handouts that will be supplied by the teacher. These primary and secondary sources were written by various historians and political scientists from a wide array of educational, political, and professional backgrounds.

Areas of Study:

• Defining “history”

o History as a subject and discipline; thinking historically; historical skills; nature of evidence; primary and secondary sources; analyzing documents; historiography; historical analysis

• End of World War One and the Versailles Conference

o Goals of the conference; the establishment of a League of Nations; the treatment of Germany

• The World in the 1930s

o Impact of the Great Depression; the failure of international diplomacy and trade; the Italian Ethiopian War; the Spanish Civil War; the rise of dictators and single party states.

• The Rise of Benito Mussolini

o Reaction to the Treaty of Versailles; the rise of the Fascist Party; the influence of fascism on Italian society; Italian-Ethiopian War

• The Rise of Adolf Hitler

o Impact of the Treaty of Versailles on German politics; the birth of Nazism; Hitler’s foreign policy agenda; treatment of minorities

• The Soviet Union Under Stalin

o Struggle between Stalin and Trotsky; the consolidation of power; the economic system established; nature of the Soviet Union; the USSR in World War II

• World War II

o Signs of a pending war; the failure of appeasement; the Holocaust; Operation Barbarossa; Pearl Harbor and the war in the Pacific; the decision to drop the atomic bomb

• The Cold War

o Ideological origins and nature of an East-West rivalry; planning for the post-war world; pacts and doctrines; the change of leadership; revisionist understanding of the Cold War

• The Rise of Mao Zedong

o Ideological differences in communism; role in the Korean War; Cultural Revolution; Great Leap Forward; Sino-Soviet Split

• The Cuban Revolution

o General background; rise of Fidel Castro and Fidelismo; the impact on Che Guevara; US-Cuban relations; Cuban-Soviet relations.

Behavior Expectations:

1. Respect yourself and others. Raise your hand before speaking and listen to your classmates. Learn from each other.

2. Come to class prepared with the necessary assignments and materials (three ring binder, folder, and pen/pencil).

3. Be ready to work when the bell rings.

4. Homework must be the student’s own work. You learn nothing by copying from a book or a classmate. This means written homework must be in your own words.

5. Participation in class discussions and activities is important, both for enrichment of the class’ experience and the students. Participate positively in class discussions and activities.

6. Be a serious student. Be prepared to think about and discuss historical and current issues of significance.

Grading Policy:

The grading policy for this class will be the same format as directed by the Social Studies department. The grading will be broken down into percentages that show your understanding of the subject. The percentage breakdown for each marking period will be as follows:

|Component |Percentage |Percentage |

|Test #1 |25% |20% |

|Test #2 |25% |20% |

|Quizzes |25% |20% |

|Participation and Homework |25% |20% |

|Project |-------------- |20% |

Assignments:

In addition to the normal classroom workload, each student will be responsible for completing an Internal Assessment (IA) for the course. All students (certificate and diploma candidates) wishing to receive credit for the completion of the “History” aspect of the IB program must fulfill this requirement.

Late Homework:

Homework should be handed in the day it is due. If you are absent, please hand it in the day you return to school. If you are not absent and you did not complete and hand in the homework, please hand it in within a timely fashion. Of course, there will be a penalty for being late.

Attendance Policy:

Students who are absent are responsible for the work that they miss and will be given a reasonable and limited amount of time to make it up. Students must take the initiative to find out what was missed; this is not the responsibility of the teacher. Lateness will be monitored and carries penalties in conjunction with the Commack School District Attendance Policy. If you are absent the day of a test, you must make up the test the day you return. If there is a prolonged absence, we will make other arrangements.

Extra Help:

The Social Studies Department offers extra help every Wednesday after school. In addition, extra help will be offered Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays after school upon request. Also, you may seek supplementary assistance any day before school and during my lunch period. I am here to assist you. You just need to find the time.

|We can learn from history how past generations thought and acted, how they responded to the demands of their time and how they solved their problems. We can|

|learn by analogy, not by example, for our circumstances will always be different than theirs were. The main thing history can teach us is that human actions|

|have consequences and that certain choices, once made, cannot be undone. They foreclose the possibility of making other choices and thus they determine |

|future events. |

|--Gerda Lerner, Historian |

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