Wilsonville High School

AP European History

Course Overview: A.P. European History is designed to be a rigorous college-level course covering the history of Europe from ancient times to the present.  The culmination of the course will be the A.P. examination which will allow qualified candidates to receive college credit for this course.  This course is also listed as European History 101 and 102 at Clackamas Community College.  You may receive CCC credit just by passing the course (without the AP exam) if you pay the tuition.  See Mrs. Leonetti to sign up for either of these options.

 

 

AP World History

Course Overview:

The purpose of the AP World History course is to develop greater understanding of the evolution of global processes and contacts, in interaction with different types of human societies. This under- standing is advanced through a combination of selective factual knowledge and appropriate analytical skills. The course highlights the nature of changes in international frameworks and their causes and consequences, as well as comparisons among major societies. The course emphasizes relevant factual knowledge deployed in conjunction with leading interpretive issues and types of historical evidence.  Focused primarily on the past thousand years of the global experience, the course builds on an understanding of cultural, institutional, and technological precedents that, along with geography, set the human stage prior to 1000 C.E. The period around 1000 is generally recognized in the field as a chronological break point centering on the intensification of international contacts among Asia , Europe , and Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa . This era is truly global in its focus: it thus embraces the empires of China and Mesoamerica ; the expansion of Islam; Mongol dominance; the period of new political units in Africa and Europe ; cultural and social aspects; and long-distance trade.  The course is divided into five chronological periods.  These five units listed below are linked to the lessons, assignments, and assessment reviews for each unit.

World Wars

Course Overview: 

This class will study the causes, the course, and the implications of World War II, this greatest of twentieth century conflicts.  It will handle most of the geographic areas involved, the major diplomatic, political and military events, and some of the key figures of the war.  It covers the time period of 1900 to the present, with an emphasis of course on the years 1939-1945.   This course treats World War II in its broadest perspective. It begins by examining the cultural, political, and social issues that led to the outbreak of war. In also looks at the effect the war had on the home fronts throughout the world as well as how it served as an agent of cultural, intellectual, and social change.

The Second World War was a turning point for millions of the world’s citizens, from those who fought the war to those who suffered bombardments, imprisonment, dislocation and death.  It is also a fascinating case study for the study of history.  Based on the idea that “history is argument”, students will study the war from varied perspectives, evaluate choices made by war-time leaders and debate the relative importance of different components in the waging of war.  Depending on student interest, we will examine the battlefronts and the home fronts, the military strategies and the diplomacy, the role of pacifists and conscientious objectors, the social and economic impact of warfare.  Students will explore war-time issues through discussion, written assignments, debates and simulations. There will be several research assignments, including a written assessment of a movie on World War II or oral presentation on a specific topic and a wartime mini-biography based on an interview with someone alive during World War II.