Week 1
Lesson 1
Welcome and Introduction To The First Theme: Gender-Based Assumptions
Overview of the semester, and an introduction to the idea of gender-based assumptions in the modern world (women in power, etc)
Lesson 2
Women in the Ancient World
What was expected of women in terms of behavior and attitudes in the ancient world? Discussion of examples, and exploration of the Roman woman Hortensia, who spoke to the Roman Senate followed by an examination of the writing of Ibn Rushd of the Almohod Caliphate.
 Week 2
Lesson 3
Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Elizabeth I was supposed to be a boy, so the stories go. However, she rose to power anyway, and worked with and defied gender expectations of the age. We explore how she was portrayed in art, as an example of the different expectations set during her lifetime.
Lesson 4
Queen Ana Nzinga-Mbunda
Queen Nzinga-Mbunda is one of several powerful African queens we explore to learn about gender expectations among some African groups, and how the women guided and protected their people.
 Week 3
Lesson 5
Mary Wollstonecraft
Wollstonecraft was an Enlightenment-era writer and teacher who spoke out against confining gender roles. She is considered one of the world's first feminists. Her writing in the late 1700s helped spark the womens suffrage movement in the US and England.
Lesson 6
Women Opposed to Voting
The suffrage movement in the US and Britain emphasized the equality of all humans, not just men. But some women actively campaigned against those rights. Discussion of both sides of the argument, and an exploration of propaganda from both sides.
 Week 4
Lesson 7
Oui Jin
Oui Jin was a Chinese activist and writer in the late 1800s who fought against arrainged marriage and foot binding as the standards expected of women. Exploration of both practices, and a look at some of Oui Jin's writing.
Lesson 8
Huda Sharawi
Born within the harem system in Egypt, Sharawi went on to advocate for greater women's freedom and to establish the Arab Feminist Union. She is one of many examples of how women pushed back against the standard gender expectations in the early 1900s.
 Week 5
Lesson 9
Una Marson and the IAW
Marson was a leader and writer from Jamaica who worked to bring awareness to women's rights and the rights of other oppressed people around the world. Overview of her life, and the work she did in Jamaica and the UK.
Lesson 10
Intro to Theme Two: Humans Create...
Introduction to the theme and discussion of the positive and negative outcomes of some famous inventions. Discussion of why humans are driven to invent and create.
 Week 6
Lesson 11
Assessing Impact of Human Inventions
Discussion of the impact of human inventions in the modern era, and of assessing which human inventions have the most positive and most negative impacts.
Lesson 12
The Silk Road
Humans trade. They trade items, ideas, language, religion and more. And humans create the methods for trade to happen. Discussion of the diffusion of musical instruments along the Silk Road as an example of inventions, and how they spread.
 Week 7
Lesson 13
The African Salt and Gold Trade
Discussion of all the things that humans created or refined that led to the world's wealthiest man, Mansa Musa, heading off to Mecca with thousands of servants. Camel domestication, use of salt to preserve food, writing on scrolls, etc. Will also cover the potential negative impact of the world learning of the riches of Timbuktu.
Lesson 14
The Aztecs and Manipulation of the Natural World
The Aztecs created one of the world's most successful civilizations by maniputing the natural world. The creation of aquaducts and island gardens allowed them to feed thousands of people. An overview of the inventions and their impact.
 Week 8
Lesson 15
Leonardo DaVinci and City Planning
The Aztecs manipulated the natural world. During the Great Plague, Leonardo DaVinci sketched out a city plan that would keep people safe from plagues of the future. Discussion of DaVinci's plan, and of modern examples of trying to make life better through city planning.
Lesson 16
Economic Theories
Sometimes humans create tangible objects. Sometimes humans create theories. Overview of the theories of Market Economics and Command Economics, and a look at the impact of a pure command economy with China's Great Leap Forward.
 Week 9
Lesson 17
Wrap Up For Theme Two; Intro To Theme Three
Discussion of the ways in which economic theories and political theories intersect, and overview of the Arab Spring protests in support of democratic reforms in North Africa and the Middle East. Overview of theme three: how have humans worked to bring about political and social change?
Lesson 18
The Abbasid Empire: political change through alliances
Overview of the Abbasid Empire and the choices made by Shah Abbas I to stableize his empire. 
 Week 10
Lesson 19
Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation
Discussion of how Martin Luther set off the Protestant Reformation through the use of modern communication (the printing press), and the longterm impact of the Reformation.
Lesson 20
The French Revolution
Is is possible to bring about social and political change without violence? Or, as some in the French Revolution believed, was violence the only way to achieve success? 
 Week 11
Lesson 21
The Haitian Revolution
Overview of how enslaved Haitians worked to overthrow the French, and take control of the island nation. Discussion of the role of violence and propaganda in bringing about political change.
Lesson 22
The British in Burma
Overview of British colonization of Burma, and how the many ethnic groups in the mountains surrounding Burma worked to avoid being pulled into British control. Sometimes, social or political change can be about avoidance.
 Week 12
Lesson 23
Ghandi in India
Discussion of how Ghandi worked to encourage Indians to peacefully resist the British, and his "Quit India" speech when the country was pulled to support the British in World War II.
Lesson 24
Guatemala
Sometimes, political and social change happen after great turmoil. The Guatemalan Civil War included the forced dissapearance of thousands of Indigenous citizens. Rigoberta Menchu and Freddy Peccereli continue to work to bring justice to those impacted, and to put in place  a government that will keep it from happening again. 
 Week 13
Lesson 25
The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia
Overview of how the citizens of Czechoslovakia overthrew the Communist government in the years before the fall of the Soviet Union.  Instead of violence, they used music, literature, and peaceful protests. 
Lesson 26
The Growth of the Black Lives Matter movement
Many times social and political change are about effective use of modes of communication. Discussion of how the movement grew in the summer of 2020 to encompass pleas for racial justice around the world and how public art/grafitti demonstrates its spread.
 Week 14
Lesson 27
Historical Noodling - proving a historical thesis
Group discussion of how to prove a claim about history using the three big themes from the semester.
Lesson 28
Historical Noodling, and Project Presentations
Conclusion of proving historical claims, and project presentations for those who choose to do so.