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AP World History: Modern

Course Overview

In AP World History: Modern, students investigate significant events, individuals, developments, and processes from 1200 to the present. Students develop and use the same skills, practices, and methods employed by historians: analyzing primary and secondary sources; developing historical arguments; making historical connections; and utilizing reasoning about comparison, causation, and continuity and change over time. The course provides six themes that students explore throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments in different times and places: humans and the environment, cultural developments and interactions, governance, economic systems, social interactions and organization, and technology and innovation. [Source: collegeboard.org]

Expectations & Support

AP World History: Modern is designed to be the equivalent of an introductory college or university survey of modern world history. This is a college-level class, with, ultimately, the opportunity to earn college credits, therefore, full student effort from the first day to the last day is expected. There are no prerequisites for AP World History: Modern. Students should be able to read a college-level textbook and write grammatically correct, complete sentences. As always, if a student begins to struggle academically, they should contact their instructor and/or counselor. [Source: adapted from collegeboard.org]

Exams & Assessment

As reflective of the required AP exam taken in May, throughout the course students should expect both multiple-choice assessments as well as essay and skills assessments that are designed to measure not only student understanding of content from the period 1200 CE to 2001 CE, but also their comprehension of and ability to exhibit AP-level historical thinking skills such as comparison and continuity and change over time. Both Mid-term and Final assessments are required by FCPS.

Materials & Resources

  • The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History, AP Edition, 7th Edition

  • Analysis and interpretation of various Primary and Secondary sources

  • AP Classroom website

  • Other scholarly readings/articles as provided by your instructor

Time Commitment

AP World History: Modern requires students to: read, analyze, interpret, create, research, and write. While time spent on these tasks may differ from student to student, on average a student can expect to spend about 3 hours of work outside of class per week to support adequate acquisition of content knowledge and skills to be successful in this course.