Trailer
Synopsis
In 30 episodes, John Green rethinks world history! In round two we take a different approach and try to think more thematically rather than chronologically. By the end of the course, you will be able to: *Think about history thematically and in terms of systems, not just important events *Analyze the context of historical events, developments, and processes and explain how they are situated within a broader historical context *Explain the importance of point of view, historical situation, and audience of a source *Question how what we think of as “history,” how it is written, and what biases are at play in a work
Episode 25 : War and Nation Building in Latin America
February. 11,2015
In which John Green teaches you about nation-building and nationalism in Latin America. Sometimes, the nations of Latin America get compared to the nations of Europe and are found wanting. This is kind of a silly comparison. The rise of democratic, economically powerful nations in Europe came about under a very different set of circumstances than the way nations arose in Latin America, so the regions are necessarily a lot different. But why? John will explore whether it was a lack of international war which impeded Latin America's growth, which sounds like a crazy thing to say, but you should hear him out.
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Episode 23 : Conflict in Israel and Palestine
January. 28,2015
In which John Green teaches you about the conflict in Israel and Palestine. This conflict is often cast as a long-term beef going back thousands of years, rooted in a clash between religions. Well, that's not quite true. What is true is that the conflict is immensely complicated, and just about everyone in the world has an opinion about it. John is going to try to get the facts across in under 13 minutes.
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Episode 22 : Water and Classical Civilizations
January. 21,2015
In which John Green teaches you about water! So, we talk about resources a lot on Crash Course, and today is no exception. It turns out people can't live without water, which means it's absolutely necessary for civilization. Today John talks about water in the context of classical civilizations, but not like Greece or Rome or something. We're talking about the Maya civilization in Central America, and the Khmer civilization in what is now Cambodia. So this is an awesome video, OK?
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Episode 20 : World War II, A War for Resources
December. 14,2014
In which John Green teaches you about World War II, and some of the causes behind the war. In a lot of ways, WWII was about resources, especially food. The expansionist aggression of both Germany and Japan was in a lot of ways about resources. There were other reasons, to be sure, but the idea that the Axis needed more food can't be ignored.
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Episode 19 : Charles V and the Holy Roman Empire
December. 05,2014
In which John Green teaches you about the Holy Roman Empire by teaching you about Charles V.
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Episode 18 : Luther and the Protestant Reformation
November. 29,2014
In which John Green teaches you about the Protestant Reformation. Prior to the Protestant Reformation, pretty much everyone in Europe was a Roman Catholic. Not to get all "great man," but Martin Luther changed all that. Martin Luther didn't like the corruption he saw in the church, especially the sale of indulgences, so he left the church and started his own. And it caught on! And it really did kind of change the world. The changes increased literacy and education, and some even say the Protestant Reformation was the beginning of Capitalism in Europe.
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Episode 17 : The Mughal Empire and Historical Reputation
November. 21,2014
In which John Green teaches you about the Mughal Empire, which ruled large swaths of the Indian Sub-Continent from 1526 to (technically) 1857. While John teaches you about this long-lived Muslim empire, he'll also look at the idea of historical reputation and how we view people from history. Namely, he'll look at the reputations of Mughal emperors Akbar I and Aurangzeb. Traditionally, Akbar I is considered the emperor that made the Mughal Empire great, and Aurangzeb gets the blame for running the whole thing into the ground and setting it up for decline. Is that really how it was, though? It turns out, it's complicated.
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Episode 12 : The Rise of the West and Historical Methodology
October. 17,2014
In which John Green talks about the methods of writing history by looking at some of the ways that history has been written about the rise of the West. But first, he has to tell you what the West is. And then he has to explain the Rise of the West. And then he gets down to talking about the different ways that historians and other academics have explained how the West became dominant in the world. He'll look at explanations from Acemoglu and Robinson's "Why Nations Fail," Francis Fukuyama's "The Origins of Political Order," and Ian Morris's "Why the West Rules, for Now."
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Episode 10 : Who Started World War I
September. 20,2014
In which John Green teaches you WHY World War I started. Or tries to anyway. With this kind of thing, it's kind of hard to assign blame to any one of the nations involved. Did the fault lie with Austria-Hungary? Germany? Russia? Julius Caesar? One thing we can say for sure is that you can't blame the United States of America for this one. Woohoo! Well, you can hardly blame the US.
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Episode 5 : War and Civilization
August. 09,2014
In which John Green investigates war, and what exactly it may or may not be good for. Was war a result of human beings organizing into larger and more complex agricultural social orders, or did war maybe create agriculture and "civilization?" It's hard to know for sure, but it's sure fun to think about.
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Seasons
Season 2
In 30 episodes, John Green rethinks world history! In round two we take a different approach and try to think more thematically rather than chronologically. By the end of the course, you will be able to:
*Think about history thematically and in terms of systems, not just important events
*Analyze the context of historical events, developments, and processes and explain how they are situated within a broader historical context
*Explain the importance of point of view, historical situation, and audience of a source
*Question how what we think of as “history,” how it is written, and what biases are at play in a work
Season 1
In 42 episodes, John Green will begin teaching you the history of the world! This course is based on the 2012 AP World History curriculum, from growing the first crops in the First Agricultural Revolution to global textile production in the 2010s. By the end of the course, you will be able to:
*Identify and explain historical developments and processes
*Analyze the context of historical events, developments, and processes and explain how they are situated within a broader historical context
*Explain the importance of point of view, historical situation, and audience of a source
*Analyze patterns and connections among historical developments and processes, both laterally and chronologically through history
*Be a more informed citizen of the world
