Teaching World Civilization with Joy and EnthusiasmThe scholarship of this book is based upon the personal experience of author Benjamin Lee Wren, who taught 'World Civilization' for six years at the high school level and 35 years at the university level. The book stresses that 'World Civilization' should be taught at all levels of academia because, due to the innovations of the last hundred years, the world has evolved into a 'global village.' The author firmly believes that one cannot have a true grasp of history without an active knowledge of geography and how it is affected by terrain, climate and neighboring countries. Key elements discussed are: the importance of writing techniques and examples of major systems; the foremost philosophies, religions, and turning points in history down to 1650; major contributions to world civilization; recommended source materials for both instructors and students; and various methods and techniques for creating and fostering enthusiasm within the classroom. |
Contents
The Importance of the Subject | 1 |
Geography | 7 |
The Beginnings | 31 |
Writing | 43 |
Religion | 62 |
Major Turning Points in World History | 91 |
Cultural Borrowing of Ideas and Inventions to 1650 | 101 |
Bringing Joy and Enthusiasm into the Classroom | 245 |
Summation | 259 |
Source Materials | 267 |
Index | 283 |
Common terms and phrases
Abbasid Africa American ancient Arabic architecture artistic Asia Aztec beautiful became began Buddhism Byzantine Byzantine Empire capital Catholic century China Chinese Christianity Church cities coast Common Era concept Confucian Confucius Constantinople continued Crusades culture developed devshirme Dynasty East emperor England English Europe example exams Fertile Crescent finally France French German Greek Henry Hindu human Iberian Peninsula idea ikebana Inca Inca Empire India Islam islands Japan Japanese Jared Diamond Jesuit Jesus Jews joy and enthusiasm king known land later Latin learned lived major Mediterranean Mediterranean Sea Mongols Muslims Neolithic Revolution Ocean one's Ottoman Ottoman Turks Pacific peninsula period Persian political Polynesian pope religion religious Renaissance result rise ritual River Roman Empire Rome Saint Sect Shang southeast southern Spain Spanish Sumerians T'ang Taoism teachers teaching trade tradition Turks ultimately wabi/sabi West Western women word World Civilization writing