In the sixth week, students continue using the tools of the historian and apply that growing knowledge base to their exploration of several regions of the world. Students will compare the development of civilizations, and their rise, fall, and influence, from the years 600 CE - 900 CE. Students will engage the content covered, assess the Maxfield readings (A Comprehensive Outline of World History, chapters 21 - 23), and challenge each other's assumptions about the past, while discussing the social, political, and economic development of human collectives around the world.
What factors might explain the success of Islam in spreading to various parts of Eurasia and Africa during this period? What factors might explain the development of civilizations in parts of the Americas around the same time? Is there anything meaningful to be gained, in terms of developing an understanding of the past, from comparing developments in the Western and Eastern hemispheres at this time, when they remained almost entirely divorced from each other?