Knowable World

Welcome to Asia, Africa, and the World We Live In

How to Navigate the Class Platform

Syllabus: Asia, Africa, and the World We Live In

2024-25 Class Calendar

Weekly Class Schedule by Time Zone

Optional Add-On: Special Topics

Live Class Link

Optional Add-On: Special Topics

Sample Lesson 1 - The Mysteries of a Lost World

Sample Lesson 2 - A Bridge to the Ancient Past

Sample Lesson 3 - The Beginning

Sample Lesson 4 - What is a Menes-Narmer?

Unit 1: China

Lesson 1 - The World We Live In, Part 1

Handout - The Ten Major Cultures of the World

Lesson 2 - The World We Live In, Part 2

Lesson 3 - The America-Centric World

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 1

Lesson 4 - The America-Centric Crisis of our Times

Lesson 5 - Introduction to Post-Maoist China

Lesson 6 - Introduction to Post-Maoist China, Part 2

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 2

Lesson 7 - A Story of over Four Thousand Years!

Lesson 8 - Benevolent Despotism

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 3

Lesson 9 - Confucius and the Limits of Benevolent Despotism

Lesson 10 - The Middle Kingdom

Lesson 11 - Globalization Begins

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 4

Lesson 12 - Globalization: How and Why

Lesson 13 - Globalization: The Problem of the Middlemen

Lesson 14: Globalization - The Problem of the "Balance of Trade"

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 5

Lesson 15 - The Century of Humiliation, Part 1

Lesson 16 - The Century of Humiliation, Part 2

Lesson 17 - The Rise of Maoism

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 6

Lesson 18 - The Century of Humiliation, Part 4

Lesson 19 - Maoism

Lesson 20 - Integrating Chinese History

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 7

Lesson 21 - Timelining Chinese History

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 8

Lesson 22 - Conclusion

Lesson 23 - Test Preparation Guidance

Junior High - Test 1 Test Preparation Sheets

Lesson 24 - Test 1 Test Preparation Class

Junior High - Test 1

Lesson 25 - Fascism

Junior High - Test 1 ANSWER KEY

Unit 2: Japan

Lesson 26 - Introduction to Japan

Lesson 27 - Japan as a Major Culture

Lesson 28 - Post-Imperial Japan

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 9

Lesson 29 - Origins of Japan

Lesson 30 - Divine Kingship

Lesson 31 - The Rise of the Yamato Dynasty

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 10

Lesson 32 - Bureaucratic Monarchy

Lesson 33 - Emperors and Shoguns

Lesson 34 - The European Arrival

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 11

Lesson 35 - Insular Japan

Lesson 36 - The Perry Expedition and Treaty of Kanagawa

Lesson 37 - Reactionary Imperialism, Part 1

Lesson 38 - Reactionary Imperialism, Part 2

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 12

Lesson 39 - Japanese Imperialism

Lesson 40 - Post-Imperial Japan

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 13

Lesson 41 - China, Japan, and the World We Live In

Lesson 42 - China and Japan Timelining and Summarizing

Junior High - Test 2 Test Preparation Sheets

Lesson 43 - Test 2 Test Preparation Class

Junior High - Test 2

Junior High - Test 2 ANSWER KEY

Unit 3: The Islamic Middle East

Lesson 44 - The Blind Men and the Elephant

Handout: The Blind Men and the Elephant, by John Godfrey Saxe

Lesson 45 - The Islamic World Today

Handout: Three Cultures

Handout: Outline Map of the Islamic Middle East

Lesson 46 - The War on Terror

Lesson 47 - A Cultural Block at War with Itself

Lesson 48 - A Cultural Block at War with Itself, Part 2

Lesson 49 - Welcome Back!

Lesson 50 - America Humiliated

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 14

Lesson 51 - The Origin of Islamic Triumphalism

Lesson 52 - Confronting Europe (and India)

Lesson 53 - A Thousand Years of Triumph

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 15

Handout: Timeline (In Progress)

Lesson 54 - The Decline of Imperial Islam

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 16

Lesson 55 - The Collpase of Triumphal Islam

Lesson 56 - World War I

2024-25 Junior High Class Notes 17

Lesson 57 - Political Disintegration

Handout - Geography Test Prep

Lesson 58 - Nationalsim in Islamic Culture

Lesson 59 - America and the Islamic World, Part 1