Through the investigation of selected primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the importance of Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, how and why it was constructed, why it was converted from a church to a mosque by the Ottomans in 1453, how its design inspired later western architects and why the great building is seen today as a cultural masterpiece.

Through the investigation of selected primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain why Constantine the Great chose to relocate the Roman capital to Byzantium, how the city preserved and expanded Greco-Roman philosophy and scholarship after the fall of Rome in the 5th century CE, and why, after over 1000 years as a center of Christianity, Constantinople fell to the Muslim forces in 1453.

Through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources, including a thorough examination of the young girl’s diary itself, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story of Anne Frank and how her thoughts and feelings expressed in the diary help tell the story of Nazi-occupied Holland and the Holocaust.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, including excerpts from John Calvin’s famous book, Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536), students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain Calvin’s basic arguments behind salvation through predestination and how the spread of his ideas left an indelible and lasting legacy on the Protestant Reformation in Europe in the 16th century and later with the Puritans would settle the New England colonies in the 17th century.

Through the investigation of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, including how and why the brigade formed, its experiences in Spain during the civil war, and how these soldiers were treated when they returned home.

Through the investigation of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the details of the Reconquista, how Muslim forces came to rule over Christian Iberia, the cultural contributions Spanish Moors developed, and ultimately what led to their downfall after such a long rule.

Through the investigation of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the details of Al-Andalus (Moorish Iberia), including how Muslim forces came to rule over Christian Iberia, the cultural contributions Iberian Moors developed, and ultimately what led to their downfall after such a long rule.

Through an examination of both primary and secondary sources on the subject, including various types of visual media in addition to electronic and written sources, Students here will identify, understand and be able to explain the basics of Surrealism as it developed as a movement in the aftermath of the Great War, how surrealism served as a vehicle for the rejection of bourgeois culture prevalent after the war, and how Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel specifically fit into the surrealist movement in Europe.

Through the investigation of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story of Hannibal Barca of Carthage, how he was able to outwit and out maneuver the Roman army time and time again during the Second Punic War and why is crossing of the Alps is still considered today to be one of the greatest military maneuvers of all time.

Through the investigation of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the details of Columbus’ First Voyage to the New World, why he undertook the challenge of sailing west to reach the east, why the Spanish monarchs supported the voyage, and finally how the world was forever changed on 12 October 1492.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the Battle of Stalingrad, why the Germans wanted to take the city, how the Soviets were able to defend it, how the Soviet counterattack led to the surrender of a large German army and why the battle was seen as the turning point in the Second World War (or as the Russians call it, the “Great Patriotic War”).

Through an analysis of primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the October Revolution of 1917, how Lenin and the Bolsheviks took control of Petrograd and what Lenin’s basic plan was for creating a socialist state in the early days of the Bolshevik revolution.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain how Peter the Great came to power in Russia, how he modernized different segments of Russian society such as the military, the church and the government, and finally how and why he built St. Petersburg as his new capital.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain how Panslavism developed in Eastern Europe, what role Panslavism played in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, and how it reached its zenith in the years leading up to the Great War, and how it ultimately led to Tsar Nicholas’s decision to mobilize his troops in defense of Serbia in late July 1914.

Through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources, including a full reading of Dostoevsky’s short story, The Little Orphan, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain how Dostoevsky’s works focused on the moral depravity he saw as inherent in the emerging industrial society of mid-late 19th century urban Russia, and specifically how his stories used strong religious and moral overtones to send a message warning the emerging urban middle class of its responsibilities to society’s less fortunate members.

Through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources, including a full reading of the parable of the Grand Inquisitor from Dostoevsky’s novel, The Brothers Karamazov, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the story and character development found in the parable, how Dostoevsky’s last work focuses on the moral contradictions he saw as inherent in organized Christianity, and yet how the ending passages also show the author’s undeniable hope he has for humanity through its reliance on faith and beliefs.

Through an in-depth analysis of various primary and secondary sources, including a full reading of Dostoevsky’s novella, Notes from Underground, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain how Dostoevsky’s works focused on the moral depravity he saw as inherent in the emerging industrial society of mid-late 19th century urban Russia, how the major characters in Notes from Underground solicit both sympathy and disgust from readers, and finally how the novella fits into the genre of 19th century existential philosophy.

Through an analysis of primary and secondary sources, including a full text reading of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918), students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the provisions of the treaty, how the Germans forced the Russians into signing the treaty, and why Lenin and most of the Soviet leadership believed that peace at any cost was necessary.

Through the use of various primary and secondary sources, students in this lesson will identify, understand and be able to explain the basics behind the Crimean War of 1853-56, how Russian expansionism helped precipitate the war, why the French and British empires decided to back the Ottoman Empire, and how the results of the war ultimately led to even more trouble for the “sick man of Europe” in Constantinople.

Today, most American high school students learn about the Spanish American War through stories and images of Teddy Roosevelt and his Roughriders charging up San Juan Hill in Cuba, but few teachers discuss Puerto Rico. Through the investigation of primary and secondary sources, students here will identify, understand and be able to explain the details of how and why the United States came to rule over the island of Puerto Rico, what legal and constitutional status the US granted Puerto Rican citizens, and how the relationship between the US and Puerto Rico has evolved since 1898.