Ancient AP World History Course gets cut in half

College Board has announced a massive revamp of the AP World History curriculum starting in the 2019-20 school year. The course will be split into two different courses. AP World History: Modern will cover the years 1200 CE to the present and AP World History: Ancient will cover ancient civilizations before the year 1200.

College Board believes that teachers are teaching too much material. Topics are often covered briefly. With this change to the curriculum, they will be able to go more in depth with the material.

At first, Ms. Sarah Devon Milford, social studies department, was not too excited about the change.

“I really love teaching about ancient civilizations, and I hate not teaching that,” said Milford.

As Milford began to receive more information, she began to support the change.

“Teaching 10,000 years of history in nine months is very difficult for teachers. We often don’t have the time to go very in depth with certain topics. Now, as I’m planning for next year, I believe that it will be much easier for students. We won’t have to rush so much,” said Milford.

Mr. Garrett Walker, social studies department, was excited for the change.

“Me, personally, the ancient world history material doesn’t necessarily interest me. I find it hard to make it interesting for the students,” said Walker.

Milford also mentioned that the materials used in class before December are useless for next year. However, she is enjoying making new materials for next year. She will be employing more activities next year.

“I believe that there is a solid chance that we will receive a new textbook. The textbook will cover material starting from the year 1200,” said Milford.

The textbook is a major upgrade to the textbook current student use. Earth and Its Peoples: Global History, AP Edition, 4th edition was published in 2007.  

Sue Odeyemi, 10th grade, wishes she would have had the opportunity to take AP World History: Modern.

“We learn so much in AP World. Right now, it is difficult for me to study for the AP exam. I have to review 10,000 years of history. I feel like the Modern course would be so much easier,” said Odeyemi.

Ian Morton, 12th grade, also agrees that the amount of content was too much.

“It was pretty overwhelming. I remember having to recall events from many years ago for the AP exam. We did have a good teacher who really prepared us for the exam. However, it was a lot to take in and reviewing was a little too much,” said Morton.

Odeyemi took AP American Government her freshman year. She believes it will be different from upcoming sophomores entering the new AP World History: Modern class.

“I think that freshmen transitioning from a really difficult AP class to a class with an overwhelming amount of material is difficult. I feel like with this change, it will less stressful for freshman,” said Odeyemi.

Milford stated that the AP World History: Ancient course will not be offered for some time. College Board is still planning out the curriculum for the Ancient course. Both Milford and Walker believe that the Modern course will be prefered over the Ancient.

“I would absolutely prefer the modern version over ancient. However, I wouldn’t mind teaching both because I will learn more from what I teach. Ultimately, it’s up to the students and what they want to do,” said Walker.

Stephany Gaona-Perez

Stephany Gaona Perez is a senior Co-Editor in Chief for the BluePrints Magazine. She has attended both the Georgia Scholastic Press Association and Southern Interscholastic Press Association. Gaona-Perez is interested in both Criminal Justice and Journalism as possible fields of work, such as a Paralegal, Criminal Investigator, or working as a writer for a magazine/newspaper. She wants to graduate this year knowing that her fellow staff members are prepared to make excellent content and is looking forward to being a mentor for her peers.

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