AP World Unit 4
“Ruined and Plundered and Burned”: Historical Imagination, Lascars, and the Portuguese Arrival in the Indian Ocean
A discussion of teaching the arrival of the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean from the perspective of local sailors.
A Visual History of the Ottoman Empire
Six snapshots of the Ottoman Empire to show how it evolved over 600 years.
“To take lads for the Janissaries”: Making Sense of the Devşirme
A discussion of teaching the Ottoman practice of the devşirme in world history classes.
An Elephant in Belgrade: The Ottoman Empire as an Afroeurasian Empire in the Sixteenth Century
A discussion of teaching the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century as an Afroeurasia empire using an image from the Süleymanname.
“Addicted to the Coffeehouse”: Snapshots from the Ottoman Empire
A discussion of the challenges of teaching the Ottomans in world history courses and how to use an Ottoman coffeehouse to teach about the empire
“At Last I Defended Myself”: 400 Years of Resistance to the Transatlantic Slave System
A discussion of how to center the resistance of enslaved Africans when teaching the transatlantic slave system in world history courses.
“Suffering the Most Excruciating Torments”: The Height of the Transatlantic Slave System, 1650-1850
A discussion of how to teach the transatlantic slave system in the late seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
“We Cannot Reckon How Great the Damage Is”: Origins of the Transatlantic Slave System, c.1450 - c.1650
Discussion of how to teach the origins of the transatlantic slave system with a focus on understanding the different regional and global consequences
“If there were no buyers there would be no sellers”: Teaching the Transatlantic Slave System, c.1450 - c.1850
A discussion of how world history teachers can teach the transatlantic slave system in a way that centers Black African voices.
Stepping Out from Zheng He’s Shadow: World History, Ming China, and Greater East Asia in the Fifteenth Century
Most authors of world history textbooks and world history teachers seem to love the voyages of Zheng He. The treasure ships dwarfed all contemporary ships, the two main individuals (the Yongle Emperor and Admiral Zheng He) were larger than life characters, and there were African giraffes being mistaken for mythical
