Crash Course

[Bucky]

http://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse

Great new series on world history. Probably more interesting for history teachers than students. But I'll find out, cause when I'm teaching world history next year, I'll be showing these vids to my kids each week.

Below in this discussion thread will be links to the individual installments.

[Bucky]

1. #1 The Agricultural Revolution (actually should be "Neolithic Revolution")

[Bucky]

2. #2 The Indus Valley Civilization

Texas world history curriculum gives short shrift to the Indus Valley Civs. Yes, I know they invented streets and plumbing, but we zip straight from invention of farming to the Fertile Crescent, because the Sumerians invented kicking ass.

[Bucky]

3. #3 Mesopotamia

No love for the Hittites, it appears.

Bonus video...

[Bucky]

4. #4 Ancient Egypt

Haven't viewed this one yet. Grades are due by the morning.

Bonus video...

<== probably predictable

[ellisonz]

5. You forgot Poland!

[Bucky]

6. sigh

[Bucky]

7. #5 Persia vs Greece

Look what comes out of that apple in the opening credits... oh my!

[Bucky]

8. #6 Ancient India (including the Buddha)

John Green recastes Indian history. Ha ha, get it? Re-castes I kill me!

Bonus video: The Life Of The Buddha (Full BBC Documentary- in HQ and in living color)

<== actual size

[Bucky]

9. #7 China. All of its history in 12 minutes. Wow

Crowded, but well ordered. How apropos!

Bonus video: If this is Zhōngguó, you must be Billy Joel

[Bucky]

10. #8 Alexander the Great spreads Greece

Greeks vs Persians, Round 3. And now...

Here's the opposing view.

[Bucky]

11. #9 The Silk Road and Ancient Trade

Recommended online exploration: Indian Ocean History.org

[font size="4"b]Indian Ocean History[/font]'s a great site to let your students explore!




Recommended companion reader:

[Bucky]

12. #10 Rome

Romulus and Remus invented man-on-dog, by the way. You're welcome, Senator.

[Bucky]

13. #11 Christianity

Think about it this way: if there was no Christianity, we'd never have had "Jingle Bell Rock"

Here's a more critical take on the whole Jesus is God thing, based on the Didache of the Apostles

And more detail on Emperor Constantine, who after Paul was the second most important Christian in history,

[Bucky]

14. #12 The Fall of Rome, followed by the Fall of Rome

Why Rome really fell

[Bucky]

15. #13 Islam, the Quran, and the Five Pillars

[Bucky]

38. Therefor I am

[Bucky]

16. #14 The Dark Ages

More on the Dark Ages

[Bucky]

17. #15 The Crusades, such as they were

Bonus material: footage of actual Crusaders in action

[Bucky]

18. #16 Mansa Musa, Mali, and the East African Swahili trading states

Also... Crash Course bloopers.

and yet no Ed McMahon

[Odin2005]

19. I love Mansa Musa, thanks!

I remember reading a kids history book when I was little and it had a beautiful illustration of Mansa Musa on the Hajj and the story of him giving away so much gold to poor people it caused inflation! I thought he was cool!

[Bucky]

21. #17 The Mongols!!

Bonus: John Wayne talks to his mama in Mongolian

Another Bonus: John Wayne kisses his wife-to-be in Mongolian

(not recommended for amateurs)

[Bucky]

22. #18 Indian Ocean Trade

More details at Indian Ocean History.org (but skip the intro and go straight to the maps).

[Bucky]

23. #19 Venice and the Ottoman Empire (plus ballless Russian slave soldiers)

That's ballless as in testicle-free and heavily armed.

Eunuchs, what a barbaric practice. There's no way you'd find people eunuching perfectly healthy males in America, right? Right?

[font size="1"] I'm sorry for posting that.[/font]

[Bucky]

24. #20 Russia, the Kievan Rus, and the Mongols

extra credit ==> http://www.youswear.com/index.asp?language=Russian

[Bucky]

25. #21 Columbus, de Gama, and Zheng He

More on Zheng He. But don't believe anyone who gives you some crap about 1421. Zheng He never came to America.

(with subtitles for you nonEnglish speakers)

[Lucky Luciano]

26. Marking for later. Sounds promising. nt

[Left coast liberal]

27. My 13 yr old loves these! John Green is super-dude in our house.

Check out the Vlogbrothers too.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

28. Thank you, Bucky

You put a great deal of time and energy into this project - you are a true teacher! Only wish I could give you a nice big raise!

K&R

[Bucky]

29. #22 The European Renaissance

Some Renny music to chill you out and make you think neoclassical thoughts

Provocative questions about the diffusion of Renaissance culture

A French "gangsteur" hip-hop song called "Le Renaissance"

[Bucky]

30. #23 The Columbian Exchange

Probably the most important event in Earth history, except that it's not quite an event

[Bucky]

31. #24 The Atlantic Slave Trade

Technically, part of the Columbian Exchange

Also, this is the "non-fun" video in the series

[Bucky]

32. #25 The Spanish Empire

What's this lesson from history got to do with America? Noam Chomsky has a few thoughts...

This is what it looks like on a map

[Bucky]

33. #26 The Seven Year War (but really the French and Indian War)

And, as with all great movies, the thing you remember is the action sequence. So here's the car chase scene...

(well, it's by a highway anyway)

[Bucky]

34. #27 Captain Cook meets the Hawaiians... poorly

As usual, John puts most of his time into showing how bad ethnocentrism is. Alright, we get it already. One way you can tell the difference between a writer and a teacher is that, at some point, a teacher stops asking leading questions and starts giving the audience room to form their own conclusions. I've only read one of John's books, but I think he's a great writer.

[Bucky]

35. #28 Tea, Taxes, Mr. T, and the American Revolution

Stuff about the Enlightenment

Thom Hartmann tells you the truth about the Boston Tea Party (spoiler: it was a protest against tax breaks, in the form of a bail-out, to a large multinational corporation, the BEIC)

And the truth about the Minute Men

[Bucky]

36. #29 The French Revolution

(not nicknamed the Freedom Revolution by the Republican Congressional Caucus)

The answer to the most obvious question about the Guillotine: does the brain retain consciousness after decapitation?

Editorial note: the French Revolution progressed more or less the way any violent activity would if it was run by the posters from GD.

[Bucky]

37. #30 The Haitian Revolution (and a tragic unexpected plot twist!)

John's new toupee

This is the penultimate episode of the section on the Atlantic Revolutions, which is a category that a lot of people have never heard of. Fortunately, the good people at Wikipedia provide you with a more comprehensive list of revolutions of the Atlantic Revolutions.

You should also have a better overview of the practical impact of the Enlightenment, which was the philosophical basis for all the Atlantic Revolutions. Here it is delivered to you in the form of a horrendous geekgasm:

[Bucky]

39. #31 Latin American Revolutions

Not enough Bernardo O'Higgins, and the mispronunciations drive me bananas. Or maybe plaintains.

Honestly, I need to look up more sources for this. It's a big topic and John Green for once left me feeling a little dissatisfied.

[Bucky]

40. #32 Coal, Steam, and the Industrial Revolution

This is where history actually begins. Everything before week 32 is prologue. You could actually start a world history course at 1750 and not miss a damn thing. But that's because the past is prologue. That's a profound observation, Bucky. Maybe I should copyright that.

[Bucky]

41. #33 Capitalism and Socialism

[font size="1"]Marx and Ingalls[/font]