LASALLE COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL
WORLD CIVILIZATION
SUMMER READING 2016
SOCIAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT
BOOK:
This Fleeting World: A Short History of Humanity by David Christian.
ISBN: 13: 978-1933782041
Kindle Available: $ 9.95
THIS FLEETING WORLD: A SHORT HISTORY OF HUMANITY
INTRODUCTION:
This Fleeting World is your launch pad for a year of historical exploration.
Feel free to meander through the book at your leisure, lingering on the
“thought experiments” or following a tangent of an idea or question that
interests you within this guide. The first thing you’ll notice about This
Fleeting World is that it moves fast! But don’t worry; it’s not meant to tell
you everything you need to know about human history. Rather, this book
provides broad brushstrokes, noting the most significant “threshold
moments” that changed the way we have lived on Earth. It will provide a
skeletal timeline of, and framework for, history that we will add to over the
course of our journey through World Civilizations this upcoming year.
ASSIGNMENT:
Additional assignments will be given by your individual teacher after school begins in September.
Carefully read This Fleeting World: A Short History of Humanity by David Christian
Complete the two parts to your summer assignment.
PART I: COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
Prequel: Before the Beginning
 How did planets form, and what was Earth like in its first 500 million years of existence?
 Christian describes life as “a new form of complexity” (xxiv). How did oxygen and
photosynthesis cause life to begin on Earth?
 Eventually, multi-celled organisms emerged from water, to land, and eventually (about
7 million years ago) into human ancestors. What were some stages in the development
to our species, homo sapiens?
Beginnings: The Era of Foragers (250,000-8,000 BCE)
 What are some leading hypotheses (informed theories) about how our species
emerged? How are humans different?
 What was the relationship among human foragers and the environment/nature, and
how was it different from our relationships to other humans today and to our
environment?
Acceleration: The Agrarian Era (8,000 BCE—1750 CE)
 Why can the Agrarian Era be considered a time of acceleration (speeding up)?
 What changes to human life were caused by settled agricultural development?
 Where did cities first emerge, and what was earliest urban life like?
 What were some of the most influential faith systems that developed during this time?
Our World: The Modern Era (1750-present)
 What are the major features and trends of the Modern Era?
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What were the main causes of humanity’s revolution from agrarian societies to
modernity?
 Why the 20th century is considered a century of crisis?
Appendix A: Periodization in World History
 What is periodization?
 What are some of the THEORETICAL, ORGANIZATIONAL, EHTICAL, and
TECHNICAL problems of periodization in World History?
 Why are the periodization labels ANCIENT, MEDIEVAL, and MODERN problematic?
PART II: YOUR QUESTIONS:
Understanding history depends on asking good questions. This is a skill and art that we will
develop further this year. A good question is one that asks how or why; not who or what. Good
questions almost always lead to more questions than answers. Don’t feel you need “correct”
answers to any of these. Your teachers will not have “correct” answers to all of them either!
INSTRUCTIONS: Pose 12 questions about the history described in this book. What do you want
to know more about? What do you WONDER about? Please create 3 for each main section of
the book (Prequel, Beginnings, Acceleration, and Our World).
Prequel Questions:
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Beginnings Questions:
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Acceleration Questions:
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Our World Questions:
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