54 episodes

A podcast about how we teach World History and why we teach what we do.

On Top of the World Dave Eaton & Matt Drwenski

    • Education
    • 4.7 • 30 Ratings

A podcast about how we teach World History and why we teach what we do.

    Ep 48: Buy My Book

    Ep 48: Buy My Book

    Your hosts discuss Dave's new book: World History Through Case Studies: Historical Skills in Practice. Dave tells us about how studying things like the history of veiling, yoga, or the World Cup will engage your students and help them think like a historian. Ditch the textbook and buy Dave's book! 
    Bloomsbury
    Amazon

     

    • 33 min
    Ep 47: The New AP World History CED with Eric Beckman

    Ep 47: The New AP World History CED with Eric Beckman

    The new AP World History Course and Exam Description (CED) is out and we have to figure out the best and most responsible way to teach it. 
    In this episode, Matt interviews Eric Beckman, a veteran teacher and winner of the 2018 William H. McNeill World History Association Teacher Scholarship. What exactly has changed? Where and how should we start this new truncated course? Are Texans taking over World History? How can we best create an anti-racist and global course within the parameters of the new standards? 
    With our goal of helping students do better on the exam, making the course more coherent, and making the course less Eurocentric, this episode will help both novice and experienced teachers grapple with the 2019 standards from College Board. 
     
    Links:
    Learning, Online by Eric Beckman
    Eric's Twitter
    The AP World History: Modern CED
     

    • 1 hr 1 min
    Ep 46: How to Hide an Empire

    Ep 46: How to Hide an Empire

    Are mountains of bird sh*t, a doctor giving his patients cancer, and the width of screw threads central to the rise of American imperialism? Yes! Matt and Dave discuss How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr.
    This a text that will leave North American readers like Matt and Dave, saying "Oh sh*t! That really happened?" It is also history that weaves together mass politics, insane personal stories, and the twists of fate that shaped the changes and continuities of American history beyond and across the boundaries of "logo map."
    Recommendations: 
    Dave - A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
    Matt - Seeds of Empire: Cotton, Slavery, and the Transformation of the Texas Borderlands, 1800-1850 by Andrew J. Torget
    How English Became the Global Language by David Northrup
    Dave's book is available for pre-order right now!
    World History through Case Studies: Historical Skills in Practice
    by Dave Eaton

    • 56 min
    Ep 45: Against the Grain

    Ep 45: Against the Grain

    Dave and Matt return from a winter break to discuss the future of AP World and review James C. Scott's book Against the Grain. 
    Recommendations:
    Dave: Webb, Humanity's Burden and Klieman, "The Pygmies Were Our Compass"
    Matt: Wrangham, Catching Fire
    Music
    Eric Jones, Angkor
    Feist, Let It Die
    MIMS, This Is Why I'm Hot

    • 56 min
    Ep 44: Texting in Class - Panorama

    Ep 44: Texting in Class - Panorama

    Texting in Class makes a triumphal return! Matt and Dave review Panorama: A World History by Laura J. Mitchell and Ross E. Dunn.
     
    Recommendations:
    Dave - Empires of Ancient Eurasia: The First Silk Roads Era, 100 BCE – 250 CE by Craig Benjamin
    Matt - The Common Wind: Afro-American Currents in the Age of the Haitian Revolution by Julius S. Scott
    Dave - Grand Valley Journal of History for undergraduate students
     
    Music:
    Angkor - Eric Jones
    I Can See For Miles - The Who
    Atomic Bomb - William Onyeabor 

    • 48 min
    Ep 43: Playing with Paradox Games

    Ep 43: Playing with Paradox Games

    Matt and Dave are joined by special guests Henrik Lohmander and Peter Nicholson, computer game designers and historians with Paradox Interactive. We discuss their fascinating jobs working on the historical strategy games, how to break into historical game development, and the challenge of balancing history and player fun. 
    Recommendations: 
    All - Imperator: Rome
    Henrik - A Social History of the Deccan, 1300–1761: Eight Indian Lives, Richard M. Eaton
    Dave - Empires of Ancient Eurasia: The First Silk Roads Era, 100 BCE – 250 CE, Craig Benjamin
    Matt - Global Crisis: War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century, Geoffrey Parker
     
    Music:
    Angkor, Eric Jones
    Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Tears for Fears 
    Caesar, Ty Seagull 
    Personal Jesus, Depeche Mode 

    • 44 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
30 Ratings

30 Ratings

Cwmoney7288293 ,

Love it!

Making my way through the previous episodes. Love what you guys are doing. Please keep it going!

Aeverton1066 ,

Great niche podcast

Essential listening for anyone teaching world history to high school students or undergraduates. Great discussions of texts, how to approach different topics, and the politics of world history as an inclusive and progressive discipline.

AmandMMelk ,

Excellent Podcast

Thank you Matt and Dave for filling in the gaps between High School and University Level curricula. I'm a new listener and have gone back to the beginning podcasts to try to catch up on all of your recommendations, lesson ideas, pedagogical thoughts, etc. Love what you're doing here. Excellent resource for an APWH teacher. Really helps to expand the scope of the professional community! Please keep up the great work!

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