Topic

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Curriculum Sub-Topics

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In order to understand humans today (in terms of their bio-physiology, cognition, behaviour, cultures, complex societal systems and built environments), we need to go back millions and thousands and hundreds of years back in the past.

 

• From Abiogenesis to Bacteria to Multicellular Plant Life and Animalia

• Ancient fossils and geological dating

• Extinction of dinosaurs and evolution of mammals

• 250,000 – 50,000 years ago – Evolving big brains, natural selection, sexual selection, kin, artificial selection, Baldwinian evolution, and colonising the world

• Artefacts from ancient civilisations

• The transition from hunter-gatherer to agriculture and farming

• From tribes to cities to empires

• Africa, the Middle-East and Asia

• Babylonians

• Egyptians, Persians

• Indians

• Chinese Dynastys

• Macedonians

• Roman Empire

• Byzantine

• Greeks 50 BC – 200 AD

• Western Europe, Brittania, Franks

• Plagues

• Religion-centric Civilisations (Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam)

• The Magna Carta

• Medieval Times

• Wars

• The Spanish, British, and French colonising the world

• The North American New World and the Founding Fathers of the American Republic and the concept of ‘freedom’

• The rise of secular liberal democratic constitutional republics

• The age of reason and enlightenment

• The industrial revolution

• Intellectual, technological and social revolutions in various parts of the world 1870s – 1960s

• Crises and problems (wars, diseases, famines, depressions, etc) 1870s – 1950s

• Pre-WW2 and post-WW2

• Globalisation infrastructure 1950s – 1990s – physical transport, socio-political, tele-communications

• The Diversity of Ideas by means of Natural Selection and Design by Artificial Selection

• Failed states vs Successful states

• Open Free Market Enterprises

• Megacities in 2017

• Case studies: London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago.

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References

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Links to External Sources

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--- Prof Alice Roberts and her research activities

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/biosciences/staff/profile.aspx?ReferenceId=122726&Name=professor-alice-roberts

 

--- Conservation archaeology

https://www.archaeological.org/sitepreservation/projects

 

--- https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/paleontology/

 

--- https://www.newscientist.com/article-topic/evolution/

 

--- Articles on Abiogenesis (origin of life) lab experiments:

https://www.wired.com/2009/05/ribonucleotides/

https://www.livescience.com/49049-beginning-of-life-experiment.html

 

--- https://www.richarddawkins.net/category/topic/science/

--- http://www.centerforinquiry.net/outreach/

Outreach work on science and evolution, the science of evolution, the teaching and popularisation of evolution, evolution as a new perspective

 

 

Evolution:

 

--- Steven Pinker (MIT/Harvard)

https://stevenpinker.com/publications/type/newspaper-article

On linguistics, evolution, anthology, biological evolution of language, cultural evolution of language, and cultures communication.

 

--- http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364661312002823

“Evolution, brain, and the nature of language”, 2013

Robert C. Berwick, Angela D. Friederici, Noam Chomsky, Johan J.Bolhuis

 

 

History:

 

--- http://www.history.co.uk/biographies

 

--- History Channel

http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/10-innovations-that-built-ancient-rome

 

--- USA

https://www.biography.com/news/founding-fathers-quotes-facts

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Founding-Fathers

https://www.constitutionfacts.com/us-founding-fathers/

 

--- http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/

Civilised Discourse, Philosophy, Mathematics in an age and place of barbarism

 

--- https://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/articles/magna-carta-an-introduction

Info on Magna Carta (1100-1200 AD) – A blueprint for modern anti-autocratic liberal democratic constitutional republics??? (by the British Library, London)

 

--- http://time.com/3731745/spanish-flu-history/

 

--- https://virus.stanford.edu/uda/

 

--- http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/

 

--- http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/zxq4kqt

 

--- http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/09/world/world-war-ii-fast-facts/index.html

 

--- https://www.historyonthenet.com/world-war-two-causes/

 

--- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/

 

--- http://www.world-war-2.info/propaganda/

http://www.world-war-2.info/facts/

 

--- https://blogs.cornell.edu/info2040/2015/09/21/game-theory-in-cold-war-decision-making/

 

--- http://www.historyresourcecupboard.co.uk/portfolio/cold-war-decision-making/

 

--- https://science.howstuffworks.com/game-theory5.htm

 

--- https://blogs.cornell.edu/info2040/2016/09/09/mutually-assured-destruction-game-theory-and-the-cold-war/

 

--- https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/best-cold-war-military-technology.html

 

--- https://exploredia.com/top-ten-technologies-we-have-because-of-the-cold-war/

 

--- https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/science-and-technology-global-cold-war

 

--- https://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/Cold_War

 

--- https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/02/0225_0225_TVnomorefish.html

 

--- https://www.huffingtonpost.com/nake-m-kamrany/chinas-rise-to-global-eco_b_6544924.html

 

--- https://9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Exec.htm

 

--- http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/index.htm

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Files

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Visual Media: Images & Diagrams, Graphics, Videos,

Embeds, Interactive Interfaces

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Descriptions here - TBC

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--- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phylogenetic_Tree_of_Life.png
--- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Human_evolution_chart.svg
--- https://pixabay.com/en/messini-theatre-greek-archeology-2660849/
--- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan#/media/File:Mongol_Empire_map.gif
--- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War_(1953%E2%80%931962)#/media/File:Cold_War_Map_1959.svg
--- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spain_1950-2014_Population_pyramid.gif

--- "'Everything, everywhere, ever' - the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology" by Cambridge University (May 2012)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r4LwuoFPoY
--- "Early Evidence of Collective Learning | Big History Project" by Big History Project (Jun 2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFNwgwqSWDo
--- "Cold War: Worsening Relations 1946" by Mr Harrold (Feb 2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DNv86IzSKk