Register for this course and learn how modern ideas, institutions, and culture developed from the high centuries of Christian culture. We will study the history of the modern era in story form, with emphasis on dates, central characters, and key concepts.

How to get the most out of Making of the Modern World: Light to the Nations II, Part One (Catholic Textbook Project) with Inshal Chenet, MA:

  • First, read the course materials below before the first class meeting.

  • Then have a notebook ready and available for class notes each live session.

  • Read assignments before class meetings

  • Watch that week’s recording if you need to revisit information from our live session.

  • Do the assignments, quizzes, and any extra work assigned for that week.

  • Once the course is completed to the parent's and professor’s satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records.

Special Notes: Includes a writing component. This is Part One of a 2-part course. 

Total classes: 14

Duration per class: 55 minutes 

Prerequisite: None

Suggested grade level: 8th to 11th grade. Other interested students are welcome.

Suggested credit: One full semester World History or Renaissance to Modern History

Instructor: Inshal Chenet, MA

Instructor email:  inshalj@gmail.com

Course description: This course examines how the Modern World -- our world -- came to be. It looks at the revolutionary ideas that created, first in Europe and then the entire world, an understanding of man and his relationship to God, the Church, and the state that was in many respects radically different from the understanding of these things that prevailed in the Middle Ages. Ideas influence deeds, and thus the course examines historical events, showing how they flowed from the struggle between those who held to traditional conceptions and those who embraced the new ideas. Events influence ideas, and thus we study how the events of history helped modify and develop both the new ideas and the traditional vision of the world. The course is divided into two parts. Part One begins with the scientific revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries and concludes with the attempt, steered by Prince Klemens von Metternich, to reestablish the ancient regime after the fall of Napoleon's empire.

Course outline: 

  1. Reformation and Enlightenment

  2. Enlightened Despots

  3. Church before the Revolution

  4. French Revolution Beginnings

  5. Execution of the King

  6. Revolution throughout Europe

  7. Midterm Review

  8. Reign of Terror

  9. Rise of Napoleon

  10. Napoleon’s Wars

  11. Metternich and Post Napoleon

  12. Romanticism

  13. Reform and Revolution in Britain and Russia

  14. Final Review

Course materials: Light to the Nations II: The Making of the Modern World, ISBN: 9781935644286, https://shop.catholictextbookproject.com/collections/history-textbooks/products/light-nations-part-ii-making-modern-world-textbook

Homework: Students will read assigned portions of the text. Lectures will focus on events and ideas that are key to understanding the historical periods taught. The instructor will evaluate students with essay tests given after Week III, Week V, and Week VII. Thereafter, the evaluation will be based on the student’s responses to questions in class. Students may expect to spend approximately two to four hours a week on homework.

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