Linwood Thompson makes history exciting.

Professor Thompson's plan is to bring fun to history studies by portraying characters from history - people such as Sam Spade, who was an Egyptologist. Dressed in a khaki trench coat and matching hat, he changes his voice to suit the character and teaches a remarkable lesson on ancient Egypt. This makes the lesson much more interesting and the information more memorable.

The professor sometimes shows up as a composite character, using part of his own name as the character's name so that the student can easily identify the type of character he is playing. At one point, he portrays himself as a professor in early education wearing the robe and head covering of the period. This type of portrayal makes it easy for our minds to walk through the rise and fall of civilization in the Fertile Crescent while learning such things as monetary systems, governing laws and religions.

World History: The Fertile Crescent to the American Revolution is one of the few Teaching Company offerings that was actually written with the high school student in mind. The course guide book suggests the student go to the library or the internet to get answers to the essay questions, instilling good research skills while learning History. There is a study workbook to accompany this course; it helps tremendously since the lectures move swiftly and the visual aid primarily consists of a few notations on the green board that the professor refers to on occasion.

This course, as is true of all the Teaching Company offerings, is secular, but the Bible is handled as one factual history resource with God and the gods being referred to equally. Scripture is used as fact as well as any other religious writing of the time period.

Professor Linwood C. Thompson teaches history at Bellflower High School in the suburbs of Los Angeles. He combines two career paths, teaching and theater, and his talent in mixing the two has brought him international attention. Students will experience history in a personal way using this program.

Scope & Sequence
Lesson 1: Civilizations of the Fertile Crescent
Lesson 2: Egypt-The Gift of the Nile
Lesson 3: Early India and China
Lesson 4: The Ancient Greeks
Lesson 5: Ancient Rome
Lesson 6: The Growth of Christianity
Lesson 7: The Fall of Rome
Lesson 8: The Byzantine Empire
Lesson 9: The Rise of Islam
Lesson 10: Early Russia and the Fall of Constantinople
Lesson 11: The Early Christian Church
Lesson 12: The Vikings
Lesson 13: Medieval Life
Lesson 14: The Crusades
Lesson 15: The 1300's, The Age of Despair
Lesson 16: The Renaissance
Lesson 17: Africa-The Civilizations of the Sub-Sahara
Lesson 18: China
Lesson 19: The Mongols and Marco Polo
Lesson 20: Early Japan through the Tokugawa Period
Lesson 21: Discoveries and Conquistadors
Lesson 22: North American Explorers
Lesson 23: The Old World vs. The New World-Hazards and Benefits
Lesson 24: Civilizations of The Americas
Lesson 25: The Protestant Reformation
Lesson 26: Tudor England
Lesson 27: The English Civil War and Parliament
Lesson 28: The Monarchs of Europe
Lesson 29: The Growth of Democracy
Lesson 30: The American Revolution


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