1. Foundations Practice Essays

2. Compare and contrast any of the following two religions or philosophical systems for gender systems and social hierarchies. –Hinduism –Confucianism –Buddhism –Hellenic philosophies –Christianity –Generalized polytheistic religions including shamanism

3. Trace the changes and continuities in state structures and political culture from the beginnings of ancient civilization to the end of the Classical period in any one of the following regions: –Southwest Asia –South Asia –East Asia –Mediterranean –Sub-Saharan Africa

4. Analyze the cultural and political changes and continuities in ONE of the following civilizations during the last centuries of the classical era. –Chinese, 100 C.E. to 600 C.E. –Roman, 100 C.E. to 600 C.E. –Indian, 300 C.E. to 600 C.E.

5. Compare and contrast the development of institutions and traditions (political, social, economic, or intellectual) in any two of these classical civilizations: –China –India –Greece –Rome –Mesoamerica –Andes

6. Compare any two of the interregional trading systems. –Mesoamerica –Mediterranean –Southwest Asia –South Asia –East Asia

7. Compare and contrast the collapse of classical civilization in the Mediterranean and South and East Asia; determine why the collapse was more severe in the Mediterranean than these other two regions.