What Is a Civilization, Anyway?

Cynthia Stokes Brown

We often teach early civilizations without taking time to discuss with our students what a civilization really is. The California History-Social Science Framework does not ask us directly to analyze or define what a civilization is; rather it asks that students "analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious and social structures of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Kush." (Standard 6.2). [Read more] ...