1. Compare the significance of bureaucratic and priestly classes in the emergence of Mesopotamia, Egypt and China. What factors helped to empower certain groups?
2. Compare and contrast how thinkers in China, South Asia and the Greek city-states began to consider how to improve their societies. How did the various thinkers respond to the particular circumstances of their states, societies and/or cultures?
3. Compare how the societies in Mesoamerica, South America, and sub-Saharan Africa were affected by the connections that they had or failed to have with other societies. How did these societies structure their broad social relations?
4. Compare and contrast Buddhist and Confucian philosophies. How did each seek to respond to different sets of issues?