In this article, the author describes their class, titled "The World in A Year: A Global History of 1948," that was created to give students exposure to a set of events that, when scaffolded strategically, highlighted themes and processes featured in most global history courses: imperialism, environmental change, social hierarchy, nationalism, and so on. The year 1948 was chosen because no immediately obvious or famous events occurred in western Europe or the United States that could overshadow the other topics during that time and the students could grapple with the tension between the promise of global community in the modern era and the reality of continued violence and inequality. 1948 encapsulated this tension through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights being signed the same year as the start of apartheid in South Africa and the creation of the state of Israel. It was also believed that this year, in the aftermath of the World Wars and on the cusp of the Cold War, would be well positioned to prompt students to think about contingency. Centering skills and questions at the heart of the process of "doing history" encouraged students to grapple with the process, politics, and consequences of constructing historical narratives. It is hoped that the same activities, frameworks, or guiding principles might also be useful for others seeking to explore the politics of historical knowledge production with their students, regardless of the year in history they choose to highlight.