World History - This survey course in World History is designed to inspire a fundamental appreciation for the people, events, and forces that have shaped the modern world. Thematically, the material covered extends from the foundations of thought, faith and government, to exploration and revolution, to global conflict and globalization, culminating in student-led presentations on the seminal events and people of the past fifty years. Beyond mastering basic historical information, there is a heavy emphasis upon learning and developing certain essential skills; and clear and concise narrative and analytic writing. The successful completion of an extensive individual research project culminating in the production of a 12-15 page paper is a central component of the course. Form 4
Modern European History (AP) (Honors) - Requires departmental approval. This is a comprehensive year-long course in modern European history that has two primary objectives: the first is to prepare students for the CEEB Advanced Placement Examination; the second is to provide an opportunity for students to learn and develop skills essential for success at the college level. These skills include but are not limited to reading both carefully and critically, taking detailed notes based upon class lectures and discussions, and writing clearly and concisely. Self-motivation is a must. Students will be called upon to read up to a dozen primary sources, all of which will require a paper in the form of a critical review of roughly five pages.
United States History - This is a comprehensive year long course in United States history which seeks to explore the past as a means both to explain the present and prepare for responsible adult participation, citizenship and leadership in the future. The creation of the American Republic, society and culture are approached as particular examples of the human experience which are explored by asking the kind of questions historians ask as they probe cause and effect, determinism and contingency. Students are taught how to go about searching for answers through the use of the full range of historical sources. Well-prepared and informed written work is a vital component of the course.
American Studies - Requires departmental approval. This course is a year-long, interdisciplinary course that will incorporate both English 3 and United States History. Students will meet daily as one group with both instructors during two consecutive periods. The course will draw equally and concurrently from a seminal American literary and historical canon that facilitates within its students an understanding that the American Dream has deep roots and is subject to an enormous variety of interpretations. The evolution of American culture and society will be explored as one particular example of the wider human experience. This course meets for a total of ten (10) periods per week in five two-period blocks. It fulfills two graduation requirements: English 3 and U.S. History; it receives the weight of two courses in a student’s Grade Point Average.
United States History (AP) (Honors) - Prerequisite: World History or equivalent year of history at the secondary level. This is a comprehensive year long course in United States history designed to prepare students for the CEEB Advanced Placement Examination in United States History to be given in May. Students who enter this course are presumed to be ready to encounter and make use of sophisticated historical analysis, challenging texts, and provocative and difficult questions about the human condition as well as the human past. The evolution of the United States is studied as one particular example of the larger human story. Successful work at the AP level requires the mastery of an enormous body of factual material as well as the ability to respond to challenging intellectual problems and offer well informed solutions presented clearly and cogently.
Perspectives on World Civilizations:
Native Americans and the American West - This term course surveys and integrates the history of Native Americans in western North America from earliest times through the 21st Century. The student will inquire into the nature and theories of history and historiography; apply these interpretations to a variety of major events in Native American history; analyze the major political, economic, social, and cultural developments of the Native American World, recognizing the effect that the Native American past has had upon the present. This course seeks to develop these understandings within the student through reading, discussion, lectures and writing exercises such as essays, book reviews, and short position papers. (Fall)
Latin American Civilization - This term course surveys the major forces and institutions shaping Latin America: pre-Columbian Indian cultures, the Iberian heritage, and modern social and political developments. The course also examines Latin American cultural traditions. Latin American Civilization will enable the student to develop a meaningful understanding of the emergence of basic institutions, characteristics and values of Latin American culture. This course seeks to cultivate such a capacity within the student through lectures, reading, discussion, and an 8-10 page term paper. (Winter)
Islamic Civilization - This term course surveys and integrates the political, economic, social, cultural, and aesthetic history of the Islamic World from the earliest times through the 21st Century. The students will inquire into the nature and theories of history and historiography; apply these interpretations to a variety of major events in Islamic history; observe and integrate the major political, economic, social, cultural and aesthetic developments of the Islamic World; understand and appreciate the ideals and the social institutions that characterize the Islamic World; recognize the effect that the Islamic past has had upon the present; and apply the knowledge and skills acquired in this course to written analysis of history. (Spring)
Ancient China: In Search of the Tao - The East is fabled for its wisdom. This course intends to trace historical evidence for the East’s reputation for such wisdom. It will involve detailed study of such historical periods as China’s Chou Dynasty and Warring States period, including some of the classic figures and texts associated with such periods—LaoTze, the TaoTeChing, and kings Wu and Wen as possible examples. “Detailed” is taken to mean scholarly “close reading”, that is, unhurried, careful, at times line-by-line and word-by-word study of the text (most of which will be found online). The point is not as much covering a certain specified amount of material as it is giving real care to whatever texts/topics are finally studied. The course will be taught as a seminar, and thus via the Socratic Method. Students, therefore, must be prepared to take regular part in the daily dialogue and that will mean regular, “engaged” preparation each night. Among other things, each student should expect to be chosen at random to lead class discussion on the topic/text at hand. Tests and papers will constitute other grading criteria. In the end, beyond a hopefully worthwhile investigation of the topic, it is also hoped that the student will grow in appreciation of how the careful study of history can result in the personal growth of the person participating in such study…perhaps even in their own enlightenment. (Fall) (Not offered 2011-2012)
Ancient Greece: In Search of Arete - “Arete” and “Eudaimonia” are two of the greatest gifts that the Athenian Golden Age bequeathed to the world. “Arete” was the Athenian word for “excellence”; “Eudaimonia” for “happiness.” The gift was not so much the words but the understanding of how profoundly the two were intertwined in the course of human experience. Happiness was largely the result of seeking excellence, and what culture, whether ancient or modern, east or west, has ever achieved greater excellence than Athens in the Golden Age? How else are we to understand why the Parthenon, even in tragic ruins, still symbolizes arête so powerfully in both western and eastern culture today? This course intends to explore in careful, studied detail some of the most impressive examples of arête that Athens achieved. Such examples might include Plate’s Apology, Thucydides’ history of the Sicilian expedition, the Athenian recognition of the relationship between mathematics and beauty as exemplified in the Golden Mean, Pericles’ “Funeral Oration,” and, of course, the Parthenon. “Detailed” is taken to mean scholarly “close reading”, that is, unhurried, careful, at times line-by-line and word-by-word study of the text (most of which can be found online). The point is not as much covering a certain specified amount of material as it is giving real care to whatever texts/topics are finally studied. The course will be taught as a seminar, and thus via the Socratic Method. Students, therefore, must be prepared to take regular part in the daily dialogue and that will mean regular, “engaged” preparation each night. Among other things, each student should expect to be chosen at random to lead class discussion in the topic/text at hand. Tests and papers will constitute other grading criteria. In the end, beyond a hopefully worthwhile investigation of the topic, it is also hoped that the student will grow in appreciation of how the careful study of history can result in the personal growth of the person participating in such study…perhaps in their personally attaining arête…and perhaps even eudaimonia? (Winter) (Not offered 2011-2012)
Civilizations at Crossroads - The Chinese word for “crisis” is “weiji..” As is common in the Chinese language, “weiji” is two words put together: “wei” and “ji.” “Wei” means “danger”; “ji” means “opportunity.” This course intends to explore in careful, studied detail some of the greatest crises in history as tests of the characters of those individuals and nations involved, studying whether they dwelled on the danger, or chose, instead, to see opportunity amidst the danger…and what the consequences for each choice proved to be. This will include a wide range of possibilities such as the battles of Marathon, Gettysburg and Midway, Copernicus’s choice to discover whether or not the universe revolved around the earth, Picasso’s painting of “Guernica,” the year 1968 in America, et cetera. “Detailed” is taken to mean scholarly “close reading”, that is, unhurried, careful, at times line-by-line and word-by-word study of the text (most of which can be found online). The point is not as much covering a certain specified amount of material as it is giving real care to whatever texts/topics are finally studied. The course will be taught as a seminar, and thus via the Socratic Method. Students, therefore, must be prepared to take regular part in the daily dialogue and that will mean regular, “engaged” preparation each night. Among other things, each student should expect to be chosen at random to lead class discussion in the topic/text at hand. Tests and papers will constitute other grading criteria. In the end, beyond a hopefully worthwhile investigation of the topic, it is also hoped that the student will grow in appreciation of how the careful study of history can result in the personal growth of the person participating in such study…perhaps even in their own ability to see opportunity in their own personal crises. (Spring) (Not offered 2011-2012)
War Series:
History of the Civil War - This term course follows a traditional historical pattern as it explores the causes and conduct of the central historical drama in United States history, the internecine struggle which tore the nation apart between 1861 and 1865. The course work requires substantial reading, careful listening and the ability to express your own thoughts clearly and effectively, orally and in writing. Student will also be required to pursue some independent research and writing guided by their own intellectual interests. (Fall)
History of the Second World War - This term course follows a traditional historical pattern as it explores the causes and conduct of the central historical drama of the Twentieth Century, the struggle which tore the world apart between 1939 and 1945, and left it changed forever. The course work will require substantial reading, careful listening and the ability to express one’s own thoughts clearly and effectively, orally and in writing. Students will also be required to pursue some independent research and write a 1500-word research paper. (Winter)
History of the Vietnam War - The Vietnam War changed the United States and its understanding of itself forever. But the effect on the United States, even when measured in terms of our place in the world as a whole, pales in comparison to the devastation it visited upon Vietnam and the Vietnamese people, between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 of whom died as a result. While it constantly makes the effort to understand the experience of Vietnam in a larger historical context, the perspective of the course on the war will be very much an American one. (Spring)
Economics - Designed to help students gain an understanding of economic terms on both a conceptual and graphic level, this course covers a number of basic macro and microeconomic issues, as well as some basic management concepts and skills. Students will be expected to understand each chapter of the primary text, as well as review current economic publications, prepare an 8-10 page term paper, manage an investment portfolio, and participate in class projects.
Economics (AP) (Honors) - Requires departmental approval. Designed for Fifth and Sixth Formers desiring to take the Advanced Placement (AP) examination in either Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, or both, this course provides an opportunity for in-depth study of the economic theory that comprises these disciplines. Critical reasoning, graphing applications, and writing will be stressed. The bulk of the assignments require close attention to the textbook and practice in utilizing the graphical and mathematical tools that are used to analyze problems. Students will also read supplemental materials and should gain the ability to critically and analytically describe current economic conditions and issues.
U.S. Government (AP) - Requires Departmental Approval. This course will examine the workings of the U.S. government. With a U.S. History course as a foundation, this course will take an in-depth look at the institutions and policy processes of the Congress, the President, the Bureaucracy and the Federal Courts. Likewise, elections, political parties, interest groups, as well as civil liberties and civil rights issues, will be studied. Students will examine the constitutional underpinnings and critical historical events that have helped to shape the American system of government. The course will emphasize (i) preparation for the Advanced Placement Exam and (ii) analysis of current and historical events and figures in American government. Understanding and defending a variety of points of view on a given issue (regardless of one’s personal feelings about those positions) both orally and in writing will be stressed.
Psychology- These three one-term courses are an introductory survey that aims to help students understand themselves as well as others. The fall term covers research methods, the biological basis of behavior, states of consciousness, and principles of learning. The winter term focuses on memory, intelligence, human development and personality theory. The spring term includes psychological disorders, therapies, and social psychology. These courses do not meet the Religious Studies requirement. (Fall, Winter, Spring – students may enroll in any one or all three terms.)
Psychology (AP) - Requires departmental approval. Prepares the student for the Advanced Placement Test in Psychology. Topics covered include learning, motivation, personality, biological bases of behavior and psychological disorders. College level laboratories.