Social Studies Cources

Social Studies Courses

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This course will focus on basic principles and methodologies in social studies and introduce students to the various social scientific disciplines, with a particular emphasis on history and geography through units on the early development of humans, and their later societies. These will include the Ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Mesopotamians, Hebrews and Persians. Students will be introduced to different social scientific methodologies through units on more recent histories of India, China, and Japan, with a special emphasis on cultural history. Students will also develop methodological understandings through an oral history project completed in the course of the year, which will focus on local histories. Local and state history will also be studies to understand the relationship between the past and the present, including a study of Illinois history and the state Constitution.

This course will cover the histories of Ancient Greece and Rome, Western Europe through the Age of Exploration, Islam from its beginnings through the Ottoman Empire, and the civilizations of Africa and the Americas with particular emphasis on their contact with Europeans and Muslims. The focus will be on the political, economic, social, religious, and cultural factors shaping these civilizations. Emphasis is also placed on the cause and effect processes of history so that students can understand the larger and cross-cultural forces that shape our world.

This course continues with the rise of Western Europe to global prominence from the Renaissance and Protestant Reformation through the democratic and industrial revolutions and colonial expansion of the nineteenth century up tp 1945. Special emphasis will be placed on the development of the characteristics and forces of modernity and their spread to the rest of the world, as well as the problems of modernity as seen in the two world wars and the Holocaust.

This is a one-semester-seminar style course intended to introduce students to core philosophical questions: Who am I? What is a human being? How ought we to live? What is good and evil? What is justice? What are the proper goals of the state? What are the rights and duties of the citizen? What moral principles ought to govern human societies? What is knowledge? How do we know what we know? What is truth? Short selections from a variety of sources will be used, as will excerpts from literature, movies, and documentaries. Students are expected to read carefully, participate fully in class discussions, and write short papers on selected topics. (Enrollment limit: 20 students)

This course is designed to give juniors a basic understanding of American history and an introduction to selected interpretative questions derived from such study. The major chronological periods surveyed include: the pre-colonial and colonial periods, the American Revolution, the early National period, the Age of Jackson, Civil War and Reconstruction, the Populist and Progressive periods, the New Deal, the period of the World Wars, and the post 1945 period.

This course focuses on the Cold War, the stresses of rapid modernization, in both the United States and developing world, and on the movement towards globalization since the end of World War II. Through readings, videos, and discussion, the course will examine the integration of national economies, the blending of cultures, and the impact of technological change.

This elective course introduces students to the practice of historical research and methodology in a seminar setting. For their research, students will follow one of a small number of broadly related topics involving contemporary issues with long histories. The first semester consists of lectures on methodology, library training, and research. The second semester revolves around the preparation of finished manuscripts and group discussions. A prerequisite for this course is U.S. History. (Enrollment limit: 12 students)

This course serves the dual function of introducing students to different cultures around the world as well providing an initial grounding in anthropological ideas and questions. Such questions will include: How can we understand the similarities and differences among all humanity? What causes human difference? How do different peoples react to and engage with each other? What is culture and how does it work? First, the students will explore the nature and role of culture among various peoples in Africa, South America, Oceania, India, and the Middle East, through excerpts of readings and group projects. Students will also examine the way in which anthropologists analyze and write about different cultures. The students will learn how anthropologists relate their findings through the writing of ethnography. The class will read several ethnographies, and then begin to write ethnographies of their own cultures. (Enrollment limit: 20 students)

Social Advocacy I: History, Theory, and Practice, (Social Advocacy I is co-sponsored with English Department)
(12^th grade, 11^th grade with Instructor Consent) (1/2 unit)

Social Advocacy I is a semester elective open to seniors and juniors with the permission of the instructor. Students enrolled in Social Advocacy do weekly volunteer work in community social service agencies. Students must be interested in and committed to the volunteer component. Various readings, lectures, guest speakers, and special assignments add to the students' experiences. Group discussion and journal writing play a key role. (Enrollment limit: 16 students)

Social Advocacy II: (Social Advocacy II is co-sponsored with English Department)
(12^th grade, 11^th grade with Instructor Consent) (1/2 unit)

In Social Advocacy II, students do more extensive reading about social issues and complete an in-depth community project. (Enrollment limit: 16 students)