History and Social Science

Open to Sixth and Fifth Formers who have completed or are currently enrolled in U.S. history.  In this course, we will examine major topics and themes in African American history from the African origins of humanity to the rise of the movement to abolish slavery in the nineteenth century. Topics include West Africa’s medieval empires, the rise of the transatlantic slave trade, the Middle Passage, slave societies in North America, African Americans in the American Revolution, slavery and the U.S. Constitution, the domestic slave trade, slave revolts, Frederick Douglass, Martin Delany, Harriet Tubman, and the growth of Black institutional life in the antebellum North. African American History I is the first course in a three-part, year-long survey of the African American past; though recommended, completion of African American History II and III is not required.

Open to Sixth and Fifth Formers who have completed or are currently enrolled in U.S. History. In this course, we will examine major topics and themes in African American history from the coming of the Civil War to World War II. Topics include Reconstruction, Redemption, the rise of Jim Crow, the politics of uplift and respectability, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Marcus Garvey, Hubert Henry Harrison, the Great Migration, jazz, blues, gospel, black soldiers in the Great War, the Harlem Renaissance, and African American responses to the Great Depression, the New Deal, and World War II. African American History II is the second course in a three-part, year-long survey of the African American past; though recommended, completion of African American History I and III is not required.

Open to Sixth and Fifth Formers who have completed or are currently enrolled in U.S. History. In this course, we will examine major topics and themes in African American history from World War II to the present. Topics include the growth and transformation of the civil rights movement, the legal battle for civil rights, the opportunities and challenges of black life in the urban North and West, the March on Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, Malcolm X, A. Philip Randolph, Stokely Carmichael, Huey P. Newton, Angela Davis, black nationalism, black power, the Black Arts Movement, black feminism, backlash politics, hip hop, the carceral state, the election of Barack Obama and Black Lives Matter. African American History III is the third and final course in a three-part, year-long survey of the African American past; though recommended, completion of African American History I and II is not required. 

Open to Sixth and Fifth Formers. U.S. history required, or could be taken concurrently. This course will explore and analyze the history of Asian immigrant groups and their American-born descendants in the United States from 1850 to the present, beginning with the first wave of Chinese immigrants in the mid-19th century through the Stop AAPI Hate campaign during the Covid-19 pandemic. Themes of immigration, assimilation, imperialism, discrimination and racism, legal and civil rights, generational trauma, ethnic and cultural pride, joy, and identity, diplomatic relations and conflict, racial triangulation and the “model minority” myth, and more, will be interrogated. One of the highlighted objectives of this course is to contextualize and illuminate Asian and Asian American experiences for students who are curious or eager to understand and engage with race in the United States through this lens. Students will be expected to participate in class discussions, write essays, and conduct basic research.

Open to Sixth and Fifth Formers who have completed or are currently enrolled in U.S. History. In the 21st century, capitalism’s global reach is truly unprecedented. How did we get here? This course examines the development of capitalism from its theoretical beginnings to its most contentious political and cultural conflicts in the present day. This course is rooted in economic history and engages with the political, cultural, and social forces that have come to define modern capitalism. We will consider several frontiers of global economics to grasp the ways capitalism has morphed and manifested over time. Students will read original thinkers and grapple with the development of capitalism in its global manifestations from a variety of academic and popular sources.

Open to Fifth and Sixth Formers who have completed or are currently enrolled in U.S. history. This course examines the role of the Constitution and the Supreme Court in American life. The focus in the term will be on a variety of topics, including individual rights and, executive power, and equal protection, in the development of the Court’s jurisprudence from the framing of the Constitution to the work of the contemporary Court. The readings for this class include excerpts from relevant monographs, legal briefs, Court opinions, and other sources. Students are expected to possess an interest in US History, a passion for debate, and an ability to compose clear analytical essays. By the end of the term, it is hoped students will be more purposeful and persuasive in their ability to engage in textual analysis of legal briefs and opinions, summarize and assess historical and constitutional concepts and themes, and recognize that the Court’s work is best understood as an interrelated thematic whole. The term usually ends with a public mock court simulation, which includes written briefs, oral arguments, and written opinions, of either a recent Court decision or a hypothetical case.

Taught jointly by the Religious Studies and Philosophy Department and the History and Social Sciences Department, this course surveys the histories and cultures that have shaped world civilizations and supports students in gaining the requisite skills, intercultural knowledge, and experience for success in the humanities. Global in scope, the course surveys peoples and histories of Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Mediterranean and a plurality of religious and philosophical traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Confucianism, Daoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and indigenous religions. The course develops students’ skills for note-taking, critical inquiry, academic dialogue, scholarly research, and analytical writing. Assessments are designed to help students discover, interpret, evaluate, synthesize, and cite scholarly sources to prepare students for the requirements of Upper School courses in history and religious studies.

Open to Sixth and Fifth Formers. U.S. history required, or could be taken concurrently. Memoirs, music, historical fiction, documentaries, and feature-length films are all valuable literary and film genres through which we can learn about history, illuminating both the historical content they contain and also the context in which they were created. This course will zoom in on touchpoints in 20th-century U.S. history through the critical examination of a variety of genres in conjunction with historical texts. Example units could include but are not limited to: indigenous representation in film and television from traditional Westerns to Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and Reservation Dogs, Japanese American internment as depicted through memoirs and photographs, Cold War anxieties and paranoia as depicted in popular literature and films like James Bond and Dr. Strangelove, and the Vietnam War through historical fiction, documentary, and protest music. Discussions will center around questions of perspective, authorship, authenticity and affect, creating a rich conversation about the ways in which we learn about history, consume history, and create historical narratives, memory, and legacy.

Open to Sixth and Fifth Formers. What is the “security dilemma?” What is the World Bank?  What happens if the U.S. violates international law? This course examines major issues in international relations today, including regional conflicts throughout the world, and various trends in global affairs, including trade, migration, and globalization. Students learn about the international challenges facing both the United States and the world at large. The starting point of the course is a look at differing theories of International Relations. Students then conduct extensive research to prepare for role-plays, simulations, and debates on a variety of topics like: the role of NATO, decision-making by the National Security Council, and humanitarian intervention. Most readings are articles from the archives of Foreign Affairs magazine and the Council on Foreign Relations.  Students are expected to be able to conduct research independently and engage classmates in spirited but appropriate and effective discussion and debate. Students should be able to write well-organized and comprehensive essays that consider solutions to difficult questions as well as reflect an understanding and appreciation of the complexity of international relations and different points of view.

Open to Sixth and Fifth Formers. This course introduces students to the fundamentals of microeconomics. The course begins with a study of the basic forces that determine an equilibrium in a market economy. Next, it introduces a framework to analyze how consumers and producers make their decisions. We then look at the role of competition and the impact of market structures on firms' behavior. At the end of the course, we will use microeconomic theory to analyze some of the more advanced topics, such as international trade, behavioral economics, game theory, and equity versus efficiency trade-offs in economic policy. Though this course is not designed to prepare students for the Advanced Placement Examination, students are welcome to take the exam if they wish. They will, however, need to do substantial extra reading during school vacations in advance of the exam.

Open to Fifth and Fourth Formers and required of all students in the Upper School. Modern Global History is a year-long course that carries the human story forward from the year 1200 to the present. The course examines the role played by Western and non-Western societies in the development of the modern world and focuses in particular on the cross-cultural interchange between the world’s societies during the past millennia. Because of the broad time span it covers, Modern Global History fills an important role in the larger school curriculum by enabling students to place knowledge acquired in other courses in its proper chronological context, as well as providing the historical context to understand our contemporary society. 
  
In Modern Global History skill-building is foundational to the mission of the course. Students will further gain the tools to be critical readers, analytical writers, and thoughtful contributors during discussions. Students will enhance their ability for writing strong arguments with an effective thesis and strong topic sentences. Note-taking and organizing information independently are emphasized, and students should be prepared to gain an enhanced capacity for abstract reasoning beyond that expected in the Lower School. In addition, among the many other skills taught in Modern Global History, an important array include: an understanding of point of view and the ability to make judgments concerning relative reliability when using primary sources, the ability to use these primary sources in document-based essay questions, the ability to handle multiple-choice questions of a type generally used on standardized national exams, and the ability to engage in spirited but civil class discussions. As they continue to hone their critical thinking and essay-writing skills, students will also undertake a research project sometime during the year. Their instructors lead them through all phases of the process including: identifying an appropriate historical question as a topic, orientation to the library, finding and discriminating among sources (whether accessed in person or online), developing an argument based upon this research, understanding of what plagiarism is and how it can be avoided, and formatting proper footnotes and bibliography according to the University of Chicago style. 
 
Though this course is not explicitly designed to prepare students for the Advanced Placement  Examination in World History: Modern, they are welcome to take the exam if they wish. They will, however, need to do extra reading during school vacations in advance of the exam.

Open to Sixth and Fifth Formers who have completed or are currently enrolled in U.S. History. “America Is Exceptional in Its Political Divide,” claimed the Pew Research Center in March 2021. This course seeks to examine why this dynamic exists in our present day. This course will trace the last half-century of United States history and society to understand the present political moment and the roots of the current era of tribalism and partisan hostility. We will also ask how and why American politics became so polarized and what can be done to stem the tide. We will consider the role of media and other factors in creating this divide and consider the ways polarization influences many aspects of American life. With a special eye to the United States’s semiquincentennial, we will also consider how these trends might play out in the summer of 2026. Students taking this course will be encouraged to speak about current events with notable depth, and an interest in politics is necessary to add to the lively spirit of this course.

Open to Sixth and Fifth Formers. Prerequisite: Modern Global History; can be taken alongside U.S. History. This course examines the nature of racism and genocide by exploring in detail the history of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust and of the Atlantic Slave Trade and slavery in the Americas. This course will also examine several examples of historical reparations, including the Tulsa Massacre of 1921, as well as monuments, memorials, and museums and the politics involved in their creation, maintenance, and destruction. Students will contend with the many ideas and decisions regarding the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, memorials to victims of the Holocaust in Europe, and Confederate monuments in the United States. Students will grapple with theories and examples regarding historical memory, reparative justice, national myth-making, and public commemorations, as well as the enduring ways these processes, programs, and sites have been and remain contested. Remembering and forgetting are intertwined in the fabric of the human experience. How do communities memorialize their histories? How should they? Who owns the past? Whose past is lauded and whose marginalized? Touching on material from nearly every continent, this course offers a global perspective and seeks to understand the fruitful ways national comparisons can enrich our understanding of the ways the past is remembered.

Open to Sixth and Fifth Formers. What is a revolution? What makes revolutions distinct from the ebbs and flows of historical change? What motivates people to risk their lives or engage in violence to shift social and political circumstances? How do you measure the “success” of a revolution? These are some of the essential questions students will engage with in this course, which will expand beyond the American Revolution taught in U.S. History courses and explore a sampling of international revolutions from the 18th through 20th centuries. These could include but are not limited to the Haitian Revolution, the Russian Revolution, the Chinese Communist Revolution, the Vietnamese August Revolution, the Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa, the Iranian Revolution, and various Latin American and European Revolutions. The course will begin by studying historians’ and social and political scientists’ work on revolutions and then diving into various examples of revolutions to analyze and interrogate our essential questions. Students will be expected to participate in class discussions, write essays, and conduct basic research. 

Open to Sixth and Fifth Formers. Students in this course will use sports as a lens for exploring and understanding recent history. We will consider how the growth and development of sport, as well as the notoriety and power of specific athletes, has influenced and reflected broader trends in history like decolonization and globalization as well as themes like race, gender, politics, and economics.

Questions of inquiry might include:

• How did some Africans use soccer to develop national independence movements?
• How do the lives of Bill Russell and Muhammad Ali help us understand Black Power?
• How did Billie Jean King personify the broader fight for gender equality and gay rights? 
• Is hosting the Olympics or World Cup a good decision for a city or country?
• How did Michael Jordan and Nike embody the challenges and opportunities of globalization? 
• What is sportswashing?

Students will also be given opportunities to pursue areas of their own interest through individual research. This course will draw on a variety of sources from historians, journalists, and documentary filmmakers rather than a single text.

Open to Sixth and Fifth Formers. This course will examine the rise and fall of the Soviet Union. Our study will begin with Lenin and the Bolsheviks and progress through the revolutionary period and the emergence of Stalinism. We will follow Stalin's leadership through the Great Patriotic War (World War II) and the emergence of the Cold War in its aftermath. From there, we will focus on the Soviet role in Eastern Europe and elsewhere as well as the decline and stagnation of the Soviet Union in the 1970s. Finally, we will conclude with Gorbachev's failed reforms and the ultimate collapse of the empire in 1991.

Open to Sixth and Fifth Formers who have completed Modern Global History and required of all students in the Upper School, United States History is a survey course that begins with the pre-Revolutionary War Period and continues through the post-Cold War Era. While recognizing the different cultures that have contributed to the American experience, this course emphasizes the values we all share in common: democratic participation in government, freedom of expression and basic civil liberties, the rule of law,  and the relationship between liberty and equality. In addition, students also explore the changing role the United States has played in the world. 
  
Enrollment in U.S. History assumes that students will have a thorough grounding in the foundational skills for historical inquiry taught in Foundations of Global History and Modern Global History, including researching and writing a major research paper. During the year, students will continue to develop as analytical writers, critical readers, and inquiring discussants in pursuit of an understanding that history may be interpreted in many and varied ways.  
  
Though this course is not designed to prepare students for the Advanced Placement Examination, students are welcome to take the exam if they wish. They should, however, prepare during school vacations in advance of the exam.