History

6 meetings per seven-day cycle/3 credits
Required for ninth-graders.

The ninth-grade course develops both content and skills that form the basis for further historical investigation throughout the Upper School. The course treats the period 1400-1789 through an examination of key questions whose resolutions have given rise to the modern world. These questions include conflicts focused on cultures, economies, religions, political philosophies and power structures, and intellectual and artistic currents. Key conflicts may include: Aztec/Spanish contact; cross-cultural contact and conflict between Europeans and Africans during the slave trade; the clash of scientific, economic, and philosophic ideas during the Renaissance and the ensuing religious tumult of the Reformation; Tokugawa power and isolationism as a response to European trade and religious expansion; the ascendancy of the Qing dynasty and the origins of a problematic interdependence on global trade and conflict with European trade and religion; conflicts over power sharing between king and subjects in Britain and in France and the revolutions they engender.

Within the context of the study of content, the course aims to build basic historical skills in areas such as reading, writing, and research and to apply more general skills such as note-taking, oral presentation, and visual skills to the particular demands of historical endeavor.

As in English 9, students not meeting a minimum standard of competency in writing in History9 may be asked or required to enroll in a writing workshop or to participate in some other program to support their writing.

6 meetings per seven-day cycle/3 credits
Required for sophomores.

The course treats the history of the US from the colonial period to its emergence as a world power around the turn of the twentieth century. Within that scope, the course considers the vast changes in the US under the impact of westward movement, immigration, economic and military growth, and expanding global significance. The course exposes students to the transformation of American society from a largely homogeneous one to a socio-economically diverse one, from a largely agricultural one to a largely industrial one. It presents the political and economic choices faced by the country over the time period, most potently the choices that led to Civil War in the middle of the nineteenth century. It explores the development of uniquely American culture, increasingly distinct from its antecedents. It asks about the inclusion of various demographic groups within the fabric of that emerging society. Finally, the course examines the impact of nineteenth century nationalism and imperialism on an America newly victorious in the Spanish-American War of 1898.

As in English 10, students not meeting a minimum standard of competency in writing in this course may be asked or required to enroll in a writing workshop or to participate in some other program to support their writing.

6 meetings per seven-day cycle/3 credits
Required for juniors. (In special circumstances, may be taken senior year, with permission of the department head.)

Using as its springboard the emergence of the US as a major world power as a result of the Spanish-American War and World War I, the course explores the increasingly inter-connected global world of the twentieth century. Central to that consideration is the primacy of US power (economic, military and cultural), the global uses of that power and global reactions to that power. The two world wars and their aftermaths are significant concerns, as are the overarching realities of post-World War II bipolar geopolitics. The course considers far-reaching regional studies: the Middle East and Asia as targets of colonization and also during decolonization; the European totalitarian regimes of mid-century; race in both the US and South Africa; proxy wars of the Cold War period; the end of the bipolar world and the emergence of non-state threats are among the topics considered.

Students who are successful at both History 10th-grade and 11th-grade history often take the AP examination in US History. History faculty hold review sessions for that examination in the spring of each year.

Major and minor history electives are open to sophomores, juniors and seniors. When enrollment space is an issue, preference will be to seniors, juniors, and then sophomores. The department encourages you to consider your history choices over a three-year period so that you have the best chance of taking all the history electives you want to take.

6 meetings per seven-day cycle/ 3 credits

This course is designed to begin to explore how the law works and give students some actual experience in doing what lawyers and judges do. It consists of the following units/topics:

1) What is Law? To start off the course we will examine the different sources of law (statutory, case law, etc.) and the organization of the American court system, and get a basic understanding of how laws are used. In examining how our system is structured, students will identify and discuss biases and perspectives in the legal system;

2) Criminal Law and Juvenile Justice: This topic will fascinate students who consume shows like Law & Order. In this unit they get a deeper understanding of the challenges behind criminal justice such as balancing protecting the community with rehabilitation for the offender;

3) Individual Rights and Liberties (Constitutional Law): The U.S. Constitution is a unique and rich source of personal rights that has made the United States an example to the rest of the world. But how to interpret the Constitution and the rights it affords has been a long, difficult, and ongoing process. Some of the most interesting debates contained in the law can be found in this field of law. Some topics will include: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Due Process, The Right to Privacy, Discrimination. This unit may vary year-to-year depending on what issues the Court is addressing in its current term. During this unit, students will closely read Supreme Court cases and interpret the decisions of the justices

4) Torts (A Civil Wrong): Almost everyone is aware of the “lawsuit,” but most people don’t really understand the principles behind lawsuits. This unit will bring this concept into focus and highlight some different kinds of torts and provide examples by examining real cases.

5) Evidence & Trial Procedure: Students will learn how to communicate clearly and effectively by learning trial advocacy skills including how evidence is presented, how to conduct direct and cross-examinations, how to make objections, and how to apply laws to evidence in order to make legal arguments, etc.

Major and minor history electives are open to sophomores, juniors and seniors. When enrollment space is an issue, preference will be to seniors, juniors, and then sophomores. The department encourages you to consider your history choices over a three-year period so that you have the best chance of taking all the history electives you want to take.

3 meetings per seven-day cycle/2 credits

Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors, with preference to seniors in the case of over-enrollment.

The course offers alternating curricula, identified here as “Topics A” and “Topics B,” so that both are offered over the course of two years. Students may repeat the course so as to take both curricula, but may not repeat the same curriculum. Topics A and Topics B need not be taken in sequence. “Topics B” will be offered in 2021-2022.

A

Topics A will focus on the development of warfare between the Napoleonic Wars and the First World War. It will begin by looking at the horror of 1914; on million total casualties inflicted over a two-month period, numbers so staggering that the belligerent nations were forced to dig in across a massive line stretching from the English Channel to Switzerland. Moreover, soldiers in East Africa, Poland, the Balkans and the Dardanelles suffered similar fates.

While it is easy to say that technological innovation is the only culprit responsible for the losses of 1914, an in-depth examination of both tactical and philosophical views of warfare suggests otherwise. The combination of misguided military science and the lethality of new weapons left commanders in the position of having radically to alter the way war was fought. The armies of 1914, which would not have been out of place on the Napoleonic battlefield, were nearly unrecognizable by 1918.

We will build a bridge from Napoleon to those first few months of World War I, with the express purpose of tracking the changes, both tactical and technological, which led to the catastrophe of 1914.

B

Topics B will focus on the evolution of warfare from roughly the 1920s to the modern age. A specific emphasis will be placed on how and why WW2 became the total war that it did, and how technology brought total war to frightening lengths, resulting in the drop of the first atomic bombs. We will study the development of mechanized warfare, air combat, and small unit tactics, as well as the philosophies behind those decisions which date back to both the First World War and the Spanish Civil War.

As we dive deeper into the material, we’ll look at the ways in which military science changed due to WW2, with the increase in what Clausewitz would call “limited wars”. We will study the United States’ involvement in Korea, Vietnam, Somalia, and the first Gulf War, as well as the many conflicts in the Middle East throughout the 20th century. The course will end with the War on Terror, which saw a complete shift in the way war is justified and how it is waged.

Throughout the course, we will study the impact of war on the fighting soldier, specifically when it comes to PTSD and other traumas. We will do so through primary sources. We will also look at the ways in which civilians were impacted by conflicts, and the resultant peace movement around the era of Vietnam. Finally, the course will emphasize the portrayal of war in everything from science fiction to American literature as a mirror of the Cold War and beyond.

3 meetings per seven-day cycle/ 2 credits

This course will focus on a variety of historical periods and events of the post-WWI world, all of which share one primary theme: dynamic, systemic change to an existing structure or society.

As we explore this material, each unit will require students to participate in a historical simulation to put them in the shoes of the decision makers. Students will need to use all of their skills—reading, research, writing, verbal skills, and collaboration—as the necessary tools to advance their positions and make decisions that will solve or shed light on the problem at hand. They will take on the role of important dignitaries, revolutionary leaders, politicians, military commanders, and, in some cases, the average person living through an important historical event.

Students will use various types of writing, both critical and creative, in order to demonstrate competence and reflection. This may take the form of research, speeches, journal entries, and short stories, among other mediums. In each case, students will be working and thinking through the lens of the simulation itself.

Students will engage in simulations covering topics drawn from the following list, from which we choose as the year progresses.

• World War One and the Paris Peace Conference
• The Partition of India and the Conference on the 3 June Plan
• The Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis
• Vietnam and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
• Somalia and the Crisis of 93
• Modern Sudan
• The United States, 9-11, and the Iraq War

3 meetings per seven-day cycle/ 2 credits
Application required of all students; enrollment limited

The interdisciplinary nature of the course will enable us to bring this distinct region alive.

From the birth of gospel on slave plantations to the rhythms brought over by West Africa or their Caribbean immigrant descendants in Cuba or Haiti to the wailing of Delta bluesmen, from the chain gang escape genre to “My Cousin Vinny,” from Faulkner’s stream of consciousness to Toni Morrison’s spectral visions, the South inhabits the most fertile corner of the American imagination.

It also is the source of the country’s early capital accumulation, the birthplace of most early presidents and, in many ways, the crossroads of its most violent conflicts. Its story is fundamental to understanding who we are as a nation.

Students who sign up for the course would commit to participating in a 12-day spring break trip to visit important Southern historical, cultural, and natural landmarks.

A study of history, environment & culture will provide the course foundation. The curriculum will focus on a range of themes and questions among which may be:

· Geography & climate: environmental factors shaping settlement & current life
· Culture mix: Native, English, Scots-Irish, African/Afro-Caribbean, French, and Spanish
· Economic foundations: farming, textiles, coal, fishing & oil
· Race & class: the long legacy of slavery, segregation, and class inequality
· Did the Civil War ever end? The resiliency of neo-Confederate ideology
· “Gimme that old-time religion:” Christian fundamentalism & Southern society
· Incubator of American sounds: gospel, blues, bluegrass, jazz, and soul
· Grits, God, guns & good-old-boys: what lurks behind those Southern stereotypes?
· The South & the American literary imagination

3 meetings per seven-day cycle/ 2 credits.
Enrollment limited.

This interdisciplinary course will use roleplay gaming and collaborative worldbuilding as a means to analyze literature and historical periods, write creative fiction, and foster social learning. The structure of course units will involve building a fictionalized world and characters based on literary and historical texts and films, and then roleplaying scenes and scenarios to foster ideas for individual student writing and group presentations.

In addition to role-playing, creative writing, and making presentations for class, students will learn about game system creation, reflect on metagaming, and lead games as the head storyteller—which requires public speaking and improvisation skills.

Potential game modules may include Collaborative Worldbuilding by Trent Hergenrader, Vampire: The Masquerade by White Wolf, Dungeons and Dragons by Wizards of the Coast, Star Wars: Age of Rebellion by Fantasy Flight Games, and Dread by The Impossible Dream, among others.