History
The history curriculum reflects Quaker concern with human problems which transcend national barriers, such as the causes and consequences of poverty, racism, intolerance, and conflict. Students are encouraged to develop empathy for people of all nations, racial groups, and economic strata.
All history courses place heavy emphasis on developing strong reading and interpretive skills. A research paper is required in every course.
Global Interdependence
This course examines the creation and development of the modern interdependent world from the mid-eighteenth century to the present. Selected regional and global issues studied include industrialization, imperialism, political ideologies, the conflicts in the Middle East, and independence movements in Africa, Asia, or Latin America. The class concludes with an exam of the interdependent nature of such issues as overpopulation, resource depletion, public health, and human rights. Combining the Socratic method, short lectures, class discussions, small-group work, and role-plays, the course focuses on developing collaborative and rhetorical skills. Students also develop important study and organizational skills. Library research skills are acquired through a variety of assignments, including a step-by-step process for writing a research paper. Much of the homework involves working with primary sources. The pace of the course is appropriate for a wide range of students, but it is demanding in terms of organization and time management.
World History
This course provides a broad survey of world events from prehistory to the modern era (approximately 1600 AD). The course begins with the study of early man and the development of human societies, the development of ancient civilizations in several important river valleys and the classical civilizations of India, China and the Mediterranean. The development of Christianity and the rise of Islam are also explored. The study of medieval and early modern Europe is intended to provide a gateway to other courses in the history curriculum. Activities and assignments help students to improve their abilities to read for detail, to write clearly, to think analytically, and to speak effectively. In addition, students improve library research skills and research writing skills as they are guided through the process of writing a term paper.
Accelerated World History
In Accelerated World History, students study the same periods covered in World History through a variety of methods of historical analysis and from perspectives provided by a number of subfields of history (e.g., social, economic, and intellectual). Readings include selections in primary and secondary sources. Well-developed skills in the areas of close reading, analytical writing, speaking, listening, note-taking, organization, and research are assumed. While some in-class time is devoted to the research paper, students must organize much of the work on the paper independently outside of class.
Prerequisite: Global Interdependence (B+ or better)
AP Human Geography
This course prepares students for the AP examination in Human Geography through systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth’s surface. Students employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine human social organization and its environmental consequences.They also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their science and practice, including the analysis of spatial data, the identification of regions, and the characterization and interpretation of interconnections among places, The topics covered are the nature and perspectives of geography as a discipline, population, cultural patterns and processes, political organization of space, agricultural and rural land use, and cities and urban land use,
Students are expected to enter the course with good geographic literacy and well-developed note-taking, reading, writing, research and organizational skills. In order to cover the AP curriculum, the pace is very fast.
A summer assignment is required in preparation for this course.
Prerequisite: Global Interdependence (A-)
Themes in American Studies (ESL)
This course provides an introduction to American government and to central themes in the development of the United States. Major themes considered are the structure of the national government, the Constitution, the political party structure, and developments in the country's relationship with the world. Other topics include the relationship between government and business and the continuing debate over the inclusion of minorities and their struggle for equality. There are ample opportunities for class discussions on historical topics and current events. Participants learn to read critically and write analytically in English, and they demonstrate their analytical skills through class discussions and writing assignments. Students complete a major research paper, which is taught through a step-by-step process. Many hands-on projects and creative activities help students gain an understanding of American culture. Students' work is evaluated on the basis of class participation, regular readings, and frequent quizzes, tests and writing assignments.
Corequisites: Advanced ESL Literature & Composition and Advanced ESL Structure & Vocabulary
Foundations in US History
In this chronological survey of the history of the United States, topics covered include the political, economic, geographic, and social realities of our nation's past, beginning with the early British colonies and continuing to the era of the Vietnam War. The class moves at a swift pace, deepening the capacity of non-native English speakers very strong English skills to interpret and analyze reading material in English from both primary and secondary sources. Students are expected to work collaboratively. Class activities may include small-group work, oral presentations, debates, lectures, and analysis of historical documents. Students should expect frequent writing assignments. Developing the ability to write clear and correct English prose in analytical essays is an important part of the course. Students complete a major research paper, and a step-by-step method for completing this project is taught.
Corequisite: Foundations in Literary Analysis
U.S. History
In this chronological survey of the history of the United States, topics covered include the political, economic, geographic, and social realities of our nation's past, beginning with the early British colonies and ending with the turbulent times of the 1960s. The class moves at a swift pace, deepening the student's capacity to interpret and analyze reading material of both primary and secondary sources. Students are expected to work collaboratively. Class activities may include small-group work, oral presentations, debates, lectures, and analysis of historical documents. Writing clear and correct prose on creative, essay, and research papers is an important part of the course. A step-by-step process for writing a research paper is taught.
Accelerated U.S. History
A chronological survey of the history of the United States, Accelerated U.S. History covers events, issues, and personalities from the age of European colonization to the end of the Vietnam War. The class moves at an accelerated pace. Students are expected to have advanced study and organizational skills. The ability to analyze and interpret reading material, both primary and secondary, is assumed. A college-level textbook is used. Students are expected to work collaboratively. Class activities may include small-group work, oral presentations, debates, lectures, and analysis of historical documents. Writing clear and correct prose on creative, essay, and research papers is required. Successful completion of an independent research paper is a course requirement.
Prerequisite: A freshman or sophomore history course and permission of the department
AP U.S. History
This course prepares students for the AP examination in U.S. History. It is a college-level introduction to the development of the United States institutions and society from the settlements of the First Nations peoples to the era of the Vietnam War and Watergate. Students explore the concept of historical study as a specific discipline and study historiography—the different histories that have been written about events—as well as the events themselves. Independent use of a college level textbook is necessary, along with reading primary source materials and writing about them. The reading load is heavy and there are frequent writing assignments. Most of the evaluations prepare students for the AP examination by emphasizing multiple-choice questions and expository essays.
There is a summer reading and writing assignment, homework during each school vacation, and additional class meetings on weekends and in the evenings.
This course serves as the first year in the two-year IB History SL or HL sequence.
Prerequisite: Permission of the department and either Accelerated World History (B+) or AP Human Geography (B)
Topics in Modern European History
This course takes a thematic approach to the development of modern Europe from late medieval times through the Nazi era. Themes include secular humanism and religion in the Renaissance and the Reformation; the Scientific Revolution; absolutist monarchies and international politics based on the Balance of Power; the Congress system for the peaceful settlement of conflicts; the competing ideals of democracy, capitalism, and socialism arising from the French Revolution and Industrial Revolution; and the diplomacy of European Imperialism leading to the First World War, which shaped the rest of the twentieth century. The course concludes with a detailed examination of the Nazi era in Germany and Europe. Students should be able to read and understand a college-level textbook with some guidance. Other material includes documentary primary sources, music, photographs, videos, and feature films. Late in the year students learn to read a scholarly monograph. Each student must complete a research paper of ten to twelve pages, primarily but not entirely outside of class time.
Prerequisite: A U.S. History course
Topics in African-American History
This course is a chronological survey of the history of Africans in the Americas. Course content leads students from ancient civilizations to a point at which the focus is primarily on events in the United States. African-Americans are traced from the European slave trade through the Black Power and civil rights movements of the turbulent 1960s. Current events are explored through The Philadelphia Tribune, an African-American newspaper. This swift-paced course extends the student's ability to analyze and interpret both primary and secondary reading material. A college-level textbook is used. Class activities include collaborative group work, oral presentations, debates, lectures, and analysis of historical documents. Writing clear and correct prose on creative, essay, and research papers is an important part of the course. Successful completion of an independent research paper is a course requirement.
Prerequisite: A U.S. History course
Topics in International Women's History
This course is an examination of women's history through a variety of lenses, including gender, politics, culture, race, sexuality, class, and religion. Through primary and secondary sources, literature, and film, the course considers how women have defined themselves throughout the world as wives, mothers, teachers, leaders, and activists, how these definitions have evolved and how they differ in from country to country. Readings include selections from Maxine Hong Kingston, Simone de Beauvoir, Shirley Chisholm, Soraya Tarzi, Golda Meir, Andrea Dworkin, Margaret Sanger, Benazir Bhutto, Kato Shidzue, and many others. Active participation in class discussion and a 10-page research paper are among the key requirements of the course.
Prerequisite: A U.S. History course
IB Economics SL
This course is designed to prepare students for the Standard Level IB Economics examination. The course will cover the five areas required for the examination: Introduction to Economics, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, International Economics, and Developmental Economics. In addition to these five topics the course will emphasize, through the use of a daily newspaper, current world economic issues with particular emphasis on the Untied States. Students will be expected to write four papers between 650 and 750 words in length. The papers will be part of each student's IB Economics portfolio, which will be made available to international IB examiners. The course is open to students who are not IB diploma candidates, diploma candidates will be given preference in registering for the class. Students who are not diploma candidates will be encouraged but not required to take the IB examination.
Prerequisite: A U.S. history course and permission of the department
War, Revolution, and Peacemaking in the Modern World—IB History SL
This course prepares students for the standard-level IB History exam. Students study selected topics that embrace key events, personalities, and issues in the history of the modern world including the First World War, the Versailles Peacemaking Process, the Single Party State of Adolf Hitler and Mao Zedong, the Second World War, and the Cold War. The course has as its prescribed subject (an IB requirement) "Communism in Crisis, 1976-1989." The course proceeds at a fast pace and regular student participation is expected. The coursework emphasizes historical writing in preparation for the IB exam.
A summer assignment is required in preparation for this course.
Prerequisite: A course in U.S. History covering at least the colonial period through the Civil War and Reconstruction
IB World History HL—Americas Focus
This course, in combination with an eleventh grade course in U.S. History, prepares students for the higher-level IB History exam with the History of the Americas regional option. Students study selected topics that embrace key events, personalities, and issues of the world in the twentieth-century, with an emphasis on key elements of Latin American history. Topics typically included are the World Wars, the Mexican Revolution, the Russian Revolutions, the rise of Nazism, the Cold War, the Chinese Revolution, and the Cuban Revolution. A major historical investigation project involving intensive research and mature writing is an IB requirement undertaken in Term 2. The course proceeds at a fast pace and regular student participation is expected in the seminar-style classroom format. Substantial reading is regularly assigned from college-level texts.
A summer assignment is required in preparation for this course.
Prerequisite: Accelerated U.S. History or AP U.S. History and permission of the department