2025-26 Course Descriptions - Catalog - Page 33
HISTORY 8: SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MOVEMENTS
In this course, students explore the history of the
United States over a 40-year period of the 20th
century, beginning with the end of World War II
and closing with the beginning of the 1990s. The
approach throughout the year is a thematic one;
students examine two or three major trends from
each decade from the 1950s-1980s through the
lens of everyday people. Employing a diverse
range of secondary and primary sources, students
develop nuanced answers to the driving questions:
What causes a movement to emerge and affect
change? How do we, as everyday people, bring
about change? Examples of student projects include
a collaborative presentation on a company of
the 1950s that transformed both the industry and
American society, a persuasive speech addressing
a current social issue using the famous civil
rights movement activism and speeches, and a
comparative study of the 1970s environmental
movement and today’s climate change activism.
The Capstone Middle School History Project is to
write a historically-defensible paper. Students
work individually and collaboratively to research,
evaluate sources, develop a thesis, and defend their
arguments with solid evidence.
HISTORY 9: WORLD HISTORY
When does “history” begin, and what is our role
in shaping that history? What made our ancient
ancestors leave Africa and spread out across the
world, setting down roots in different parts of the
globe and developing the diverse and fascinating
cultures we 昀椀nd today? In History 9, students
examine ancient, medieval, and early modern
cultures from across every continent exploring what
makes us human. By focusing on shared aspects
of human civilization such as migrations, myths,
governments, trade, art, empires, resistance, and
revolution, students answer important, driving
questions such as: to what extent does where I live
determine how I live? What do governments do
for societies? To answer these questions, students
consider case studies from across human history,
including Mesopotamia; Egypt; China; the Roman,
Ottoman, and Inca Empires; Great Zimbabwe; the
Silk Road; and the French, Haitian, and Russian
Revolutions. To aid their inquiry, students read
selections from The Fifth Beginning by Robert L.
Kelly, Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond,
The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David
Wengrow, The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Analects of
Confucius, Cassius Dio’s Roman History, and others.
History 9 students evaluate primary and secondary
sources, interpret maps and timelines, and build
evidence-based arguments. The school year
culminates in a 9th Grade World History Symposium,
an opportunity for students to dive into an aspect
of world history that interests them and teach their
classmates what they’ve learned.
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