Social Studies Department
Courses
HP, ACP & CP American Studies I (Year-long course)*American Studies I is taught in the freshmen year and begins with a semester long review of the earliest influences on American democracy, economics and culture with emphasis on basic social studies skills. The second semester will emphasize the development of the American Dream throughout the history of America. One Credit HP, ACP & CP American Studies II (Year-long course)*American Studies II is a cross-curricular course taught in collaboration by the English and Social Studies Departments. Students will be given the opportunity to study American literature and history thematically to develop an understanding of the cultural mosaic that is America. American Studies I is taught in the sophomore year as a continuation of the American Studies course taught in the freshman year. This course will emphasis development of the United States in the mid-nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and will focus on major themes such as Industrialization, Minorities, Expansionism, Foreign Policy, and Human Rights in conjunction with the literature from the student’s English class. One Credit HP Western Civilization Humanities (Semester elective course)This course is required of all Honors level sophomores. It will pursue in depth a study of Western society and culture. Emphasis will be placed on the cultural, intellectual, technological, and political development of Western Europe. One-Half Credit ACP & CP Western Civilization/World Cultures (Year-long course)This course is required of all Advanced College Prep, College Prep, and Individualized Instruction sophomores. It will provide a survey of the development of Western man and try to show the artistic, political, economic, and philosophical temper of various historical periods; as well as the history, geography, culture, language, and religious practices of most of the countries of Africa and Asia. The economic, political, and social institutions of these countries, in which more than one half of the earth's population lives, will also be examined. Students will work on interpreting graphs, charts, and maps as well as reading materials. One Credit HP Modern World History (Year-long course)This course is required of all Honors level sophomores and will pursue in depth a study of the intellectual, cultural, economic, and political forces that have shaped our modern world from 1750 to the present. Emphasis will be placed on Europe's interaction with the great Asian and African societies, as well as the revolutionary changes and conflicts of the 20th century. One Credit ACP & CP Modern World History (Year-long course)This course is required of all Advanced College Prep, College Prep and Individualized Instruction sophomores. It will provide a survey of the cultural, political, economic, and social developments that have shaped our increasingly interconnected world, from 1750 to the present. Students will continue to develop their skills in interpreting graphs, charts, maps, and other visual materials as well as text. One Credit HP AP United States History (Year-long course)The Advanced Placement Program in United States History is designed to provide students with the analytic skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and materials in United States history. The program prepares students for intermediate and advanced college courses by making demands on them equivalent to those made by full-year introductory college courses. Students should learn to assess historical materials - their relevance to a given interpretive problem, their reliability, and their importance - and to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. This course is designed to help students develop the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on the basis of an informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in essay format. Students in the HP level may take this course. Students in the ACP level may take this course only with recommendation of their sophomore social studies or English teacher and a minimum average of 90% in those classes. Students enrolled in the course may seek college credit by taking the College Board's Advanced Placement U.S. exam and/or participating in and fulfilling the requirements of Xavier University's Collegium Program. (Course available to students in both the HP and ACP levels) One Credit ACP & CP American History (Year-long course)This course is required of all Advanced College Prep and College Prep juniors. This course may use either a topic or a chronological approach in presenting the history of the United States. Using either approach, the following will be treated: the Colonial Period, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Industrial Revolution, the Progressive Era, the New Deal, World War II, and the Post War Era. One Credit ACP, CP American Government & Economics (Year-long course)The course will analyze the theory and practice of the American political and governmental systems, concentrating on the tensions and pressures which are shaping the future course of these systems. Also included is a broad history of American foreign policy and a study of the three major economic systems of this century. One Credit AP American Government: U.S. (Year-long course)The course will analyze the theory and practice of the American political and governmental systems, concentrating on the tensions and pressures which are shaping the future course of these systems. Also included is a broad history of American foreign policy and a study of the three major economic systems of this century. One Credit ACP Psychology (Semester course)Introduction to Psychology is an introduction to the science of behavior and mental life. We will discuss the biological, social, and cultural influences on behavior. Psychology seeks to answer all kinds of questions. We will explore what questions have been asked, how questions should be formulated, how psychologists have attempted to find answers, and what different responses have been proposed. We will take a topical approach, exploring different theories and evidence regarding human behavior, but throughout the course we will emphasize common themes that tie the field of psychology together and make it an academic discipline. One-half Credit ACP Sociology (Semester course)Sociology is the systematic study of human behavior, social relationships, and societies. This course will introduce the "sociological perspective" as a tool for understanding the connections between the individual's everyday life and larger-scale processes and structures within society. We will focus particularly on various explanations for social inequality in the U.S. and empirical research about such inequality. Specifically, we will examine how social class, race-ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, etc., shape our lives and our social institutions.
*Note: American Studies I and II are cross-curricular courses taught in collaboration by the English and Social Studies Departments. Students will be given the opportunity to study American literature and history thematically to develop an understanding of the cultural mosaic that is America. |
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