From the subfreshman through junior year, courses survey the sweep of history from the emergence of humans to modern times. Students, in their academic and personal development, are ready to identify and select a topic of special interest, to commit themselves and their time to pursue this special interest, and to engage in critical thinking and writing. Subbies are really cool. Issues of geography will be woven into the development of early humans, early societies, and early cultures. Emphasis will be placed on Egyptians, Babylonians, Mesopotamians, Hebrews, India and China.
Students also develop an oral history project as a hands-on experience on how history is determined.
Focus will be on the political, economic, social, and cultural factors shaping these civilizations. Emphasis is also placed on the cause and effect processes of history so that students can understand the larger and cross-cultural forces that shape our world. This course continues with the rise of Western Europe to global prominence from the Age of Exploration and Protestant Reformation to the democratic and industrial revolutions and colonial expansion of the nineteenth century. Integrating how these forces affected various other world cultures, students analyze the decline of Europe in the twentieth century and the impact of two world wars on Europe. This course is designed to give juniors a basic understanding of American history and an introduction to selected interpretative questions derived from such study.