SOCIAL SCIENCES COURSES
Spainful Beginnings
You think you know how the story goes. In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Driven by curiosity, he discovered America and we all lived happily ever after. But this is no glorious exploration story. Rather, Columbus' expedition was a result of bad math and the love of gold.
The Gilded Age: A Shower of Invenion and Industry
Somewhere along the line, people went from watching the sun set to watching Iron Man 2. We went from singing songs around the campfire to rocking out to our favorite playlists on an MP3 player. And it certainly didn't happen all at once. If it had, we would have had some awfully confused ancestors.
In the Gilded Age, the period of time which spanned the last three decades of the nineteenth century, that's pretty much what happened. Progress! Industry! Invention! New technology! It was one of the most dynamic, contentious, and volatile periods in American history.
WWII: A Brief History of th Holocaust
There's nothing more snooze-inducing than the words "historical overview." But this unit isn't just the boring history they have to wade through to get to the good stuff. This is the good stuff. Of course, like just about everything associated with the Holocaust, it's also shocking and depressing—and learning about the Holocaust can cause some serious anxiety and existential angst.
WWII: The U.S. Strikes Back
This unit follows the causes and effects of World War II. The topics we've chosen to focus on in this unit are widespread. We should warn you that some of the topics and images we've selected might make certain students uncomfortable. Seriously, some of those propaganda posters are outrageous. We'll start by examining how the United States managed to get involved in yet another World War (and this one is a truly global war). We'll examine some of the major battles, focusing a large portion of our attention on the Pacific Theater which, although the conflict in Europe tends to take center stage in our thoughts about the war, was really the arena which hits closest to home.
This course provides all aspects of 1960s history, from the scientific (DDT) to the political (JFK/LBJ), and from the social (Black Panthers) to the cultural (Apollo moon landing sweaters!), all through the lens of some truly excellent tunes.
This course includes thirteen lessons about the most crucial topics of the 1960s—major historical points and social movements, and three lessons that are case studies about how some '60s musicians were very much signs of the times. (We're looking at you, Early Beatles vs. Late Beatles.) The final assignment in the course is a two-day combination research/expository essay, in which students pick a '60s song of their own, analyze its music and lyrics, and research and explain its social context.