History

It is the goal of the History Department to empower students who can read, write, think and speak with both clarity and thoughtfulness. It is our collective hope that Landon students will develop an appreciation for historical reflection based on empathy towards and inquiry into the myriad contours of history that our program provides.

The History Department fully recognizes that we are teaching in an ever-changing context. The rate at which information is disseminated, and the speed and ease with which it can be accessed, is unprecedented. Ease of accessibility to myriad forms of information will only continue to increase going forward. To that end, we have three areas upon which we focus. Firstly, we consider the fundamentals of historical inquiry to be paramount. Specifically, reading comprehension, expository writing, factual retention, geography, and an awareness of current events are systematically and progressively taught throughout the history program. Secondly, the seemingly endless reach of the internet, and emergent digital technologies, create both advantages and challenges for the 21st century student of history. Lastly, we believe firmly in the relevance and importance of Landon’s mission statement, Honor Code and Civility Code, and that the study of history can be augmented by applying the principles of said statements.

LOWER SCHOOL

Grade 3

Grade 3 boys start with a sense of location and history close to home. The year is dedicated to the study of Maryland. Boys learn geography, history, and the themes that they will encounter in Grades 4 (population and cultural changes) and Grade 5 (historic events in U.S. history through the buildup to the Civil War) through the lens of Maryland. There is a comprehensive field trip experience tied to the study of Maryland.

Grade 4

Grade 4 boys learn about global and ancient civilizations over the course of history to better understand their own identities and those of others. The course incorporates history, hands-on learning and projects, opportunities for discussion on current events and the practice of essential executive function skills particularly while undertaking research projects.

Grade 5

Using the Discovery Education Techbook, Grade 5 boys begin their study of United States history from colonization to the buildup to the Civil War. Grade 5 boys also learn about global history during the same period to offer context for the evolution of our young nation. Boys develop note-taking and summarizing skills as well as research techniques. The year concludes with the World Peace Games, a hands-on geo-political simulation where students are assigned roles as nations and put through a series of challenges with the single goal of achieving world peace.

Grade 6 Ancient History

This course takes a thematic approach to the study of Ancient History. Students trace the development of civilizations across the globe, including Egypt, Greece, China, Africa, India, and the Americas. Writing, annotating, public speaking, and study skills are emphasized.

Form I Geography

Students study the physical and cultural geography and diversity of various parts of the world. They explore history and culture of Africa, Asia, and Southwest Asia in comparison to present geographical studies. Emphasis is on map skills, universal and specific social problems, and non-Western culture. Writing, annotating, research, discussion, and study skills are emphasized.

Form II United States History & Civics

Students explore different topics in American history through the lenses of citizenship and civic responsibility on local, regional, and national levels. After learning and analyzing the structure of the U.S. government, students consider the role of the government in addressing national issues. In a culminating project, students identify an issue in their own communities and design a solution. Writing, annotating, research, debate and study skills are emphasized.

HAG611 – American Government (Forms V and VI)

½ CREDIT, FALL SEMESTER, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE

This course has two components: an American government survey and its application to current event issues. The curriculum focuses on the fundamental principles of individual rights, federalism, and separation of powers as applied to American domestic and foreign policy. This class also takes advantage of the school’s location in the nation’s capital, with appropriate speakers and field trips to complement course study. Students may elect to sit for the AP exam.

HAG851 – American Government, Advanced (Form VI)

½ CREDIT, FALL SEMESTER, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE

This Advanced Course in American Government will have students read several different kinds of texts focusing on the underlying political-theoretical origins of the government and ‘regime’ of the United States of America, the logistical and theoretical problems of American politics, and an examination of the fundamental concepts in American political science. These readings will include John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, the essential founding documents of the nation – the Declaration of Independence, many of the Federalist Papers, and the Constitution of the United States of America. Additional topics will include the functioning of Congress and Congressional politics, Executive branch, federalism at the state and local levels, electoral systems and voting behavior, interest groups and the media, parties, public policy, and foreign policy. While we maintain a fast pace for the course, the boys will continue to refine their speaking, arguing, and framing skills. Above all, the boys will improve their writing skills through short and mediumlength essays with an expectation to produce college-level work by the end of the semester.

HCL612 – Constitutional Law Seminar (Forms V and VI)

½ CREDIT, SPRING SEMESTER, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE

This course focuses on landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases that have shaped the development of American Constitutional Law. Representative topics include: freedom of speech; the constitutional separation of church and state; the constitutional principles governing police searches and seizures; the various procedural rights accorded criminal defendants under the concept of “due process”; the death penalty; the right of privacy and abortion; equal protection; and affirmative action. As we examine these areas of law, we also consider various theories about the role of the Supreme Court in a democratic society. We look at the composition of the current Supreme Court, with a focus on the judicial style and personality of each justice. This is a seminar, not a lecture course. As such, active participation is imperative. Students are responsible for reading, presenting and debating actual Supreme Court opinions. The readings are demanding and require careful analysis and close attention to detail. Prior enrollment in American Government is recommended, but not required.

HCGI310 – Contemporary Global Issues (Required of Form III)

ONE CREDIT, YEAR COURSE, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE

This course prepares students to intelligently discuss the issues, problems, and events in our world today from a local, state, national, and international perspective. Emphasis will be placed on the inter-relationship

of concepts from across history and the social sciences, from geography and civics to economics and political science. Additionally, students will develop organizational, note-taking, communicating, research, critical thinking, as well as informational literacy skills. This course uses newspapers, online media, political cartoons, and newscasts to support class discussion. Students work with primary source materials and opinion pieces, participate in group projects and presentations, to better understand the world around them.

HEA611/612 – Economics in Action (Forms V and VI)

½ CREDIT, FALL OR SPRING SEMESTER, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE

Prerequisites: Teacher recommendations with the approval of the department chair.

This course will examine how economic principles play out in modern American life. What can be done about poverty in America and why does it exist? How do interest rates impact your economic future? Why is the United States government in so much debt and does it matter? Should the minimum wage be raised or eliminated all together? Is the National Basketball Association’s salary cap a fair and just way to determine compensation for an organization? You will encounter questions like these and others as you engage with the news and your own economic future. This course will help you figure out your answers to questions like these through a four-step process of 1) learning the fundamentals of the economic principles at play, 2) learning about the history of the topic, 3) evaluating the current discussion and debate around them, and 4) presenting your view of what should be done. Reading assignments, turning in written work, and lively class discussions and presentations will be three key features of this course.

HGE611/612 – Global History of Energy Since the Early 19th Century (Forms V and VI)

½ CREDIT, FALL OR SPRING SEMESTER, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE

HHR611/612 – The Holocaust and Resistance to Nazi Occupation (Forms V and VI)

½ CREDIT, FALL OR SPRING SEMESTER, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE

A history elective focused on introducing students to the socioeconomic, geopolitical, cultural, ethical and environmental impact of energy on society since the early 1800s. The goals of the course are to help students understand the critical role energy has played in modern world history and provide them with a sense of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Topics will be examined in chronological order, with developments in the field of energy studied parallel to major trends in history. Other aspects of the course will include biographies of major figures, such as Andrew Carnegie and Elon Musk, a debate project, guest lecturers from the industry, and a trip to a power plant. This elective will give students, who will be familiar with the topic of the Holocaust from earlier history classes, the opportunity to dig deeper into the Holocaust, as well as movements that arose to resist Nazi policies during the first half of the 20th century. This discussion-based seminar course will incorporate reflective writing, discussion and debate, and readings such as John Steinbeck’s The Moon Is Down and Art Spiegelman’s seminal graphic novel, Maus. The semester will combine two thematic units: (1) the Holocaust, and (2) Resistance to Nazi Occupation. Through these themes, students will explore such topics as the social and political climate that led to the rise of Nazism; the historical context of centuries of Jewish persecution throughout Europe; the human behavior and social psychology concepts that caused so many people not to resist Nazi policies; the groups

and individuals who worked behind the scenes to stop Nazism from spreading and to protect people when it did; and ways that Jewish populations themselves resisted throughout the Holocaust. If time permits, we will also look at the aftermath of the Holocaust and World War II, focusing on the feelings of antisemitism that persisted after the fall of the Third Reich.

H510 – Humanities: History Component (Required of Form V)

ONE CREDIT, YEAR COURSE, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE

Humanities: History Component is required of all Form V students. This course is designed to promote critical inquiry into the foundations of Western intellectual and artistic culture. Students will study major ideas that shaped human conversation from the Classical period to the Twenty-First century through history, literature, art, and music.

This course focuses specifically on the human condition in Europe but also emphasizes the effects, both positive and negative, of the globalization of the West across time and space as well as the paradoxes and tensions – the intersection of the great heights of Western thought with an understanding of how progress fell short of its ideals – inherent to the development of Western Civilization to provide a clearer picture of where we are today.

Critical thinking skills are emphasized in readings, writing assignments, and classroom discussions. A major goal of the course is to develop the student’s ability to think across disciplines and synthesize material.

HLA611 – Latin American History (Forms V and VI)

½ CREDIT, FALL SEMESTER, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE Drawing upon primary documents, audiovisual materials, and secondary sources produced by historians, this course will survey the history of Latin America from the Spanish Conquest of the major pre-Columbian empires in the early sixteenth century to the present. The course begins with an exploration of the racial, class, and gender hierarchies that emerged out of the region’s colonial and precolonial past. We then examine the struggle to create “nations,” covering topics such as the conservative independence movements and state-formation. The next section will deal with the emergence of a neocolonial order in the nineteenth century, focusing on top-down reforms implemented under liberal oligarchic rule. We will then discuss the ways that popular mobilization against neocolonial social hierarchies led to the refashioning of the “nation” throughout the twentieth century. In this section we will investigate topics such as import-substitution industrialization, populism, corporatism, and the rise of revolutionary socialist movements throughout the region. We will then look at the reactionary suspension of democratic politics and repression of the left by bureaucratic-authoritarian regimes. The next section will focus on the Washington consensus and neoliberal economic reform. The final portion of the course will address the long process of democratization throughout the region, taking note of the struggles of many countries to move towards consolidation.

HPT852 – Political Theory, Advanced – “Philo-sophia: Eros, Reason, and Justice” (Form VI)

½ CREDIT, SPRING SEMESTER, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE

This is an advanced course in political theory that will introduce the essential elements of political philosophy and political theorizing. How should humans live? What is justice? How should a political community be organized? This course will examine these questions and the interrelated topics of justice, love, and politics through the prism of a classic work of political philosophy and shorter contemporary texts. This term the students will read the entirety of Plato’s Republic interspersed with contemporary texts. The Republic and the rest of the course’s texts treat essential questions that drive human life and politics, describe the essence of education in a political community, and pits the essential competing understandings of justice against each other. As a class, we will use this ancient text to examine these questions and topics as they play out in the contemporary American political, social, cultural, and economic debates. Assessments will take the form of short and medium-length papers and presentations with an expectation that the boys will produce college-level work by the end of the semester.

HHD612 – Political Transitions: Democratization or Collapse and the Return to Authoritarianism (Forms V and VI)

½ CREDIT, SPRING SEMESTER, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE

This course begins with an examination of democracy as a concept that has had varied meanings and interpretations across time and place, and subsequently explores how it has been appropriated by competing forces in their efforts to establish legitimacy in the political arena during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Drawing from the theoretical literature and country case studies throughout the world, we will attempt to identify the conditions that make it possible for countries to transition from authoritarianism to democracy, the factors that have a favorable or deleterious impact on the consolidation of democracy, and the variables that can lead to the failure of nascent democratic

movements or the breakdown of existing democratic institutions. Our case studies will be temporally, geographically, and politically diverse. We will begin with an exploration of democratization efforts following the collapse of continental European empires in the early twentieth century, then focus on efforts at establishing democracies in the post-colonial societies that emerged in Africa and Asia after World War II. From there, we will conduct an analysis of the transitions from military dictatorship in Latin America and the Caribbean that occurred during the 1970s and onward, followed by an investigation of the aftermath of the collapse of Communism and the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe in 1989. Lastly, we will discuss the state of democracy in the world today, surveying the various regions previously discussed earlier in the course, to determine if democracy has been consolidated both procedurally and substantively, or if challenges, both old and new, persist.

HP610 – Psychology (Forms V and VI)

ONE CREDIT, YEAR COURSE, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE

Psychology is a survey course intended to provide students with a broad introduction to the study of human behavior and the mental processes that drive it. The primary goal is to leave the boys with a thorough and balanced base of knowledge in the field. We start the year with Psychology’s roots as a field, utilizing the scientific method, correlation & experimentation, statistical reasoning, forensic psychology, biological psychology and neurotransmission, the nervous and endocrine systems, an overview of the brain, the cerebral cortex, the biology of consciousness/states of consciousness, and the biological bases of behavior. As the year progresses, we move into sensation and perception, learning and motivation, sports psychology, and emotion and stress. We end with a deep dive into psychological disorders and corresponding treatment options.

HSJ611/612 – Race, Gender, and Sports (Form V and VI)

½ CREDIT, FALL OR SPRING SEMESTER, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE

Several of today’s sports superstars have used their voices and platforms to raise awareness and generate support for disadvantaged groups and communities. We have all seen the impact that people like Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Megan Rapinoe, Maya Moore and many others have had on the public discourse surrounding race relations and gender equality. While impressive these efforts are not new. This course will examine the activism of today’s’ athletes, and also take a close look at athletes of the past who used their platforms to promote positive change, such as Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Billie Jean King, Jackie Robinson, Martina Navaratilova, and Muhammad Ali. We will explore the impact of social media on the efforts of today’s athletes, and also touch on race, gender and sports from a global perspective.

HUS410 – U.S. History (Form IV, V, and VI)

ONE CREDIT, YEAR COURSE, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE

This course is a survey of United States history examined thematically. Students become familiar with the texture of American history through close reading of texts, in-class discussion, writing interpretive essays, and making oral presentations. A variety of materials are used to complement the text.

HUS850 – U.S. History, Advanced (Form VI)

ONE CREDIT, YEAR COURSE, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE

Prerequisites: Teacher recommendations with the approval of the department chair.

This course is designed to provide motivated students with the opportunity to study American History with a thematic approach, as opposed to a traditional, chronologically linear survey course. Each unit of study will address a different theme and follow said theme throughout the entirety of American history. Students will have already taken US History Survey during their sophomore year and this will allow them to replicate the college history major experience by studying themes such as the American Presidency, American Culture, Labor and Immigration, Women’s History, Diplomatic History and Military History in greater depth. By the end of the year students will have been exposed to several relevant areas of American history in a manner that will prepare them for semester-long seminar courses in college at the 200 level. Assessments will include frequent quizzing, expository essays, graded in-class discussions and a research paper of significant length.

HWARME612 – U.S. Wars in the Middle East (Forms V and VI)

½ CREDIT, SPRING SEMESTER, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE

This course will cover our country’s involvement in wars and insurgencies in the Middle East beginning with our effort, along with allies, to remove the Iraq military from Kuwait after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. That brief and successful military action will be followed by an in-depth study of the events leading up to and on 9/11-2001. We will then focus on the chase for Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda and the ousting of the Taliban from Afghanistan. The mishandled Iraq War of 2003 will follow and its mismanagement would lead to the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Our military’s involvement in destabilizing and destroying ISIS will be then covered. Finally, we will review the U.S.’s continuing efforts in Syria to bring some stability to the region and the continuing tensions with Iran.

In addition, we will examine Jihadi’s attack against our country in other lands such as in Lebanon, Scotland, Somalia and Yemen; and such attacks in our country such as in Fort Hood, Texas, at the Boston Marathon, in San Bernardino, California, and Orlando, Florida.

HViet611 – The Vietnam War – Immediate and Lingering Effects on Our Country (Forms V and VI)

½ CREDIT, FALL SEMESTER, SEVEN PERIODS OVER A TEN-DAY CYCLE

It was a war that destroyed one Presidency, and probably another. It was a war that was passionately opposed by hundreds of thousands of Americans. It was a war that was never declared and probably never could have been won. It was a war that ended in humiliating defeat for our country despite never losing a battle. It was a war that was largely fought by less advantaged Americans and largely avoided by advantaged Americans. It was a war that encompassed a year – 1968 – unequaled for its impact in any previous year of our history save for 1776 and 1861.

The course will cover why we went there, how we left there, and explore the strategy, the battles, the troopers who fought those battles while we were there. It will cover the French and Japanese control of Vietnam before our country became involved; the inequity of the draft; the agony of the 1960s; the riots; the assassination of John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy; our prisoners of war; the resulting devastation of North and South Vietnam; and our country’s loss of innocence.