15 minute read
History
Through the study of history at Rivers, students gain crucial perspective on developments in the past, consider present societies from multiple points of view, and develop strategies for future civic engagement. The curriculum empowers students to become active and knowledgeable citizens of the world. The vital connection between the past and current world events is explicitly drawn throughout this grade 6–12 program. Fostering critical thinking skills, the history program equips students to understand and analyze the world around them and to act to bring about positive change. The prioritization of research skills, analytical writing, and source evaluation allows students to access, organize, and communicate information with clarity and confidence. Formulation of evidence-based arguments is honed at all grade levels and practiced through written expression, class discussion, and public speaking.
MIDDLE SCHOOL COURSES
Middle School History is co-taught with English under a joint, Middle School only, Humanities Department.
UPPER SCHOOL COURSES
Perspectives in World History
1 credit This course explores world history through several thematic units rather than a strictly chronological survey. Curricular units begin with a current-events topic and then investigate the topic ’ s ancient and modern roots. Themes include the relationship between the environment and human society; the function of religion and philosophy in human experience; various forms of leadership and government; wealth, power, and inequality; and violence and conflict in the twentieth century. The course challenges students to think critically about history through various perspectives, giving them the opportunity to explore and articulate their own viewpoint and gain greater empathy for the views of others. This course emphasizes critical-thinking, research, and writing skills necessary for engaged citizens in a multicultural democracy.
Honors Perspectives in World History
1 credit Prerequisite: Recommendation of the department This course covers the same material as the non-honors sections but moves at a faster pace and examines topics in greater depth through readings, assessments, and independent work.
United States History to 1945
1 credit
A graduation requirement, this survey course covers the period from European exploration through the end of World War II in 1945. Students continue their work with independent research, analysis of primary sources, and reading of supplemental materials. Successful completion of a research paper is required. Rising sophomores will take a required third semester of history in their junior year that covers the United States from 1945 to the present in a modern global perspective.
Advanced United States History to 1945
1 credit Prerequisite: Recommendation of the department Advanced United States History covers the same material as United States History, but moves at a faster pace and examines topics in greater depth through readings, assessments, and independent work. A research project is required.
AP United States History
1 credit Prerequisite: Recommendation of the department Designed to be the equivalent of an introductory college-level course, this course covers United States history from the beginning of European exploration to the present. Critical thinking, primary source evaluation, and essay writing are emphasized. Students are required to take the AP United States History exam in May.
AP Modern European History
1 credit Prerequisite: Recommendation of the department Designed to be the equivalent of an introductory college-level course, this course covers European history from the Renaissance to the present. Critical-thinking, primary source evaluation, and essay-writing skills are emphasized. Students are required to take the AP European History exam in May.
AP United States Government and Politics
1 credit Prerequisites: Recommendation of the department. Open to seniors only This year-long course sets out to provide students with a foundational knowledge of the theoretical underpinnings and practical institutions of American government and politics, which allows them to understand and participate in the American democratic “ experiment. ” Through the study of a textbook, primary sources, and extensive archival and current news articles, students learn about the U.S. Constitution, the workings and interaction among the three branches of the federal government, federalism, political parties, interest groups, the media, public policy, and civil rights and liberties. The course ends in the second semester by comparing the American model of government to other styles of democracy around the globe. Students are required to take the AP United States Government and Politics exam in May.
Honors Thesis in History
0.5 credits. First semester only. Department recommendation required The Honors Thesis in History course is intended to be the capstone experience for Rivers ’ most enthusiastic history students. Enrollment is open to any senior who desires to pursue historical study at a more advanced level and conduct research on a topic of his/her/their own choosing. Taught in the format of a college seminar, this Catalog of Courses • THE RIVERS SCHOOL 33
course introduces students to advanced historical and social science research methods and strategies for engaging with primary sources to develop original arguments of scholarly value. Each unit will offer students the chance to explore various research methods through topics of their choosing and will provide scaffolding for the culminating project, a 15 to 20-page honors thesis. Course topics include an introduction to historiography, generating a great research question, qualitative and quantitative forms of data, and different ways to make sense of incomplete or biased source material. Over the course of the semester, students may venture to a local university to visit an archive or meet with a professional historian. At the conclusion of the elective, students may share the results of their research either through teaching, blogging, publication, or participation in a research conference.
HONORS ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH GRADE ELECTIVES
First Semester Honors Electives
Honors International Relations
0.5 credits. Department recommendation required This course uses the core tenets of international relations as a discipline to examine current challenges confronting the international community. Students use the analytical frameworks of international relations to discuss diplomatic policies and their effects on the changing geo-political landscape and to analyze specific historical and contemporary situations to better understand contemporary issues. To this aim, the role of the United States in world affairs in the 20th and 21st centuries is juxtaposed against the increasing competition between major powers, such as Russia and China, on the world’ s political stage. Students explore how major events and political, diplomatic, social, economic, and military factors shi the global balance of power. Current events anchor discussions and the analysis of how domestic, regional, and international factors influence policymaking and relations between states.
Honors Native America I: An Indigenous History of Mexico
0.5 credits. Department recommendation required From looming temple-pyramids to bloody heart sacrifice, the pre-Hispanic civilizations of Mexico have captured the imagination of Westerners since the time of the Spanish conquest. The Aztec Empire was the height of Mesoamerican civilization, the flowering of over 2,000 years of developments that included the New World’ s largest cities and most ambitious building projects, a complex calendar, hieroglyphic writing, and rich traditions of philosophy and art. Traditional tellings of the Spanish conquest tend to emphasize the destruction of Aztec people and culture at the hands of the Europeans ’ “ guns, germs, and steel. ” However, the Aztecs survived and developed cunning strategies to resist colonial domination and cultural destruction. This course strives to consider the history of Mexico from a Native perspective, drawing extensively on Native historical sources such as archaeological digs, painted codices, and Native histories, and highlights many startling examples of Native adaptation and cultural survival from pre-contact times through the present.
Honors History of Cities
0.5 credits. Cross-listed with Interdisciplinary Studies. Department recommendation required This interdisciplinary course examines the urban tradition and the history of the development of cities. Students study various cities, among them Paris, New York, Buenos Aires, and Tokyo, to better understand the role metropolitan centers play in the development of identities, institutions, and relationships in society. Moreover, investigating how cities have emerged and expanded is a central component of understanding the city in a historical context. Urban culture, politics, economics, and identity in historical and modern cities are analyzed using various resources including readings, maps, urban plans, art, and architecture. To fully engage in a multifaceted approach to the study of cities, students use skills of analysis from the fields of art and architecture, history, and urban planning. The contribution of cities to contemporary society is assessed in parallel to the challenges cities face in the 21st century.
Honors Native America II: An Indigenous History of the United States
0.5 credits. Department recommendation required The iconic image of Pilgrims and Indians sharing the first Thanksgiving meal in Plymouth, MA is indelibly etched in the American consciousness. But is this image a fitting symbol for America ’ s founding, or is it a tired myth in need of updating? This course seeks to tell an alternative history of what we now call the United States, one that centers on its Native inhabitants and that privileges their sources and perspectives. Starting prior to the arrival of the colonizing Europeans, we will survey the landscape Native peoples call “Turtle Island, ” seeing it through the eyes of North America ’ s First Peoples. Then we trace the complex, violent, and oen misrepresented history that unfolded from the very first contacts through today. Taking advantage of access to local historical sites and archives, students conduct first-hand historical research on documents and artifacts, as they seek to better understand America ’ s First Peoples and their role in shaping the nation we continue to cohabitate today.
ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH GRADE ELECTIVES
First Semester Electives
Boston: Brahmins, Brogues, and Busing
0.5 credits The course examines the religious, economic, social, political, and artistic character of Boston from the arrival of the Puritans in the early 17th century to its revival as a modern metropolis in the late 20th century. Students consider Boston as the cradle of the American Revolution; a center of Yankee industrialization, merchant trade, and culture; a principal region in the Abolitionist movement and the Civil War; a perceived haven for immigrants; and the birthplace of numerous political lineages and controversies over race and ethnicity. Boston ’ s role in world history is emphasized along with its local and regional impact.
History of Art I: Global Perspectives on Art in the Ancient World
0.5 credits. Cross-listed with Art and Interdisciplinary Studies This two semester survey of the history of art examines the development of the world’ s major artistic traditions from the Paleolithic Age to the present. While not exhaustive in scope, these courses aim to expose students to the central problems and methodologies in the field of art history as well as introduce them to many of the important stylistic developments in the history of art. Through lectures and slides, the history of art is placed in a global cultural context. Periodic visits to Boston-area museums provide invaluable opportunities to expand the classroom experience. In the first semester, students study the development of human artistic creation as it emerged from the flickering shadows of the caves of Altamira and Lascaux. From there, the canonical artistic traditions of Ancient Sumer, Egypt, and Greece are examined alongside artistic developments in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. By comparing and contrasting more and less familiar artistic traditions, students are challenged to contemplate the very nature of art and consider why all human societies create visual culture. Note: This course may be taken for art credit or for history credit. Credit will not be awarded in both disciplines.
Race and the Supreme Court
0.5 credits This course examines the history of race in the United States through the lens of Supreme Court cases. Students will read Supreme Court opinions as primary sources in learning how the law ’ s conception of the rights of people of color have evolved. The course will cover the international slave trade, the fugitive slave laws and slave status in territories, the transformative Reconstruction Amendments, the emergence of Jim Crow laws and disfranchisement, racial zoning and restrictive covenants in housing, internment, segregation in public education, interracial marriage, busing, affirmative action, the death penalty, and hate crimes. Some of the cases the course will examine include U.S. v. Amistad, Dred Scott v. Sanford, Plessy v. Ferguson, Guinn v. United States, Smith v. Allwright, Korematsu v. United States, Sweatt v. Painter, Brown v. Board of Education, Loving v. Virginia, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, and Shelby County v. Holder.
Systems Thinking for the Common Good
0.5 credits. Cross-listed with Interdisciplinary Studies This community-based interdisciplinary course examines how one makes social change, focusing on systems that are in place to meet people ’ s basic human needs. Students explore and recognize the history and power of systemic inequities, understand components necessary to make effective, sustainable change, and utilize systems thinking to deconstruct and analyze social issues. Understanding is gained about the intersection of direct service, advocacy, awareness raising, and philanthropy in making social change, layered with an analysis of the roles of government, corporations, and nonprofits. The disciplines of history, sociology, economics, and art are essential elements of the course. Students participate in weekly nonprofit internships, present social movement projects to local elder residences, and complete final research papers connecting their community internships with an analysis of a relevant social issue. Through internships, readings, simulations, case studies, field trips, guest speakers, and TED Talks, the class investigates personal and systemic possibilities for social change. Catalog of Courses • THE RIVERS SCHOOL 36
Second Semester Electives
Civil Rights in the United States
0.5 credits The Civil Rights Movement is one of the most significant sources of social change in the United States. This course analyzes the structure and dynamics of the Civil Rights Movement from the viewpoints of American history, culture, and politics. We will pay close attention to the roles of organizations, resources, leadership, recruitment, commitment, values, ideology, political culture, gender, and counter-movements. The course will also touch on how the movement became a catalyst for other social justice causes, which include women ’ s rights, LGBTQ+ , Indigenous peoples, immigrants, and other marginalized groups. Students will engage with various readings including articles and primary sources, and view some documentaries and feature films. Through the process of research and analytical and reflective writing, students will study why and how individuals struggled to change their lives and the world around them through their involvement with a social movement. They will investigate the degree of personal sacrifice that individuals had to make for the collective benefit of all.
The Evolving Presidency
0.5 credits This course examines how the office of the presidency has evolved from its origins to the present day. It explores the constitutional limits placed on the office and how those limits have changed because of circumstances and because of the interests and the personalities of the men who have held it. Some of the key figures behind the expansion of presidential authority whose presidencies will be a major focus include George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Barack Obama.
History of Art II: Global Perspectives on Art in the Modern World
0.5 credits. Cross-listed with Art and Interdisciplinary Studies The emergence of “ modernity ” and the transformations of the age of the Renaissance and European exploration are the starting point for the second semester of Art History. As in the fall course, the artistic developments in Europe are considered within the widening global context of the early Modern era, a period which is increasingly referred to as the “ global Renaissance. ” Picking up threads introduced in the first semester, students will compare and contrast the revolutionary artistic innovations of early Modern Europe with the cultural traditions of the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Special emphasis in Art History II will be given to contemporary art, that is, the artistic developments that are unfolding today, at a time when the world is still coming to grips with the legacies of past eras. We will consider the role of art forms and artists that have traditionally been marginalized in the past, and current forms of expression that continually challenge the boundaries of what we consider art, such as Beeple ’ s NFT art and Maurizio Cattelan ’ s “Comedian ” (a banana duct-taped to a gallery wall). Note: This course may be taken for art credit or for history credit. Credit will not be awarded in both disciplines.
History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
0.5 credits At the crossroads of the ancient world, the lands of the Middle East became holy to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In modern as well as ancient times, the people of these lands have seen little peace and less stability. What factors account for the turbulent history of this region? Students examine the ethnic, religious, economic, political, social, and demographic tensions that have contributed to the region ’ s many conflicts, particularly since the creation of Israel in 1948. Related topics include the roles played by foreign intervention, Islamic revivalism, Zionism, Pan-Arab nationalism, terrorism, and the politics of petroleum. Students keep journals, write book reviews, and create research papers on topics of their choice.
The Legacy of WWI: Armenia to Auschwitz
0.5 credits The changes to the world order brought on by World War I and the Russian Revolution had cataclysmic effects well through World War II. Ongoing border disputes, mass migrations and vacuums of power in newly independent nations laid conditions for the emergence of new regimes, global social change, political and economic exploitation and genocide. By looking both at specific events during this time period as well as patterns of events across nations and over time, this course will explore different forms of revolution, the influence of economic change on the development of new political ideologies and regimes, the experiences of displaced and subjugated populations, and the relevance of persistent themes of populism and nationalism up to the present day. Topics will include Russification under Stalin, the sociopolitical effects of the discovery of oil and the mandate system in the Middle East, the Armenian genocide and the Lausanne Treaty in Anatolia, the Irish independence movement, the global suffrage movement, and the Holocaust.
