Academics Curriculum 2008-09

History and Social Science

History and social science courses at Northfield Mount Hermon School are designed to encourage students to develop knowledge of and respect for the human heritage and condition. To achieve these goals, courses

• examine significant episodes, ideas, and institutions;
• study the history and behavior of individuals in society;
• investigate the nature of historical and cultural change;
• analyze the decision-making process at the individual, group, and national levels;
• develop students’ questioning, analytical, and research skills, both written and oral;
• integrate literary, religious, and artistic perspectives, where sensible.

Graduation requirements in history and social science are listed here.

Courses for Ninth Graders and Sophomores
HIS 211  Humanities II: Topics in World History
Two credits. Prerequisite: None. Open to sophomores only.
This study of world history is an integral part of the required Humanities II: International Perspectives program for sophomores.

HIS 213  Comparative Politics in Modern Context
Half credit. Prerequisite: None. Open to freshmen only.
This course provides a general introduction to the study of global politics in a contemporary context. Students explore political structures and institutions with an emphasis on the relevance of politics and government in everyday life. Grounded in basic concepts, the course is a skill-driven examination of countries and governments through comparative case study and analysis of current events. Woven throughout these examinations is an introductory look at geography, economics, and history as these disciplines intersect with and help define political realities.

Courses for Juniors and Seniors
United States History Program
The American past can be reflected through a variety of mirrors and from a number of focal points. Because NMH believes learning best takes place when students’ interests are engaged, the United States history program is flexible and varied, and offers five courses to enable students to meet the US history requirement. One of these courses may be taken alone or linked with American Literature in an integrated format that fulfills graduation requirements in both US history and junior English.

HIS 311  US History Survey
One credit. Prerequisite: None.
This course is a survey of the history of the United States. The topics covered may include contact and colonization, the causes and effects of the American Revolution, events leading up to the Civil War and its aftermath, the Industrial Revolution and the coming of age of the United States, the world wars, the depression and the New Deal, and the cold war. Films, primary and secondary source materials, and a variety of classroom activities bring alive controversies of the past and provide insight into the critical issues of the nation’s history. Writing and research assignments, including a research paper, emphasize the use of supporting evidence in clear, coherent essays in order to assess critically a variety of issues in United States history. The course introduces students to historical inquiry and stimulates creative investigation into the origins and character of American civilization. Fulfills US history requirement.

HIS 312  Government and Civil Liberties
One credit. Prerequisite: None.
This course focuses on the historical development of American national government and political behavior through a close examination of the three branches of American government. Students consider political thought, political parties, interest groups, and other forces that have an impact on the political process in the United States. Additional topics covered include a look at individual rights and liberties as guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and honored by the courts, as well as the presidency. This course is not a general survey course of American history but rather focuses on political topics throughout American history and how they relate to our lives today. While this course fulfills the graduation requirement in US history, it may also be taken as an elective by those who have already completed US history.

HIS 311LM/Eng 311LM  Shared Voices: Multicultural US History and American Literature read more

HIS 512  Advanced Placement US History Survey
One credit. Open to juniors. Prerequisite: Placement based on screening process. Students who take HIS 311 or HIS 312 are not eligible for this course.
AP US History Survey is a more intense and comprehensive survey of the history of the United States. The topics covered may include contact and colonization, the causes and effects of the American Revolution, events leading up to the Civil War and its aftermath, the Industrial Revolution and the coming of age of the United States, the world wars, the depression and the New Deal, and the cold war. Films, primary and secondary source materials, and a variety of classroom activities bring alive controversies of the past and allow students insight into the critical issues of the nation’s history. Writing and research assignments, including a research paper, emphasize the use of supporting evidence in clear, coherent essays in order to assess critically a variety of issues in United States history. The course introduces students to historical inquiry and stimulates creative investigation into the origins and character of American civilization. Students are challenged to understand historical events beyond dates and facts and to make connections between the past and present. Fulfills US history requirement.

Elective Courses for Juniors, Seniors, and Postgraduates
HIS 313  Comparative Politics in Theory and Practice
Half credit. Prerequisite: None. Open to juniors, seniors, and postgraduates only.
Comparative Politics in Theory and Practice is designed to provide a general introduction to the fundamental concepts and practices that political scientists employ to compare countries and governments around the world. Through multiple case studies, students will examine a variety of political structures existent at this time as well as the ideas, concepts and theories employed to analyze transnational issues that account for dramatic change within the political environment. Particular emphasis and secondary research will focus on government and political processes, issues of development and globalization.

HIS 315  Foreign Policy
One credit. Prerequisite: HIS 311, HIS 312, HIS 512, or equivalent, or permission of instructor.
Are there essential lessons from the past that should guide the Bush administration’s post-9/11 foreign policy? As we enter the 21st century, America stands at a critical point in history: the lone superpower must confront a world increasingly suspicious of US cultural, economic, and military power. Foreign Policy is a full-credit course exploring a range of economic, political, and social determinants shaping past, present, and future policies. Through primary sources, film, research, novels, current events, and National Security Council simulations, the course will make studying foreign policy an interactive experience. After identifying some of the important precedents and turning points prior to the 20th century, the course explores the cold war, the structure of US decision making, and the current challenges facing America in the post-9/11 era. Topics of significant focus include the age of imperialism in Latin America, the rise of the imperial presidency, the Vietnam War, US-Soviet relations, the politics of oil, and the current war response to terrorism.

HIS 323  Civil Rights Movement
Half credit. Prerequisite: US History.
This course is an intense exploration of the events and figures of the Civil Rights Movement, pursued through a close examination of a variety of primary and secondary sources.  Students are introduced to a general overview of the chronology, landmark cases and themes of the modern African American struggle for civil rights. Additional emphasis will be placed on the voices of those involved in the struggle, ergo documentary films including the Eyes on the Prize series will be utilized to create a more holistic understanding of both the personal and historical significance of this era.

HIS 412  Ideology and Revolution (Not offered in 2008-09)
One credit. Prerequisite: None.
In an attempt to understand the role of revolution in the modern era, this course studies capitalism, anarchism, utopian socialism, communism, fascism, and Nazism.

HIS 413  War
One credit. Prerequisite: None.
This course traces the practice of war as it evolved from the battlefields of the ancient world to the clash of armored knights in the Middle Ages, and from the trench warfare and blitzkrieg tactics of the world wars through the present nuclear era.

HIS 418  Asia Rising: China, Japan, Korea
One credit. Prerequisite: None.
This course will focus on the histories of East Asian nations, with an emphasis on China, Japan, and Korea. We will explore not only what these nations have in common—such as Confucianism and a history of dynastic rule—but also the ways in which their histories have diverged. For example, why did China succumb to Western imperial domination in the late 19th century, while Japan became an imperial power in its own right? Other topics will include the rise of communism in China, Japan’s role in World War II, and the Korean War. The course will conclude with an examination of East Asia’s growing importance in the 21st century, including China’s growing
economic and military might.

HIS 511  Advanced Placement Modern European History
One credit. Prerequisites: Application process and permission of department.
The content of this course is modeled on the AP curriculum focusing on Europe from the enlightenment until modern day society. Students are responsible for independent research and for active participation in class and scheduled seminars. Analysis and synthesis skills are emphasized. This course prepares students to take the AP examination in modern European history.

SOC 411  Introductory Anthropology
One credit. Prerequisite: None.
In this course, students achieve a broad understanding of the complexity of the distant human past. The evolution of homi-nines (modern humans and their extinct ancestors), changing explanations about the variation of life on Earth, and humans’ place in nature are examined. Contemporary populations are also analyzed with reference to concepts of race, environmental stress, and genetics. The significance of environment, kinship and social organization, religion, subsistence, aggression, cultural change, and acculturation is explored.

SOC 412  Economics
One credit. Open to seniors and recommended juniors. Prerequisite: HIS 311, HIS 312, or equivalent strongly recommended.
Every day you make hundreds of economic decisions. For example, you walk into the bookstore with $5 in your pocket to spend. How do you decide which product(s) to buy? Do you buy what you want or what you need? At its core, economics is the study of how society chooses to use its limited resources. You will investigate this concept both from the individual, or microeconomic perspective, as well as the aggregate, or macroeconomic perspective. You will study US economic institutions, international trade, the stock market and personal finance, environmental economics, and money and banking. Newspaper articles will provide a perspective on current economic events. In-class activities will include Internet stock market simulations, student-led presentations on current economic issues, and video documentation of the economy around you. After you take this course, the front page of the business section will finally make sense.

SOC 413  Introduction to Psychology
One credit. Prerequisite: None.
The topics we will consider in this course include such traditional areas as learning, memory, development, personality, the biological basis of behavior, psychopathology, psychotherapy, and states of consciousness. Newer areas of psychology will be chosen from among forensic (criminal) psychology, positive psychology, health psychology, the psychology of terrorism, and gender psychology. Students will train a virtual rat and generate and analyze results from experiments in the classroom and on the Internet. Assessment will include tests, papers, and lab and oral reports. The class is taught seminar-style with emphasis on oral participation. The practical application of psychology to everyday life will be a major focus of the course.

SOC 512  Advanced Placement Economics
One credit. Prerequisites: HIS 311, HIS 312, or HIS 311LM, senior standing, application process, and permission of department. In addition, strong analytical skills are necessary, and it is helpful to have studied some calculus. Students who have taken SOC 412 are not eligible for this course.
This course is a rigorous introduction to college-level theoretical economics. The class initially covers principles that are fundamental to this discipline of social science, including concepts of scarcity and opportunity cost. The microeconomics section of the course explores the economic roles of consumers and producers in detail, such as the laws of supply and demand and an in-depth analysis of four different market structures (pure competition, monopoly, oligopoly, and monopolistic competition). The macroeconomics section analyzes potential instabilities in a market economy, including fiscal and monetary policy solutions to slow growth, unemployment, and inflation. A unit on international trade and monetary exchange completes this section of the course. Students, newly armed with theoretical models, conclude the class with a discussion of current world economic issues. Grounded in current events, this class asks for reading from newspapers and various economic journals.

SOC 513  Advanced Placement Psychology
One credit. Seniors only. This course is not open to students who have taken SOC 413. Prerequisites: Application process and permission of department.
This rigorous equivalent of a college-level introductory psychology course studies the major subfields of psychology: methods; the biological bases of behavior, sensation, and perception; states of consciousness; learning, cognition, motivation, and emotion; developmental psychology; personality; testing and individual differences; abnormal psychology; treatment of disorders; and social psychology.

Interdisciplinary Courses
REL/HIS 2  The Islamic Middle East read more
REL/HIS 3  Women’s Voices: Echoes and Evolution read more
ENG/HIS 4  Humans on the Edge: Natural Disasters and the Human Response (Not offered in 2008-09) read more
REL/HIS 6  Global Futures: Global Warming read more
BIO/REL 1  Genetics and Ethics
See page 29.