Social Studies Department

Students at FRA are required to complete three units of social studies for graduation. Extensive reading of both primary and secondary sources and strong expository and argumentative writing skills are integral for all social studies classes. Students will utilize online and print resources available through the FRA library to accelerate the research process and improve writing and material comprehension.

Students must complete one full credit of world history and one full credit of United States history. Students may then choose from a wide variety of advanced electives to complete their last full unit of study. These advanced electives allow students to select interesting and engaging collegiate-style courses that suit their interests and academic needs. They also allow for greater flexibility in scheduling electives across all curricular areas in the FRA academic program.

SOCIAL STUDIES SURVEY COURSES

These courses are designed to give students an overview of historical events and themes in both world and American history, as well as to establish foundational skills for advanced coursework in social studies in the junior and senior years. AP Human Geography, available for 9th grade students, fulfills the world history requirement.

World History I: Ancient World History I (H): Ancient U.S. History: 1877 – Present

SOCIAL STUDIES AP COURSES

Advanced Placement courses in social studies are offered in grades 9-12. The goal of AP courses in the social studies department is to provide a rigorous course of study for students seeking to engage in college-level coursework, with many entry points along the way to allow maximum student access to Advanced Placement courses.

AP Human Geography AP World History: Modern AP U.S. History AP European History AP Art History AP U.S. Government & Politics*

ADVANCED SOCIAL STUDIES ELECTIVES

Students need to fulfill at least one full credit of advanced social studies electives between their junior and senior years. Advanced social studies electives are academically rigorous courses that allow students to go deeper into specific topics than a standard survey course allows. Students will employ critical thinking, writing, and research skills to delve into advanced topics in American history, world history, and other social sciences. American Government Sociology: Survey of American Social Issues African American History Conflict in the Middle East: A History of the Palestinian – Israeli Conflict Ancient Mediterranean History, Literature, and Art (Not offered in 2021-22) The Holocaust: Meanings & Implications Economics Psychology

WORLD HISTORY I: ANCIENT

1 Credit

This course is an introductory ancient world history course. Students cultivate their understanding of world history from c. 10,000 BCE to 1200 CE through analyzing historical sources and learning to make connections and craft historical arguments as they explore concepts like humans and the environment, cultural developments and interactions, governance, economic systems, social interactions and organization, and technology and innovation.

WORLD HISTORY I: ANCIENT (H)

1 Credit

This course is an advanced introductory ancient world history course. Students cultivate their understanding of world history from c. 10,000 BCE to 1200 CE through analyzing historical sources and learning to make connections and craft historical arguments as they explore concepts like humans and the environment, cultural developments and interactions, governance, economic systems, social interactions and organization, and technology and innovation. This additional rigor in this honors course is intended to prepare students for AP World History: Modern in the sophomore year.

AP WORLD HISTORY: MODERN

1 Credit

This course is an Advanced Placement history course intended for students who are interested in pursuing historical study at a collegiate level. Students cultivate their understanding of world history from c. 1200 CE to the present through analyzing historical sources and learning to make connections and craft historical arguments as they explore concepts like humans and the environment, cultural developments and interactions, governance, economic systems, social interactions and organization, and technology and innovation. At the end of this course all students take the AP World History: Modern exam. At the end of this course all students take the AP World History: Modern exam. There is an expectation of attendance at weekly tutorial sessions.

U.S. HISTORY: 1877 - PRESENT

1 Credit

This yearlong survey of American History explores the Foundations of America from the Revolution through the Constitutional Period. Following that, the course examines the rebirth of the United States after the Civil War through America as a world power in the 21st century. Emphasis is placed on the political, social, and economic events and key players that have shaped our nation’s history. Topics include the importance of America’s founding documents, the evolution of the American Dream, innovation and enterprise, conflict and consensus, individual liberties and civil rights, and foreign policy in both the 20th and 21st Centuries. Reading and analyzing both primary and secondary sources is an integral part of learning and thinking critically about past events.

AP U.S. HISTORY

1 Credit

This yearlong survey class includes the major ideological, political, economic, and social events, as well as key players. There are nine historical periods, beginning with the colonization

efforts of the New World and continuing through the early 21st Century. Reading and analyzing primary and secondary sources are an integral part of the class. There is an emphasis on historical skills: contextualization, causation, comparison, continuity and change over time. Students will spend the year learning, thinking, and writing critically about issues, successes and conflicts essential to an historical understanding of the United States. Additionally, each student will take the AP U.S. History Exam. Additionally, each student will take the AP U.S. History Exam. There is an expectation of attendance at weekly tutorial sessions.

AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

1 Credit

AP Human Geography is an introduction to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth’s surface. Students will study the methods and tools geographers use in their science, apply spatial concepts and engage in landscape analysis examining human social organization and its environmental consequences. Students will apply their background in World History, Introductory Geography, non-fiction reading, writing skills and critical thinking to the interesting and rigorous course content. Summer work is required in preparation for success in this AP course. Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to interpret maps and analyze geospatial data, define regions and evaluate the regionalization process, and characterize and analyze changing interconnections among locations. Additionally, each student will take the AP U.S. History Exam. There is an expectation of attendance at weekly tutorial sessions.

AP EUROPEAN HISTORY

1 Credit

In the yearlong AP European History course, students survey the history of Europe from the Renaissance to the present, with an emphasis on the thematic developments of Western Civilization. The class examines social, political, economic, religious, and cultural movements that dramatically impacted history. Major areas of study include the Renaissance and Reformation, the topics of the Enlightenment, the revolutionary movements of the 19th Century, the Industrial Revolution, 20th-Century conflict, and social reform. Emphasis will be placed on primary and scholarly sources equivalent to those gained in a college- level introductory course. Students are expected to use outside sources and the class to increase learning comprehension. Additionally, each student will take the AP European History Exam. There is an expectation of attendance at weekly tutorial sessions.

AP ART HISTORY

1 Credit

Advanced Placement Art History is a college level course that enables students to apply decision-making, analytical and problem-solving skills that will facilitate rational, effective lifelong learning. Students will learn to discuss and write about global art using skills that define critical thinking, including analysis, inference, interpretation, compare and contrast and evaluation. We will focus on 250 specific pieces of art. Students who successfully complete the course requirements can request credit from the college or university they will attend. Credit will be awarded upon passing the AP Art History exam by the AP College Board.

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

1/2 Credit // Grades 11-12

Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics is a college-level, nonpartisan course that introduces students to key political concepts and the roles and behaviors that characterize the constitutional framework and political culture of the United States. Students will analyze and interpret the Constitution, important political documents, U.S. Supreme Court cases and data to better understand the American government and the political actors who interact with it. Students who successfully complete the course requirements may request college credit upon passing the AP U.S. Government and Politics exam given by the AP College Board.

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

½ Credit

This semester-long course is designed to provide students with a practical knowledge and understanding of American government and its direct connection to its citizens. The U.S. Constitution will serve as the central document to inform class discussions. Students will learn to apply knowledge of the U.S. Constitution and demonstrate their understanding of how the American system of government functions on the local, state, and national levels as well as the impact on individual citizens, who have both rights and responsibilities.

ECONOMICS

½ Credit

This semester-long course will focus on fundamental economic principles students will need to know as they advance to college-level economics classes. The class will focus on both micro and macroeconomics and will include ongoing instruction in personal finance. Students will be introduced to the Foundations of Financial Peace program created by Dave Ramsey and will learn the importance of avoiding debt and managing money. Each area of study is designed to assist the student in understanding basic mathematic principles of economics and the larger impact that money and the economy has on society overall. The main goal is to help the student understand and recognize trends in economics and be able to analyze data to better understand the new complicated global economy.

PSYCHOLOGY

½ Credit

Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and the mental processes. The scope of psychology is broad, ranging from the scientific activity of neurons and hormones, to the maze-running abilities of lab rats, to the effects of emotions on how we think and act towards others, to the influence of social contexts and cultures on our own behavior. This course will provide students with a broad introduction to the vast and exciting field. It will cover psychology’s basic subject matter across a variety of topics (i.e. development, learning, memory, abnormal behavior, and social influence), history of different psychologists’ approaches to collecting and evaluating evidence about behavior, as well as how psychological knowledge can be applied to understanding – and improving – everyday life.

THE HOLOCAUST: MEANINGS & IMPLICATIONS

½ Credit

This course examines the systematic destruction of European Jewry and other groups during World War II, its background, and its aftermath. It addresses the attempts by victims, bystanders, perpetrators, and their descendants – and we are all their descendants – to create meaningful narratives about an event that appears to lack discernible meaning. To that end, it focuses on historical accounts, case studies, memoirs, fiction, and theology and such issues as history, memory, witness, conscience, language, evil, and others that they raise.

CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST: A HISTORY OF THE PALESTINIAN - ISRAELI CONFLICT

½ Credit

In the first part of this course students will examine the history of the encounter and conflict between Jews and Arabs in and around Palestine/Israel from the late 19th century through modernity. The second, and, arguably, most important part of the course will have students remember the humanity inherent within the historical and present conflict. Both Palestinian and Israeli authors will be juxtaposed against one another, allowing students to ruminate upon the lived experience of each party involved in the conflict.

ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN HISTORY, LITERATURE, AND ART

(Not offered in 2021-22) ½ Credit

A survey of visual art and text that reflect religious beliefs and practices from the first century CE through the early Medieval Era, including monuments form Greco-Roman cults, early Christianity, and Rabbinical Judaism. Students will examine visual art and material artifacts in light of textual evidence for religious movements during these transitional and formational centuries.

SOCIOLOGY: SURVEY OF AMERICAN SOCIAL ISSUES

½ Credit

This course introduces the fundamental elements of sociology and applies them through an examination of modern social issues (i.e. healthcare, poverty, education, gun control, race relations, immigration, the environment, and civil rights). Students will learn the theoretical paradigms that define types and stages of social movements and will explore how social problems are addressed by means of research, media, journalism, leadership, violence/non-violent means, social norms, and personal biases/world view.

AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY

½ Credit

African American History is a semester-long course examining the rich contributions of African Americans in the history of the United States of America. This course is designed to expand on the traditional US History course by giving a comprehensive look at the historical account of Americans who have championed the cause of liberty and equality for all. For this reason, students must be currently enrolled in or have