We live in an increasingly complex world that demands nuanced thinking. Every day in social studies at Drew, you will develop your intellectual curiosity and a confident voice to share your discoveries. You will learn the skills and knowledge for historical inquiries and approach your investigations with compassion and empathy for those involved in events, movements, and ideas. Specifically, you will acquire processes for recording observations, analyzing and interpreting data, forming arguments and publishing your results to an audience. By working on your critical reasoning skills, you will feel confident to act according to your knowledge and principles in the contemporary world.
Honors classes in the Social Studies Department explore topics at an accelerated pace with additional depth, resources, and assessments. Department recommendations consider students' abilities to learn independently, self-regulate their studies, and demonstrate a genuine interest in developing the skills and knowledge associated with history and the social sciences. Students are expected to perform more complex, self-driven assignments, and seek one-on-one tutorial consultations as needed.
Social Studies Curriculum
This course will serve as your introduction to History classes at Drew as we delve into global history, focusing on the modern era. To narrow this extremely broad course of study, you will build understanding thematically by examining the foundations of societies, power, economic systems, expansion, turning points, and conflict.
Discussions, projects, analysis of primary and secondary sources, historical writing, and the development of critical thinking skills will guide your exploration of these themes. You will continually reflect on how what you learn is relevant to our lives today, emphasizing the many ways people throughout history, and their choices, have shaped our contemporary world.
The Climate Academy is an interdisciplinary opportunity for 9th graders that links their World History and Biology courses through the study of the environment, climate change, and climate action.
This World History course expands on the study of the modern era by centering events that have had significant impact on the planet and its inhabitants, in particular, the Industrial Revolution, colonization and imperialism, and globalization. While this course covers the key skills and knowledge you would gain in other World History courses at Drew, the focus on the planet allows for deep understanding through relevant application. You will apply this knowledge to the future by considering paths forward.
While engaging in intellectual discovery in the Climate Academy, you will demonstrate your understanding through interdisciplinary service and action projects. These projects will ask you to apply your knowledge and develop your voice and agency.
Prerequisite: 9th grade only. Student application required. Must be taken in conjunction with Biology Climate Academy.
From the very first Americans and the geography of the land they inhabited through the forced importation of enslaved Africans to the emerging European colonies, concepts of identity serve as the focus of this course. The rebellious events that led to the founding of the nation and the documents that created it are explored through the lens of those earlier actions. The dividing issue in the U.S. Constitution threads through the Abolition Movement and the Civil War. The policies of Reconstruction permeate the 20th century and relate to the racial conflicts we are dealing with today. To investigate these events and ideas, you will analyze a variety of primary and secondary sources—letters, cartoons, journals, and scholarly articles—and refine your critical thinking skills and intellectual voice.
You will also complete a variety of research projects that incorporate student choice and independent work, as well as many forms of presentation and the production of final learning outcomes.
Honors coursework is designed for students who have demonstrated a mastery of grade-level Social Studies skills and knowledge and are eager to perform more complex, self-driven assignments. Ideal candidates have a genuine interest in the subject and embody authentic engagement during both full-class and small-group activities. They are independent learners who demonstrate original thinking, take intellectual and creative risks, and make insightful connections to other topics and our world.
Prerequisite: Department approval is required for honors-level courses.
Economics
After an introduction to microeconomics and macroeconomics, you will examine broader issues such as income inequality, taxes, and how businesses operate, as well as more specific ones like the 2008 financial crash. In addition, you will look at how individuals can effectively navigate our current economic system by investigating topics including personal debt and investing.
Ultimately, you will use a similar investigation of governmental systems to determine how those processes affect—or don’t affect—the economic status of the nation. Throughout the year, we will use an economic lens to focus on how the events of this period have shaped our contemporary lives.
Economics — Honors
The honors course will cover similar themes as the non-honors course, but will focus more on traditional economic theory and provide an introduction to micro- and macroeconomics similar to content offered in college-level courses. In addition to the standard honors requirements, this course will also include math-based problem sets and use mathematical skills to supplement our inquiry in a way that will not be required in the non-honors Economics course. Honors placement for this course will consider grades in previous history and math courses.
Prerequisite: Department approval is required for honors-level courses.
Triumphs and Troubles: A History of the US Since 1945 — Honors
This course offers an in-depth exploration of U.S. history since World War II, and will challenge you to see the past in new and complex ways. Throughout the journey, you will encounter new historical figures and consider familiar ones in a fresh light, while also examining topics often eclipsed by major events of the era. By centering the diverse experiences of ordinary Americans, the course encourages a deeper, more nuanced understanding of postwar America. More than just a survey of historical events, this course invites you to critically engage with the narratives we construct about the past and to develop your own unique voice as a scholar of history.
Designed as preparation for college-level history courses, you will explore and practice the historian’s craft. Given the close proximity of this period to the present, your work will feel both relevant and empowering. History in this course is not just about policies and politicians—it’s about people in all their complexity. Potential topics of study include the Cold War, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, Second Wave Feminism, the Black Liberation Movement, and the rise of the New Right, among others.
Prerequisite: Department approval is required for honors-level courses.
Enlightenment to Revolutions, the World ca. 1685-1830 — Honors
This course asks how and why power diffused within societies during this era. For example, in the Ottoman Empire, regional strongmen challenged centralization such that Muhammad Ali of Egypt came to exist on par with the Sultan in Istanbul. Emboldened by the ideas of philosophers like Voltaire and Rousseau, Jacobins guillotined a king in France, an unthinkable occurrence earlier that century when Louis XIV presided over the Old Regime. Britain’s monarchs evaded a similar fate, including enduring one bloodless revolution, due to the dispersion of authority through Parliament. Father Hidalgo and Simón Bolívar threw off centuries of Iberian hegemony in Latin America. We will also ask what political and economic systems worked, and consider the cost of such progress.
This will lead us to study Peter the Great’s modernization of Russia, and Catherine the Great’s expansion of that empire. In the Far East, Japan experienced Pax Tokugawa and the Qing dynasty broadened China’s reach. Bonaparte wrested power back in France and laid a roadmap for modern Europe. Through colonization and industrialization, England emerged as a global empire at the expense of suffering in India, Africa, and elsewhere. We will also ask how painting, music, and architecture—from late Baroque and Rococo to Neoclassicism and Romanticism—reflected the climate of this era.
Prerequisite: Department approval is required for honors-level courses.
Introduction to Law
From local government, to business transactions, to enforcing morality and safety, law is everywhere in our society. This class is designed to provide you with a primer on the basics of law and governance in America. You can expect to do a lot of on-the-spot thinking, problem solving, and debate as you investigate what the law is, and consider what you think the law ought to be. You will start with philosophical concepts underpinning legal systems like utilitarianism and natural law. You will then wade into the basics around contracts, property, and tort law to ensure you are well-advised consumers in the marketplace. You will examine the law around the foundations of families, such as marriage, paternity, and child custody, and the law’s role in the dissolution of these relationships. You will also take up sexual orientation rights as a bridge into Constitutional law. The big ideas of American history and culture underpinning the U.S. Constitution, including enumerated and unenumerated fundamental rights—such as speech, press, religion, labor, and privacy—are explored in depth. You will study crimes that citizens may be held accountable for, and criminal procedural rights when navigating encounters with law enforcement. Time permitting, you will learn about the basics of certain high-stakes business laws that permeate the Bay Area economy, e.g., intellectual property and antitrust regulation, and you will also role play a full mock trial to see the law in action.
How Did We Get Here?: A History of the Modern World
How is nationalism defined in different contexts, and how has it influenced politics historically and in the present? What factors contribute to the rise of political extremism in societies? Through these and other critical questions, you will explore a history of the world during the 20th century. Beginning with World War I, you will examine the development of the modern world, focusing on the historical roots of contemporary issues and conflicts. This study will include the decline of European colonial empires and the challenges to traditional power structures posed by colonial subjects, women, and racial and ethnic minorities. Additionally, you will analyze the impact of communist and socialist ideologies, the effects of increasing globalization, and the social, economic, and political transformations brought about by rapid technological advancements.
Cultural Anthropology
What is culture? What does it mean to be human? How and why are societies structured? These are the kinds of big questions that you will grapple with in this course. Cultural anthropologists engage with ideas such as power, belief, and identity in local, specific contexts, such as a small town in Botswana, a boarding school in Connecticut, or a church community in Brazil. In this course, you will examine how culture works in your own lives and communities, conduct anthropological observations, read an academic monograph, engage in deep discussion, and explore the basics of social theory.
Islamic World History in the Premodern Era, 500-1500 CE
In this course you will explore the rise and expansion of Islam as a global religion and civilization. It examines the historical development of Islamic societies across the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, focusing on key periods such as the Islamic Golden Age and the emergence of regional empires. You will also analyze interactions between the Muslim world and external powers, including the Crusades, the Mongol invasions, and the history of the Ottoman Empire. By the end of the course, you will have gained a deeper understanding of the factors behind Islam’s rise and the diverse ways in which religion has shaped the political, social, and economic landscapes of the region. This course includes an opportunity to visit a local Islamic center.
Latin American History
In this course, you will explore the deep and complex history of Latin America, examining how power, ideology, and the autonomy of Indigenous people have shaped the region from the pre-Columbian era to today. You will investigate civilizations like the Inca and Aztec, the impact of European colonization, and struggles for independence. The course examines how political and economic ideologies, from colonial rule to neoliberalism, have influenced Latin American societies. Key historical moments such as the Mexican and Cuban Revolutions, Cold War interventions, and modern political movements will be considered. You will engage with primary and secondary sources, including art and artifacts, to develop a nuanced understanding of historical change and continuity. By critically examining Latin America’s past, you will gain insight into its vibrant history and culture, present challenges, and global connections.
Telling Our Stories: Personal Histories, Oral Testimony, and Community Identity
Who am I? Where do I come from? How does history shape experiences, and how do individuals shape history? These essential questions will guide this immersive, identity- and community- centered course as you explore family, local, and oral histories. Through partnerships and visits with local organizations such as UC Berkeley’s Oral History Center, the San Francisco History Center, and the FamilySearch Center at Oakland’s Temple Hill, you will engage in hands-on historical research. This course will offer you an opportunity to think and work like a historian while deepening your understanding of yourself and communities.
U.S. Current Events in Historical Context
Using your historical knowledge as a foundation for understanding the present, you will investigate, analyze, discuss, and debate current events. Topics will be driven by student interest and will include political, social, economic, and environmental issues, examining their historical roots and ongoing effects. In addition to learning about current news topics, you will also explore historical events from the last few decades. Primary and secondary source materials will guide your study. Potential topics include elections, wars, summits, trade deals, economic trends, and social movements.