Curriculum Detail

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Please choose a department from the drop-down menu below to see the full curriculum from each discipline at Drew.

Social Studies

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.

  • World History 1

    Investigate the histories of China and the Islamic World, beginning with the origins of the earliest Chinese kingdoms and ending with examinations of contemporary China and the Middle East. You will apply critical reasoning and analysis, develop research methodology, and hone your writing skills to construct historical ideas that are attentive to context, nuance, and complexity.

  • World History 2

    Explore the foundations of contemporary Western Civilization through a detailed study of Early Modern and Modern European History. You will investigate the connections between culture, politics, and socio-economic development while refining your reasoning skills and develop an understanding of significant aspects of European history.

  • US History

    For rising 11th grade

    From the very first Americans and the geography of the land they inhabited through the importation of Africans to the emerging European colonies, concepts of identity and location serve as the focus of this course. The rebellious events that lead 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 US 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, 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.

  • US History Honors

    For rising 11th grade, with department approval

    Honors classes explore similar topics as the corresponding course but at an accelerated pace with additional depth, resources, and assessments. Department recommendations based on independent, self-regulated learning and a genuine interest in the skills and knowledge of History and Social Studies. Students are expected to perform more complex, self-driven assignments, relying on self-initiated one-on-one tutorial consultations.
     

  • American Cultural History

    This one semester course is one of two options to fulfill the senior history requirement. Using mass culture as a lens, this course examines the cultural history of the United States from the end of World War II until the present day. We use a broad definition of culture, analyzing how mediums such as newspapers, music, art, television, theater, and literature communicated history to the American people as well as created the history itself. Units include the development of counterculture movements as expressed through music and literature, the birth of the twenty-four hour news cycle, Supreme Court cases focusing on first amendment rights, the emergence of suburbia and the marketing of values, and the role of media in political elections.

  • American Political History Honors

    This one semester course is one of two options to fulfill the senior history requirement. Using American politics as a lens, this course examines the history of the United States from the end of World War II until the present day. How exactly have elected officials, judges, military officers, persistent citizens and like-minded groups altered the course of our communal history? Why do we fight so hard to see our personal vision of America reflected in the nation’s laws? This course is a case-study-based tour through US history between 1946 and 2001, with a specific focus on the role of government in society, the effect of different groups on their government, and the changing definition of an individual’s relation to American government. Prerequisite: A- in US History or B in Honors US History and departmental approval

  • Economics

    The one semester Economics elective teaches basic principles of traditional economics, familiarity with basic vocabulary of the discipline, facility with simple supply and demand graphing and topics directly related to understanding modern society, such as unemployment & labor markets, currency values, money supply, and fiscal policies. The course explores both micro- and macro-economic concepts and draws connections between the two.

  • Good Governance

    Examine successful governance around the world through a survey of basic political theory that includes diverse approaches to education, public health, public policy, and family law in this comparative government course.

  • History of the Bay Area

    This one semester senior course is a chance for students to engage deeply with the history of their home. We will examine the history of the Bay Area from pre-colonization to the present, covering selected events deeply rather than generally surveying the entire history of the area. Beginning with Native American cultures before colonization, and moving into Spanish California, the Gold Rush and American conquest, we will examine how San Francisco gained its reputation as a “wide open town”, how it became birthplace of both reactive and radical politics, and how the area has welcomed and rejected immigrants. Moving into the 20th century, we will engage with the transformations brought by Prohibition, the Great Depression, and World War II, and how civil rights movements, labor unions, radical organizations, grassroots activism, and anti-war campaigns have shaped the political and social life of the Bay Area. From the Beats to the Hippies, from the 49ers to the Black Panthers, the Bay Area offers a fascinating glimpse into how broader historical trends played out on a local scale, and how the local can change the national. Throughout the class, we will strive to incorporate the incredible resources of our area into the course through student-driven research and class trips.

  • Race and Gender Studies

    Delve into the major questions and theories of race, gender, sexuality, and class as social categories and examine the processes through which people are categorized and how these processes shape individual experiences of the world.

  • 20th Century Global History

    This one semester elective course seeks to provide a survey of 20th century global history, with an emphasis on political, economic and cultural trends across human civilizations and the ascent of “modernity.” Students will examine the formation of what historians call the ‘modern’ world, with a critical eye to the continued development of imperial relationships, their decline and collapse, and the cultural and economic relationships between developed countries and lesser-developed countries. The primary geographic emphasis of this course will be on Latin America, the Indian sub-continent and Africa.

  • Art & the State

    This one-semester art history elective allows students to investigate the role that art, architecture, and visual culture play in the development of nations: how leaders of empire and nation use art to build loyalty and identity, and how can artists can use art to subvert the state in turn. Students will explore how art and ritual help to shape the thinking and behavior of citizens, and how artists act to subvert structures of power through artistic acts of protest. As students consider the ways that the art surrounding them shapes the way they view and navigate the world, they will look at sites from Versailles to Las Vegas and artistic genres from propaganda to punk rock. U.C. approval pending.

  • Intro to Education: Building a School

    This semester-long seminar course provides students with a comprehensive look at what it takes to build a school in today’s complex educational landscape. Students will explore the purpose of education and the different educational philosophies that have emerged historically in the United States. Students will then explore how to apply these different theoretical perspectives to the creation of the planning, governance, and sustenance of an actual school. Students are expected to incorporate their theoretical thinking into a comprehensive and practical school design within the limitations of a public school budget.

Faculty

An independent, nonsectarian, coeducational college preparatory school serving grades 9–12 where teenagers’ questions, self-expression, and high ambitions are respected, supported, and at the center of the experience.

Social

Contact

info@drewschool.org
415.409.3739

Address

2901 California Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
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