Upper School History Curriculum

What are the defining political, economic, social, environmental and technological features of the modern world? What aspects of the world we live in were inevitable and what might have been different?

The course deals with major themes and events in American History since colonial times that have helped shape the American character.

This class focuses on pivotal moments in American history through the end of the Civil War. It engages with a diverse range of historical voices and scholarly perspectives.

The course deals with major themes and events in American history since colonial times that have helped shape the American character. Students will investigate the political and social foundation of the United States from European colonization to the present.

This class focuses on pivotal moments in American history from the end of the Civil War to the present. It engages with a diverse range of historical voices and scholarly perspectives.

This course considers global art history from the Middle Ages to the present with a focus on the relationship between art, crime and appropriation.

Want to become an informed citizen? Well, this is the course for you! Over the course of the semester, we will study the institutions and foundational values that have framed how we interact with our federal government.

Traditional approaches to history have often relied on events and texts that prioritize the lives and accomplishments of men. How can we change our approaches to history, the evidence that we use, and the questions that we ask to uncover the stories of women and people of marginalized genders? What can we learn about how race and class intersect with gender at different times and in different parts of the world? Where can we turn when our documents and texts don’t tell us the whole story?

In many ways, Durham represents the adaptability of the American South and a model of urban reinvention. And yet, Durham’s success is complicated. How have changes in areas like housing policy, the service industry, policing, education, immigration, technology and the arts created opportunities as well as limitations for various groups?

Almost everyone on the planet lives in a nation, yet that form of social organization is a relatively recent and never inevitable development in human history. What are the historical origins of nations? What are the benefits and limitations of living in a nation? Why are so many people willing to kill and die for their nations?

While the Cold War was an intense political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, its effects on the entire world were profound. This course looks closely at conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, and Cambodia that deeply affected international politics as well as the lives of millions of ordinary people after World War II.

This course focuses on the current state of criminal justice in the United States. We will begin with a detailed analysis of the complex state of mass incarceration in the U.S., noting its exceptional dimensions when compared with criminal justice systems in other countries.

This course will introduce students to some of the diaspora communities here in the Triangle, in North Carolina, and in the U.S. A good portion of the class focuses on exploring the circumstances that brought these families to the Durham-Chapel Hill area (history, politics, safety, social mobility, etc.).

AP Macroeconomics focuses on unemployment, inflation, gross domestic product, aggregate supply and aggregate demand shifts in the short and long run, taxation, debt and deficit, fiscal policy, Keynesian vs. classical approaches to macroeconomic stabilization, the theory of money, fractional reserve banking, the Federal Reserve System, monetary policy, unconventional monetary policy, exchange rate determination, the balance of payments and international trade policy. 

This course examines developments in technology, business, social life and culture through American popular music. We will consider how and why a mass culture was forged in the middle of the 20th century, as well as how popular music at various moments has reflected ideas about race, region, gender and class.

This course will introduce students to the technological innovations of the ancient world. By examining developments in areas like medicine, engineering, agriculture and food production, students will explore ancient approaches to innovation, problem-solving and societal advancement.

This course focuses on global art history — primarily from 1800 to the present — through the lens of philosophy and aesthetic theory. Aesthetic theory poses the fundamental question: Does the value of an artwork come from the form of the object itself, from the appreciation of the viewer, from the object’s function or from other sources?

The United States Constitution has been described as the most democratic document ever. Yet we are still struggling with profound questions some 230 years after it was originally ratified.

What are revolutions and what drives them? Are all revolutions essentially about tensions between economic classes? When are they about trying to create a better world and when are they simply excuses for violence? Are they just about one group trying to gain power over others? Why are some revolutions successful while others falter?