Upper School History Curriculum

What are the defining political, economic, social, environmental and technological features of the modern world? What aspects of the world that 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. Students will investigate the political and social foundation of the United States from European colonization to the present.

This course 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.

In this course, students will explore the civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean, including Greece, Rome, Egypt, Phoenicia, Persia, and Carthage. Students will develop critical thinking and research skills as they explore the interconnectedness of these societies through trade, conflict, and cultural exchange.

This course considers global art history from the Middle Ages to the present with a focus on the relationship between art, crime and appropriation. We will ask ourselves if the definition of art can include objects that are appropriated wholesale from another creator, culture or technique.

Why do so many democracies become corrupt? How do tyrants fall? When, if ever, are assassinations justified? Is social equality possible? Is it better for a ruler to be loved or feared?

Philosophy aims to shed light on some of life’s most essential but challenging questions. For instance, what makes an action moral, a belief justified, a painting beautiful or a law just?

What factors drive people to leave their homes and migrate to new regions? How has globalization influenced migration trends in the 21st century? How do governments and international organizations manage or respond to large-scale migration?

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?

In many ways, Durham represents the adaptability of the American South and a model of urban reinvention. And yet, Durham’s success is complicated.

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.

The Middle East is a region that is often described as turbulent, complicated and exotic in popular U.S. imagination. In ADV Modern Middle East, we will explore the history of the region to show the way that historical forces that students have explored in their foundational history courses — industrialization, imperialism and nationalism — have affected and shaped its diverse societies.

Imagine yourself as the conductor of a runaway trolley. On the track ahead, you notice five workers. You also notice a side track that only has one worker. Do you divert the trolley to the side track? Why?

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?

Karl Marx famously said that religion was the “opiate of the masses,” an insight that has been borne out by many famous examples of religion as a force for political quietude and conservatism.

Much of the lived experience of African Americans remains undocumented, making it more difficult for all scholars of the African American experience to study. Since the 1970s, historians have focused on developing an African American historiography that centers African American thought, action and community.

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 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.).

This course invites students to examine the “encounter points” through which they (as people living in the West) have come to know — or believe they know — the Middle East and North Africa.

What does it mean to be human? Where did humans come from? How are they related to the rest of the natural world? What does the diversity of expressions of human culture tell us about what it means to be human?

How do scarcities of water, oil and food drive conflicts in Africa, Asia and the Middle East? In what ways are emerging technologies like drones, artificial intelligence and augmented reality reshaping daily life in the 21st century? How can education address challenges such as child marriage and gender-based violence?

How and why do ways of thinking change? Can violence ever be justified when trying to make society more equitable? What are the historical origins of conservatism, liberalism, communism, nationalism, fascism and other ideologies?

This Advanced seminar examines how popular culture has both reflected and shaped American life from the 19th century to the present. Through film, television, music, sports, fashion, advertising, and digital media, students explore how mass culture has expressed and contested ideas about race, gender, class, and national identity.

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. How powerful should the federal government be?

Sociologist Max Weber described the process of modernization as “the disenchantment of the world,” leading to a world governed by rational logic, programmable machines and a natural order transparent to human understanding — but, most importantly, with a negligible place for religion with all its mysteries and contingencies.

When asked to explain his reputation for wisdom, the Greek philosopher Socrates replied that any wisdom he possessed lay only in this: While others believed (incorrectly) that they knew a great deal, he alone recognized just how little he actually knew.

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?