Social Studies
Three courses of Social Studies are required for graduation. Students will take Citizenship and World History,United States History/U.S. History Survey, Contemporary History/Contemporary American History Survey, and Geopolitics/Global Studies. Most students will choose to take a Social Studies elective during their junior and senior year. The three years of Social Studies are designed to develop and evolve the knowledge, skills, and attitudes for effective citizenship.
Although the sequence in which students fulfill the Social Studies requirement is fixed, there is some flexibility in meeting those requirements after ninth grade. Tenth and eleventh grade students may defer the course normally taken in those years by one year if they need to adjust their schedule. Juniors may choose to take the required course of study, as well as a Social Studies elective. Seniors may choose to take two electives each semester. Students may also choose to take Dartmouth courses if they meet the following prerequisites: they have taken all Social Studies Department courses related to the requested Dartmouth course, there is space available in the Dartmouth course at the time of registration, and have maintained an A average in their 3 previous years of social studies.
Students who wish to consider the Advanced Placement options should refer to the Advanced Placement Section of this handbook.
A brief description of all courses follows.
FIRST YEAR
Citizenship and World History
CR: 1
Grade 9
One of the key features that make Hanover High School a stand-out among other US high schools is the fact that it is one of just a handful of schools run on a truly democratic model. Students are the stewards, leaders and legislators responsible for the short and long-term academic and social well-being of the school. This unique feature of being a student at Hanover came about like all things in the present, as a product of the past. In an attempt to come to grips with the profound questions brought on by the Vietnam War and the 1970s, Hanover High School students, parents and faculty radically altered the existing model of school governance so ingrained in education at the time. Fittingly, the Social Studies Faculty feels very strongly that the first topic of study must be centered around this core set of events, principles, and ways of doing things that makes Hanover High School so unique. Being a student in this laboratory of democracy provides the experience necessary to understand the principles of American government. In addition the course seeks to immerse students in a carefully selected in-depth study of the key turning points in world history where the concepts of human rights and government have been at the forefront of events. The Civitas curriculum also emphasizes an essential set of skills: critical thinking, researching, note taking, discussion, debating, self-reflection, textual reading, essay writing, and historical analysis and interpretation.
SECOND YEAR
United States History Survey
Grade: 10
CR: 1
This introductory course in U. S. History provides students with a general survey of the historical events that happened between 1492 and 1941. The course is designed to help students strengthen their skills in reading, writing, discussion/presentation, and research through the text and diversified activities. In a typical week a student is expected to take notes based on the teacher’s presentation. These notes will help the students understand the concepts and the facts. Along with the notes there are a variety of daily activities that may include creating charts, posters, journal writing, group work, discussion and presentation of ideas to re-emphasize the concepts and facts for the students.
United States History
Grade: 10
CR: 1
The more advanced U. S. History is a challenging year-long study of major people, events, myths, issues and themes in our history from pre-Columbian times to 1941. Because students enrolled in the course are expected to do daily homework assignments in a challenging text, they should have strong reading and writing skills. Activities like debates, mock trials, oral reports and recitations form an important part of class activities. During the year the students will also take a midterm and final exam and will write a major U.S. History research paper.
THIRD YEAR
All students must take one semester of Contemporary American History Survey or Contemporary American History, and one semester of Global Studies or Geopolitics. There is no preferred order. Juniors are also eligible to sign up for senior electives but enrollment preference will go to seniors.
Contemporary American History
Grade: 11
CR: 1/2 Per Semester
Contemporary American History deals with the history of the United States from 1941 to the present. The course follows both a chronological and thematic organization of the events during that period. Some of the themes that are developed are life in the fifties, minorities and civil rights, protest, and American government. Current events are discussed in class on a regular basis. Evaluation takes place through unit tests and final examinations, oral presentations and various reading and research writing assignments.
Contemporary American History And Culture (CAH/CAC)
Grade: 11
CR: 1/2 Per Semester
Contemporary American History and Culture is an interdisciplinary course for juniors. The course combines the required history (CAH) with an English elective (CAC). This team-taught course focuses on US History, moving from THE PRESENT backwards to WWII, in order to ask: how did we get here? It is a “big issues”-based curriculum, organized around 4 major themes: War and Peace, Equality and Disparity, Individual influence and Mass Culture, Technology and Sustainability. A subtext of the course is to “pop the Hanover/Norwich bubble” and think critically about the realities in the larger USA. Guest speakers and films are a central part of the course. Student assessment is based on weekly writing assignments, oral presentations, research, reading assignments, and a final exam.
Geopolitics
Grade: 11
CR: 1/2 Per Semester
Geopolitics is a rapidly moving course focused on Contemporary World History, post WWII. The course explores issues of global concern: climate change, rising global terrorism, population and sustainability (among others), as well as issues that are specific to particular regions including Africa, Europe, Former Soviet States, China, Latin America and North America.
The course analyzes political and economics issues in historic context, and examines their current impacts. The course curriculum is designed to be responsive to evolving issues in the world today. Readings are from a variety of book and news sources. Regular reading notes, tests, presentations and an individual research project are an important part of the course.
Global Studies
Grade: 11
CR: 1/2 Per Semester
Global Studies focuses on modern world issues. Units are both geographic and thematic. Topics include population, the environment, politics, economics, modernization, immigration, and human rights. There is a major emphasis on current events. Students are expected to do in-class and outside reading, writing, and preparation for individual projects.
Contemporary American History Survey
Grade: 11
CR: 1/2 Per Semester
Modern America focuses on American history since 1941. In addition to an outline of important people and events, the course includes an examination of social, cultural, political, and economic themes in American History since 1941. Journal writing and a major percentage of coursework is completed in the classroom. During the semester students will be asked to take periodic unit tests, write a major essay and undertake a research project. There is a mid-term and final exam.
FOURTH YEAR: Junior – Senior Electives
Comparative Governments
Grade 12
CR: 1/2 Per Semester
Comparative Political Systems is a course where students will analyze the leading political ideologies of the modern world and understand the political philosophy from which they came. Ideologies will include anarchism, communism, socialism, fascism, nationalism, democracy, totalitarianism, and theocracy. Philosophy will include justice and power, liberalism, socialism, conservatism, and ideas of Plato, Machiavelli, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Stuart Mills, Karl Marx, and Edmund Burke, to name a few.
Comparative Political Systems will help develop the students' understanding of different political structures and practices around the world. We will include the six countries covered in the AP Comparative Government and Politics syllabus as examples of these core topics. For example, countries might include Great Britain, Russia, China, Mexico, Nigeria, and Iran. Topics include methodology, power, institutional structure, civil society, political/economic change, and public policy. Students who wish to sit for the AP Comparative Government exam receive preparation through this elective. Assessment is based on tests, essays, research projects and the commitment of students to actively participate in the course.
Constitutional Law
Grade: 12
CR: 1/2 Per Semester
The work of the Supreme Court - interpreting the Constitution and applying it to court cases - is the focus of this new elective. Studying current cases on the Supreme Court's Docket will allow students to expand their knowledge of the Constitution and apply it to questions that come before the court regarding issues such as free speech, privacy, and the Internet. To a degree, the Supreme Court has shaped social norms and we will examine how they have changed over time. In doing so, students will grapple with fundamental questions of behavioral change: do new laws change behavior? Or does the law follow the changing will of the people? The course begins with a brief history of the Supreme Court and the court system, then students will begin to analyze court decisions that have had a significant impact on American history, so-called Landmark Cases. The study of the current cases will then highlight the enduring nature of the Constitution, showing that it is a living document, subject to the interpretations of each generation of Americans. Given that Hanover High School is a democratic community, students will be able to apply their understanding of being schooled in this 'democratic experiment' to the larger democratic society that awaits them. Juniors and Seniors who have an avid interest in history, law, politics, government, and current events are encouraged to register for Constitutional Law. Evaluation will be based on a variety of assessments such as homework, tests, research projects and papers, class presentations and class participation.
Eastern Religions
Grade 12
CR: 1/2 Per Semester
Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shinto, are the focus of this one-semester course. Students will read from the Bhagavad Gita, the Dhammapada, The Analects, The Tao, and other sacred texts. We will discuss the concept of Man, and the moral teachings of the religions in historical context. Also, we will meet with leaders of local religious congregations and practitioners to learn about the role of their faiths in their lives and in the life of their community. The course is expected to be a challenge to students preparing for college. Assessment is based on tests, essays, research projects and the commitment of students to actively participate in the course.
Economics
CR: 1/2 Per Semester
Why do people make the economic choices that they make? What should the role of government be in the economy? These questions and many others will be explored in Economics and Public Policy which is an introduction to Micro and Macro Economics. The course will enable students to understand their role in the global economy and to evaluate conditions such as unemployment, inflation, growth and how individuals, with a knowledge of economics, can influence public policy.
Students will be assessed on written work, tests, class participation, research, preparation, simulations and presentations. In addition, students will take part in an all day international trade simulation conducted with over 100 New England high schools that is sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. By the end of the semester students should be able to critically read and discuss today's events from the perspective of an economist.
Ethics & Contemporary Issues
Grade: 12
CR: ½ Per Semester
Can be either a Social Studies OR Science elective credit
Prerequisites: Successful completion of Science required courses.
Ethics and Contemporary Issues is an interdisciplinary elective course, team taught by both a Social Studies and a Science Department teacher. What makes a contemporary issue and ethical one? Why should ethics be at the center of our approach to thinking and problem solving? This course allows students to study current issues in depth, from multiple perspectives, while considering the underlying ethical questions that are at the heart of the issue(s).
Students will participate both as active listeners, and active speakers, in class discussions and structured debates. In addition, students will research current issues, examine resources for bias, and prepare materials for use in class as well as for a final project. In the process of reading, discussing, and debating, it is expected that students will be challenged to formulate their own thinking about the issues they are studying.
While the course topics will stay tuned to emerging issues, content that may be studied includes subjects such as:
The Human Genome Project
Cloning
Ethics in business
Ethics in medicine
Legal ethics
Ethics in public policy
Ethics in war and conflict
Environmental ethics
Ethics and globalization
Interdisciplinary Seminar: Big Ideas in Modernity
Grade: 11, 12
CR: ½ Per Semester
Prerequisite: These courses are open to Juniors and Seniors who have proven competency in social studies and English and are willing to commit to frequent reading assignments, presentations, papers and daily discussions.
Modernity is concept that was born in ancient Europe and, for better or worse, has spread to most of the world. This team-taught, interdisciplinary course is concerned with the big ideas that have shaped our modern world. Its purpose is to identify some of the most important ideas we live with, reveal their origins and examine the premises underlying these ideas and the ways in which they affect our everyday existence. A teacher from the Social Studies Department and a teacher from the Foreign Language Department will co-teach this seminar. We will be examining primary source materials from ancient Greece to contemporaries around the globe, including: texts, artifacts, data, film, music, and art. In each quarter, we will focus on ideas related to specific domains, such as: 1. science & authority 2. individual rights & social justice 3. economics & ecology 4. identity, relationship & community. There will be two interrelated but distinct semester-long seminar courses (Big Ideas in Modernity Fall & Spring) which students could elect first, second or both semesters.
Media and Democracy
CR: 1/2 Per Semester
Is The Daily Show or This Week Tonight fiction? Is FOX News factual? Is Wiki-leaks a “champion of free speech”? Is that picture photo-shopped? Is this Blog for real? Who sent that Tweet? This one-semester course addresses questions about the current media environment, the explosion of information sources, and the development of cutting-edge technologies. Students will become discriminating news consumers at a time when the digital revolution is spawning an unprecedented flood of information and disinformation each day. Reading newspapers, online news sites, blogs, and more, we will learn what is news and what is not-so-newsworthy. Talking with journalists, politicians, and program designers, we will analyze the objectives of media use. The question we seek to answer is: what does it take to be an informed citizen? Evaluation will be based on a variety of assessments including homework, tests, research projects and papers, class presentations and class participation. The text for this course is the news itself.
Psychology
Grade 12
CR: 1/2 Per Semester
Psychology focuses on understanding human behavior through major psychological perspectives. Students should leave with a better understanding of how the brain works and what influences behavior. Students will also explore abnormal psychology through a final research project. The course draws on a number of authorities on human behavior- some from the community, some in required reading, and some through individual research. This course requires that students become actively involved in their own learning. Students' personal experience and insights inform class discussions. Evaluation will be based on class activities, participation with large group speakers, readings, homework, discussion, individual and group assignments, projects, quizzes, tests and class participation. There is a final exam at the end of the semester.
Seminar in Modern European Civilization
Grade 12
CR: 1/2 Per Semester
This semester seminar presents the development of western thought and society by tracing European history and culture from the Renaissance to the present. Students play a major role in the development of the curriculum through teaching seminars. The course is a rigorous history elective that emphasizes discussion, original thinking, creativity, and writing through the examination of various primary documents and key biographies. Students read original texts from western intellectual history and analyze period music, art, and literature. The class may include speakers and several museum visits. It is an essential course for Juniors and Seniors who are interested in gaining a foundation in the humanities as well as in political philosophy. There is a special focus on how the evolution of European society contributed to modern European issues. Students who complete this course may be able to sit for the AP European history exam. Students are assessed on participation, journal responses, essays, teaching seminars, presentations, quizzes, and tests.
Sociology
Grade: 12
CR: 1/2 Per Semester
Sociology focuses on understanding the behavior of groups in society. In order to do this it is essential to see the world through the eyes of others. Using this premise, students will study issues and change in society such as gender roles, the criminal justice system, cultural difference, and social movements. The course draws on a number of authorities on human behavior- some from the community, some in required readings, and some through individual research. This course requires that students become actively involved in their own learning, and draws on students' personal experience and insights. Evaluation will be based on class activities, participation with large group speakers, readings, homework, discussion, individual and group assignments, projects, quizzes, test and class participation. There is a final exam at the end of the semester.
Street Law
CR: 1/2 Per Semester
Street Law is a semester-long elective. The United States legal system is huge and can seem overwhelming. When you do not have the right information about something that is this complex it can be easy to find fault in what you do not know or understand. This course is designed to help students understand the complexities of our judicial system and with that understanding be able to make informed judgments and decisions. Street Law is an introduction to the legal system with an emphasis on criminal and juvenile law. Students will learn to differentiate criminal and civil law, felonies and misdemeanors, the rights of the accused, search and seizure rights and other constitutional guarantees. Students will conduct mock trials, interact with guest speakers including law enforcement and judicial officers, and take field trips. Assessment is based on tests, essays, research projects and the commitment of students to actively participate in the course.
Western Religions
Grade 12
CR: 1/2 Per Semester
Have you ever met a Rabbi? Do you open the door when the Mormon Missionaires stop by? Have you read the Qua ‘ran? Living in the US, we often make assumptions about the multiple forms western religions take without specifically understanding what adherents believe. Western Religions focuses on “Religions of the Book”, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, in their MANY forms: Shia, Sunni, Sufi, Catholic, Congregationalist, Christian Scientist, Charismatic, Evangelical, Orthodox, Progressive, Conservative, among many others. The course couples an understanding of the historical development of each religious tradition with conversations with believers. Students will read from the Torah, the New Testament, and the Qua’ran. Students take away a solid understanding of religious vocabulary and doctrine, and a library of questions that will help them be in conversation with peers, scholars, colleagues, and roommates to understanding how religious faith shapes peoples lives. Assessment is based on tests, essays, research projects and the commitment of students to actively participate in the course.