Social Studies

Department Overview: 

Social studies courses are designed to develop a knowledge and understanding of world cultures and history and to introduce a variety of social science disciplines.  Critical thinking, research, writing, organizational and study skills are taught and reinforced throughout the program. All courses integrate multicultural perspectives and activities into the curriculum and pedagogy.  Active oral participation is expected in many courses.  In order to select the most appropriate courses students should read course descriptions carefully and discuss their choices with their current social studies teacher and school counselor. 

Offerings of elective courses will be determined by student interest and enrollment and the provision of a balanced social studies program. Elective courses in particular are subject to cancellation if there is insufficient enrollment or if other departmental needs in required or core courses warrant it.

ARHS Graduation Requirement:

To graduate from ARHS, students must earn 12 social studies credits, 4 of which must be in U.S. History (from Reconstruction to the Vietnam era).

Massachusetts State University Admissions Requirement:

Two year-long courses, including one in U. S. History.

Grouping:

Courses are offered in several different configurations. All courses are taught at a college preparatory level.  Many courses also have an optional honors option.  Students in these courses will be taught in heterogeneous groups, but students electing to complete the honors option will be expected to meet additional requirements explained in the course descriptions.  Some courses have separate honors sections, although they may share some activities and presentations with other classes.  

Failure of Required Social Studies Courses

If a student fails the required ninth or tenth grade courses, the course requirements must be fulfilled by the successful completion of one of the following options or by a combination of them:

1. Successful completion of an approved summer school program.

2. Independent ALP contract or test-outs;

3. Repetition of the course, or as much of it as necessary to correct the deficiency; and/or

4. Such other alternatives as may be approved by the department head.

4-Year Sequence:

Most students will take Global History 1 or Global History 1/Honors in 9th grade; United States History or United States History/Honors in 10th grade; Global History 2, Global History 2/Honors, or AP World History in 11th grade; and two electives in 12th grade. 

Course Descriptions:

Global History 1 (103B)

Credits: 4

Prerequisite: None            

This semester-long course is designed to acquaint students with a variety of cultures across the globe from roughly the fifth to the seventeenth centuries.  Students will work to enhance reading, writing, test taking, organization, and study skills.  In addition, students will develop the skills of historical research and analytical writing using primary and secondary sources.  Finally, they will both celebrate and critique in context the accomplishments, advancements in human culture, and resistance movements of people across the globe.  Instructional materials and assessments will incorporate film, technology, the arts, and literature, and students will create projects individually and in groups that involve historical imagination and artistic products.   The course exposes students to multiple cultures from across the globe, including the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe.  Students will examine the histories and cultures through multiple perspectives, including, but not limited to, race, class, religion, and gender.  Students should expect regular out-of-class assignments.

Global History 1/Honors (105B)

Credits: 4

Prerequisite: None

This semester-long course will challenge students to interpret a variety of cultures across the globe from roughly 300 CE - 1850 CE.  Students will work to enhance reading, writing, test-taking, organization, and study skills.  In addition, students will develop the skills of historical research and analytical writing using primary and secondary sources.  In addition to grade-level readings, students will routinely examine supplemental readings above grade level.  Instructional materials will incorporate film, technology, the arts, and literature.  The course exposes students to multiple cultures from across the globe, including the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe.  Students will examine the histories and cultures through multiple perspectives, including, but not limited to, race, class, and gender.  Students should expect regular out-of-class assignments.  In general, Honors Global History 1 students will be expected to work at a greater level of independence and to master deeper content and analysis than in Global History 1.

Critical Issues in United States History (111A) 

Critical Issues in United States History/Honors  (111B)

Credits: 4

Prerequisite:  Global History 1 or Global History 1/Honors or permission of department head

This semester-long course covers critical issues in US history by exploring multiple themes from the colonial era through the post-Cold War period.  These themes include: Indigenous Sovereignty, Resistance, and Dispossession, the Evolution of American Capitalism, the African-American Experience, Progressive Democratization, Foreign Policy and Global Power, and The Post-Cold War Order.   All units approach the study of US history through multiple perspectives, including, but not limited to, race, class, gender, and sexuality.  As a result, stories traditionally overlooked by US history survey courses will take center stage.  Understanding the past through this critical lens is central to this study of US history.  The curriculum also emphasizes continuing development of social science inquiry skills including library research and analytical argument in both oral and written form.  As a result, students will assume the role of the historian and complete a formal academic research paper on a topic of their choice.  Reading assignments will consist of grade-level primary and secondary source materials.  Test-taking, organizational skills, active listening skills, written and oral presentation skills, and collaborative problem solving will also be taught.  NOTE: US History is a graduation requirement for all Massachusetts high school students.

Honors Option: US History/Honors students will be expected to work at a greater level of independence and to master deeper content and analysis than in US History.  The Honors Option requires above grade level reading and writing assignments, active class participation and the completion of independent reading and research components. Honors level tests, homework, essays, and cooperative projects will require the mastery of more authoritative sources and greater analytical depth of work with those sources than the College Preparatory equivalents.

Global History 2 (117B)

Global History 2/Honors (119B)

Credits: 4

Prerequisite: United States History or United States History/Honors or permission of department head

This full semester course explores significant historical events and trends across the globe from the late-19th century through the present day.  The course begins with a regional survey of the turn of the century with case studies in the Congo, Mexico, East Asia and the USSR.  This will be followed by units on Cultural Change and Gender, WWII, Decolonization, the Cold War, and Globalization.  Students will investigate how peoples of the world, including the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe, experienced formative global events, and how familiarity with these topics can help us to address contemporary problems.  Special attention will be paid to examining this history through multiple perspectives and diverse sources.  Instructional materials will incorporate primary and secondary sources, as well as film, arts, and literature.  In addition, all students will participate in a Civic Action Project to research a current issue and explore their power to effect change as global citizens. 

Honors Option: Global History 2/Honors students will be expected to work at a greater level of independence and to master deeper content and analysis than in Global History 2.  The Honors Option requires above grade level reading and writing assignments, active class participation and the completion of independent reading and research components. Honors level tests, homework, essays, and cooperative projects will require the mastery of more authoritative sources and greater analytical depth of work with those sources than the College Preparatory equivalents.

World History/AP (161B)

Credits: 4

Prerequisite: United States History or United States History/Honors or permission of department head.  This class is not open to students who have completed Global History 2 or Global History 2/Honors

AP World History is a semester-long college-level course that provides motivated students the opportunity to investigate the historical developments and processes that have influenced the evolution of and interactions among human societies over time. While examining these patterns of historical development and exchange from roughly 1200 to the present, students will confront issues of power, race, gender, religion, money, and humanitarian triumphs and tragedies.  AP World History asks students to explore the globe using primary and secondary sources and many challenging scholarly works.  As in Global History 2, students will pay special attention to examining the past through multiple perspectives and a diverse array of materials including art, film, media, essays, commentaries, and literature. The course revolves around the investigation of selected themes woven into key concepts covering four chronological periods of study.  These themes serve as unifying threads to help students relate the uniqueness of each time period to the “bigger picture” of history.  In addition to historical content, the course works to develop historical thinking skills, including analyzing historical sources and evidence, making historical connections, reasoning chronologically, and creating and supporting an historical argument.  Assessments include occasional quizzes, tests, and writing that involves both analysis and historical imagination.  The course culminates with the national AP World History examination, which will be administered in May.  Students are not required, however, to take the AP test.  If students are successful on the AP Exam, they could receive college credit at a college or university.  

Senior Electives:

American Society and Film (120)

American Society and Film/Honors (120a)

Credits: 2 

Prerequisite: US History. Open to Grade 12. 

As the nation’s dream factory manufacturing fantasies and cultural myths, Hollywood has given Americans their most intensive—if highly distorted—picture of their country’s past, from the styles of the rich and famous to the underside of American life.  Film has been instrumental in shaping our deepest presuppositions about race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexual conduct.  This course will examine how classic films have treated American political, economic, and social life from post-WWII into the 1970s.  Topics include: Cold War Politics and Popular Culture, Social Dynamics of the 1950s and early 1960s, African Americans and Hollywood, and the Vietnam Era.  Students will also work on visual literacy skills by studying film as an art form.  In addition to the selected Hollywood films, documentaries about the historical period as well as about film will be ‘texts’ for the course.  [Note: several of the films include graphic violence and some of the Hollywood films are rated R.]  There will be frequent homework assignments.  Each historical period will be examined through primary source documents and scholarly articles as well as through films.  A variety of assessments will be used to evaluate students’ progress in addition to the readings, such as analytical essays, graded discussions, oral presentations, and quizzes.  Students will be expected to view several films outside of class to supplement films shown in class.  Active, well-prepared participation in class discussions and activities is essential to success in this course.

Honors Option:  The Honors Option will require reading and writing skills above grade level.  Students should expect to work independently, at a quicker pace, and in more depth.  While many of the assignments are identical to those for the CP option, students can expect some differentiation at times, such as longer readings or additional questions.  Research and analytical skills are emphasized.  There will be an independent honors project, with several choices, enabling students to design the project and delve into a topic of personal interest.

Anthropology (123a)

Anthropology/Honors (123b)

Credits: 2

Prerequisite: US History. Open to Grade 12. 

This survey course explores a range of topics in cultural anthropology, focusing on variations among societies. Topics include: cultural theories, the construction of race and ethnicity, marriage and family systems, language and linguistic patterns, gender and status constructs, social and political organization, religion and ritual systems, environmental interaction, economic structures and cultural resilience and change. Students will practice observation skills and interview techniques and evaluate ethnographic articles and films to prepare for their own ethnographic research field study. Grade level readings will form the basis for a variety of class activities, including cross-cultural simulations, panel discussions, debates, and short research projects.  Active class participation in both large and small groups is required.

Honors Option:  The Honors Option will require a rigorous pace for independent completion of above grade level reading and writing assignments.  An additional research project will be assigned out of class and will culminate in a presentation in class. Other writing assignments will emphasize analysis and synthesis.

Constitutional Law & The Bill of Rights (1261a)      

Constitutional Law & The Bill of Rights/Honors (1261b)

Credits: 2

Prerequisite: US History. Open to Grade 12.

Should police be allowed to search a suspected terrorist's property without a warrant? Is affirmative action a form of racial discrimination?  Should cross burning be protected as a legitimate form of free expression?  Controversies surrounding freedom of expression, freedom of religion, discrimination and the rights of the accused are at the heart of this course about the operation, history and future of the US Supreme Court and the Bill of Rights.  We will examine the origins of the Constitution, First Amendment freedoms of expression, criminal justice and the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection with consistent attention to systemic racism and current issues.   Course work includes daily note taking from written and multimedia sources.  Research and analytical skills will be developed in small group and individual investigations that involve the evaluation of historical and contemporary sources.   Students will present and defend their positions on constitutional issues and precedents in classroom discussion, formal and informal written reflections, a research paper, and online platforms, and an appeals court hearing simulation.

Honors Option: The Honors Option requires above grade level reading and writing assignments, active class participation and the completion of substantial reading and research components. Honors level homework, essays, and research paper will require the mastery of more authoritative sources and greater analytical depth of work with those sources than the College Preparatory equivalents.

Consumer Economics (128)

Consumer Economics/Honors (128b)

Credits: 2

Students will examine how human behavior and its motivation to meet one’s needs and wants drive the U.S. financial system.  Specifically, Consumer Economics highlights the pressing economic realities of debt, credit, market freedoms  and restrictions, and fraud. It will investigate factors that impact decision-making and guide students in analyzing and implementing practical strategies. Through critical thinking, this course seeks to review contemporary sources, including magazines, government publications, advertisements, and periodical databases, to better understand and dictate the behavior and habits necessary for the 21st Century consumer.  While most reading assignments will require summary skills, some analytical and comparative skills will be necessary.  Core assessments include classwork homework, essays, cooperative projects and a final research project focused on a current consumer controversy and possible solutions.  All major writing assignments and projects underscore the ability to evaluate evidence, communicate an interpretation, and defend a position using appropriate evidence.  Class participation and discussions are essential to succeed in this class.

Honors Option: The Honors Option requires above-grade level reading and writing assignments, active class participation, and the completion of substantial independent reading and research components. Honors-level work will  center on  homework, essays, cooperative projects, and a documented research paper that will require the mastery of more authoritative sources and greater analytical depth of work with those sources than the College Preparatory equivalents.

Economics (135a)

Economics/Honors (135b)

Credits: 2

Prerequisite: US History. Open to Grade 12.

Economics is a course that explores fundamental social and political issues such as the best ways to develop wealth and spread prosperity.  We will survey contemporary theories about socialism, capitalism and markets.  We will also identify and analyze ways our economic systems have created and extended racial inequalities, embraced poverty and contributed to social injustice.  We will look to economics for solutions and levers of reform and repair.  We will focus on the critical evaluation of economic evidence - how do “experts” gather data about intangible concepts like inflation, debt and underemployment?  Can we trust their conclusions about how to manage the global economy and our own future?   Assignments require grade level reading and writing skills. Students are evaluated on class participation, understanding of economic vocabulary and concepts and the ability to apply economic concepts in a wide range of formal and informal platforms. Core assessments include quizzes, tests, note taking, informal reflections, formal essays, and cooperative projects.  

Honors Option: The Honors Option requires above grade level reading and writing assignments, active class participation and the completion of substantial independent reading and research components. Honors level homework, essays, cooperative projects and the documented research paper will require the mastery of more authoritative sources and greater analytical depth of work with those sources than the College Preparatory equivalents.

The Holocaust (145a)

The Holocaust Honors (145b)

Credits: 2

Prerequisite: US History. Open to Grade 12.         

The annihilation of six million European Jews, carried out by the German state under Adolf Hitler during World War II, has resisted understanding.  The questions persist:  how could it have happened; how was it possible for a highly civilized modern state to carry out the systematic murder of a whole people for no reason other than that they were Jews; and how was it possible for the world to stand by without halting this destruction?  This course attempts to answer these questions as it explores the causes, nature, and consequences of one of the greatest tragedies in world history.  Assignments require grade-level reading and writing skills.   Assessment for all students combines quizzes, tests, projects, and papers with an evaluation of contributions to class discussions and activities.

Honors Option:  The Honors Option will require above-grade-level reading and writing skills and students should expect to work independently at a faster pace and in greater depth.  Analytical skills are also emphasized.  In addition, students selecting the Honors Option will read and complete a project on Wladyslaw Szpilman’s Holocaust memoir, The Pianist.

Inequalities and Justice (1281)

Inequalities and Justice/Honors (1281a)

Credits: 2

Prerequisite: US History. Open to Grade 12.

The course will examine how society assigns, shapes, reinforce, and enforces adherence to the definition, understanding, and experiences of race, gender, and class in America.  Central to analyzing these identities, students will investigate inequalities in institutions like finance, housing, education, and  the criminal justice system. Through readings, economic and historical analyses, research and writing, films, discussions, and simulations,  students will learn how identities, often by design, are unequal, and the results can often be an injustice.

Honors Option: The Honors Option requires above-grade-level reading and writing assignments, active class participation, and the completion of substantial independent reading and research components. Honors-level work requires classwork, homework, essays, and cooperative projects. Also, a quarter-long, documented research paper will require the mastery of more authoritative sources and greater analytical depth of work with those sources than the College Preparatory equivalents.