Social Studies

Global Politics (SST058)

Prerequisite: None | Grade Level(s): 10-12 | Credits: 1   

Global  Studies/Politics offers an in-depth study of world events as they occur and the impact they have on both the United States and foreign countries. Knowledge of world geography, world cultures including religions, and world governments will be utilized. Chrome books will be used extensively for both research and up-to-date reporting on current events.

Humanities Survey (SST301)

Prerequisite: None | Grade Level(s): 11-12 | Credits: 1   

The Survey of Humanities course introduces students to the concept of humanities. Students compare several different eras of history; how art, literature, music, philosophy, architecture, politics, and religion differ from one era to the next; and the influences those ideas and beliefs have had on history.  

Psychology (SST254)

Prerequisite: None | Grade Level(s): 10-12 | Credits: 1   

 In Psychology, students examine human and animal behavior while relating experimental studies to practical problems. Topics include: sensation, perception, learning, memory, motivation, emotion, stress, development, intelligence, personality, psychopathology, therapy, and social psychology.

Virginia & United States Government (SST151)

Prerequisite: Virginia & United States History | Grade Level(s): 12 | Credits: 1   

Virginia & United States Government develop an appreciation for the American system of government; learn how the American government system works and how the individual is part of the government; and learn to understand and respect the rights that all people have. Topics that are studied include political behavior, comparative governments and economics, foundations of American government, legislative process, civil rights, presidential government, and the judicial process.

Virginia & United States Government A (SST151A)

Prerequisite: Virginia & United States History A (preferred) | Grade Level(s): 12 | Credits: 1   

 Students in Virginia and United States Government A will evaluate the intent of the framers of the Constitution as they explore the institutions of government, the political process, and rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Emphasis will be on incorporating different viewpoints (via outside readings) to evaluate a topic of study. Other emphasis will be on writing that will show both analysis and evaluative skills. These are skills that are necessary for pursuit of higher education in political and social sciences.

Advanced Placement United States Government & Politics (SST157Y)

Prerequisite: AP United States History (preferred) | Grade Level(s): 12 | Credits: 1   

AP U.S. Government and Politics provides a college-level, nonpartisan introduction to key political concepts, ideas, institutions, policies, interactions, roles, and behaviors that characterize the constitutional system and political culture of the United States. Students will study U.S. foundational documents, Supreme Court decisions, and other texts and visuals to gain an understanding of the relationships and interactions among political institutions, processes, and behaviors. They will also engage in disciplinary practices that require them to read and interpret data, make comparisons and applications, and develop evidence-based arguments. In addition, they will complete a political science research or applied civics project. This course is usually taken with Dual Enrollment College Composition I &  II or Economics & Personal Finance in a year-long block. As an integral part of the rigor of the course, each AP student is expected to take the AP exam in May.

Virginia & United States History (SST101, SST101Y)

Prerequisite: World Geography | Grade Level(s): 11 | Credits: 1   

 Virginia & U.S. History is a required course emphasizing the chronological survey of American history. General areas of study include the earliest inhabitants, exploration, colonization, major wars, social issues, and current events. Essential documents are studied in detail, including some of the following: the Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Bill of Rights, and Constitution. Also included are the three branches of government, theories of government, and civic responsibility. Students are encouraged to compare the American system with other countries’ systems and to draw conclusions based on facts. 

Virginia & United States History A (SST101A)

Prerequisite: World History | Grade Level(s): 11 | Credits: 1   

Virginia and United States History A students will examine the historical development of American ideas and institutions from the Age of Exploration to the present in depth. Students will explore American culture through chronological survey of major issues, movements, people, and events in United States and Virginia history while focusing on political and economic history. Students will use historical and geographical analysis skills to explore in detail the events, people, and ideas that fostered our national identity and led to our country’s preeminence in world affairs. Students will be expected to complete more reading, with a focus on primary documents, outside of the classroom. Students will also be required to demonstrate their writing skills on formal assessments such as essays and short papers. The study of history must emphasize the intellectual skills required for responsible citizenship. This course is primarily for students who are working towards the advanced studies diploma. 

Advanced Placement United States United States History (SST104Y)

Prerequisite: World History from 1500 A.D. (preferred) | Grade Level(s): 11 | Credits: 1   

 In AP U.S. History, students investigate significant events, individuals, developments, and processes in nine historical periods from approximately 1491 to the present. Students develop and use the same skills and methods employed by historians: analyzing primary and secondary sources; developing historical arguments; making historical connections; and utilizing reasoning about comparison, causation, and continuity and change. The course also provides eight themes that students explore throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments in different times and places: American and national identity; work, exchange, and technology; geography and the environment; migration and settlement; politics and power; America in the world; American and regional culture; and social structures. This course is usually taken with English 11AA or Economics & Personal Finance in a year-long block. As an integral part of the rigor of the course, each AP student is expected to take the AP exam in May. This course includes a Standards of Learning (SOL) test for students needing to earn a verified social studies credit.

World Geography (SST001, SST001Y)

Prerequisite: None | Grade Level(s): 9 | Credits: 1   

World Geography is a course designed to study of the world’s people and environments with historical emphasis on Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. The knowledge, skills and perspectives of the course are centered on the world’s population and culture characteristics, its countries and regions, landforms and climates, natural resources and hazards, economic and political systems, and migration and settlement patterns. Spatial concepts of geography will be linked to chronological concepts of history to set a framework for studying human interactions. The course will emphasize how people in various cultures influence, and are influenced, by their physical and ecological environments. Using text, maps, charts, and a variety of geographic inquiry/research and technology skills, students consider the relationship between people and places while asking and answering basic geographic questions. 

World Geography A (SST001A)

Prerequisite: None | Grade Level(s): 9 | Credits: 1   

 World Geography A is a course designed for students to gain knowledge, skills and perspectives on the world’s population and culture characteristics, its countries and regions, landforms and climates, natural resources and hazards, economic and political systems, and migration and settlement patterns. The course will emphasize how people in various cultures influence, and are influenced, by their physical and ecological environments. Students will interact with a variety of resources to engage in critical thinking and problem solving activities aimed at mastering an understanding of the world in which we live. Students will be expected to learn independently outside the classroom, read and analyze documents and write formal compositions in order to gain full value from class activities. This course is primarily for students who are working towards the advanced studies diploma. 

World History to 1500 A.D. (SST052)

Prerequisite: World Geography | Grade Level(s): 10-12 | Credits: 1   

Students should take this class if they want to understand where American social and cultural values came from. Modern society descended from the ancient cultural hearths before us. Students who want to better understand culture, study the humanities in college, and have a more thorough classical education should take World History I. Major topics include human origins and early civilizations, classical civilizations and rise of religious traditions, post-classical civilizations (ancient Greece, Rome and Byzantium), regional civilizations and empires (Maya, Aztec, Ghana, Japan, China, Songhai, Mongol, etc.), medieval period and the Renaissance. 

World History from 1500 A.D. (SST053)

Prerequisite: World Geography A (preferred)  | Grade Level(s): 10-12 | Credits: 1   

This course primarily emphasizes Western European history. Geographic influences on history are explored with increasing attention given to political boundaries that developed with the evolution of nation-states. Significant attention is given to the ways in which scientific and technological revolutions created new economic conditions that produced social and political changes. The people and events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are emphasized for their balance between the broad themes of history and the probing of specific historic events, ideas, issues, persons, and documents. Using text, maps, pictures, stories, diagrams, charts, and a variety of chronological and inquiry/research skills, students develop competence in chronological thinking, historical comprehension, and historical analysis. This advanced level course is designed for students who are strong in history and usually are pursuing an advanced studies diploma.