History of Food throughout the World and the United States. 

What Will We Learn?

History of Food is an interactive course that explores how food connects to history, culture, identity, economics, geography, and society. We will examine how people have grown, prepared, shared, and fought over food throughout history—and how food traditions continue to shape communities today.

Throughout the semester, students can expect to cook, investigate, taste, discuss, research, and create. We will explore culinary traditions from diverse cultures while asking important questions about power, migration, trade, inequality, food justice, and cultural identity.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• 🌎 Analyze how food reflects cultural identity, traditions, and beliefs.

• 📜 Connect food to historical events, including migration, colonization, slavery, immigration, and globalization.

• 🗺️ Explain how geography, climate, and natural resources influence what people eat.

• 💰 Examine the economic systems behind food, including agriculture, labor, trade, and the global food industry.

• ⚖️ Explore issues of food justice, food insecurity, and food sovereignty.

• 🔍 Use primary and secondary sources to investigate the history and significance of foods and culinary traditions.

• 👥 Recognize and respect diverse cultural foodways while understanding the difference between appreciation and appropriation.

• 👩‍🍳 Apply food preparation and safety skills through hands-on cooking experiences.

• 📣 Communicate historical arguments and research through presentations, projects, maps, infographics, and other creative formats.

• 🤔 Think critically about the question: What can food teach us about people, history, and the world around us?

What Should Students Expect?

This is not a traditional history class. You will learn history by doing.

Expect opportunities to:

🍳 Cook & Create – Prepare foods connected to the cultures and historical topics we study.

🌍 Explore Cultures – Investigate culinary traditions from communities around the world.

📚 Become a Food Historian – Use primary sources, historical evidence, maps, documentaries, and other resources to uncover the stories behind what we eat.

🧭 Make Connections – Discover how food connects to migration, identity, economics, politics, geography, and social justice.

🤝 Collaborate – Work with classmates on hands-on investigations, projects, and presentations.

💡 Ask Big Questions – Rather than simply memorizing facts, we will ask questions such as:

Who controls our food? Who has access to it? Where did it come from? Who prepared it? And what does it tell us about our history?

Our Goal

By the end of the school year, you should see food differently. Every meal has a story, and those stories can help us understand history, culture, and ourselves.

World History and Cultures

What Will We Learn?

World History & Cultures is a thematic exploration of the people, cultures, ideas, and events that have shaped our world. Throughout the school year, we will examine Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas through multiple social studies perspectives, including history, geography, economics, sociology, and civics.

Rather than simply memorizing dates and names, students will investigate why societies change, how cultures interact, and how historical events continue to influence the world we live in today.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• 🌎 Analyze major historical events and developments and explain their significance.

• 🗺️ Use geography to understand how location, resources, migration, and the environment influence societies.

• 💰 Explain how economic systems, trade, resources, and labor have shaped civilizations and global relationships.

• 👥 Examine how culture, religion, social structures, and traditions influence societies and individual identities.

• 🔄 Analyze connections between societies through migration, trade, cultural exchange, conflict, and globalization.

• 🔍 Evaluate primary and secondary sources to develop historical interpretations and conclusions.

• ⚖️ Examine issues of power, inequality, rights, and social change throughout history.

• 🧠 Think critically and make connections between historical events and contemporary global issues.

• 💬 Communicate historical ideas effectively through discussion, writing, presentations, debates, and projects.

• 🌐 Develop a broader understanding of the world by examining history from multiple cultural and geographic perspectives.

What Should Students Expect?

This is an active and inquiry-based history course. You will do more than take notes and memorize information.

Expect to:

🔎 Investigate – Explore historical mysteries, questions, and real-world problems.

🗺️ Map the World – Use maps and geographic data to understand how geography shapes history.

📜 Analyze History – Work with primary sources, photographs, maps, artifacts, speeches, and other evidence.

🤝 Collaborate – Participate in discussions, group investigations, simulations, debates, and projects.

🌍 Explore Different Perspectives – Examine historical events from the perspectives of different cultures, societies, and individuals.

💡 Make Connections – Connect the past to issues and events happening in the world today.

Our Goal

By the end of the semester, you should have a better understanding of how the world became the world we live in today.

Most importantly, you will learn to look beyond a single story or perspective and ask:

Who shaped this history? Whose voices are represented? Whose voices are missing? And how does the past continue to shape our world today?

United States History I

What Will We Learn?

United States History I is an interactive course that examines the major events, people, ideas, and movements that shaped the United States from the Civil War through World War I. Using both a chronological and topical approach, students will explore how the nation transformed from a divided country recovering from the Civil War into an industrial and global power.

Throughout the course, students will investigate how politics, economics, immigration, industrialization, race, gender, reform, and foreign policy shaped American society. We will examine both the challenges and opportunities that accompanied America's growth while considering the experiences of people whose voices and perspectives have often been left out of traditional historical narratives.

Students will learn history by investigating evidence, analyzing primary sources, debating historical questions, making connections, and examining multiple perspectives.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• 🇺🇸 Explain how the Civil War and Reconstruction transformed the United States.

• 📜 Analyze the development of American democracy and the expansion and restriction of rights.

• ⚙️ Explain how industrialization transformed the American economy, cities, and daily life.

• 🚂 Examine the growth of railroads, corporations, and the national market economy.

• 🌎 Analyze the experiences and contributions of immigrants and diverse communities in American history.

• ⚖️ Evaluate the struggle for civil rights and equality, including the experiences of African Americans, women, Native Americans, immigrants, and other marginalized groups.

• 🏭 Investigate working conditions, labor movements, and the rise of organized labor.

• 🗳️ Examine the Progressive Era and efforts to address social, political, and economic problems.

• 🧭 Analyze American expansion and imperialism, including America's changing role in the world.

• ⚔️ Explain the causes, experiences, and consequences of World War I and its impact on the United States.

• 🔍 Use primary and secondary sources to investigate historical questions and evaluate evidence.

• 🗣️ Develop and communicate historical arguments through discussions, debates, presentations, writing, and creative projects.

• 🤔 Think critically about the question: How did the United States change and who benefited from that change?

What Should Students Expect?

This is not simply a class about memorizing dates and names. You will learn history by doing history.

Expect opportunities to:

📜 Investigate the Past – Analyze photographs, political cartoons, speeches, letters, newspaper articles, laws, maps, and other primary sources to uncover the stories of the past.

🧑‍⚖️ Debate & Discuss – Examine controversial historical questions, defend positions using evidence, and consider perspectives different from your own.

🔍 Become a Historian – Ask questions, evaluate evidence, identify bias, and construct historical arguments rather than simply accepting one version of the past.

🗺️ Explore Change – Investigate how industrialization, urbanization, immigration, westward expansion, and technological innovation transformed the United States.

👥 Examine Different Perspectives – Explore history through the experiences of different groups and individuals, including workers, immigrants, women, African Americans, Native Americans, reformers, business leaders, soldiers, and political leaders.

🎨 Create & Communicate – Demonstrate your understanding through projects, presentations, historical investigations, debates, maps, infographics, and other creative formats.

💡 Ask Big Questions – Rather than simply memorizing facts, we will ask questions such as:

Who gets freedom? Who has power? Who benefits from progress? Whose voices are heard? And how did the United States become the country it is today?

Our Goal

By the end of the course, you should understand that history is more than a collection of dates and events—it is the story of people, choices, struggles, and change.

You will leave United States History I with a deeper understanding of how the Civil War, Reconstruction, industrialization, immigration, reform, the struggle for equality, American expansion, and World War I shaped the United States—and how the decisions and debates of the past continue to influence America today.