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The Ignatian vision calls us to become “Men for others” especially by working for justice in our country and in our world. Education provides us with the intellectual tools for accomplishing our mission of service and justice.
The Social Studies curriculum at Prep reflects the above priorities and is thus organized around the central concept of justice. In fulfillment of the school's three and one-half year Social Studies requirement, the courses offered by the Social Studies department explore the historical, political, religious, economic, and social dimensions of what constitutes a just society.
Course Offerings
Freshman Year
Western Civilization
This course surveys the development of western civilization from ancient empires to post World War I Europe. The textbook material is supplemented by videos, slide shows, group presentations and primary sources.
Sophomore Year
Global History
This course is a general survey of the history of China, Japan, Africa and Latin America from the Ancient Period (2500 BC) to the Modern Period (1350 to present.) The course will also introduce students to regional and global themes. Particular attention will be given to the relationship between non-western regions/nations and the rise of European colonization and imperialism. Students will take a practice SAT II World History exam and will be encouraged to take the actual exam on a date closest to the completion of the course.
AP World History
The AP World History course is designed to develop a greater understanding of the evolution of global processes and contacts, in interaction with different types of human societies. This understanding is advanced through a combination of selective factual knowledge and appropriate analytical skills. The course highlights the nature of changes in international frameworks and their causes and consequences, as well as comparisons among major societies. The AP syllabus is followed and students are prepared for the AP exam in May. This course is for highly motivated sophomores who have been strongly recommended by their Freshmen World History teacher, and have demonstrated advanced skills in writing, reading comprehension, and academic commitment. Students must apply to the course for selection by the department and Academic Dean.
Junior Year
U.S. History Survey
This is a survey course that explores the people, events, and forces that have shaped the American experience from the Age of Exploration to the 1980s. The course is reading intensive and also emphasizes expository writing based on secondary and primary sources.
AP U.S. History Survey
This is a survey course that explores the people, events, and forces that have shaped the American experience from the Age of Exploration to the 1980s in depth and breadth following the AP syllabus. This course will prepare students to take the AP examination in U.S. History in May.
Senior Year
AP Economics
This course is a standard year-long course in college-level economics. In the first semester macroeconomics is treated: Public Finance, Inflation, Recession, The Federal Budget, Keynesian Theory, Supply-Side Theory and Monetarist Theory will be the chief subjects of discussion. In the second semester, the course will turn its attention to microeconomics: Theory of the Firm, Elasticity, Utility Functions, Perfect and Imperfect Competition; Labor and Resource Markets will be treated. The student will sit for two separate AP exams in May, one in Macro, the other Micro.
AP U.S. Government and Politics
This course is designed to prepare students for the AP exam in May. Moving at an accelerated pace, the nuts and bolts of government will be covered-- constitutional underpinnings, public opinion, conventional and unconventional political participation, interest groups, political parties, elections, civil rights and liberties, and the institutions of Congress, the Presidency, and the Supreme Court. A public policy component will be achieved through high level reading materials and written exercises. Classroom debate and discussion will also play a key factor in the presentation of the material.
Prerequisites: students must have demonstrated academic ability through their overall academic record; all applicants are subject to departmental approval.
AP U.S. Politics and Comparative Government
This course is a two semester course. During the first semester, students will explore the fundamentals of the U.S. political system including institutional underpinnings such as Congress, Presidency, and the U.S. Supreme Court. The Electoral College, political parties, campaign finance, voting behavior, the media, and interest group behavior will be covered extensively. A mock political convention will also be held. AP Comparative Government is covered in the second semester. This serves as an interdisciplinary course that will provide students with conceptual tools necessary to develop an understanding of some of the world’s diverse political structures and practices. Six countries form the core of this comparative study – Great Britain, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, and Russia. An emphasis on themes such as globalization, democratization, and citizen-state relations will be highlighted. Embassy briefings will be included. Two AP exams will be taken at the conclusion of the course.
AP Modern European History
In addition to basic exposure to the factual narrative, the goals of this course are to develop an understanding of some of the principal themes of modern European History as well as an ability to analyze historical evidence. Themes for the course will be chosen from political and diplomatic history, social and economic history. The course will cover European history from the Renaissance to 1970. The textbook will be supplemented by other readings. There will be a five page paper each quarter and one shorter paper each quarter. Quizzes will be given on random basis.
Prerequisites: teacher/departmental approval.
Political Economy
The Political Economy course consists of a semester of U.S. Government-Politics and a semester of Macroeconomics. It seeks to introduce students to key concepts, theories, structures, and processes in both government-politics and economics and to illuminate connections between them. The semester of Macroeconomics include topics such as Recession, Inflation, Stagflation, Budget Analysis, International Markets, and Tax Policy. Current economic events introduced in the form of classroom debates and presentations will receive extensive coverage. The intent is to prepare students to perform ably when they are subsequently exposed to college marcro-economics. The semester of U.S. Government and Politics focuses on institutions of government such as Congress, the Presidency, the Supreme Court, and the Bureaucracy in terms of their development and current conditions. Political concepts such as media influence, political socialization, federalism, and individual rights are also considered and used to expand the students understanding of the workings of government. Upon completion of this course, students will have a rich fund of knowledge about the structure and workings of government, thereby preparing them for college study in the field of government and politics.
AP Art History
This course will fulfill the senior year social studies requirement. The course description is found in Art section.
AP Statistics
Please refer to description in Mathematics section.