History & Humanities

History 9 places an emphasis on “making” history through the production of contested versions of the past. This course examines the complexity of the human experience in texts, contexts, and critiques across time and place. It seeks to instill the judgment, empathy, and cultural literacy needed for civic participation. History 9 fosters the development of historical thinking skills and essential skills in reading, collaboration, writing, and speaking. An introduction to research methods is an integral feature. Consistent with the vision to value and empower the many voices of our community and the grade-level theme (“Who am I?”), History 9 also traces the construction of the self through selected readings and visual media from global history.

History 10 places an emphasis on the twin themes of perspectives and processes in the global past and present. It examines the complexity of the modern world with consideration to historical antecedents. Cultural geography and political simulation are integral features. History 10 fosters the refinement of historical thinking skills and essential skills in reading, research, collaboration, writing, and speaking introduced in History 9. Consistent with the goals of a place-based education and the grade-level theme (“Where am I?”), History 10 also investigates those interesting questions that arise at the juncture where global processes intersect with their local manifestations.

U.S. History is a study of United States’ history from pre-Columbian America through the Cold War. Students study the major political, social, economic and cultural aspects of the American experience through extensive use of original documents. Broad themes are explored, including independence and constitutional government, sectionalism and civil war, industrialism and the foundations of modern American, and the responsibility of citizenship. Analytical writing assignments include document-based essays. Students complete a major research paper in the second semester. (Students may take Place-based American Studies OR U.S. History, but cannot take both.)

Place-Based American Studies examines essential themes in the literature and history of the United States, including place, identity, conflict, and consensus, through a lens that focuses on a fixed, place-based approach. This interdisciplinary, team-taught course also incorporates contributions from archaeology, cultural anthropology, politics, religion, film, and art. Rooted in serious research and off-campus experiences, including required field investigations to regional sites, students deconstruct the national narrative and develop a deeper connection to Sewanee, the Appalachian region, and the South. Projects of civic engagement and service-learning are integral parts of this course. Potential texts include Ely: An Autobiography by Ely Green,  The Unvanquished by William Faulkner, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, The Mountaintop by Katori Hall, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams, Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, and A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo as well as works by James Agee. For completion of this double-block, yearlong course, students receive credit in English (equivalent to two one-semester offerings) and History (equivalent to the graduation requirement in U.S. History). Note: Open only to juniors. Students completing Place-Based American Studies will be ineligible to take U.S. History and American Literature I and II as seniors.

American Electoral Politics uses the elections at the federal, state, and local levels in 2020 as an opportunity for examining past and current trends in the theory and practice of governmental and public affairs.  Topics of study will include the philosophical and legal foundations of the U.S. Constitution; the creation, evolution, and influence of political parties; the effects of voter participation; and the role of print, electronic, and social media.  As integral parts of the course, students will conduct a schoolwide mock election, analyze data and developments from SAS and nearby communities, and complete a project of service learning or civic engagement.

Environmental History addresses issues related to human interactions with the natural world over time.  It includes insights from history, geography, anthropology, the natural sciences, and other disciplines.  In addition, this course examines topics unique to Sewanee, the Cumberland Plateau, and the South, including the effects of plantation agriculture and sharecropping, the practices of an extractive coal industry, and the expansion of the Tennessee Valley Authority.  As integral parts of the course, students will hold an Earth Day program, write a research paper, and complete a project of service learning or civic engagement.