History & Humanities

Historical Studies 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. Historical Studies 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?”), Historical Studies also traces the construction of the self through selected readings and visual media from global history

Global History 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. Global History fosters the refinement of historical thinking skills and essential skills in reading, research, collaboration, writing, and speaking introduced in Historical Studies. Consistent with the goals of a place-based education and the grade-level theme (“Where am I?”), Global History also investigates those interesting questions that arise at the juncture where global processes intersect with their local manifestations.

Place-Based American Studies (open to juniors, replaces U.S. History and 2 11/12 English courses) 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 as seniors.

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.)

Taking a cue from the documentary film by André Singer, Night Will Fall, this course examines political and moral lessons from the tragedies of the Shoah and the mass killings in Armenia, Cambodia, the Balkans, Rwanda, and Darfur. Holocaust and Genocide Studies considers the implications of these events for American foreign policy, international law, scientific and medical experimentation, restitution for survivors, and interfaith understanding. This course asks questions about collaboration and complicity. Attempting to understand the Shoah from “within the Jewish experience,” Holocaust and Genocide Studies gives considerable attention to the study of Jewish thought and practice and the history of antisemitism. Using honest language and historical images, this course evaluates the evolving and often conflicting literature on the Final Solution, including the contentious Browning-Goldhagen debate over culpability: Was the Holocaust perpetrated by “ordinary Germans” or “willing executioners”?

Latin American Studies offers a study of the complex and diverse region sometimes known reductively as Latin America. Following a chronological approach, this course traces events from the era of the European encounter to the present. Topics include the institution and legacy of colonialism, the search for new national identities, and the inception of contemporary cultural, political, and economic challenges. Latin American Studies also considers the influence of global trends on the region.