High School Humanities
The humanities curriculum incorporates deep and thorough study of literature, writing, history, aesthetics, and social studies. The history curriculum explores United States and world history through a global lens. Students examine a variety of media including primary documents, in-depth narratives, monographs, newspapers and periodicals, textbooks and other reference texts, and documentary film to build multiple perspectives on historical events. History Morning Lessons offer in-depth study of a range of topics from ancient times to the present. This sequence helps students recognize the patterns and turning points in the development of civilization. In addition to Morning Lessons, students receive instruction in history though quarter- and semester-long track classes.
The aesthetics courses further sharpen the students’ perspectives on world events through the study of visual arts, theater, poetry, music, and architecture as each has evolved though time. Senior students take a broad view of human thinking and meaning-making itself in the History of Consciousness course in which they study the evolution of thought and philosophy. Masterworks of prose and poetry, from ancient to contemporary writers, are studied in literature Morning Lessons and track classes each year.
