Social Sciences

The aim of anthropology is to use a broad approach to gain an understanding of our past, present, future and address the problems humans face in biological, social and cultural life. This course will explore the evolution, similarity and diversity of humankind through time. It will look at how we have evolved from a biologically and culturally weak species to one that has the ability to cause catastrophic change.

Anthropology has helped us better understand cultures around the world and through different time periods. Following Anthropology I, this course continues the study of global cultures and the ways that humans have made sense of their world. Students will examine some of the ways that cultures have understood and given meaning to different stages of life and death. The course will also examine the creation of art within cultures and examine how cultures evolve and change over time.

The field of archeology helps us to better understand the events and societies of the past that have helped to shape our modern world. This course focuses on these techniques, methods, and theories that guide the study of the past.

In this course, students will explore the field of criminology or the study of crime. In doing so, they will look at possible explanations for crime from psychological, biological, and sociological standpoints, explore the various types of crime and their consequences for society, and investigate how crime and criminals are handled by the criminal justice system. Why do some individuals commit crimes but others don’t?

With a strong emphasis in critical thinking skills, students explore current events. Topics include human rights, civic action and responsibility, environmental issues, globalization and the economy, politics and government, social problems both local and global, and other timely topics. Students learn about logic, and faulty logic, and how to analyze various media for engaging in propaganda and faulty logic. Newspapers, magazines, television, the Internet, and other media will be utilized.

Is there life on other planets? What extremes can the human body endure? Can we solve the problem of global warming? Today, scientists, explorers, and writers are working to answer all of these questions. Like Edison, Einstein, Curie, and Newton, the scientists of today are asking questions and working on problems that may revolutionize our lives and world. This course focuses on 10 of today’s greatest scientific minds.

Students will survey the broad history of antisemitism going back to antiquity and then look closely at the circumstances of Germany following World War I that enabled the Nazi Party to take power and dehumanize the Jewish people and others. Students will also study the details of the Holocaust era, asking questions of what it means to be a perpetrator, collaborator, bystander, or hero.

How do language, religion, and landscape affect the physical environment? How do geography, weather, and location affect customs and lifestyle? Students will explore the diverse ways in which people affect the world around them and how they are affected by their surroundings. Students will discover how ideas spread and cultures form, and learn how beliefs and architecture are part of a larger culture complex.

How do law and the U.S. legal system affect your daily life? In this course, students will examine aspects of the foundations of the U.S. legal system as well as different types of law including civil, criminal, family, and consumer law. Students will analyze key principles underlying law such as justice and how the state and federal court systems work to fulfill these principles. 

Self-knowledge is the key to self-improvement. Psychology is a subject that can be applied to everyday life. New research and ideas will change the way we view ourselves and each other. This course offers exciting online psychology experiments about our own behavior and how we behave with other people.

In this course, students will enrich the quality of their lives by learning to understand the actions of others. Topics include the study of memory, intelligence, emotion, health, stress and personality. This course offers exciting online psychology experiments about the world around us.

This course will take students on an exciting adventure that covers more than 2500 years. Along the way, they'll run into some very strange characters. For example, students will read about a man who hung out on street corners, barefoot and dirty, pestering everyone he met with questions. They'll read about another man who climbed inside a stove to think about whether he existed.

This course provides a foundation of knowledge in psychology and psychological methods. Students discuss learning and cognition and gain understanding in phases of development from a psychological perspective. They learn about and discuss personality, including influences, theories, and measurements. They explore psychological health issues.

Students will learn more about the challenges facing societies and the relationships between societies, governments, and individuals in these areas. Each unit will focus on a particular area of social concern, often with a global view, and examine possible solutions at both a structural and individual level.

Following Social Problems I, this course continues to examine the social problems that affect individuals and societies in the world today. Students learn about the overall structure of the social problem as well as how it impacts their lives. Each unit focuses on a particular social problem, including racial discrimination, drug abuse, the loss of community, and urban sprawl, and discusses possible solutions at both individual and structural levels.

The world is becoming more complex. How do beliefs, values and behavior affect the people around us and the world we live in? In this course, students will examine problems in our society and learn how human relationships can influence their lives. Exciting online video journeys to different areas of the world are also presented in the course.

Sociology is the study of people, social life, and society. The development of a sociological imagination will enable students to examine how society shapes human actions and beliefs, and how such actions and beliefs in turn shape society. Exciting online video journeys to different areas of the sociological world are also presented in the course.

Students learn the history and current structure of the United States government, and how to be active participants in the U.S. political system. They gain understanding of the underlying philosophies that formed the current system, explore the concept of democracy and individual rights, review landmark court decisions, evaluate and take positions on key issues, and learn to think critically.

U.S. History A follows a review of the nation’s beginnings and the impact of the Enlightenment on U.S. democratic ideals. The course traces the change in the ethnic composition of American society as well as the changes to the map of the United States. An emphasis is placed on the expanding role of the federal government and federal courts in its first hundred years as well as the continuing tension between the individual and the state. Students learn that rights under the U.S.

Introduction to Women’s Studies focuses on the experience of women, but it’s appropriate for anyone who wants to learn to critically examine films while learning about the history of the women’s movement and how gender, race, and social class influence us. 

In World History, students study major turning points that shaped the world, from the time of the early River Valley Civilizations and Classical Civilizations (Greece, Rome, Han China, India) through the present. They will compare early civilizations and look at the rise of religions, trade routes, etc. and how those impacted societies across the globe.

This course focuses on the major religions that have played a role in human history, including Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Shintoism, and Taosim. Students will trace the major developments in these religions and explore their relationships with social institutions and culture. The course will also discuss some of the similarities and differences among the major religions and examine the connections and influences they have.