The Social Studies Department is dedicated to the goal of creating an environment in which serious conversation and careful thought become a habit, a daily rhythm and a way of life for students as they study individuals and societies. Our courses present students with a variety of intellectual activities including writing thesis-oriented essays, creating collages and other artistic projects and presentations, engaging in debates, simulations and student-centered discussions, and conducting oral history projects. Central to all of these activities is careful thought. Students are asked to be imaginative, empathetic and honest, to be aware of their own biases and the biases of the people they study, to consider all the information at their disposal, to raise and consider obvious antithetical ideas, to avoid unsupported claims, and to develop a complex view of the meaning and implications of the key terms they use to structure their work. They are repeatedly asked to let detail lead them to honest and logical conclusions and to be specific, concise, precise and profound in their written and oral conversation.

Our courses are centered on Story, Ideas, and Introspection, and by raising deep, universal human concerns, they give students repeated opportunities to activate their own sense of morality and their own respect for life. Paperback histories, historical essays, philosophical essays, old and current newspapers and periodicals, poems, plays, novels, movies, guest speakers and autobiographical works are all used to present students with stories and ideas to study .

While our curriculum encourages students to think at a high level, it is designed to include all of our students. Thus we offer a variety of courses in order to ensure that students are asked to engage in activities and complete tasks that are appropriate to their own needs and abilities.

Factual knowledge is fundamental to any study of human life and an integral part of the units we teach, but the amount of historical information is far too vast for any person to master. True learning comes with meaningful experiences repeated over a period of years and is best developed when students have a passion to understand. Thus we offer a variety of social science electives, and we build all of our courses around in-depth units rather than broad surveys. It is through these units that we offer students the opportunity to develop the desire, the habit and the skills necessary to investigate the human past and present for themselves.

To meet graduation requirements for Social Studies each student must earn a passing grade in Social Studies I, United States History, and at least one full credit of Social Studies electives (two .5 -credit electives or one full-credit elective).