History
BUA requires three years of history studies. Students delve deeply into the past, with an emphasis on reading primary texts as well as asking essential questions about what is meant by good government, active citizenship, and a “good life.” BUA’s interdisciplinary approach encourages students to develop an informed appreciation of arts, religions, and philosophies in their historical contexts as well as to examine major political and intellectual developments. After students complete a three-year journey that ends with a survey of United States history, they are encouraged to continue pursuing their history studies at the University level.
HI25: Power and Wisdom in the Ancient World (Grade 9)
Ninth-grade students are challenged to read deeply of ancient primary sources, explored within the context of the dynamic and complicated civilizations that gave rise to them. These primary texts emerge from polis-based Classical Greece, as well as from autocratic empires such as early China and Rome. A cross-disciplinary approach to understanding the past means that students will consider literature, arts, material culture, and philosophy in addition to the processes of change that created and destroyed past civilizations. Essential questions regarding the meaning of good government and the purpose of a “good life” will pervade the year. Students will be encouraged to bring their thoughts on these ancient questions into discussion of today’s world.
HI45: Makings of the Modern World (Grade 10)
What does the word “modern” mean, how does this meaning emerge, and how does it change over time? Tenth-grade students will return to this question again and again as they read deeply of sources from the vast medieval Islamic world (stretching from its roots in the Middle East into Africa, western Asia, and India), as they delve into the political and philosophical ideas of European Enlightenment thinkers, and as they begin to reckon with the violence and despair –and hope?–of the global twentieth century. Students will use literature, arts, material culture and philosophy in addition to narrative sources. Discussion-based classes will focus on substantive questions including the relationship of faith to the public sphere, the development of the concepts of human rights, and the moral obligation of a citizen to the community. Students will be encouraged to see these questions continuing to matter in the twenty-first century.
HI65: United States History (Grade 11)
This survey course on the history, culture, and society of the United States of America will challenge students to read deeply the works of a wide swath of American thinkers, builders, critics, and leaders. Both primary sources and the works of historians and essayists will be considered. Students can expect to explore deeply the word “America” and the ways its meaning have been layered, reborn, and used throughout the past four centuries. Students will encounter voices from many different backgrounds, each of whom contributes a section of the tapestry that makes up the story of the United States. They will be encouraged to consider their own contributions to that story as well.