The History Department at Columbus School for Girls offers students in each division perspectives to better understand the world around them. The department offers courses in several areas of history and in the allied social sciences that are designed to establish the skills necessary for students to understand political, social, economic, and cultural relationships in the world.

The history curriculum seeks to promote reflective thinking and values education. More specifically, the curriculum emphasizes the following themes and subject areas: geography and geopolitical analysis, global interrelationships, historical change and continuity, imperialism, propaganda, church and state conflicts, the historical contributions of women to world civilizations, the challenges of citizenship, and individual moral responsibility. 

Particular attention is given to the skills necessary to develop a critical understanding of the diversity of global cultures and the issues confronting the world at large. These skills include the application of logic in constructing written analytical arguments, effective oral communication, an understanding of chronological relationships, note-taking and outlining skills, independent investigation, and effective use of library research and information technology.

What We’re Reading This Year:  

World History:  Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

Honors United States History:  Arthur Miller, The Crucible; David Von Drehle, Triangle: The Fire that Changed America.

AP Government:  George Orwell, 1984; Andras Szanto and Orville Schell, What George Orwell Didn’t Know: Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics; James Clavell, The Children’s Story; Fareed Zakaria, The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad.

AP European History: Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince; George Orwell, Burmese Days; Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil

Student History Projects

ASSIGNMENT:

Tales from the Great Depression