Facing History and Ourselves

Course Description

Facing History traces the history of discrimination, prejudice, and their escalation into violence and genocide worldwide. The course examines how people have been marginalized as well as how people have struggled to improve their societies. The course is taught from an interdisciplinary perspective with a heavy reliance on primary source materials, literature, and art, and makes considerable use of the latest in educational technology, with much of the work required for the course produced online. It considers the role of perpetrators, victims, bystanders, as well as rescuers and resisters as it looks at the role that individuals play in history. Current events are emphasized, as the issues raised are ongoing. The course seeks to equip students to become critically minded citizens with the ability to think through the big moral and political choices that they will confront as citizens in modern society. This course counts for the 11th grade History requirement, or could be used as an Elective in 12th grade.