social studies

A liberal education encourages students to shape their individual identities and formulate their own values, and gives them the tools and confidence to act on those values. The study of history and pursuit of its allied disciplines are critical elements of that education. In our program, students are asked to engage with thinkers from antiquity to the present day and from all stations in life—to listen respectfully to their ideas, wrestle with them, and then embrace, modify, or reject them. To do so effectively, they learn to approach these figures and their ideas within the political, social, religious, and other contexts in which they lived. At the same time, students become better informed about the issues and challenges facing our own society, and draw parallels, where appropriate, between past and present.

Recognizing the fundamental tension in teaching and learning history between covering facts and developing historical habits of mind, the Social Studies program emphasizes the analytical and reflective. Teachers do not simply present students with facts, but guide them toward interpretation. Like professional historians, students work foremost with primary sources, a range of documents, artifacts, music, and works of art. Primary sources operate in tandem with secondary readings, the first providing vivid, tangible examples, and the latter offering context. Students learn to question all sources by examining any biases or agendas

of their creators. Skills learned in this discipline, including the ability to assess evidence, and to judge the merits of conflicting accounts and interpretations, areapplicable to many fields of study and work.