• Required Courses - Summary Descriptions

• Electives

• Standardized Test Information

• Teachers

• Staff Development 

• New Jersey and Local History Links

• Social Studies Education Links 

• Hands-on History

• Social Studies Level Recommendation Criteria

• Summer Assignment Information

• Overview

• Humanities Department Tutorial Schedule

• Humanities Writing Center

• Humanities Department Due Date and Late Policies

• Avoiding Plagiarism: Madison High School Academic Integrity Review

• Language Arts Department 

• Social Studies Department

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

• AP U.S. GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS - 5 credits – 1 year - Grades 11, 12

Pre-requisite: Teacher recommendation, a final grade of B- in AP US History or A in Enriched US History 2, Enriched US History 1 and completion of summer project. Note: Students enrolled in AP courses are required to take the AP exam.

This elective course provides students with an analytical perspective on government and politics in the United States. The course includes both the study of general concepts used to interpret U.S. policies and the analysis of specific examples. It also requires familiarity with the voices, groups, institutions, beliefs, and ideas that constitute U.S. politics

• AP MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY 5 credits – 1 year - Grades 11, 12

Pre-requisite: Teacher recommendation, a final grade of B- in AP History or A in Enriched U.S. History 2, Enriched U.S. History 1, and completion of summer project. Note: Students enrolled in AP courses are required to take the AP exam.

This course offers a survey of European history from 1400 to 1980. Students use a college-level text, read both primary and secondary sources, do considerable writing, and make oral presentations. In addition to familiarity with major events, students develop their critical thinking skills, finding in each European history unit the significance of an individual, group or event. They must read critically, weigh evidence, and draw valid conclusions. They prepare for the AP Exam in May, which all members of the class are required to take. Those with qualifying scores may earn college credit.

• AP PSYCHOLOGY 5 credits - 1 year - Grades 11, 12

Pre-requisite: Teacher recommendation, a final grade of B- in AP or Honors United States History or A in Enriched U.S. History 1 or 2 and completion of summer assignment. Note: Students enrolled in AP courses are required to take the AP exam.

This course offers an introduction to the systematic and scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of human beings and other animals. Included is the consideration of psychological facts, principles, and phenomena associated with each major subfield of psychology. Students also learn about the ethics and methods psychologists use in their science and practice. Students prepare for and are required to take the examination in May and may earn college credit depending on their score on that exam.

• HUMAN BEHAVIOR - 2.5 credits - 1 semester - Grades 11,12

Pre-requisite: None

This is an introduction to basic sociological and psychological concepts and draws on the various fields of each social science discipline--learning, personality, behavior, heredity, mental illness, social psychology, race, gender, deviance, and social control. Students examine the behavior of both humans and animals in an attempt to improve their understanding of human behavior.

• INTRO TO ECONOMICS - 2.5 credits - 1 semester - Grades 11,12

Pre-requisite: None

Students learn how our market economy deals with the basic conflict between unlimited wants and limited resources. Attention is given to such topics as inflation and deflation, business cycles, supply and demand, our monetary system, and ways in which other types of economies deal with economic problems. Students learn basic economic laws and examine different types of economic behavior.

• HISTORY Of HOLLYWOOD - 2.5 credits -1 semester - Grades 11,12 - Offered Even Years

Pre-requisite: None

How accurate is the history filmed by Hollywood moviemakers? This course examines "historical" commercial films as they are presented to modern moviegoers. Students will learn to question what they see on the screen. Sorting through the hype for the accurate historical content and assessing the value of a film will be done through critical movie viewing, and research and analysis of primary and secondary sources.

• CURRENT AFFAIRS/DEBATE - 2.5 credits - 1 semester - Grades 9-12

Pre-requisite: None

Students will learn about a broad range of contemporary issues that impact American lives today. Social issues, the economy, foreign policy, and government decisions and actions will make up the categories of current affairs to be studied. Students will form research teams to examine these issues. The semester will culminate in a formal debate of one issue which the students select as most significant.

• HOLOCAUST/GENOCIDE STUDIES (261) 2.5 credits - 1 semester Grades 11 - 12

Prerequisites: None.

This course will explore the psychological, socio-economic, political and historical forces that allow the occurrence of genocide in contemporary and historical contexts. Study of the Holocaust as propagated by the Nazis in Germany (1933-1945) will be central to the course, as well as (but not limited to) more recent genocidal episodes in the Middle East, Darfur, the Balken Penninsula, Rwanda, and Cambodia. The course will also explore historical antecedents to the Nazi reign of terror, such as the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Topics such as religious/ethnic divisions in the Balkan region, ethnic diversity in Africa, prewar European anti-Semitism, and communist ethnic cleansing will be explored. In addition, students will study the behavior of ordinary citizens who either helped people to escape, stood by and did nothing, or feigned ignorance despite clear evidence of genocide in their midst.