Advanced Art History entails enrollment in all three trimester art history courses, more challenging tests and other assessments. Beginning with prehistoric cave painting and ending with contemporary art, the advanced course will cover a variety of types of art, such as painting, sculpture, mixed media, and architecture, from around the world. Students will develop critical thinking skills as they examine cultural objects representing power structures, particularly class, race, gender, sexuality, and religion.

Students may prepare for the AP Art History exam in conjunction with the course, but the exam is not required. 

Eleventh grade yearlong course

A college-level seminar in U.S. history, this course prepares dedicated history students for the A.P. exam through reading, discussion, and practice of exam techniques. Topics include the nation’s birth, the rise of political parties, the schism between North and South, the industrial revolution, Progressivism, immigration, the rise of the U.S. to world power, and the meaning of equality and liberty in the United States.

Prerequisites: 

1. B+ or higher in 10th grade history
2. Successful completion of timed in-class essay
3. Successful completion of summer work

In this course, students will learn that happiness is elusive and rationality is a comforting illusion because of the many mistakes and biases our brains evolved over the millenia, of which we are largely unaware. On the plus side, becoming aware of these mistakes and biases not only gives us hope, it also gives us the tools to improve our lives and the lives of others. Students will master essential concepts from readings and complete one major project, typically a film documenting a self-improvement project.

Students in Adv. Behavioral Psychology will complete additional assignments and more challenging coursework.

This elective course focuses on historical and contemporary issues involving the Constitution. Some topics include the separation of powers, executive power, federalism, due process and criminal procedure, First Amendment freedoms, and the 14th Amendment and equal protection. We will engage in a simulation— a moot court—both to expand our understanding of a substantive issue and to experience one aspect of the legal process. Students will undertake an independent research project regarding one significant (historic or pending) Supreme Court case.

Students in Adv. Constitutional Law will complete additional assignments and more challenging coursework.

Students in Adv. Public History in the DMV will complete additional assignments and more challenging coursework.

This course examines the practice of public history through the local history of the DC area. In addition to assigned readings, students will conduct field research using monuments, memorials, and museums as sites of contested power that determine and reveal who tells the history of the DMV and the United States.

In this course, students will examine social psychology through the lens of evolution. Evolutionary psychology posits that human social interactions can be explained in terms of their evolutionary advantages. Students will apply this perspective to romantic relationships, the dynamics of family and friends, and social status. Students will master essential concepts from readings and complete a major project, typically a podcast.

Students may take this course and also take Behavioral Psychology. Students in Adv. Social Psychology will complete additional assignments and more challenging coursework.

Students in Adv. US Music Since 1945  will complete additional assignments and more challenging coursework.

This course will explore a variety of musical genres that shaped the culture of the modern United States. Students will examine how music production and performance has changed over time revealing resistance to and the influence of power structures such as class, race, gender, sexuality, religion, and politics.

This elective course will help one better understand American history by focusing on women. We will study women’s movements, and more broadly, the role of gender—and race and class— in shaping politics, work, family life, and popular culture. Our historical exploration will inform discussions regarding sexuality, marriage, parenting, career and more. You will undertake an oral history project in which you become acquainted with one woman whose experiences may illuminate some of the themes of the course.

Students in the Advanced option will complete additional assignments and more challenging coursework.

In this course, students will learn that happiness is elusive and rationality is a comforting illusion because of the many mistakes and biases our brains evolved over the millenia, of which we are largely unaware. On the plus side, becoming aware of these mistakes and biases not only gives us hope, it also gives us the tools to improve our lives and the lives of others. Students will master essential concepts from readings and complete one major project, typically a film documenting a self-improvement project.

Students may take this course and also take Social Psychology.

This elective course focuses on historical and contemporary issues involving the Constitution. Some topics include the separation of powers, executive power, federalism, due process and criminal procedure, First Amendment freedoms, and the 14th Amendment and equal protection. We will engage in a simulation— a moot court—both to expand our understanding of a substantive issue and to experience one aspect of the legal process. Students will undertake an independent research project regarding one significant (historic or pending) Supreme Court case.

This course examines the practice of public history through the local history of the DC area. In addition to assigned readings, students will conduct field research using monuments, memorials, and museums as sites of contested power that determine and reveal who tells the history of the DMV and the United States.

This course will examine one of the world's great civilizations: Islam.  From its founding in the Arabian Peninsula to its spread across three continents, Islamic civilization has had a lasting impact on the art, philosophy, politics, and geography of the world.  The course will begin with the first Islamic polity in Medina, examine the first empires in Damascus and Baghdad, and the lasting impacts of both the Ottomans and European colonialism.

In the elective course, we will examine a number of 20th century revolutions, and their dismantling of power structures, whether dictatorships or colonial regimes. These diverse upheavals spanned the globe, employed varied strategies, and sought different conclusions. Many accomplished dramatic change, though sometimes not to the benefit of the people. To culminate the course, students will undertake a research project on a revolution of their own choosing.

The course explores core theories on what causes conflict and ways to build peace. Students will critically analyze these theories through case studies to understand historical context, compare different definitions of peace, and explore types of conflict between and within societies.

An introduction to philosophical questions pertaining to God, faith, morality, creation and the afterlife.  The course will consider works from the great religious thinkers of the Greek, Chinese, Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist traditions, as well as by contemporary religious philosophers.

This course examines the works of significant figures in the fields of sociology and economics.  Students will be introduced to core concepts in both fields, examine the types of structures and systems foundational to these areas of study, and learn about how they impact our lives today.

In this course, students will examine social psychology through the lens of evolution. Evolutionary psychology posits that human social interactions can be explained in terms of their evolutionary advantages. Students will apply this perspective to romantic relationships, the dynamics of family and friends, and social status. Students will master essential concepts from readings and complete a major project, typically a podcast.

Students may take this course and also take Behavioral Psychology.

This course will explore a variety of musical genres that shaped the culture of the modern United States. Students will examine how music production and performance has changed over time revealing resistance to and the influence of power structures such as class, race, gender, sexuality, religion, and politics.

This elective course will help one better understand American history by focusing on women. We will study women’s movements, and more broadly, the role of gender—and race and class— in shaping politics, work, family life, and popular culture. Our historical exploration will inform discussions regarding sexuality, marriage, parenting, career and more. You will undertake an oral history project in which you become acquainted with one woman whose experiences may illuminate some of the themes of the course.

This course surveys the major developments, trends, and themes in modern world history from the 14th century to the present.  Beginning with the age of the Renaissance in Europe, the rise of the Ottoman Empire in Afro-Eurasia, and the Ming Dynasty of China, the course will highlight major developments and transformational changes around the world.  Key trends in globalization and world civilization will be explored, including: the development of indigenous cultures and societies, trans-Atlantic navigation, the scientific and industrial revolutions, colonialism and resistance, the era of democratic revolutions and the rise of nationalism. In the context of the world wars of the 20th century, the cold war, and the nuclear arms race, the class will also survey the major trends in modern political, economic, intellectual, social, and artistic thought.

Eleventh grade required yearlong course

As a required yearlong course in the 11th grade at Edmund Burke School, U.S. History provides a chronological survey of American history from the pre-Columbian period through the era of the Cold War.  The course will address central themes, motifs and concepts in U.S. History.  How has American history been shaped by world history and vice versa? How have competing and contrasting schools of historians sought to shape and define the American experience? What forces have shaped American social, artistic, philosophical, economic and religious experience? How did the United States evolve from a set of “neglected” English colonies to the status of a global pre-eminent “superpower”? How and why have Americans come to view the American experience in “exceptional” terms? To what extent has the United States served as a “laboratory of democracy,” testing the rights of individuals and groups? How have the promises of  “inalienable rights” and liberties not been guaranteed or protected for all individuals and groups at all times? How has the United States interacted with other parts of the world economically, technologically, socially, culturally, diplomatically, and militarily? To what extent do American citizens and residents have a civic obligation to learn U.S. History?

This yearlong course spans world history from the Neolithic Age to the modern era (15th century). Exploring major civilizations in Eurasia, the Americas, and Africa from the agricultural revolution forward, we will focus on a number of themes, including geography’s impact on settlement patterns, economic changes, and culture; the origin, nature, evolution and impact of different religious traditions; technological changes and how they affected groups who embraced them, and those who did not; and the role of trade in the exchange of goods, ideas and technology. Students will analyze a variety of primary and secondary sources, construct and support historical arguments, and develop research skills. The course will culminate in an independent research project on an ancient civilization of the student’s choice.