The Bay School of San Francisco, an independent, coeducational college preparatory high school located in the Presidio of San Francisco
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Course Descriptions

History and Social Science

The History and Social Science curriculum focuses on providing students with the necessary skills to understand our cultural and historical roots. Courses build student understanding and appreciation of the wide divergence of social, cultural, religious, and intellectual experiences that make up the global, interconnected world of the 21st century.

Required Course

U.S. History
In this course, we thematically explore our country's history. The selected themes have real relevance in today's world and will continue to be essential to comprehending our country in the coming decades. The course investigates three broad areas: immigration, identity and power, and foreign policy. Within immigration, students learn about historic and contemporary motives for migrating to the United States as well as immigrants' responses and residents' reactions to migratory waves. To understand how identity and power relate, students examine four case studies: the Constitutional Era, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Progressive Era, and the Civil Rights Movement. Finally, we explore the relationship between U.S. foreign policy and international perceptions of the United States. Frequently connections are made between the past and the present. Analysis of a wide variety of primary and secondary sources is central to our work. During the second trimester of the course, students have the opportunity to investigate, in depth, a topic of their choice. In this project, they put into practice many of the historians' skills they have learned such as the formation of a hypothesis, the process of gathering of information, evaluation of sources, and the construction of arguments and analysis supported by evidence.

Elective Courses

Comparative Genocide The phrase never again was born in response to the Holocaust of WWII. While world leaders have repeated the phrase time and again, genocide and mass violence have continued to be features of the 20th and 21st centuries. In this course, students examine the roots of genocide and mass violence during the last century through in-depth case studies of Weimar Germany, South Africa, Rwanda, and either Colombia or Guatemala. Ultimately, at the root of such tragedies is human behavior. In an effort to investigate this, the class examines questions such as: How do identity and membership influence behavior? What roles do conformity, obedience, resistance and propaganda play? What should happen to people who allow or commit these crimes? The course also examines the ways in which societies repair and rebuild themselves and grapple with the question, "What is justice?" While the classroom will be the venue for our studies, the class will work to create a larger community conversation about these issues.

Comparative Government and Politics
The primary goals of this course are to familiarize students with numerous types of political systems and cultures; to enable them to think, read, and write critically; and to prepare them for successful university study and responsible citizenship. The course begins with a foundational unit in American democracy and democratic traditions, followed by comparative country studies (Mexico, France, China, and Iran). Students are asked to conduct their own country studies independently and to present their findings during the last two weeks of the course.

This course has been designated by the University of California as an honors course.

Introduction to Political Economy
The first part of this course grounds students in the fundamental principles of micro- and macro-economics. Thereafter, the course explores the relationship between politics and economics and how that relationship has changed over time. The course includes a historical focus, tracing the evolution of economic systems (mercantilism, capitalism, Marxism, socialism), followed by an examination of the modern world economy in the 19th and 20th centuries. Students gain a critical understanding of globalization, economic interdependence, and problems of resource allocation.

Latin American Studies
In this course, students learn about Latin America in the twentieth century, exploring the relationship between cultural expression and the politics, economy, and history of the region. The course begins with a brief overview of major historical forces-pre-Columbian societies, conquest, colonization and slavery, independence, and civil strife. Emphasis is placeded on four key themes in the twentieth century- neo-colonialism, nationalism, revolution, and reaction. Students will investigate these themes in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, Brazil, and Argentina. A variety of sources-film, novels, poetry, short stories, songs, and historical documents-are examined.

U.S. Foreign Policy
This course is an introduction to the basic concepts, themes, and issues in U.S. foreign policy. The course familiarizes students with trends in U.S. foreign policy from the Cold War to the present and introduces them to the patterns of post-WWII international relations and U.S. overseas interventions. Employing a case study approach, students look at the short- and long-term effects of U.S. policy on different regions, debate America's role in world affairs, and assess the costs and consequences of this role at home and abroad. Specifically, this course examines several key aspects of United States foreign policy towards East Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.

U.S. Government & Politics
This course begins with a brief review of the origins and structure of the American political system, and then proceeds to examine the respective roles played by the three branches of U.S. government, political parties, the media, and interest groups in the formation of public policy. The course encourages students to form their own critical perspectives on government and politics in the United States. Students will learn the concepts necessary for interpreting U.S. politics and gain the tools necessary to be engaged and informed citizens. Activities include the following: analysis of contemporary case studies; debates and simulations on current topics; weekly student-led discussion sections on current political challenges and controversies; and student-generated solutions to pressing political issues such as health care, campaign finance, and climate change.

Western Civilization
Western Civilization is a two-trimester, interdisciplinary survey course that critically examines the ideas, values, and trends of Western culture from the Greco-Roman period to the mid-20th century. Adopting a chronological framework, the course explores some of the most influential writings, works of art, and ideas that have shaped the intellectual and cultural heritage of the Western world. Students acquire a broad knowledge of the Western historical and cultural heritage through analyzing and evaluating primary and secondary sources. Students also develop an ability to accurately and critically read, weigh evidence, make judgments, draw conclusions, and interpret historical writings in their political, social, religious, and cultural contexts. This course may be taken as a year-long (two-trimester) course, or either half may be taken as a one-trimester elective.