STATEMENT OF PHILOSOPHY
The History and Political Science curriculum at Interlochen Arts Academy assumes the responsibility for stimulating an awareness of the human condition. The goals of the department, therefore, emphasize the application of rational thinking to an understanding of man's historical, economic, political, and social development.  The consideration of societal issues and the acquisition of the knowledge and skills that are fundamental and basic to the disciplines of History and Political Science are taught.

OBJECTIVES
Each student will be instructed in the skills of analysis and critical judgment employed by historians and political scientists as they view, translate, evaluate, and record past and contemporary events.
Each student will be instructed in effective analytical reading, writing, and rhetorical skills.
Each student will examine change and continuity in time and draw logical conclusions by identifying the political, social, and economic conditions of sequential historical periods.
Each student will examine the complexities of the political process by distinguishing the roles of various institutions within the governmental structure and the relationship between the individual and society.

GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
The minimum IAA graduation requirements for History and Political Science is three courses or 1.5 credits from among those classes listed as American History/Political Science.
Student enrollment in History and Political Science courses is as follows:  American History/Political Science courses are open to all 11th and 12th grade students, except as noted in course descriptions. These courses are open to 10th grade students on a space available basis and with a recommendation by the English faculty during the Second semester only.
Senior Seminar - all participants in this seminar must be recommended by History/Political Science faculty and have the approval of the instructor.

Elective World History (WH) courses are open to 9th through 12th grade students.  Students may take these classes for academic credit only.

Upon faculty review, International students may count one semester of their home countries two-semester history class toward the graduation requirement. 

American History/Political Science credits which are transferred must have been completed at the 10th and 11th grade levels. However, students who have taken American History in the 9th grade may count one semester of that two semester course toward graduation.

ADVANCED PLACEMENT POLICY
All classes offered by the History/Political Science Department are academically accelerated and employ methods and materials consistent with and/or beyond traditional Advanced Placement classes.
Students who are interested in taking Advanced Placement exams should seek advice from History faculty for an appropriate number and sequence of classes which will best prepare them for the A.P. exam.
Prior to the A.P. exams, faculty assistance in group and/or individual tutorials is offered to help students finalize their preparation.

AMERICA IN TRANSITION: 1900 - 1941
Grades 11-12
Second semester
.50 credit, class meets daily

This course will evaluate the transitions in American political ideals and social values triggered by the rise of an urban, industrial, mass-market society.  Laissez faire and Keynesian economics will be tested in times of peace and war, prosperity and depressions, reform and reaction.  Central to the study will be an evaluation of the stewardship role of government and the role of the United States as a world power.  Additionally, the American people, majorities and minorities, in their various roles as workers, consumers, and carriers of cultural values will be examined. 

Objectives:
To examine the "stewardship" leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Roosevelt in contrast with the "normalcy" leadership of Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover.
To examine the interrelationship of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government.
To compare the reform of prosperity (Progressive movement) and the reform of depression (New Deal).
To examine the tension between isolationism and the new United States role as a major world power.
To examine the American people in their relationship to the work force (organized labor, farm movement, etc.), to government, to American culture, and to each other.
To assess where America stood at mid-twentieth century.

Text:
Tindall & Shi, America: A Narrative History Vol. 2

CONTEMPORARY AMERICA: 1945 - Present
Grades 11-12
Second semester
.50 credit, class meets daily.

This course will examine the legacy of foreign and domestic policy leadership that evolved from the days of the New Deal and World War II.  Beginning in the year of Hiroshima, the class will evaluate the continuing debate on American global responsibility and domestic reform in years of quietude and activism, hot and cold war, prosperity and recession.  Additionally, we will examine social issues, political leadership, public responsibility, and the quality of American life as we move into the third American century.

Objectives:
To examine the legacy of twentieth-century reform impulses of the Fair Deal, the New Frontier, and the Great Society.
To examine the counter impulses of Modern Republicanism and New Federalism.
To examine the role of national leadership in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.
To examine the origins and influences of the Cold War.
To examine the impact of the Korean and Vietnamese Wars on American government and the American mind.
To examine the "passive" 1950's and the "activist" 1960's to understand American values on such issues as materialism, minority rights, the environment, and the peace movement.
To examine the impact of technology on the American experience since the 1970s.
To examine the American economy in context with the global economy in order to better understand policy decisions and their impact.
To examine post cold war international problems and America’s status as a superpower in an age of global crisis and terrorism.
To thoughtfully examine the forces shaping America today in order to test the question, "How far have we come and where do we go from here?", against the themes of liberty and justice for all and global responsibility.

Text:
Tindall & Shi, America: A Narrative History Vol. 2

PARTIES AND ELECTIONS
Grades 11-12
Second semester
.50 credit, class meets daily.

This course involves an examination of the following concepts: psychological and sociological studies related to an individual's party identification and participation in the electoral process; the history of suffrage requirements in the U.S.; the positions of the Democrat and Republican parties; and the various forms of nominating and electoral procedures involving local to national candidates.  We will analyze presidential campaigns on the basis of the following questions:

Are presidential primaries the most appropriate way to nominate candidates?  How significant are the national conventions?  What directions are the political forces headed in our times?  How should campaigns be financed?

Objectives:
To examine the historical evolution of suffrage requirements in the U.S. and the significance of voter rights legislation and Supreme Court decisions related to current voter requirements.
To identify the basic functions of an American political party.
To examine the major American political parties by comparing and contrasting the basic positions of each. 
To understand the importance of the nomination process, with particular emphasis placed upon the primary system.
To evaluate the electoral process by analyzing past election results and projecting future elections in the form of voter profiles, maps and charts.
To understand the complexities in the methods by which the President and Vice-President are nominated and elected and to critically analyze the Electoral College.
To assess contending views on financing political campaigns.

Text:
Patterson, American Democracy

THE REPUBLIC ON TRIAL: 1828-1865
Grades 11-12
Second semester
.50 credit, class meets daily.

This course searches into the central forces of economic, political, and social change that challenged and ultimately tore the Old Republic asunder.  Primary themes are traced against the rising spirit of Romanticism and include reform movements, sectional jealousies, and provincial politics. Specific attention is given to the dynamic Westward sweep, its accompanying impulses of altruism and meanness, and the attending attempts at political compromise necessitated by territorial expansion.  Nineteenth-century concepts of racism, nativism, self-righteousness, and expansive democracy are traced within the era's prevailing sense of Manifest Destiny. The class concentrates on issues, policies, and politicians leading to the Civil War and the catastrophic consequences of this immense and tragic conflict.  The personality and presidency of Abraham Lincoln will be closely examined. 

Objectives:
To examine the meaning of the concept Manifest Destiny and its relationship to territorial expansion.
To examine the reform spirit and rising sense of conscience typified by the abolition and women's rights movements.
To examine the institution of chattel slavery as America's "peculiar institution."
To examine the conflict between two traditional American values of majority rule and "consent of the governed" as typified by the States' Rights and secession movements.
To examine the "war dynamic" and its effects on personal and public conscience.
To examine the leadership role of the president in time of ultra constitutional upheaval.

Text:
Tindall & Shi, America: A Narrative History Vol. 2

SENIOR SEMINAR
Grade 12, Instructor permission only
Second semester
.50 credit, class meets daily.

The seminar is designed for a limited number of students with a strong motivation to engage in active discussion and analysis, and with a desire to prepare and present individually researched topics. 

Objectives:
To provide a setting for developing skills in group dialogue on collectively examined readings.
To assist students in developing skills in individual research, and skills in writing documented essays.
To provide a vital forum for testing historical events and evaluating ideas.
To give students an opportunity to make oral presentations on individually researched topics.
To give students an opportunity to participate in sessions which critique documented essays.

THE SUPREME COURT
Grades 11-12
Second semester
.50 credit, class meets daily.

This course investigates the role of the Supreme Court in defining key issues in the American national experience.  Select cases from the Marshall Court through the Robert’s Court will be examined. Emphasis will be placed on defining civil liberties and the powers of Congress and the states.  Historical contexts surrounding the cases will constitute the major organization of this study.

Objectives:
To examine the relationship between Constitutional provision (Article III) and historical actions of judicial review.
To investigate landmark court decisions in historical context with an eye to understanding the forces that shape interpretation.
To examine historical reactions to the court, its judges, and its decisions in terms of consequences and the forces that make and break precedent.
To explore the court in contemporary society and to contemplate its current thinking in light of current issues.
To give students an opportunity to make oral presentations on individually researched topics.