Brooklyn private independent school

History

Berkeley Carroll’s history program embodies the content, methods and values of several disciplines including history, social studies, geography, and philosophy. We believe that this diversity is key to the strength of our department. Our rich program helps students develop empathy and understanding, as we strive to have them grasp the factual grounding that will allow them to become critical and analytical thinkers. We encourage our students to shun simple answers, to understand that people create histories, and that interpretations can change over time.

The idea that knowledge of the past provides a lens to understand the present and to view the future aligns with our goal of teaching students to think like historians. Guiding questions, focusing on such essential themes such as immigration, war and peace, human rights and religious tolerance, shape our units of study.

The Upper School history department offers a foundational course in world history in 9th grade, followed by a variety of semester-long 10th grade electives that focus on cross-cultural and global understanding. An American Studies course, co-taught with the English department, in 11th grade, is followed by a variety of semester-long 12th grade electives that focus on specific questions, problems, and themes in American history. Our most ambitious 12th grade historians take on a Senior Scholars research project.

Course Catalog

9th Grade

10th Grade

11th Grade

*11th grade students who want to take an additional course in the humanities may have the opportunity to choose from the English and history departments’ 10th and 12th grade elective offerings.

12th Grade