Social Science

Department Overview

DESCRIPTION OF EXCELLENCE

Through the study of cultures, history, government, and economics, students make connections between actions of the past and current global events, examine ethical questions, refine their worldview, and translate their learning into compassionate action in their lives.

DISTINCTIVE EXPERIENCE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Each year, students in the Social Science department engage in interactive, hands-on, real-world learning through innovative teaching, simulations and creative projects, guest speakers, museum trips, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Students have the opportunity to engage in original research, volunteer in local elections, and apply their understanding of civic and Christian duty through campus outreach clubs and missions trips around the world.

Department Map

SOCIAL SCIENCE COURSES 

Three years of social science are required to graduate from VCHS. Students must take a US History course their junior year and a civics course in their senior year. 

This map is a general planning tool, intended to show the course and typical student tracks. Students may deviate from the map and should consult with the counselors and teachers to find the best classes to meet their academic and spiritual goals. Courses offered may vary from year to year.

History and Music

History and Music is an innovative social science course in which students learn to connect the political, social, economic, and spiritual climate of Western civilization to the music and art it has produced. This course begins in ancient Greece and travels through each time period up to the present. During course, students analyze primary source documents, examine artwork and music from each time period, and actively work in groups to improve academic literacy. In course, skits and presentations are designed so that students live out historical events. History and Music celebrates the gift of music from God as an outlet for creative expression and how the aesthetic of art changes as the times change.

Although this course is open to all students, it is strongly recommended for students enrolled in the Conservatory Honors Music Program and is a requirement for those enrolled as Conservatory Honors Fellows with an emphasis in music.

Modern World History

Modern World History Honors*

This course begins with the Renaissance and continuing through the modern period, it examines philosophy, theology, history, economics, the sciences, and art in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of world events. Students learn to look beyond the textbook to various other means of discovering history. They are introduced to the new historicist approach of study, which incorporates literature, art, film, and comics in order to explore social history and the common people. This course serves as preparation for future AP courses in the social sciences.

*Though internal honors credit is given, the UC does not calculate an honors grade point for this course. Other colleges may assign honors credit.

AP Human Geography

The purpose of this college-level introductory course is to introduce students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of the Earth’s surface. Students learn to employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine human socioeconomic organization and its environmental consequences. They also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their research and applications. Upon successful completion of the course, students should have developed skills that enable them to interpret maps, analyze geospatial data, and understand and explain the implications of associations and networks among phenomena in places. Students should also be able to recognize and interpret the relationships among patterns and processes at different scales of analysis, define regions and evaluate the regionalization process, and characterize and analyze changing interconnections among places.

U.S. History

This course explores the major events that have shaped the United States from reconstruction to the present. Through historical simulations, primary source document analysis, debate, and discussion, students learn to recognize cause and effect as both relate to history. Students also learn to identify major historical turning points and develop historical interpretations of the American past. Through an innovative family research project, students explore their own personal place in US history and learn how an individual can help shape the course of a nation.

Students must take a US History course in order to graduate.

AP United States History

This course explores American history while building the analytic skills and content knowledge necessary to deal critically with issues and events in the development of the United States. Commensurate to the rigor of a freshman level college US history course, AP US History prepares students for intermediate and advanced college courses. Through simulations, debate, discussion, and inquiry- based projects, students learn to assess historical materials—their relevance to a given interpretive problem, their reliability, and their importance—and to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. AP US History also helps students prepare for decision-making beyond the classroom by developing the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on the basis of informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in a variety of written formats. Students will be prepared to take the AP exam in May.

Students must take a US History course in order to graduate.

United States Government

Economics

ECONOMICS/US GOVERNMENT PAIRING: The semester-long courses Economics and U.S. Government are paired. Students who enroll in Economics will automatically be enrolled in US Government the opposite semester. A civics course (government and/or economics) is required for graduation.

Students learn about the “economic way of thinking” and the applications of this reasoning to their daily lives. This is not a course in business, personal finance or investing, but rather an investigation of fundamental concepts of economics such as scarcity, opportunity cost and marginal analysis, the role of prices in allocating goods and services, applications of the supply and demand model to various public policy issues, market structures and antitrust policies, environmental economics, and the role of the Federal Reserve and money.

AP United States Government & Politics

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS/AP MICROECONOMICS PAIRING: The semester-long courses AP U.S. Government and AP Microeconomics (see course description on the following page) are paired. Students who enroll in AP U.S. Government and Politics will automatically be enrolled in AP Microeconomics. A civics course (government and/or economics) is required for graduation.

This course focuses on the state of politics in the United States, as well as looking at the structure of the U.S. government. Students learn about the various agencies and institutions that make up the government and learn to describe how their interactions influence the people as a whole and, conversely, how the people are able to influence the government. Through simulations and discussions, students examine case studies from the U.S. These discussions and simulations enable students to gain an understanding of the institutions, groups, beliefs, and ideas that make up the American political environment. This course will help students attain the skills and knowledge they need in order to understand the shifting political climate. Students also learn how the U.S. both influences the world and how events around the world affect the United States. This semester-long course prepares students to take the AP U.S. Government examination in May.

AP Microeconomics

AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS/AP MICROECONOMICS PAIRING The semester-long courses AP U.S. Government and AP Microeconomics (see course description on following page) are paired. Students who enroll in AP Microeconomics will automatically be enrolled in AP U.S. Government and Politics. A civics course (government and/or economics) is required for graduation.

Economics can be defined as the study of exchange given certain institutional arrangements, or it can be viewed as the study of human action—people making choices. This university-level, semester course focuses on microeconomics concepts. Through a variety of teaching methods including lecture, simulations, group activities, discussions, and debates, students explore microeconomic topics, including fundamental concepts such as scarcity and opportunity cost, the role of prices in allocating goods and services, applications of supply and demand to public policy issues, public choice analysis, public goods theory, externalities, and market structures.