Hallmarks of history
	The history curriculum of Waldorf High School traces the development of human consciousness from ancient times to the present. The role of the human being in community becomes the lens through which students examine how the past affects the present and the future. We aim to develop our students' ability to appreciate the concerns and perspectives of people in very different circumstances and times, such as ancient India or European medieval society or during the burgeoning ideas of the rights of the human being in the eighteenth century. We ask students, "What are the various themes that have been played out in history? What are the paths that humanity has followed in the past? What are the forces at work in the present?" Our graduates have a sense of the history that brought them to their own time and place, which affords them a foundation for considering how the future may unfold. Analysis and expression We encourage and develop active thinking and the clear expression of ideas through class discussions and an appreciation of the research process. Critical analysis of primary source material forms the foundation on which students develop and write papers based on their own thoughts and conclusions formed by research, synthesis, and analysis.

	Revolutions
	Ninth Grade Main Lesson, Mr. Fabris
	“Revolutions” are seen as periods of violent and chaotic change, wherein powerful forces both create and destroy. But are there underlying patterns and rhythms to those terrifying, tumultuous events? The class will explore historical revolutions in the political, economic, and cultural realms, studying the people who fought for change and those who resisted it. We will attempt to answer the fundamental historical question: how does “change” happen?

	History through Art
	Ninth Grade Main Lesson, Ms. Delaney
	Throughout our time on earth, human beings have expressed themselves through various forms of art. During this block we will explore the foundation and development of Western art from earliest times through the 17th century. Our classes will be a combination of presentations, discussions, the viewing of slides and prints, drawing and recitation. It may include a field trip to the Museum of Fine Arts.

	Native American History
	Ninth Grade Main Lesson, Ms. Delaney
	Long before Europeans settled on the North American continent the land was inhabited by hundreds of clans of people who came to be collectively called Indians. In this class we will explore several geographic regions of the continent and acquaint ourselves with representative cultures that developed in each. Beginning in the east, we will look at the history, culture, mythology, and religion of various clans up to the present.

	American Studies
	Ninth Grade Course, Ms. Delaney
	This year-long course will trace the history of the United States from colonial settlement into the 19th century. We will build upon the work begun in the block on Native American History to better understand the land the Europeans called America and the forces that shaped the United States. We will pay particular attention to the development and implementation of the Constitution and to the cultural and political influences brought by the various groups of people who today embrace the term American.

	Ancient History
	Tenth Grade Main Lesson, Mr. Fabris
	How did the earliest human civilizations see and understand the world? How much of our own understanding of the universe comes from these early societies? In this Main Lesson block, the class will explore these questions by studying the cultures of Ancient India, Persia, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. We will look closely at what has survived from these cultures, from the earliest human myths and stories, written down centuries later, to the art and archaeological artifacts that have been found and preserved. In examining these primary sources from the ancient past, we will discuss not only what the sources might reveal about the culture, but what the source’s very existence might mean about ancient humans: why did they create those tools / stories / buildings at that particular time?

	Greek History
	Tenth Grade Main Lesson, Mr.Fabris
	So much of modern Western Civilization points to Ancient Greece as its intellectual and cultural forefather. History, drama, logic, math, and philosophy (the story goes) were all “born” in classical Greece. This block looks more closely at this “birth” story by examining primary sources from the period. If much of western cultural heritage began with the Greeks, how did they accomplish it? How were Greek people and their culture so different from earlier, powerful civilizations (Sumerian, Egyptian) in ways that allowed them to create so much that was new?

	Global Studies
	Tenth Grade Course, Mr. Fabris
	In this year-long course, the class will study a non-Western region that is particularly relevant to current events: the Middle East. After a brief examination of the ways humans have understood and represented the globe throughout time, the students will explore the land, the peoples, the political structures and history, and the cultural forms of this fascinating region. Our texts will include current events reportage, textual and visual primary sources, and secondary sources.

	Medieval History
	Eleventh Grade Main Lesson, Ms. Delaney
	The downfall of the ordered Roman Empire created a chaotic situation in Europe that led to the development of feudalism and the founding of (often feuding) monarchies. The growing strength of the guilds, the rise of the middle class, monasticism, the founding of the mendicant orders, the influence of Islam, the medieval mystics, the growing heretical issues within the church, the development of law and the founding of universities are some of the dominant political, religious, and social aspects that shaped the Medieval world of Europe. In this block we will follow these developments from the Fall of Rome to the Renaissance.

	Renaissance, Reformation & Enlightenment
	Eleventh Grade Main Lesson, Ms. Delaney
	Picking up where we left off in our previous block we will begin at the Renaissance in Italy then continue on to examine the forces of the Reformation and Counter Reformation, the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. We will concentrate on the transition from the medieval world-view to the basis of our modern empirical consciousness.

	History Through Music
	Eleventh Grade Main Lesson, Mr. Claus
	In this main lesson, we continue our exploration of the arts as a means to better understand the world in which we live. Music has always played an important part in the religious and social practices of all peoples. Through the exploration of historical musical styles, students will study and experience music as a reflection of the history and development of Western civilization. Listening, playing, and singing will be an important part of this experience.

	Developing a World View: Ideas & Consciousness
	Twelfth Grade Main Lesson, Ms. Delaney
	What is a modern person? What do I believe? What do I know? Who am I? From ancient times to the present, cultures and individuals have struggled to answer the perennial questions that help define the nature of the human being and our relationship to the world and to the spirit. This survey course will review the ideas of the past, explore those of the present and look to the possibilities of the future.

	Modern History: Political and Economic Theory
	Twelfth Grade Main Lesson, Ms. Delaney
	What role did economic theory of the 19th and 20th centuries play in the unfolding of political practice? We will review the dominant economic theory of the 16th century called mercantilism and retrace the change of thinking from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment which spawned the capitalist ideas of Adam Smith. From the economic revolution of classical liberalism and its outcome of laissez-faire politics we will explore the Utopian ideas of living with technology and the development and practical applications of the theories of Marxist socialism, communism, fascism and the radical romantic nationalism that led to Nazism. In addition to the writings of Adam Smith, we will read from Jeremy Bentham, Georg Hegel, Karl Marx and Friederich Engels, V.I. Lenin, and Adolf Hitler. We will include an exploration of Rudolf Steiner's ideas of the Threefold Social Order, developed at the end of WWI.