Browse Our Curriculum

History & Social Sciences

The history and social sciences curriculum is designed to help you appreciate and understand the global community in which you live, as well as the diversity of the American culture and heritage. Not only will you learn about the challenges and complexity of recording and interpreting history, but you also will learn to examine assumptions, biases, and hypothesis in your sources. By studying the past, you’ll be preparing to lead in the future.

Graduation requirements
4 credits including U.S. History or AP U.S. History, World Religions, and Ethics and Social Justice Research Seminar
  • Social Studies for International Students

    An introductory course designed for most first-year international students.  Topics covered in this course include basic geography, culture, history, government, and civic issues concerning the United States.  Often, these topics are broached with some comparison with the students’ native countries.  Current events and the manner in which they affect the United States and other countries is also a major focus of the course.  These issues are vital to an understanding of the contemporary United States and reviewing them is, therefore, the main objective of Social Studies for International Students.  Through tests and papers, students must learn to use evidence wisely, and extract unifying themes often hidden in the mass of detail and material. International students continue to become investigative thinkers in SSIS by exploring several topics of interest through oral presentations.  These oral presentations are assigned each semester in order to reinforce public speaking and leadership.  The group may travel to places of historical importance in this country. 

    Year-Long Course – 1 Credit
  • U.S. History: 1918 to 1969

    Journalist Tom Brokaw used the phrase “Greatest Generation” to describe those who were born at the end of World War I and came of age during the Great Depression and World War II. From flappers to fundamentalists, from the “New Negro” to the New Deal, and from the Four Freedoms to the Manhattan Project, this course is a critical examination of the American experience between 1918 and 1945. Using a wide range of texts and historical thinking skills, students will analyze the fierce culture battles that raged within many communities as mass culture became dominated by new secularism and consumerism. Students will also consider how domestic and international events powerfully enhanced as well as undermined basic American freedoms. What was the national response to such threats: an economy that grew as dramatically as it later constricted before becoming a military-industrial complex, a national tug-of-war between the forces of Americanization and ethnic pluralism, and the challenge of fighting a war to defend deeply held American values abroad while the marginalization of those outside the social mainstream continued at home. The centerpiece of this course is a research paper in which students will examine the new boundaries of American freedom and America’s role as an international security force. Through their blood, sweat, and tears, this generation permanently altered the nation’s social geography and crucial definition of self.

    Spring Semester - ½ Credit
  • Advanced World History

    This course examines the political, economic, cultural, and intellectual development of nations across the world in the years since 1900, as well as the emergence of non-governmental centers of power such as terrorist groups and international corporations. Topics include The Scramble for Africa, World War I, the increasing importance of China and India in the Far East, the evolution of Israeli/Arab hostility, the independence movements in Africa, and global interrelations of the 21st century.

    Year-Long Course – 1 Credit
    Prerequisite:  Sophomore, Junior, or Senior Standing, and submitted application; students will be notified of their acceptance into the class.


  • AP Psychology

    Year-long class. Open to Seniors. 1 credit.
  • Women and Gender Studies

    This course serves as an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Women’s and Gender Studies including relevant beliefs, practices, and debates within the field. The purpose of this course is to help students obtain an understanding of issues related to identities, education, media, sexualities, and the environment through the various lenses and theories found within Women’s and Gender Studies. Throughout the course, we will also be looking at various branches of feminist and gender theory including Black feminism, Chicana feminism, indigenous feminism, and transnational feminism in order to understand the complexities, importance, and application of intersectionality. 

    Spring Semester - ½ Credit 
    Open to Juniors and Seniors.


  • One Schoolhouse: Business & Economics

    Business and Economics students gain fluency in foundational economic principles and explore business planning, development and management. Students study the fundamentals of microeconomics, including supply and demand, incentives, pricing and production, followed by macroeconomic concepts such as economic indexes, The Federal Reserve and financial markets, as well as trade agreements and globalization.  This is an ideal survey course for students considering a college degree in economics, business or management.  By the end of the semester, students will have a working foundation to analyze current events in the corporate world and the international economy. This course is offered through One Schoolhouse, an on-line school for students in independent schools.

    Fall Semester - ½ Credit
    Open to Juniors and Seniors.

Department Faculty

  • Photo of John Kingery
    John Kingery
    History Department Chair; History Teacher; Musical Co-Director
    Bio
  • Photo of Christa Anderson
    Christa Anderson
    English & History Teacher; CAMS; Coach; Dorm Advisor
    Bio
  • Photo of Elisabeth Barksdale
    Beth Barksdale
    Dean of the Chapel & Spiritual Life, Director of Entrepreneurship
    Bio
  • Photo of Laura Daniel
    Laura Daniel
    Director of Academic Support; Psychology Teacher
    434-432-5231
    Bio
  • Photo of Deborah Glymph
    Deborah Glymph
    Chief Diversity Officer; History & English Teacher
    434-432-2941
    Bio
  • Photo of Mara Jarrett
    Mara Jarrett
    History & English Teacher; CAMS; International Student Coordinator; Coach
    Bio
  • Photo of Zachary Smith
    Zachary Smith
    History Teacher; Coach; Dorm Advisor
    Bio
800 Chatham Hall Circle  •  Chatham, VA 24531
+1 434.432.2941  •  admissions@chathamhall.org
Day and boarding school for girls grades 9-12 in the Episcopal tradition.

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