Term: 2
Grades: 10
Prerequisite: This course is only open to students entering Peddie in grade 10 and who have already completed a year of Modern World History at the high school level.
This class explores the meaning and significance of race, ethnicity and migration in history from the late 19th century to the present. We will examine the historical and contemporary experiences of various groups who have been affected by major trends and world events. The design of the course is a seminar style discussion of assigned readings, film clips and primary source documents. Emphasis will be placed on writing, historical research using Peddie’s databases, the library and the Internet, and properly defending one’s point of view through oral presentations and debates. Students will span the globe during our historical investigation and our journey will ask us to look closely at specific moments in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the United States and Europe in an effort to question how concepts of race, ethnicity and migration have affected colonization, empire building, immigration and ultimately a trend towards globalization during the late 20th century. In particular, students will explore how race and ethnicity have been defined in various points in American history and 19th and 20th century American immigration trends, with particular emphasis on Asian immigration and exclusionary practices and recent immigration trends. Students will also examine other key moments in world history including the legacy and politics of race in modern South Africa, the Indian Independence Movement, and the global migrant crisis. In the spring term, students will select a thematic area of emphasis from the Modern Global offerings in order to explore issues in the post-World War era.
Note: Fall & Winter terms.