AT Historical Inquiry and Research
History is short on answers, but it sure does offer a lot of interesting questions. AT Historical Inquiry turns the historical process on its head, going backwards through time to seek answers to enduring questions in the field. This course seeks curious, adventurous, and passionate students, challenging them to read closely, think broadly, write compellingly, and create beautiful historical works that help us better understand our world. You will develop your own rich body of historical knowledge and, using the toolkit of the professional historian, design and pursue questions of purpose.
What are the major projects you will complete in this course?
In December students will produce an in-depth, focused historical inquiry on a sub-topic of their choice that reflects an enduring historical issue or problem and provides perspective on our essential question (How is local history global history?)
In June students will develop a specialization and dive deep into a topic of their choice. They will develop learning targets, refine inquiry questions, select and evaluate information, address a specific issue, and design a public product effective at conveying their expertise.
Course Details
Matt Hughes
"You should take this course if you have a passion for pursuing enduring questions in the field of history. "
AT Historical Inquiry and Research
ID: 42064 Grade: 11-12 Length: Year
Credit: Social Studies
Prerequisite: A Semester I grade of A or higher in World History/World Studies is required to select this course in grade 10; a Semester I grade of B or higher in a tenth or eleventh grade non-AP/non-AT social studies course, or a Semester I grade of C+ or higher in an AP or AT social studies course is required to select this course in eleventh or twelfth grade.
Note: The Advanced Topic (AT) designation indicates a course is at university level, putting it at or above the level of a traditional Advanced Placement (AP) course. This course has a grade point weighting of 0.5.
This in-depth, focused history course fosters in students the skills that professional historians use in their work. Students will begin by developing broad content knowledge in several areas of study, including historiography, political geography and periodization. The course will begin with a focus on Southeast Asian history and expand outwards to the world from the pre-colonial to post-industrial eras. From this content base, students will engage in four additional historical inquiries, becoming progressively more open and responsive to student choice and interest. Students are expected to develop and nurture a passion for history throughout, and will designate an area of specialization for their final inquiry. It is expected that students will produce academic works, public products, and defend their conclusions and methodologies.