Government and Economics
Government and Economics are ½ year courses during the student’s senior year. Government class takes place in the fall, where students will gain a greater understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the United States government. Students will learn about the foundation of our government, political parties, voting and elections, mass media, interest groups, congress, the president, the judicial system, international government, and state and local government.
Economics class takes place in the spring semester where students will gain a greater understanding of both micro and macroeconomics. Students will study scarcity, opportunity cost, supply and demand, competition and monopolies, business organizations, labor, money and banking, financial markets, GDP, economic challenges, and fiscal and monetary policies.
Psychology
This Fall-semester course is designed to give a general overview of the essential areas of psychology, specifically perception, conditioning, learning, intelligence, motivations, emotions, and personality. The course will also emphasize the essential interplay of genes and environment (i.e., “Nature vs. Nurture”). The course is also a CCN (“College Credit Now”) class through Onondaga Community College, meaning students who pass will earn three college credits before graduating high school. This introductory course (PSY 103) is considered a general pre-requisite for higher-level psychology courses (i.e., 200+)
Sociology
This Spring-semester (i.e., half-year) course will introduce students to sociology, the oldest of the social sciences. The American Sociological Association defines sociology as “the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior.” While psychology tends to “zoom in” on particular human behaviors, sociology “zooms out” to study the big picture. Students will discuss factors such as family, corporations, religion, politics, nationality, and ethnicity as we try to understand how these elements influence society.
Philosophy
This Fall-semester course will cover the basics of philosophy, the rational exploration of life's most profound subjects and issues. We will begin by covering the four key areas of philosophy (Ethics, Epistemology, Metaphysics, and Logic), as well as teaching some basic skills in critical thinking, which is crucial for understanding philosophy. After this, we will move through chapters in our book, Archetypes of Wisdom, by Douglas Soccio, each focusing on a particular philosopher and the school they represent. Students will be encouraged to engage with the basic principles of each school, debate civilly, and relate the material to current events and issues. Our goal is to encourage students to think deeply and challenge some of their assumptions about the world.
Research Methods in Social Science
This course will show students how the scientific method is applied in the social sciences (i.e., sciences that study people). To lay the groundwork, we will go over the scientific method's basics. This includes forming a hypothesis, designing an experiment, and interpreting data. Furthermore, because we’ll be focusing on human beings, there will be an early focus on ethics. We will cover a wide variety of different scientific techniques; while we will draw a great deal from psychology, significant attention will also be given to other social sciences, such as political science, economics, anthropology, and sociology. Given the nature of our topic, the course will primarily focus on interactive projects, most of which will require students to gather data from the real world.
Social Studies 8
Global History & Global History 2
US History
