Berean Academy | Academics | Upper School History

UPPER SCHOOL HISTORY

Grade 7 / Ancient History
This course helps students discover the rise and fall of ancient civilizations foundational in the development of the Western Civilization. Common factors for development and decline are considered and applied to our current civilization. Through the use of primary sources, students study major religious and philosophical influences, social and cultural movements, and political and economic trends associated with places and times. Topics are measured against the Biblical standard for truth, beauty, and goodness and application of this information is made to the progress of the Gospel and its relationship to the West.

Berean students will:
• Gain familiarity with the significant people, places, and events in the Middle East and Europe from the ancient period, creation to 476 A.D., utilizing the disciplines associated with historical study (i.e. archaeology, anthropology, biology, economics, geography, politics, and religion).
• Read from pertinent primary sources from each of the main civilizations studied.
• Find and consider factors leading to a civilization’s rise and fall including geography, culture, politics, technology, religion, economics, etc.
• Discover connections between past events and civilizations and those extant in the world today.
• Apply the Scriptures in determining worthy models in politics, economic justice, personal ethics, evangelistic zeal, etc.

Grade 8 / Medieval History
This course is an overview of Medieval Europe—after the fall of Rome, from 476 A.D., to the beginning of the “modern” era, marked by the Reformation, European expansion, and exploration of the New World. Through the use of primary sources, students will study major religious and philosophical influences, social and cultural movements, and political and economic trends associated with the place and times. Application of this material will be made to the progress of the Gospel throughout “Christendom” and its influence on the formation of the United States.

Berean students will:
• Recall important dates, people, events, and movements and their geographies of Medieval Europe through the time of the Reformation in Europe.
• Evaluate the significance of important religious, political, and philosophical movements in light of God’s Word.
• Relate this understanding to the progress and flow of Christianity and to God’s Providence.
• Appreciate the influence of Europe on the United States.
• Understand the interconnectedness of concurrent events as well as to previous and present circumstances.
• Express his thoughts and beliefs at an appropriate level regarding significant issues.
• Read from pertinent primary sources from the period.

Grade 9 / Modern European History
This course is an overview of Modern Europe—after the Renaissance, from 1789 A.D., the French Revolution, to the beginning of the “post-modern” era, marked by the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Students will study major religious and philosophical influences, social and cultural movements, and political and economic trends associated with the place and times. Application of this information will be made to the progress of the Gospel and its relationship to the United States.

Students will:
• Recall important dates, people, events, and movements and their geographies during the modern time period of 1500-1991 in Europe.
• Evaluate the significance of important religious, political, and philosophical movements in light of God’s Word.
• Relate this understanding to the progress and flow of Christianity and to God’s Providence.
• Appreciate the influence of Europe on the United States.
• Understand the interconnectedness of concurrent events as well as to previous and present circumstances.
• Express his thoughts and beliefs at an appropriate level regarding significant issues.
• Read from selected books, documents, publications that represent significant thinking during this time period in Europe.

Grade 10 / American History
This course is an in depth view of the foundations and growth of the United States and its democratic republic. Students will explore major religious and philosophical influences, social and cultural movements, and political and economic trends associated with our nation. These dynamics will be viewed in the light of the influence of the Gospel in United States history.

Students will:
• Recall important dates, people, events, and movements and their geographies from the time of European exploration of North America to the modern era.
• Evaluate the significance of important religious, political, and philosophical movements in light of God’s Word.
• Understand the interconnectedness of concurrent events as well as to previous and present circumstances between the United States and Europe.
• Express their thoughts and beliefs at an appropriate level regarding significant issues.
• Read from selected books, documents, publications that represent significant thinking during the life of the United States.

Grade 11 / History of Ideas Seminar I: Truth and Education
This course encourages students to enter into the Great Conversation of Western Civilization.
• It is curriculum sensitive and takes a thematic approach.
• It is philosophically comprehensive. The course follows at least four topics in year one: Truth, The One and the Many, Memory and Imagination, and Education.
• It is developmentally appropriate. The more immediate and concrete ideas are taught first, so that those ideas may form a base of knowledge and experience that enables students to explore more abstract ideas later on.
Special attention will be given to primary sources contained in The Great Books of the Western World and to the Bible as the touchstone of truth and the only infallible rule of faith, thought, and life.

Students will:
• Develop an acquaintance with the seminal thinkers, their writings, and the Great Ideas of the West, and evaluate them from a Biblical perspective.
• Trace the historical development of the Great Ideas of the West.
• Gain facility in identifying, analyzing, and synthesizing concepts across a broad array of disciplines: supporting truth and detecting error.
• Express thoughts, beliefs, and convictions precisely and persuasively on the fundamental ideas and issues in human existence.
• Continue to form a cogent and comprehensive Biblical worldview that will enrich and enliven the soul for a lifetime of personal growth, ministry, and witness.

Grade 12 / History of Ideas Seminar II: Philosophy and Epistemology
This course encourages students to enter into the Great Conversation of Western Civilization.
• It is curriculum sensitive and takes a thematic approach.
• It is philosophically comprehensive. The last three semesters focus on what are traditionally considered to be the three main branches of philosophy: epistemology, axiology, and ontology.
• It is developmentally appropriate. The more immediate and concrete ideas are taught first, so that those ideas may form a base of knowledge and experience that enables students to explore more abstract ideas later on.
Special attention will be given to primary sources contained in The Great Books of the Western World and to the Bible as the touchstone of truth and the only infallible rule of faith, thought, and life.