Phillips Exeter Academy

History

Ancient Mediterranean History
History

This course examines pressing and problematic debates concerning ancient Mediterranean history. We will examine the so-called Hellenistic period, bookended by the conquests of Alexander of Macedon and the death of Cleopatra VII. While the fifth and fourth...

Senior Research Seminar
History

This advanced seminar for seniors will offer students the opportunity to conduct work similar to that of professional historians. Students will choose a research topic, conduct primary research in available archives, and write a publishable-length...

American Politics & Public Policy
History

This course introduces students to the unique process by which American governments develop policies to address the nation’s most significant problems. In addition to studying specific policy issues, students will read about Congress and the presidency,...

Law and American Society
History

This course provides students with an introduction to the American legal system and to the development of American constitutional law. Historic Supreme Court decisions and legal case studies will be used to develop an in-depth understanding of the historical...

Revolutionary Russia
History

This course examines Russian history from the Decembrist uprising of 1825 to Stalin’s show trials and the destruction of the Old Bolsheviks in the late 1930s. After a brief survey of autocracy and orthodoxy in Old Russia and westernization under Peter...

Why Are Poor Nations Poor?
History

This course will examine the plight of developing nations. Students will explore why the quality of life of these countries’ citizens remains, in the aggregate, so low and their choices so limited. Topics to be considered include the historical legacy...

Genocide in the Modern World
History

This course studies the history of genocide in the 20th and 21st centuries, exploring both the patterns and unique circumstances of this important global issue. Students read and hear from historians, victims and perpetrators. Likely case studies are the...

Humans and the Environment
History

What drives human history? Do the pivotal factors such as climate, geography, ecosystems, and microbes lie beyond human control? This course examines the interactions between people and the natural world over time. In struggling to master an often-hostile...

Modern China
History

This course examines China’s dramatic recent history through multiple lenses: historical survey, biography, memoir, film and journalism. We begin by identifying key themes and questions to guide our study. Then we move back in time to the 19th century,...

Modern Latin America
History

This course examines how modern social and political institutions developed in the region that includes Central and South America and the Caribbean. We begin by questioning why such diverse places are imagined as a single region. We explore how colonialism...