The Stony Brook School’s humanities program integrates history, literature, theology and philosophy in a curriculum that focuses on addressing life’s enduring questions and thinking through complex problems.
Our History curriculum emphasizes historical thinking and analysis, sophisticated historical writing, and cultural competency. Our sequence begins with global and world history in the Middle School, and then transitions to ancient, medieval, European, and finally American history in our Upper School.
Students are exposed to a variety of primary and secondary sources and have many opportunities to take electives in specialized courses such as College-Level Ethic & Politics, College-Level History of Philosophy, AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, Contemporary Global History, and more.
HUMANITIES PROGRAMS
In the 9th and 10th grades, our History and Bible classes form a sequence in Humanities 9 and Humanities 10 which cover the historical, theological, and intellectual histories of ancient and medieval worlds. Humanities 9 examines the redemptive message of the Bible’s Old Testament and its historical context through a study of the ancient Near Eastern, Mediterranean, Asian, and African worlds. The course’s unifying question of “What is a good life for human beings?” brings shape and meaning to reading challenging ancient texts.
Our Humanities 10 course picks up where that course leaves off, studying the gospels and the New Testament in their Greco-Roman context, and proceeding to survey church history and the medieval world. With its enduring question of “What is truth?,” the course analyzes the collision between Judeo-Christian thought and the Greco-Roman world.
In addition to training students as clear and effective thinkers, readers, and writers, our English curriculum focuses on character formation and each grade level links its curriculum through a thematic virtue (Justice, Courage, Temperance, Hope, etc.) to fulfill our School’s mission of Character Before Career. Our English Department works in tandem with our History and Bible curriculum to cover similar content, such as reading Homer’s The Odyssey in English 9 following Humanities 9’s discussion of The Iliad, or reading Vergil’s The Aeneid after discussing the Roman Empire and Augustus in Humanities 10.
