World History and Geography

Earth's Eye — Lakes of the World

4-week FLEX Age 10-12

What exactly is a lake? Is a lake different from a sea?  Can a lake be salty? Can a gulf be a lake? These are some of the watery questions we'll be exploring during this 4-week Flexible Schedule Course on Lakes of the World.

The Samurai Code — Feudal Japan

5-week FLEX Age 10-12

Join us as we travel in time and space to a chain of small islands in the northern Pacific Ocean from the 12th through the 19th centuries.  Powerful daimyos and their samurai vassals are waging costly wars in the struggle to become shogun.  Welcome to Feudal Japan.  

Those Were the Czars — Early Russia

6-week FLEX Age 10-12

Ivan the Great. Ivan the Terrible.  Peter the Great.  Catherine the Great.  Those were the czars that made their mark on the fascinating land we know as Russia.  

Maya, Aztec, Inca

7-week FLEX Age 10-12

Towering pyramids. An intriguing alphabet. A mysterious game played on a vast court as large as a football field.  These are just a few of the incredible achievements of the Ancient Maya, just one of three Pre-Columbian civilizations you will encounter in this class.

The Real Lion King — Ancient and Medieval African Kingdoms

8-week FLEX Age 9-11

Kush. Aksum. Ghana. Mali. Songhai.  These were some of the civilizations and kingdoms that shaped the history of Africa. Join this fascinating journey from the ancient civilizations of the Nile to the salt quarries of Northern Africa, across the Sahara to the gold-rich kingdoms of West Africa. 

Part 1 The New Dawn — The Renaissance in Europe

9-week FLEX Age 10-12

Meet the philosophers, poets, patrons, and artists of the European Renaissance who gave birth to the modern world by rediscovering the ancient past.

Part 2 Here I Stand — The Reformation

5-week FLEX Age 10-12

What did Gutenberg invent and why was it significant? Who was Martin Luther and what did he nail to the church door? How did Henry Tudor's personal life change religion in England? And what was Galileo's Starry Messenger? These are a few of the topics presented in this class on the Reformation.

Part 3  Merchants, Conquistadors, and Missionaries — The History of Exploration

10-week FLEX Age 10-12

What was Columbus looking for when he bumped into the Americas? How did Pedro Cabral end up in Brazil on the way to the Cape of Good Hope? Why wouldn't Vasco da Gama or Magellan win a Mr. Congeniality Contest? These are just a few of the questions we will explore in this 10-week history of exploration from Marco Polo to the Atlantic World.

Part 4 This Sceptered Isle — England's Golden Age

6-week FLEX Age 10-12

Meet the monarchs, rebels, and strongmen who shaped England's path to a constitutional monarchy during England's Golden Age.

Age of Discovery

20-week FLEX Age 10-12

What a piece of work is man.  This quote from William Shakespeare epitomizes the humanistic approach of the Renaissance.  Starting in Florence and traveling to Rome, Venice, Northern, and Western Europe, we will encounter thinkers such as Erasmus, Machiavelli, and Martin Luther, monarchs such as Queen Isabella, Henry the VIII and Elizabeth I, artists such as Botticelli and Michelangelo, astronomers such as Copernicus and Galileo, conquistadors such as Columbus and Magellan, and above all, the original Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci.

Part 1 The War Before the Revolution

6-week FLEX Age 9-11

Why do we call this the French and Indian War? Who were the combatants?  What was at stake? Who were the losers and who were the winners? And what were the consequences for France, Britain, the British colonists, and Native Americans? 

Part 2 The Road to Revolution

5-week FLEX Age 9-11 

How did thirteen British colonies, each with a distinct history, government, and set of laws, in an age without telephones, texting, or email, unite to rebel against a distant empire. 

Part 3 From Lexington to Yorktown

9-week FLEX  Age 9-11

Could George Washington lead an underfunded, poorly paid, untrained army of part-time soldiers to victory against the highly-trained, well-equipped professional army of the British Empire? We know the answer, but how did he do it?

The World Turned Upside Down

20-week FLEX  Age 9-11

How did the British Colonies in America unite, fight, and win a war against the most powerful empire in the world? That's the question we will explore throughout this class as we meet the colorful and often flawed luminaries who dared to rebel and go on to win what seemed like an impossible endeavor.