On Gods & Monsters: Comparative Mythologies Across World Histories History / Social Sciences | Grades 11–12 | Fulfills History Requirement | Prerequisite: World History This course explores the development of civilizations through their myths, gods, heroes, and monsters. Across cultures and time periods, people have used stories to explain creation, nature, power, morality, fear, and the unknown. In this course, students will examine mythology as a historical lens for understanding the beliefs, values, political systems, and cultural identities of societies around the world. Beginning with early river valley civilizations and continuing through Ancient Greece, Rome, Northern Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas, students will study sacred narratives, divine beings, epic heroes, and supernatural creatures as reflections of each culture’s worldview. Through reading, discussion, writing, creative projects, and presentations, students will strengthen their skills in comparative analysis, historical interpretation, clear communication, and storytelling while exploring how myths preserve meaning, memory, and identity across time.
AP African American Studies: Diaspora, Culture, and Identity History / Social Sciences | Grades 11–12 | AP Course | Fulfills History Requirement
What does it mean to be part of a diaspora? How do communities carry culture, memory, and resistance across centuries and continents? In this course, students trace the origins, experiences, and creative expressions of African diasporic communities — from early West and Central African kingdoms to the Gullah/Geechee communities of the American South, from Afro-Cuban traditions in Havana and Matanzas to Afro-Indigenous connections across the Americas. Grounded in the College Board AP framework and its four thematic units, the course develops historical, literary, and visual analysis skills through direct encounters with varied primary sources. Learning extends beyond the classroom through artist visits and field trips with partners including Indigo Arts Alliance, Atlantic Black Box, and the Museum of Innovation, Learning, and Labor in Lewiston. Students complete an Individual Student Project — an official AP exam component — in which they select, analyze, and defend four sources on a topic of their choice. By the end of the year, students will have built the analytical tools to read complex texts and images across disciplines, and the historical perspective to understand how African American and Afro-diasporic communities have shaped, and continue to shape, the world they live in.
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