Social Sciences
Social science classes at Sofos Preparatory Academy are specifically designed to test students’ reading, speaking, and critical thinking abilities. As students build their education toward interdisciplinary subjects, they are a potent supplement to any student’s course of study. The most intriguing college prospects are those who have an education in their field of competence as well as an awareness of how the world and its people function, regardless of whether a student plans to pursue engineering or liberal arts.
AP Human Geography
Human geography is the study of how people spatially organize society, having implications for language influence, economic development, political maneuvering, identity construction, and religious development. In order to help students prepare for advanced social science courses and other multidisciplinary subjects, we advise them to take this course. Any student should take AP Human Geography because it is a strong entry-level AP subject and qualifies as a 4th year Social Science course for college applications.
AP Economics
This year-long course is made up of two semester-long courses called AP Macroeconomics and AP Microeconomics. The science of economics clarifies how the world allocates resources for distribution, consumption, and production. Pupils leave knowing how markets operate on both a large and local scale, the purpose of governmental policy, and the justification for personal choices.
AP Psychology
A college-level survey of several ideas relating to human behavior is covered in AP Psychology. Students are expected to have the ability to identify biological, cognitive, and social elements that influence both internal mental processes and exterior behaviors. These ideas are related to actual situations, experiments, ongoing research, and students’ daily lives. We strongly advise students to include this lesson in their course of study because it is applicable to a wide range of backgrounds.
African American Studies Honors
Understanding the origins, nature, and effects of the African American experience and how it has impacted the world, the United States and the African American community is the goal of this African American studies course. Beginning with Africa, the cradle of humanity and civilization, the study of that experience will be extended to black history in America. Although it is hard to cover every aspect of the voyage, our analysis will take an interdisciplinary approach to look at some of the political, cultural, economic, artistic, and social issues that highlight how African American realities have been constructed both historically and today. Lectures, discussions, exercises, movie screenings, media, and textual analysis will all be included in the class sessions.
Economics
This is a required one-semester course. In it, we will study basic types of economic systems, how they intersect with government, and how they affect the people who live under them. Specifically, we will focus on the U.S. economy by looking at the two main branches: macroeconomics and microeconomics. This course should also provide a framework to understand news reports and politicians when they speak about inflation, the GNP, trusts, globalization, investments, the balance of trade, taxes, etc.
World History
This is a year-long course, designed, to begin with, the Renaissance in Western Europe and proceed through the Cold War. Given the current revolutionary atmosphere pervading the world, this class will view its topics through the lens of revolution. Students will begin the year by creating their own definition of what a revolution is, and end the year reflecting on whether they need to change their initial belief. The design emphasizes the relationship between global events as well as the interconnectedness of belief, political, social, and economic systems, as well as other elements of culture, including technology, conflict, environment, and modes of expression. The course will approach topics from a global perspective and will devote some time to both current events and geography.
European History
As they investigate ideas like the interaction of Europe and the world, economic and commercial developments, cultural and intellectual developments, states and other institutions of power, social organization and development, national and European identity, technological and scientific innovation, and more, students develop their understanding of European history by analyzing historical sources, learning to draw connections, and crafting historical arguments.
United States History
This is a yearlong course designed primarily to present students with historical information that will allow them to form their own judgments, opinions, and perspectives of the history of the United States. This course will look through the lens of how the United States has become a deeply politicized nation. The course material asks students to examine the present by looking at the political, social, and economic forces that have shaped the past. The course will begin with the exploration of the continent and go on through the nation’s involvement in World War II, with a constant awareness of connections to current events.
AP European History
AP European History is a college-level introductory course in European history. Students develop their understanding of European history by analyzing historical sources and learning to make connections and construct historical arguments as they investigate concepts such as Europe’s interaction with the rest of the world, economic and commercial developments, cultural and intellectual developments, states and other institutions of power, social organization and development, national and European identity, and technological and scientific innovation.
AP U.S. History
The AP U.S. History course focuses on developing students understanding of American history from approximately 1491 to the present. The course has students investigate the content of U.S. history for significant events, individuals, developments, and processes in nine historical periods, and develop and use the same thinking skills and methods (analyzing primary and secondary sources, making historical comparisons, chronological reasoning, and argumentation) employed by historians when they study the past. The course also provides seven themes (American and national identity; migration and settlement; politics and power; work, exchange, and technology; America in the world; geography and the environment; culture and society) that students explore throughout the course to make connections among historical developments in different times and places.