In the hallways of Judge, you may have seen posters promoting a new elective: history through literature. Ms Robertson, who teaches social studies classes, said she is excited to teach the class.
“It covers all of world history. You’re going to learn history and kind of the fun stuff that you don’t get to cover in a regular history class, through literature. We’re going to do mythology and short stories, and literature by women. We’re also going to watch the movies that go along with those books, which is really exciting. And then World War One, World War Two and the civil rights movement, and we’re just going to do a lot fun writing projects,” said Robertson.
Robertson explained how literature is an important lens in the study of world history:
“Literature and history go hand in hand. My degree is in English, but I have a minor in history, and that’s just because they mesh so well together. You can learn a lot, especially a lot of things that you don’t necessarily learn in a regular history class through literature. And you can hear different perspectives and hear from different voices that you don’t usually hear from.”
A normal day of class would consist of notes, reading, videos, discussion, and further exploration of the literature and how it connects with a topic or event of study.
“On a normal day, we’ll do some fun bell work activity. You come in, we’re going to do little notes on [the reading] and like a project, it’s all going to be fun. I’m going to just emphasize notes, but it’s going to be like fun notes. We’ll read and we’ll watch videos that go along with that topic. And just talk about that significant event.”
The class is open to juniors and seniors, and a few approved sophomores. The class will be semesterly, so you have two opportunities to take it next year.
“I would recommend [this to] juniors and seniors who need an elective. It’s split by semester, so if you can’t take it in semester one you can always take it semester two. I’ll also open it up to sophomores – you have to get my approval first, but it’s open to 10, 11, 12… but mainly for those juniors and seniors who need an elective.”
Future seniors, juniors and even sophomores – if you’re looking for an elective or are interested in a unique exploration of history, why not give history through literature a try next year?
