History
Gill St. Bernard’s believes in the importance of helping students understand the world in which we live. History shares the broader goal of all the humanities: to shed light on the human condition. History at GSB is a matter of appreciation and interpretation. Thus, an important goal in each course is to challenge stereotypic and ethnocentric thinking to foster an independent, historically-conscious view of the world through the study of history and the social sciences. To this end, the history curriculum is integrated to provide students with the knowledge, skills and experiences necessary to function as resourceful members of an increasingly interdependent world. Specific skills such as primary source analysis, graph, chart and map interpretation, and research and writing are all emphasized. Experiential learning is incorporated through group activities, projects, guest speakers and field trips.
The objectives of the History Department include:
- To help students to develop, refine, and master observation skills and hypotheses formulation
- To enable students to critically evaluate evidence in contradictory arguments
- To develop historical writing skills and the fine points of thesis formulation both orally and in writing
- To cooperate in problem-solving as it pertains to the study of history
- To promote geographical awareness and the understanding of the relationship of geography to history
- To enable students to understand and appreciate the individual’s role as citizens in a global society
