This course is for seniors who have an interest in history and have performed well in social studies courses. The course covers the major events of the last 500 years in Europe with an emphasis on the ideas and forces that shaped those events. Student participation is expected, especially in class discussions, oral presentations and group projects.

The Modern European History course deals with the facts, ideas, events and personalities which have shaped Europe's history from approximately 1450 to present. The journey through Europe's rich and diverse history takes the student from the tragedy of the Bubonic plague at the end of the Medieval Period to the establishment of contemporary Europe. Units of study will include the Renaissance and Reformation, the age of Absolutism, the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, the French Revolution and Napoleonic Europe, the rise of popular political ideologies (the "isms") and the Revolutions of 1848 leading to the emergence of nation states, the Age of Industrial and International expansion preceding World War I, the World Wars, the Cold War and current issues. Within the frameworks of a chronological analysis, attention will also be given to unifying themes in intellectual and cultural history, political and diplomatic history, as well as social and economic history.