(Full Year) This course covers major trends and events in the formation and development of the United States, beginning with the era of exploration and extending to the post-war era. It emphasizes the process of analyzing, understanding and expressing the significance of historical events. In achieving those ends, students will learn to use historical documents and inquiry in the writing of well-crafted historical essays. During the fourth quarter, the writing program will culminate in a cooperative effort with the Library and English Department to develop the students' understanding and mastery of a longer research paper. Juniors are required to either take this course or its AP equivalent (AP United States History). 

(Full Year) This course explores the history, culture, and contributions of African Americans from pre-colonial Africa to the present. Using historical documents, literature, art, music, and research, students will examine key themes such as the African diaspora, the impact of slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, and contemporary social and political issues. Emphasizing critical thinking, research, and discussion, the course encourages students to engage with primary and secondary sources while analyzing the evolving role of African Americans in shaping U.S. and global history. Students will develop a strong foundation in African American history and culture, culminating in an in-depth student project that demonstrates their understanding of historical themes and their impact on American society. Open to seniors and requires departmental approval.

(Full Year) Advanced Placement Art History is a college-level course intended to teach students how to view art critically and understand artworks within their historical and social context. It is also intended to encourage and broaden students’ enjoyment of drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture, photography and other visual media, particularly through visits to Washington’s museums. Students will learn to recognize, discuss and write about 250 key works required for the A.P. exam. These include representative works spanning the Prehistoric era to Modern European era and global art including: African, Native American, Asian, Islamic, Oceanic and current trends in the visual arts today. Open to juniors and seniors by approval. Students taking this course are required to take the Advanced Placement exam. 

(Full Year) AP Comparative Government and Politics is an introductory college-level course in comparative government and politics.The course uses a comparative approach to examine the political structures; policies; and political, economic, and social challenges of six selected countries: China, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, and the United Kingdom. Students cultivate their understanding of comparative government and politics through analysis of data and text-based sources as they explore topics like power and authority, legitimacy and stability, democratization, internal and external forces, and methods of political analysis.

(Full Year) This course is designed to give students a thorough understanding of the principles of both micro and macroeconomics. Students gain an understanding of the principles of economics that apply to the functions of individual decision makers, both consumers and producers, within the larger economic system. It looks at principles that apply to an economic system as a whole. The course places particular emphasis on the study of national income, measures of economic performance, economic growth, international finance, exchange rates, and the balance of payments. All students taking this course are required to take the Advanced Placement exams in both Macro and Microeconomics.

(Full Year) This senior-year course provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the operation of American national government. To accomplish this, students develop analytic perspectives for interpreting, understanding and explaining political events in this country. Subjects that the course covers include: constitutional arrangements, policymaking institutions such as the legislature, the executive, the bureaucracy, and the courts, public opinion and the media, political participation and voting behavior, political parties, interest groups, civil liberties and rights, and budget making. Students taking this course are required to take the Advanced Placement exam.

(Full Year) AP Human Geography is an introduction to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of earth’s surface. Students employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine human social organization and its environmental consequences. Geographic perspectives emphasized in the course include location, space, place, scale, pattern, regionalization, and globalization. Geographic topics explored in the course include population, cultural patterns and processes, political organization, agriculture and rural land use, industrialization and economic development, and urban land use. Students also learn about the methods and tools (especially maps) that geographers use in their science and practice. Examples and resources from the Washington, D.C. region are integrated throughout the course. Students taking this course are required to take the Advanced Placement exam. This course is taken senior year, and students must apply and be approved to take this class. 

(Full Year) The AP course in Psychology covers the major topics included in a first-year college-level psychology course. The course will include writing and research assignments. Students must be approved by the instructor and be ready for a full year of rigorous study. Students taking this course are required to take the Advanced Placement exam.

(Full Year) The AP US History course is designed to teach students to think critically about the issues that have confronted, influenced and shaped the United States, through a process that integrates the examination of factual knowledge, the development and application of analytical thinking skills, and the assessment of primary and secondary sources. The class prepares students for intermediate and advanced college courses by making demands upon them equivalent to those made full-year introductory college courses. Students taking this course are required to take the Advanced Placement exam. Juniors must either take this course or American History.  

(One Semester) This course explores the degree to which various African populations have enjoyed agency in their political and economic dealings, ranging from the 1880s - 1990s. After examining the onset of colonialism and tracing its impact on the continent through both world wars, the course will focus on the pivotal decades of the 1950s and 1960s. In comparing numerous liberation movements, both as a class and through individual research, students will grow to appreciate the strategies African leaders employed in their quests for independence. Furthermore, they will identify the ways in which some African countries used Cold War dynamics to their advantage, while others had less success navigating the broader geopolitical landscape. This survey of roughly one hundred years of African history aims to help students better grasp current realities on the continent while also shedding light on American-Soviet relations that did so much to shape our modern world.

(One Semester) This course examines the history of Washington, DC, both as the nation’s capital and as a reflection of the United States’ social, political, and cultural evolution. Students will engage with primary and secondary sources, visit historical sites, and analyze DC as a living classroom, focusing on its political significance, diverse communities, and Gonzaga's historical role in the city. Through primary source analysis and site visits, students will develop research skills and critically evaluate the school’s impact on DC’s history. This course offers a deeper appreciation of Washington, DC, as a symbol of democracy, justice, and progress.

(One Semester) Open to seniors; juniors can also enroll depending on space. This elective course provides a detailed review of the American federal system and its structure. Main topics of the course include: institutions of the national government, political beliefs and behaviors, political parties and interest groups, the media, civil rights and civil liberties. 

(One Semester) Open to seniors; juniors can also enroll depending on space. This elective will include the history of white/Lakota relations and conflicts, the culture and religious beliefs of the Lakota people, the challenges and complexities of life on the Pine Ridge reservation, and the modern history of Lakota & pan-Indian activism.  Through close study of a particular community, the course will seek to introduce students to a wider understanding of the American Indian experience as an ongoing fight for justice and survival.

(One Semester) Open to seniors; juniors can also enroll depending on space.  This course is intended as an introductory examination into some of the major themes in the history of political ideas and values. The course focuses on the central problems of political philosophy and some of the most interesting attempts throughout history to solve them, from the ancient Greeks through more modern philosophers. It sheds light on the ideas of the framers of the Constitution by investigating their sources: Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and selected others. 

(Full Year) World History consists of both a survey of history and everyday living patterns in non-western societies and a study of the development of Western Civilization through the European Middle Ages. The general purposes of this course are to give students a familiarity with cultures other than their own, to broaden their horizons, to help them to understand other peoples, and to assist them in discovering and identifying key trends and relationships in the study of history. All freshmen take this course.