The program in the Tutorial House encourages active
listening, informed argument and increasingly independent learning.
In Tutorial
One and Tutorial Two, students complete the final two years of our common
curriculum, which integrate the five strands of world history, geography, social
sciences, host country and United Nations, now focused on global processes of
change from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. In tenth grade, some
students may also take a one-year elective in geography. By the end of tenth
grade, students have a broad understanding of the kinds of critical issues
facing the world today, examined each year at the UNIS/UN student-led
conference. In Tutorial Three and Tutorial Four, students undertake more
specialized and intensive study, choosing from a wide range of IB and UNIS
courses including Economics, History, Philosophy, Psychology, Social and
Cultural Anthropology and Contemporary Issues.
Tutorial One students study the nature, causes and effects of political,
economic and social revolutions in the Atlantic world of the eighteenth through
nineteenth centuries. Through examination of the Enlightenment, American and
French Revolutions, Latin American independence movements, the American Civil
War and the first and second industrial revolutions, students explore the
interplay between ideas and material circumstances, and the nature and
consequences of rapid and far-reaching change. Students analyze the application
of these revolutionary changes in the forms of nationalism and imperialism and
examine some of the ways in which geography influenced the forms of competition
and conflict that emerged. Study of the American and French Revolutions is
linked to a study of the emergence of the notion of civil and human rights and
their recognition under the law (United Nations). (This course is offered in
French for Francophone students.)
In Tutorial Two, students study the modern world: the political, economic,
social and cultural dimensions of global conflict and cooperation and the
movement towards a global society. Beginning with the age of the new imperialism
in the nineteenth century, through World Wars I and II and concluding with the
end of the Cold War, they explore the interplay between ideology, technology and
power in the twentieth century and the emergence of the United States as a world
power. They extend their understanding of historical events and their influence
on the contemporary world through the study of de-colonization, nationalism, the
development and role of regional organizations and the United Nations. Through
study of the allocation and movement of resources and products, people, capital
and information, students develop greater economic and geographical awareness
and understanding of the inequalities and complex processes that shape their
lives, current events and the contemporary world. (This course is offered in
French for Francophone students.)
A one-year elective in Geography is also offered for some students. This
course provides the opportunity to consolidate and extend knowledge and
understanding of geographical issues such as population, migration and
urbanization.
Tutorial Three and Four
Students have the opportunity to begin more specialized and intensive study,
choosing from a wide range of IB and UNIS courses; including Economics, History,
Philosophy, Psychology, Social and Cultural Anthropology and Contemporary
Issues. All IB Diploma candidates also take a two-year course in Theory of
Knowledge.