The Historical Perspectives Department provides students with a deep appreciation of the world.  This is accomplished by examining different peoples and different areas of the world,  from early civilization to the present day. 

The curriculum requires students to use their creativity, skills, and abilities to go beyond the   facts presented and to ask questions and look for answers that will provide them with a real understanding of the material.  

Content for the Historical Perspectives classes will include:

Lower School
  • Ethnic Studies I: Pre-Columbian Contact to early Anti-Imperialism through Race, Class, and Gender
  • Ethnic Studies II: The World Wars to Modern Revolution and resistance through Race, Class, and Gender​
Upper School
  • Modern European History: The Rise of Monarchs to present day
  • U.S. History I: The later Colonial era to the Civil War
  • U.S. History II: Antebellum to present day
  • Current Events: An examination of our world today and the events that are making history

   The Historical Perspectives curriculum requires the following elements each semester:
  • Generating a variety of writing pieces, including, but not limited to: reading responses, research papers, reflective essays, persuasive essays and informational essays. 
  • Increase of content specific vocabulary, through the use of various readings, text and classroom instruction.
  • The examination of different historical events using primary and secondary  sources.  
  • Through the study of these sources, students will master specific skill sets such as; listening, reading and producing a written response, reading informational text, comparing/contrasting two authors views of the same subject, interpreting history through a critical lens and factualy defending their critique. 
  •  Major and minor projects to demonstrate the students understanding of the material and concepts.  These projects will allow the student to demonstrate their creativity and abilities within the framework of the course material.
  • Upper school students will create and keep a portfolio of exemplar work to be used as a graduation requirement.
  • Admission to class may be based on success in previous courses, test scores and teacher recommendations.

TAPA Historical Perspectives Team

David Sousa, Upper School Historical Perspectives Instructor and Dean of Students
Mr.Sousa@TAPAprovidence.org
David holds a Bachelor's degree in history with a concentration in education from Rhode Island College. In addition to classroom teaching, David also has administrative and educator mentoring experience. David truly loves teaching history and being part of the TAPA Ensemble. He strives to make it fun and interesting for all of his students by using a wide variety of creative instructional strategies and incorporating the arts whenever possible. When not in school he enjoys spending time with his family, learning more about historical events, being a Freemason, ​playing drums and doing construction projects around the house.
Mike McGuigan, Lower School Ethnic Studies Instructor
Mr.Mike@TAPAprovidence.org
Michael McGuigan (Mr. Mike) teaches lower school Historical Perspectives at TAPA. Mike has an MAT from Brown University and an MA in Philosophical Theology from Andover Newton. He wrote his thesis on Nietzsche's Philosophy of History. In 2009, Mike co-wrote with Dr. Jeff Fifield, The Beauty of the Experience: AI Principles in Action, published in the AI Practitioner. Prior to joining the TAPA ensemble, Mike served for ten years as a teacher in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Guatemala. During his time overseas he taught high school British Literature, high school World History, Middle school Humanities, and an International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge class. Mike has directed over 13 middle and high school plays and, early in life, worked painting murals in schools, hospitals, and public buildings. When not teaching Mike enjoys rock and ice climbing, mountaineering, and being with his family.
 Kevin Cordeiro, Lower School Historical Perspectives Instructor and Academic Dean
Mr.Cordeiro@TAPAprovidence.org
Kevin is excited to be part of the TAPA Ensemble and the Historical Perspective and Lower School teams. He received his BA from Rhode Island College and is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in History focusing on the new cultural history of the Latin and Lusophone world. This cultural focus intertwines the arts into the history of the people of the world, and delves into how the arts represent and effect society. Outside of teaching and history, Kevin works on restoring cars and motorcycles. He has grown up as a fan and now is an (amateur) creator of pop culture, comics, and horror.

If you want to learn more about Mr. Cordeiro, check out the mini-documentary that TAPA Film Major Aydan S (Class of 2020) made about him here.