History is one of the most important subjects to study, hence why we have to take a history class every year in school. It makes sense that, living in the United States, we primarily learn about American history. However, it’s important to know about other countries all over the world whose history began way before the United States was even a figment of someone’s imagination. Thankfully for Vestavia students, AP European History is offered as an elective course and is one that students should definitely study.
The AP European History curriculum spans all the way from the Renaissance to Modern Europe, a timeline that spans from the 14th century to the 21st century, so it's unsurprising that there’s a lot of material to cover. Thankfully for VHHS, the AP European History teacher is Dr. Toland. Dr. Toland not only loves what he teaches but is also excellent at breaking down each unit quickly and efficiently without skipping over any important details. In the beginning, it can seem overwhelming, but Dr. Toland ensures that his students are well-prepared for the AP exam in May.
While AP European History is a thoroughly interesting class, it doesn’t just help students when connecting important historical events to their other history classes, it also helps contextualize for english classes. Especially in AP Lit, the historical context of the literary works students study is very important, and much of the literature read in that class is European and is centered around European movements students learn about in-depth in AP European history. For example, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley carries a lot of Romantic themes stemming from the Romanticism movement. Romanticism is one of the longest and most important units studied in AP European History, and students who take AP Euro find themselves with an advantage for the AP Lit exam as they’re able to contextualize the work and the historical influences on it, hopefully earning them the sophistication point on their essays.
Aside from its academic importance, AP European History is an extremely fun class to take, primarily because of Dr. Toland. It's evident how much he loves the class he teaches and therefore makes it an even better class for his students. There truly isn’t anything that can make a class more beloved than knowing how passionate one’s teacher is about it. From his extensive knowledge of Europe and its history to his personal anecdotes from his own European explorations, Dr. Toland helps make AP European History one of the best electives a student at VHHS can take.
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