For high school students
Progress Studies for Young Scholars
An online program of guided self-study in the history of industrial civilization for high school students.
Price
$349Length
1 SemesterLocation
Online & On-Campus



Do you understand the story of unprecedented human progress in the modern age?
The rapid rise in living standards over more than two hundred years can be seen all around us, but is often taken for granted. What explains this ascent? What innovations enabled it, and who were the innovators?
Immerse yourself in the history of humanity
Learn about manufacturing from blacksmiths to the assembly lines; about power from water wheels to combustion to electricity; about food from famine to industrial agriculture and genetically modified crops; about disease from basic sanitation to medicine.
Explore the hardships people overcame
This program will explore: what problems, challenges and hardships in life and work were faced by people in earlier generations and centuries? And how did we solve those problems through science, technology, and invention?
Grow as an individual
Your learning will be supported by instructors who will help you develop your reasoning and research skills. You’ll also have the chance to engage ideas with a community of like-minded peers.
“And the story belongs not to any tribe but to all of humanity—to any sentient creature with the power of reason and the urge to persist in its being. For it requires only the convictions that life is better than death, health is better than sickness, abundance is better than want, freedom is better than coercion, happiness is better than suffering, and knowledge is better than superstition and ignorance.”
“And the story belongs not to any tribe but to all of humanity—to any sentient creature with the power of reason and the urge to persist in its being. For it requires only the convictions that life is better than death, health is better than sickness, abundance is better than want, freedom is better than coercion, happiness is better than suffering, and knowledge is better than superstition and ignorance.”
Steven Pinker
Course modules
Premium ($349)
Free (for all current ATI students)
Enroll nowPremium ($349)
Free (for all current ATI students)
Premium ($349)
Free (for all current ATI students)
Course details
A semester-long evening course with twice-weekly sessions. The class meets twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday for one hour each day, from 4-5 pm US Pacific Time/7-8pm US Eastern Time. Curated reading, audio or video content accompany a study group with an instructor for discussions and Q&A.
“Civilization was created by man the intellectual, man the worker, and man the genius, who carried out a mission of progress, urged by extraordinary energies. It is man that must be appreciated irrespective of race or country—the man who has influenced progress, as well as the man who, by his work, kept up this loftier environment in which all humanity lived.”
“Civilization was created by man the intellectual, man the worker, and man the genius, who carried out a mission of progress, urged by extraordinary energies. It is man that must be appreciated irrespective of race or country—the man who has influenced progress, as well as the man who, by his work, kept up this loftier environment in which all humanity lived.”
Maria Montessori
Experience school on your terms
Join a school community designed to support your education with coaching, small classes, and a commitment to our core values. Engage in deep study and personal exploration as a student at ATI.
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