September 11, 2001, was a tragedy that must be understood on multiple levels. Locally, it radically altered New York City, leaving physical and psychological scars. Nationally, it shook a superpower, prompting widespread fear, confusion, and new policies that highlighted the tension between freedom and security. Internationally, it rewrote diplomatic relationships, launching the War on Terror and spurring many human-rights concerns. While 9/11 was a starting point for all of this, it was also an end point, the product of decades of global transformations. This class situates 9/11 where it belongs, at the center of an extended narrative, amidst the contemporary trends of post-imperialism, globalization, and terrorism. *NCAA approved course.
Instructor: Dave Whitson, Catlin Gabel School
*NCAA approved course.
Why do corporations have economic incentives to pollute? In a world of scarce resources, why do some firms create products that are not intended to last? Why did the Copenhagen Climate Change forum fail? And why are we running out of fish?
Economics can answer the "whys", and perhaps even provide the solution to our environmental problems.
This course is an inquiry-based unit of study that requires students to investigate, conduct experiments, share data on line, analyze, and make conclusions. Students will be asked to create market-based solutions to solve current local and global environmental problems and challenges.
Instructor: Jen Olmsted, Jakarta International School
*NCAA approved course.
This is an advanced level French language course.
This course will focus on the theme of France's evolving multicultural identity in the 21st century and its struggle to blend the principles of the Old France with the plurality of the New France. It will also explore France's conflicted attitude toward American culture. Students will study hip- hop both as an art form (verbal, visual, musical) and as a social force expressing the values of a misunderstood generation emerging from the suburbs and trying to find its place in society.
After a brief overview of the current social, political, and religious climate in France (through discussions based on articles, book excerpts, and films), students will react to a variety of hip- hop artists and their approach to their situation. Students will work as journalists and select an area of focus for their research. They will then write their own articles, raise questions, start debates, and post comments on blogs. Students will also explore their own identity through original work in the target language: hip-hop songs, poems, stories, slam, and videos.
Prerequisite: At least three years of high-school French.
Instructor: Veronique Brau, Lakeside School
What makes people sick? What are the best ways to mitigate health disparities? Using an interdisciplinary approach to address these two questions, this course hopes to improve students' health literacy through an examination of the most significant public-health challenges facing today's global population. Topics addressed will be the biology of infectious diseases; the statistics and quantitative measures associated with health issues; the social determinants of health; and the role of organizations (public and private) in shaping the landscape of global health policy. Additionally, students will learn about the biology and epidemiology of certain diseases and use illness as a lens through which to examine critically such social issues as poverty, gender, and race.
Potential readings include The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson; Sizwe's Test by Johnny Steinberg; and the essays of Paul Farmer, Steve Gloyd, and Atul Gawande. Student work will include analytical and creative writing; problem sets; peer review, critique, and discussion; and online presentations. Writing in this course involves students' personal reflections on their understanding of the workings of disease in society, write-ups of epidemiological studies, journal entries, grant proposals, and descriptive narratives of the dynamics of illness.
Instructor: Jake Clapp, Lakeside School
Learn how to build apps for the iPod, iPhone, and iPad in Objective-C and publish them in the App Store. Students will work much like a small startup: collaborating as a team, sharing code, and learning to communicate with each other throughout the course. Individual projects will differ, but there is an emphasis on collaboration.
When students finish this course, they will have had the experience of being integrally involved in a project team. Students will understand the fundamentals of object-oriented programming, transferable to any modern programming language. Students will learn the valuable skills of creativity, collaboration, and communication in the service of creating something incredibly cool, difficult, and worthwhile.
Note: For this course, it is required that students have access to a computer running the most current version of Mac OS X. An iOS device that can run apps (iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad) is also highly recommended.
Prerequisites: Some prior programming experience in C or Java is very helpful.
Instructor: Douglas Kiang, Punahou School
Media studies is a rich interdisciplinary subject that builds a bridge between the creation of visual arts and the analysis of texts in subjects such as English or history. Students in this course will develop the ability to question what a given visual text is trying to say, how it goes about saying it, and what impact the medium has on the message. There are natural connections between the close reading of visual texts and the careful consideration of issues of race, class, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, nationality, and ability that emerge when one looks closely at the media that surround us.
The central textbook for the course will be Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication (Bedford/St. Martins). The course will be organized into concepts in communication studies, analysis of print media (e.g., photography), analysis of advertising media (e.g., print, television, Internet), and analysis of film (documentary and narrative film). Student work will include readings, films, research, lectures, presentations, discussions, writing, and hands-on activities.
Instructor: Meg Goldner Rabinowitz, Germantown Friends School
Modern Ethical Dilemmas asks you to think deeply about some of the major ethical challenges of the modern world and to learn the language and philosophical underpinnings of major world philosophies. The purpose of this course is, in the inimitable words of broadcast television pioneer Fred W. Friendly, "not to make up anyone's mind but to open minds, and to make the agony of decision making so intense that you can escape only by thinking."
Topics we will address include moral philosophies, including the Ethics of Virtue, Utilitarianism, Kantianism, and Social Contract Theory; moral fallacies; ethics and religion; ethics and community; the ethics of selfishness; business ethics; media ethics; and moral dilemmas that come up in daily life. Our aim is to be both philosophical and abstract but also concrete. We will explore real-world problems, from those that exist in our daily lives to those that involve nations and famous people. By semester's end you will have acquired an appreciation for how ethical dilemmas are woven through every life path. You will also be able to perceive clearly where ethical dilemmas exist around you, and you will develop language and critical thinking skills to make the pondering of ethical issues an integral part of your life.
Instructor: Karen Bradley, Head-Royce School
How do cities work? Who does the work? Who are they working for? What are the answers to these questions for your city? Students in this class will explore the answers to these questions within the context of urban planning, sustainability, leadership, and civic engagement. This class will address these issues through experiential and service learning. It is a hands-on, seminar style course designed for students from around the world to work together to engage their respective communities and help address various urban issues through the completion of a plan which students will develop for a client.
Throughout this course students will evaluate and better understand their leadership style. They will learn about the role of urban planning in shaping their region and how to work as a professional by engaging in a planning-related, client-based, service-learning project. In the long term, the hope is that students will continue doing the good work of an engaged citizen who cares about their community as they move on—to college, the workforce, and into leadership roles.
Instructor: George Zaninovich, Catlin Gabel School
*NCAA approved course.
Using a diverse set of contemporary American playwrights, we will examine their skill, form, and structure and use those conversations to inform the creation of original student work. Our list of plays will include (but not be limited to) works about other countries and cultures. The global diversity of our classroom will enable us to explore the implications of American writers' telling stories about other places, even as we gain a deeper appreciation for the complexity of American experience itself.
In any given week, students will be responsible for analytical and creative writing assignments that will allow us to consider each play as both literary work and creative inspiration. Analytical assignments will range from short journal prompts to longer thesis-driven essays. Through a series of writing games and exercises we will work collaboratively to write and develop stories with the goal that every student will end the course with a fully realized one-act play.
By the end of the course, students will have a better appreciation for the reading and writing of plays. A course that combines the analytical and creative elements of reading and writing offers a rare opportunity for students to think as both scholar and artist, and this course will be an opportunity for students to get feedback and insights from all over the world, allowing them to gain perspective beyond their immediate community.
Instructors: Greg Puppione, Lakeside School
*NCAA approved course.