computer science, engineering, and design / English
CSED850 Advanced Inquiry: Computer Science, Engineering, and Design This course is the culminating experience in the Computer Science, Engineering, and Design Program. Students in this course will meet as a group to share literature and discuss experiments and projects. Each student will propose, design, and iterate on an independent project that demonstrates an understanding of interdisciplinary learning. Students in this course are expected to identify a problem or question, connect with a client, design and execute a meaningful project, and report on their process to the GFA community. Open to 12th-graders; prerequisites: two half-credit courses in Computer Science, Engineering, and Design or departmental permission. (1 credit; full year) Diploma with a Concentration in STEAM Available to students in the class of 2022. For students who are passionate about the interdisciplinary study of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math, GFA offers a Diploma with a Concentration in STEAM. To facilitate scheduling, it is recommended that students who are interested in pursuing a Diploma with a Concentration in STEAM declare their interest by the spring of their 10th-grade year. The diploma can be earned by completing the following: • 4 credits of science • 4 credits of mathematics • An AP Science course • 1 credit of Computer Science, Engineering or Design • Advanced Inquiry: Computer Science, Engineering, and Design ENGLISH ENG250 English 9: Many Forms, Many Voices Focusing on great literature in a variety of genres — including classic and contemporary fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and drama — students will learn to listen more carefully, empathetically, and insightfully to the voices of others and to develop their own powerful and inimitable voices. In partnership with the teacher, they will create a learning community that supports a diversity of thought, perspective, experience, and background; that recognizes such diversity as a source of strength; and that honors different voices and identities. In class, they will develop the habits of passionate and precise reading, discussing, and writing, with a special emphasis on the twin arts of close reading and Harkness discussion. Guided by the understanding that (as Saul Bellow noted) “a writer is a reader moved to emulation,” stu6
dents will write creative pieces inspired by the literature they read; in their critical writing, they will often seek to understand, explain, and celebrate a text that they love. There will be opportunities for them to read and write about what matters most to them. Throughout, the course will focus on the process of reading and writing, and the primary mode of assessment — a portfolio of work chosen and curated by the student — will value not only the quality of the work but also the art of revision and the habit of self-reflection. (1 credit; full year) ENG450 English 10: World Literature This course takes students on a journey around the world through literary cultures and genres. Texts may include Satrapi’s The Complete Persepolis, Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies, Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, and poetry, memoir, and short fiction from around the globe. Writing assignments will include both literary analysis and personal and creative pieces, with a special emphasis on the craft of revision, and each student will be responsible for daily contributions to class discussion. Although study of grammar continues, the grammar topics shift to usage and application of rules learned in earlier courses. Themes explored in the course will include the importance of culture, tradition, identity, memory, and narrative voice with an emphasis on expanding students’ world views and improving their critical and creative skills. (1 credit; full year) ENG650 English 11: American Literature Inspired by Emerson’s call for young Americans to develop intellectual self-reliance, English 11 will invite students to take increased responsibility for their learning and for charting their own paths of inquiry through the texts we read, both around the Harkness table and in their written work. Texts may include novels, short stories, essays, and poetry from the 19th century to the present. As we read, we will ask ourselves how these works grapple with their moral, psychological, religious, and political preoccupations, and we will pay special attention to the forms of expression writers use to craft meaning. Students will practice writing the personal essay, the analytical essay, and the personal analytical essay; each time learning the shape and moves of the genre by reading masters of the form and then writing essays of their own inspired and informed by these masters. Students will also write poems and shorter reflective pieces along the way. Each semester, students will submit a portfolio of critical, reflective, and creative writing as their culminating assessment. Students in this course may elect to sit for the AP Language and Composition exam in the spring. (1 credit; full year)
