INTERDISCIPLINARY COURSES All Porter-Gaud students should have an educational experience that prepares them to be effective lifelong learners and contributors to our global community. Now more than ever, the Porter-Gaud experience must not only provide for the acquisition of rigorous academic content, but it must also be more intentional about fostering critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, and other forward-looking skills our young people need to thrive in this complex, rapidly changing world. As all of our coursework is guided by the Vision of a Learner, our Interdisciplinary Studies courses allow students to engage in coursework which fully embraces and is overtly centered around the belief that one must exercise certain competencies to apply skills and knowledge in real-world situations.
INTERDISCIPLINARY COURSE OFFERINGS Innovation and Design Thinking | Semester Course The course is designed to guide students towards a better understanding of themselves while developing skills to address problems in the Porter-Gaud Community, the greater Charleston community, and the world. Students will work to address challenges and will study the ways that others are addressing the challenges faced by modern civilization. The course will focus on six core concepts of Problem-Solving, Intellectual Risk-Taking, Empathy, Self-Awareness, Collaboration, and Reflection. Students will study these six core concepts by analyzing innovative approaches across scientific, technological, and societal fields. Students will learn the Design Thinking process and utilize Design Thinking principles to seek their own solutions to on-campus and community problems. The direction of the course will be dictated by the interests of the class and topics may include entrepreneurship, cutting edge technology, and the exploration of the challenges facing modern society as well as discussions of current events. Eligible Grade Level: 11th; 12th | Prerequisite: none
MALONE SCHOOLS ONLINE NETWORK The Malone Schools Online Network (MSON) provides highly motivated 11th and 12th grade students with a variety of academically challenging courses that enhance each member school’s existing curriculum. These interactive seminars bring students together from across the country with dedicated teachers in real time. MSON joins the best of independent school education with the latest video conferencing technology to chart new territory in online learning. +Students who are interested in taking an MSON course should apply through Mrs. Davis. +For more information on the following MSON courses, please access the MSON Curriculum Guide. +All courses listed below meet after school (3:35 - 4:35 and 4:40 - 5:40) World Languages
The Fiction of James Joyce (Spring)
STEM
Ancient Greek I (yearlong)
Global Voices of Oppression: Literature for Social Justice (Fall)
Cancer (Fall)
Arabic I (yearlong) German I (yearlong)
Making Ethical Medical Choices in a Diverse World (Fall)
Humanities and Social Sciences
A Nation Divided: The Literature of Civil Rights (Spring)
Diversity in a Global Comparative Perspective (Fall) Environmental Bioethics - Exploring the Challenges of Local and Global Choices (Spring)
Data Structures and Design Patterns (yearlong) A Mathematical Modeling Approach to Social Justice (Spring)
Think Global, Debate Local (Fall)
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