A LOOK INSIDE ST. ANDREW’S
Academic Highlights
What’s Inside Electives
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Advanced Topics Tutorials
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Senior Exhibitions
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Tutorials
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Electives In the pages that follow, you will find a sample of the semester-long electives we offer students across a variety disciplines—history, religious studies, science, and computer science. AS stands for “Advanced Study”, our designation for courses offered at the collegiate level (St. Andrew’s does not offer Advanced Placement courses). Our faculty selects and designs these rigorous and creative courses, which go beyond preparation for multiple-choice exams that simply test retention of content, to work that ask students to demonstrate deep understanding and authentic exploration of complex questions, issues, and challenges. For more information, visit www.standrews-de.org/course-catalog.
HISTORY ELECTIVES
American history. Using an array of primary and secondary sources, our studies will allow us to hear from the history makers in these moments while also allowing us the advantage of historical hindsight. Emphasis is placed on critical reading of these sources and written work that requires careful analysis, independent thought, and compelling augmentation. Some of the text we will explore include: David Halberstam’s The Fifties; William Whyte’s “The Decline of the Protestant Ethic”; J. Edgar Hoover’s “Who Are the Communist”; Norman Podhoretz’s “The Know Nothing Bohemians”; Robert F. Kennedy’s Thirteen Days; and Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique.
AS HISTORY: AMERICAN SOCIAL REFORM MOVEMENTS How is change—social, economic, political—achieved in American society? What role can individuals play in social change? In this Advanced Study course, we will seek answers to these questions through historical study of social reform movements that have created—or attempted to create— that change. The course pays particular attention to issues of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, class and power in our study, examining how these issues can both unite and divide efforts for social change. We will also examine how participation in social movements shapes the identities of the individuals involved in them. While the focus of the course is historical, in understanding how and why some efforts to create change in society have succeeded while others have failed, students may begin to see how social change may be possible today. Topics for the American portion of the class may include: utopian societies, abolition, women’s suffrage, eugenics, the civil rights and black power movements, women’s liberation, the conservative movement, and the environmental movement. (The interests of the students who take the class will help to shape this list.) The course approaches this history with extensive reading in primary sources (including literature, film, art and music), immersing students in the ideas, tactics and challenges of these movements. Articles and chapters from secondary scholarship supplement these readings, allowing us to consider and respond to the arguments historians have made about the movements we study.
AS HISTORY: EMPIRE OF LIBERTY?—THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD In 1790, George Washington wrote, “The establishment of our new Government seemed to be the last great experiment, for promoting human happiness.” Since its inception, then, many Americans have conceived of their national project in grandiose terms and have sought to promote their notions of human happiness on a wider scale. Shortly after the Louisiana Purchase, for example, Thomas Jefferson described the United States as an “empire of liberty.” This seemingly contradictory turn of phrase—the empire of liberty—lies at the heart of this course, which will explore the complex relationship between the American ideals of freedom and democracy and the actions taken by the United States in Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. How have American values shaped—and been shaped by—world affairs? The course will be structured around a series of case studies spanning the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (with perhaps some attention paid to the twenty-first), and students can expect to read widely in primary and secondary source materials.
AS HISTORY: COMING OF AGE: AMERICA IN THE EARLY ATOMIC ERA This reading-intensified course examines the American identity in contemporary history. It has been argued that the 1950s were a decade marked by renewed prosperity, social conformity, and political consensus. Our exploration begins once WWII ends and a new era dawns. We will examine America’s new role in the world as an emerging superpower and its relationship with, former ally, the Soviet Union. Closer to home, a sense of national pride led to a cultural and economic boom. This helped define the nation’s identity. Likewise, it has been argued that the 1960s were a decade of turbulence, protest and political disillusionment. With continued military operations in Southeast Asia, unease and anxiety around civil rights at home, and a slowly eroding trust in the government, the nation questioned what it meant to live in a free and democratic society. During these decades we witnessed some of the most compelling, most memorable and most controversial events in
AS HISTORY: HISTORIES OF HATE: AMERICAN RACISM AND GERMAN ANTI-SEMITISM As we seek to wrestle with the complex threat of racism and anti-Semitism today, we must understand the long and pervasive histories of these ideas and how they have grown and gained traction. This course will consider two parallel and occasionally intertwined histories in conversation with one another: American racism—particularly against African-Americans, focusing especially on the years described as the “nadir of race relations,” from the waning days of Reconstruction through the early 20th century—and German anti-Semitism, culminating in the Nazi Holocaust in the 1930s and 1940s. We will look at the rise and emergence of these ideologies of hate in their specific cultural contexts, tracing their codification in law and
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reinforcement through violence, and how these histories have— and have not—been engaged in national memory. In addition to primary and secondary historical sources, we will draw on the work of social psychologists who have sought to understand racism; the course will work from a reader of primary sources, and scholarly secondary sources, such as journal articles and excerpts from monographs. Following our shared study, in the final third of the course, students will major research paper, grounded in significant work with primary source material.
and nations alike. Soon after the turn of the century, however, greed, corruption and arrogance made waste of this promise and ushered a somewhat reluctant world into war not once, but twice. In this course, we will look at the reasons the wars started, the way they were fought, and the way these wars were ended. To best understand the first half of a century marred by catastrophe and loss, we must also carefully study genocide. We will try to understand the motivations behind these events, as well as the international response. Our examination will require us to dig deep to better understand nationalism, militarism, fascism, communism, republicanism and other “isms” at play. Students will work to gain a better understanding of each wars’ unique narrative. In short, we will examine the causes and consequences of the world wars. Discussions questions include: When should a country go to war? How should a nation best apply the lessons from the past? How should a nation respond to a country it has identified as its enemy? Emphasis is placed on critical reading of primary and secondary sources and written work that requires research, careful analysis, independent thought, and compelling argumentation. Some of the text we will explore include: Modris Eksteins’ Rites of Spring; Vera Brittain’s Chronicle of Youth; and Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
AS HISTORY: LATIN AMERICAN HISTORY This course endeavors to introduce students to the history of Latin America via both primary and secondary sources. Despite being a major trading partner of and the closest geographic region to the United States, Latin America is usually one of the least-studied areas of the world. While a great deal of this course will follow chronological progression, we will also track themes that thread through the experience of the region over time and transcend modern international borders, such as colonialism, independence and neo-colonialism; democracy and dictatorship; development and exploitation; and revolution and response. In addition, we will explore the distinct histories of many of the nations of Latin America, thereby gaining an appreciation for how they fit into the current global and regional systems, as well as for their individual and unique experiences.
RELIGIOUS STUDIES ELECTIVES APPLIED ETHICS This course introduces students to the basic principles of moral reasoning, with the goal of enabling students to engage independently in critical analysis of contemporary ethical issues. Students practice constructing formal logical arguments, and briefly examine the ethical theories of divine command, virtue (Aristotle), utility (Mill), and duty (Kant). They then use these tools to discuss topics including: abortion, euthanasia, cloning, civil rights, criminal justice, the death penalty, sexual orientation and gender identity, poverty and welfare, drug legalization, animal rights, and just war theory. Students prepare short position papers on these issues, and present their viewpoints in class for discussion and debate.
AS HISTORY: THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST How did the people of the Middle East negotiate their various identities under the pressure of modernization? How did the involvement of outside powers shape the region? What can the recent history teach us about paths toward a more stable and prosperous Middle East? This course introduces the students to the political, religious, and social history of the Middle East from the late 19th century to the present day. We will examine the late Ottoman Empire, the colonial period, the establishment of nation-states, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the rise of political Islam, the Iranian revolution, and the Arab Spring of 2011. We will discuss issues of colonization, nationalism, religious and ethnic identity, security and physical resources. Students will examine primary sources and write an in-depth research paper.
THE AWAKENED MIND What is the best way to live? How do we reach human flourishing? Our great philosophical and spiritual traditions have offered many answers to this question. One of Socrates’ most famous sayings is, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” After Socrates and Plato, Aristotle wrote on the best sort of life for a human being in his Nicomachean Ethics, with an emphasis on the development of virtue and the centrality of friendship. When Siddhartha Gautama reached enlightenment, he became known as the Buddha, meaning “the awakened one,” and taught about how to be free of suffering through mindful living. The Hindu epic, the Bhagavad Gita, contains several chapters on the meditative life and the path to Self-realization. Where Confucius emphasized self-cultivation, ritual, and social order in order to become “the exemplary person,” Daoism through the lens of Lao Tzu calls for harmonizing with the way of nature and effortlessness. Jesus preached that we must be “born anew” and that “the kingdom of God is within you.” Are there commonalities among these different wisdom teachings? If “the unexamined life is not worth living,” then what exactly is the examined life? What does it mean to be “awakened” and
AS HISTORY: PUBLIC HISTORY In this course, students will examine the history of St. Andrew’s School. Focusing on several key inflection points, the course will ask students to consider the ways in which St. Andrew’s has both reflected and stood apart from broader changes in American society. As in most history courses, students will read and discuss a variety of primary and secondary sources. Unlike most other courses, however, assessments will take a handson approach, asking students to approach the history of the school as public historians: conducting oral histories, curating exhibits, and helping St. Andrew’s tell the rich story of its past in ways that push the boundaries of traditional history.
AS HISTORY: A WORLD AT WAR The dawn of the 20th century was filled with great promise. Innovation and industrialization redefined society and suggested that progress would be bountiful for individuals 2
mindful? Through a survey of some of the most pivotal works in philosophy, we will seek to develop a global perspective on the human condition and what leads to human flourishing. As we do this, we will direct our attention to fundamental concerns such as: human nature, knowledge and ignorance, friendship and love, freedom, justice, and the aims and effects of society. As we engage in this comparative exploration and quest for a global lens, we will also learn how each work is the product of its author’s own examined life, and we will inquire how each author and tradition understood awakening in their respective historical and philosophical contexts.
journey serves as an appropriate metaphor for the individual journey that you must take in your life. While the hero will often receive gifts, supernatural aid, or advice from a wise old hermit, in the end the hero will have to find the resources from within in order to overcome the obstacles standing in their path. In life, the monsters and the dragons you must encounter often represent the inner conflict between our irrational desires and the needs of the community. Only through slaying these inner dragons can one progress to the next stage of life and eventually achieve self-realization. In this class you will also explore the universal patterns that have supported the hero’s journey; specifically, the archetypes, symbols, and guides that serve as a roadmap for human development and assist the individual’s integration into society. These patterns (archetypes) are found in the ancient myths of Hercules, King Arthur, Thor, and even in modern-day Disney movies, comics, and Harry Potter books. In short, these myths (stories) help us to understand who we are and what our place is in this world while continuing to inspire, comfort, and provide hope in a world that often feels in peril.
THE CALL TO SERVE This course examines the intellectual, moral, and spiritual mandates for community service as an integral part of human development. By participating in service-learning work, students develop a sense of their individual link to the larger world, and a sense of responsibility to care for it. Students explore concepts such as vocation, voluntarism, and the “ethic of care.” The aim of the course is to find links between school coursework, opportunities to serve our world, and how students react to those opportunities. Weekly journals reflect on both classroom discussions and various service activities. Guest lecturers—advocates for the homeless and those with disabilities; blood bank executives; United Way representatives; Habitat for Humanity builders—join us in the classroom to share their insights and experiences of serving others.
MATH & SCIENCE ELECTIVES ENGINEERING The goal of Introduction to Engineering is to provide an introduction to design thinking and a variety of engineering disciplines. The course will be broken into six parts that include: design thinking, experimental design, mechanical advantage, structural engineering concepts, aeronautical concepts, and a culminating independent design project. In each part of the course, students will learn the basic principles associated with the subject and conduct hands-on projects using the principles learned. Students will leave the course with a greater appreciation of engineering problems and solutions.
GLOBAL WISDOM This course is a cross-cultural exploration of diverse philosophical traditions into accounts of reality (being and existence). What do some of history’s greatest thinkers throughout the ages have to teach us about the nature of reality and the meaning of our existence? Is existence an event, flux, process? Or is it something static, stable, or unchanging? What is thinking? What are the capacities of our mind, and how should we use it? What is the relationship between consciousness and reality? Our journey into these questions begins with the work Plato’s Phaedo and the famous Hindu epic, The Bhagavad Gita. We then look to the French philosopher, Rene Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, followed by the Buddhist text The Dhammapada. Readings may also include excerpts from Carl Jung, Gnostic literature, indigenous Peruvian thought, German philosophy, Alan Watts, and others. What do these wisdom teachers have to tell us about the universe and how we should live in it?
ADVANCED STUDY IN ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY Anatomy and physiology is the study of the structure and function of human biology. This course will cover the general principles of anatomy and physiology, including cells, tissues and organs, homeostasis and embryology, and we will use readings, lab work and case studies to accomplish learning. The following systems will be studied in detail: respiratory, circulatory, muscular, and nervous. Emphasis will be on interrelationships among systems and regulation of physiological functions. The lab will provide a hands-on learning experience for exploration of human system components and basic physiology, and case studies will provide insight into the pathology of these systems.
THE HERO’S JOURNEY
ADVANCED STUDY IN ASTRONOMY
Since St. Andrew’s is a boarding school, you have already begun to start your own individual journey—or as Joseph Campbell would call it, “the hero’s journey”—just by making the decision to leave your families, friends, and home to come to the middle of Delaware in the pursuit of knowledge. Similar to the protagonist in many epics, religious texts, and myths, as part of your journey, you will wrestle with the ideas of free will, destiny, and fate as you start to develop your own philosophy based on your own personal experiences. Thus the hero’s
Astronomy students will investigate the solar system’s key components and their features and formations; the methods for exoplanet discovery and the search for extraterrestrial life; the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies; the study of the Universe as a whole, including the Big Bang theory, dark matter, and dark energy. Each week, students will be working in teams on a research project, based on which they will prepare a poster or presentation. Some of the many, varied, and exciting topics of research will include: the search for habitable exoplanets; solar system missions such as Cassini-Huygens; historical asteroid impacts and their effects; the source of life 3
on Earth; constellations and comets in history and folklore; the mechanics of galaxy collisions; and the evidence for the Big Bang theory.
power is preferable to coal, where a nuclear plant should be located, and who exactly should be able to make those decisions. Finally, we will consider nuclear warfare, covering the development, testing, and function of atomic bombs, as well as their human and environmental impacts. Students will consider the experience of the scientists involved in the Manhattan Project, which developed the weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and will be asked to contemplate whether the usage of nuclear weapons in warfare can ever be justified.
ADVANCED STUDY IN STATISTICS This course is a non-calculus-based introduction to statistics that focuses on four major themes: exploring and analyzing data, planning studies and collecting data, mathematical modeling, and testing hypotheses through statistical inference. After completing this course, students may elect to review independently for and take the Advanced Placement Statistics examination.
COMPUTER SCIENCE ELECTIVES
DATA SCIENCE
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE
Ninety percent of all the data in the world was created in the past two years, and the rate at which we are creating new data is only increasing. As the world adds more information at an everincreasing rate, how can we possibly keep up? This course will teach you the tools of data science, a new and growing field that uses powerful computing tools to collect, manipulate, analyze, and visualize data, grounded in mathematics. We will focus our efforts on using data to explore intriguing questions drawn from politics, economics, science, and popular culture. We will study statistical and mathematical modeling to make powerful predictions. This class will culminate in a project where you will use the tools you’ve learned to analyze a dataset and tell a story about a question of interest to you, similar to stories you might have read in the Upshot in the New York Times, or on FiveThirtyEight. This class will also spend a significant amount of time considering the ethics of “big data”—who owns all of the data you’re generating when you carry a smartphone around with you every day, and what exactly can a company do with that “anonymous” data? What are the promises and perils of being able to sequence your genome for less than the cost of a new pair of sneakers, and how will you be able to comprehend and safeguard that data? This course is open to all students in the IV Form and above. It has no prerequisites. Students without any previous experience in programming and/or computer science are encouraged to consider this course. Similarly, statistics is not a prerequisite for this course, as we will learn all the necessary statistical concepts as part of the work we do.
An introductory course aimed at presenting the mechanisms that power the digital world by initiating students in the problem-solving skills associated with designing computer code. This course is suitable for students with no programming background as well as those with familiarity and experience. Discussion and writing topics include history and functionality of the internet, ethics of digital citizenship, and current concepts pulled from recent headlines. Classroom activities balance between collaborative coding projects and discussions and debates on current events in the digital world.
MICROCONTROLLER PROGRAMMING & ROBOTICS This course develops a student’s ability to program microcontrollers and other embedded devices. This specific type of programming is essential for developing products and devices that physically interact with the environment through sensors, actuators, and information display. Students will engage in electronic development skills including circuit design, implementation via breadboarding and soldering, and product deployment. As a final project, students will design and contribute a collaborative project build to aid the school community.
OBJECT ORIENTED PROGRAMMING IN JAVA This course refines the student’s programming ability while introducing the concept of object-oriented programming. Larger and more complex projects bolster the student’s ability to craft working components, while also promoting project and time management skills and instilling confidence in the student’s developing ability. This course roughly follows the AP Computer Science A syllabus with tangents to allow for further exploration in project-based learning. Students completing this course will have basic preparation to take the AP test.
NUCLEAR PHYSICS & ETHICS This semester-long course introduces students to fundamental nuclear physics; in particular, radioactive decay, giving them the scientific knowledge needed in order to then fully tackle some difficult ethical questions regarding its many modern-day applications. As well as understanding decay processes on a subatomic level, students will learn how radioactive materials are used in abundance in industry and medicine. They will then be asked to explore the human cost in developing these usages as well as the ethical questions raised by the use of radioactive isotopes in medical treatments, particularly in cases involving children and pregnancy. We will then explore nuclear power and the physical processes by which electricity is generated in a nuclear plant. With an understanding of the science behind realistic safety standards in nuclear electricity generation, as well as of the risks posed by radioactive waste, students will be able to dissect difficult questions involving whether nuclear
DATA STRUCTURES & DESIGN IN JAVA This course continues and advances the study of the Java programming language as well as the concepts of object-oriented programming covered in Object Oriented Programming in Java (JAVA1). Students refine their understanding of inheritance, interfaces, and additional Java structures utilizing project work to apply those techniques and problem solving skills towards programming challenges. While not an AP prep course, students are thoroughly exposed to the type of questions asked on Computer Science A tests and should be well prepared to take the spring exam.
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APP DEVELOPMENT IN SWIFT This course introduces students to the practice of software engineering by using design thinking and the agile methodology to develop iOS and macOS apps in Swift. In addition to learning the Swift programming language, and programming tools like XCode and GitHub, students will study event-driven programming, user interface design, using programming libraries, and data storage. Students will work in small teams to identify users within our community who have a need that could be solved with an app, and then work to iteratively design, implement, and refine their application using Agile Methodology. The goal of the course is for each student team to produce an app of lasting value for the school community.
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Advanced Topics Tutorials Advanced Topic Tutorials (more commonly referred to as “ATT” courses) provide upperformers who have excelled in a particular discipline the opportunity to engage in independent exploration, research, and projects beyond the standard curriculum in that discipline. Although most ATT courses are taken by VI Form students, any student in any Form may enroll in an ATT provided they have demonstrated mastery in the subject area. ADVANCED TOPICS TUTORIAL IN CHINESE
ADVANCED TOPICS TUTORIAL IN LATIN: POETRY, PROSE & COMPOSITION
This advanced course is designed to be equivalent to the first semester of a second-year college-level course for students who have mastered basic Chinese language skills. Students learn the full complexity of Chinese society from the point of view of an American student living in China. Students discuss themes such as population and housing, education and employment, privacy, women and children, and economic development issues. Challenges and opportunities facing China are explored through analysis, explanation, and debate. Students lead discussion in class and write weekly essays. Text: Chihping Chou, A Trip to China: Intermediate Reader of Modern Chinese (Princeton University Press)
Advanced Topics Tutorial in Latin provides an immersive study of one or more Latin authors. Readings will vary from year to year, depending on the interests of the class and instructor; authors may include Ovid, Catullus, Livy, Cicero, Pliny, or Seneca. ATT Latin may also include a Latin prose composition unit, in which students would explore the nuances of Latin, study the styles of various Latin authors, and develop their own writing style in Latin.
ADVANCED TOPICS TUTORIAL IN MATHEMATICS Advanced Topics Tutorial in Mathematics is a course designed for students who have completed Advanced Studies in Calculus BC. Each quarter is a different topic of advanced mathematics taught by a different teacher in the department. Recent topics have included cryptography, recreational mathematics, discrete logic, and proving Euclidean geometry from scratch. Topics can vary each year based on student and faculty interest.
ADVANCED TOPICS TUTORIAL IN ENGLISH This individualized course, to be taken in the VI Form concurrently with AS English 4, allows the advanced student to explore further literature according to the interest of the student and instructor. This course offers the opportunity for student-directed reading and research. Departmental permission required.
ADVANCED TOPICS TUTORIAL IN SPANISH 1 This college-level course is the culmination of a student’s progress through the St. Andrew’s Spanish program. The course is designed by student interests and research inquiries, and it is primarily project-based. Students will also be expected to read works of literature in Spanish as well as do major presentations, analytical papers,and oral exhibitions with mastery of advanced grammar.
ADVANCED TOPICS TUTORIAL IN FRENCH ATT French is primarily project-based and driven by student interests and research inquiries. Each student is responsible for establishing a research topic and pursuing individual research that will culminate in a formal presentation at the end of the third quarter. Students then choose a novel to read fourth quarter.
ADVANCED TOPICS TUTORIAL IN SPANISH 2
ADVANCED TOPICS TUTORIAL IN HISTORY
Advanced Topics Tutorial in Spanish 2 is a college-level independent course where poems, short stories, and literary novels in Spanish are read, analyzed, and discussed. At this high level of study, students begin to think only in the target language. Our goal is for students to leave with a balanced view of any Spanish-speaking culture or country that we study. Narratives are discussed in-depth to ensure the deep understanding of historical context as well as the beauty and art of the culture that gave rise to each. At the end of each quarter, students choose their own topic of interest on which to write a persuasive essay; they follow up with a formal, oral exhibition or a creative documentary group project that connects the themes discussed.
This individualized course allows the advanced VI Form student to explore further topics and research in history outside of normal departmental curriculum. For example, in a recent tutorial, students researched the antebellum Episcopal Church in Delaware and its dual participation in and opposition to slavery. Students studied the broad history of slavery in the midAtlantic region and then worked through extensive diocesan and individual church archives to understand the church’s fluctuating stance on slavery. Their research contributed to a larger ongoing contemporary history project. Students experienced real-life deadlines for their written work and presented their papers and findings to the Diocesan Committee on Slavery in Delaware intermittently during the school year.
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Senior Exhibitions After careful preparation in their English courses during their years of study at St. Andrew’s, students participate in a culminating project their senior year: the Senior English Exhibition. This project is a public expression of academic mastery in the model of the artist’s exhibition (an idea originally conceived of by educational reformer Ted Sizer). Students read a novel (chosen from a list established by the English Department) over the summer, re-read it during the school year, and commit fully to a drafting process as they write their papers. This drafting process allows them to develop an original thesis and sophisticated argument in a 10-15 page paper. Students then assess and further complicate their arguments in oral exhibitions with at least two English Department faculty members. Students also participate in exhibitions in Religious Studies and Modern Languages courses. We find our students embrace the exhibition process, which provides them with the opportunity to advance their thinking; discover new analytical approaches; expand, refine, and reflect on their writing; and imagine what the next, stronger version of their papers might become. Students learn to self-critique and revise both their thinking and writing, and to engage in complex, dialogic reading and writing processes. The exhibition process is born out of an approach to learning that assumes learning never truly concludes, and creates a collaborative space for deep learning, rather than strategic learning “for a grade.” Students define these learning experiences as exciting and rewarding because they are authentic, challenging, and meaningful. “Best academic experience of my life was the Senior Exhibition. It was harder than I thought it was going to be, and I thought it was going to be very hard. But it was so rewarding to work out those difficult thoughts, and to go into that exhibition feeling confident that I could identify the strengths and weaknesses of my argument and have an insightful conversation about the book with some really awesome teachers.” —VI Form student A SAMPLE OF RECENT SENIOR EXHIBITION TITLES Lily Briscoe and the American Transition from the Victorian Era to Modernism in Woolf’s To the Lighthouse Para My Vida: The Purpose of Storytelling in Allende’s The House of the Spirits Storytelling as an Individual and Collective Means of Resistance in Tommy Orange’s There There The House of Spirits: Brushstrokes of Fate Exit West: Letting Go To Find Yourself
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Tutorials Sixth Form students with a demonstrated commitment to independent work have the option of taking a spring tutorial. Typically comprised of four students or fewer, tutorials are offered in all disciplines, and provide a culminating academic experience for seniors as they work closely with a faculty member on a topic of their particular interest. Tutorials meet slightly less frequently than regular classes, but are reading- and writing-intensive. Students are required to write weekly essays which they read aloud, critique, and debate with their teachers and classmates, in the spirit of the Oxford tutorial system. The tutorial framework allows students a degree of academic independence that more closely approximates the collegiate experience, and an opportunity to further hone their analytical, problem-solving, and written and oral argumentation skills. For more information, please visit standrews-de.org/tutorials.
2022 SENIOR TUTORIAL OFFERINGS AESTHETICS OF SUSTAINABILITY
Might the world’s end uncover another possible, better world? We will consider the political and ethical stakes of imagining and portraying the world’s end by engaging questions of race, gender, poverty and capital, imperialism, indigeneity, and climate disaster. Beyond Indra Sinha’s wrenching, hilarious 2007 novel Animal’s People (set in the aftermath of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal, India), possible texts include Shakespeare’s King Lear, Toni Morrison’s Sula, and Heinrich von Kleist’s Earthquake in Chile. I am expecting the members of this tutorial to play an active role in deciding the direction of the course. We may also engage photography (comparing the work of Ansel Adams and Subhankar Banerjee), film (Werner Herzog’s Aguirre, The Wrath of God), music (Jenny Hval’s “Apocalypse, girl,” Moses Sumney’s “Doomed,” and many possible others). This course is suited for students interested in thinking in rigorous, interdisciplinary, and rollicking ways informed by literary criticism and theory, history, philosophy, and media studies. We will hold class movie screenings and record listening parties. Seniors, the end is nigh—let’s have fun.
INSTRUCTORS: MR. MEIER AND M. MILLER How does the natural environment influence art and design both today, and in the past? Likewise, how do works of art and innovations in design help us to understand and engage with the natural world? This course approaches the idea of sustainability by examining the techniques and practices of artists and designers over the last 50 to 60 years. Beginning with artworks that embody the American mythology of westward expansion and manifest destiny, and moving toward the land artists of the 1960s and 1970s, we will look at our societal relationship to our land and how it has changed and evolved through the years. From mankind’s desire to conquer and tame the wild, to living in harmony with the environment around us, we will explore how art and design has both reflected, and influenced, these shifts, and still do today.
THE AMERICAN DREAMS OF JOHN STEINBECK
INSTRUCTORS: MR. & MRS. DALY The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the National Book Award, and propelled Steinbeck to the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962. Touching on important issues like immigration, climate change, and the plight of the poor, this novel follows the Joad family as they join the wave of Okies (people from Oklahoma) fleeing the Dust Bowl in search of a better life in California.
THE AWAKENED MIND
INSTRUCTORS: MR. KUNEN AND MR. MUFUKA What is the best way to live? How do we reach human flourishing? Our great philosophical and spiritual traditions have offered many answers to this question. One of Socrates’ most famous sayings is, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” If “the unexamined life is not worth living,” then what exactly is the examined life? What does it mean to be “awakened” and mindful? Through a survey of some of the most pivotal works in philosophy, we will seek to develop a global perspective on the human condition and what leads to human flourishing. As we engage in this comparative exploration and quest for a global lens, we will also learn how each work is the product of its author’s own examined life, and we will inquire how each author and tradition understood awakening in their respective historical and philosophical contexts.
APOCALYPSE NOW AND THEN
INSTRUCTOR: MS. HANSON “Apocalypse” comes from the Greek apokálypsis, meaning “uncovering.” What can the end of the world uncover or reveal? This interdisciplinary tutorial will explore apocalyptic imaginations across a range of periods, contexts, genres, and media.“The apocalypse” is sometimes portrayed as a calamitous, one-off event (as in 2021’s star-studded film Don’t Look Up, which we will watch together as our first assignment). But, we will investigate: is apocalypse necessarily “total,” or might it happen in parts? Might it happen over and over again? Might it be ongoing? Might it be not cataclysmic, but quotidian? What would it mean to think of anthropogenic climate change as a kind of chronic apocalypse—not one that is still to come, but one that has already begun? Is white supremacy an apocalypse? Is colonialism? Alternatively, might the apocalypse represent a chance for rupture from this world built on so much injustice?
CONSPIRACY THEORIES, HOAXES, AND FAKE NEWS
INSTRUCTOR: MR. HUTCHINSON Do we live in a “post truth” era? This tutorial seeks to explore conspiracy theories and the important role they play influencing political values. From the JFK assassination to the New World Order, from Holocaust denial to QAnon, from global warming skepticism to Marjorie Taylor Greene’s dismissal from her
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Congressional committee work, conspiracy theories have been embraced by both sides of the aisle as well as by elites and non-elites. Using Hellinger’s seminal work Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories in the Age of Trump, this course will explore Americans’ unique attraction to these theories about sinister schemes secretly at work in our world. We will consider: Why do people believe in conspiracy theories? Are conspiracy theories simply wrong and undeserving of academic inquiry? Does dismissal of these strongly held beliefs “provide the perfect petri dish for conspiracy movements: a durable, elastic climate of alienation and resentment?” Why do conspiracy theorists tend to surface when there is a rise in populism, and how do they provide fuel for the fire of “culture wars”? Do conspiracy theories pose a threat to our democracy?
Project been so controversial? And what is critical race theory, anyway? Most importantly, what is so dangerous about these writings that adults across the U.S. have sought to ban them from their children’s schools? In this tutorial, you will read some of these works and decide for yourself. We will also examine efforts to restrict certain teachings in a historical context to determine what lessons, if any, we might draw about American democracy from these controversies.
FROM GOURMANDS TO FOODIES: TRACING THE ORIGINS OF GASTRONOMY IN 18TH-CENTURY FRANCE
INSTRUCTOR: DR. SHREM For centuries, French cuisine has been an international symbol of gastronomic pleasure, providing a culture in which people could live out their food fantasies. In this course, students will study the development of the cultural field of gastronomy from the 18th-century “Age of Enlightenment” to the Napoleonic Empire. By focusing on the cultural figure of the gourmand— the person who eats plenty and appreciates fine food—students will examine the ways in which eating went from being an act of survival to a form of artistic expression. Previously, cultural historians have attributed this transformation to the birth of the restaurant in early 19th-century France; however, in this class, students will uncover the contribution of the literary field, focusing on journalism and literature, everything from Grimod de la Reynière’s Almanach des gourmands (from 1803 to 1812) to Bill Buford’s Dirt (2020). While reading short stories and memoirs through the critical lens of food, students will work on their own food writing. The class will culminate with an interview of a 21st-century food writer.
EXPLORATION OF FILM NOIR
INSTRUCTOR: MR. HOOPES Film Noir is one of the most iconic and American of film genres and its legacy thrives in cinema today. Contemporary films like The Dark Knight, Se7en, Blade Runner, and John Wick all drew their tone and technique from the original Film Noir style. In this tutorial we will watch and explore several classic films from the 1940s and 1950s, including The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, and Touch of Evil, and we’ll compare those to more recent films like Chinatown, Brick, and Momento. We’ll examine character development, lighting and composition, plot elements, and music and sound. Film Noir has its fingerprints in many present-day movies and we’ll find and uncover those tangled connections.
FILM AS LITERATURE
FROM OBSCURITY TO NETFLIX FAME: NELLA LARSEN’S BLACK WOMANHOOD
INSTRUCTOR: MR. TORREY Although we might not think of film as literature, cinema is a serious art form that adheres to the same narrative structures as novels and short stories. Like any good book, a film begins with a break in routine that disrupts the life of the protagonist and ends when the protagonist experiences a major change of perspective. Over the course of this tutorial, we’ll dissect nine of the most significant films produced by American directors in the 21st century. In addition to weekly viewings and group discussions at Mr. Torrey’s house* students will write essays on each film, and, in some cases, put their own assertions in conversation with those of scholars and film critics. Overall, the tutorial aspires to expose students to a broad spectrum of contemporary film while continuing to hone the critical thinking and analytical writing skills they’ve developed over their past four years at St. Andrew’s.
INSTRUCTOR: DR. PITTS On November 10, 2021, Rebecca Hall’s black-and-white film adaptation of Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel Passing was released on Netflix. With the release of the film, there’s a renewed interest in the work of author Nella Larsen who was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance of 1920s New York City. In this tutorial we will read and write about Quicksand (1928) and Passing (1929), the two published novels of Nella Larsen Through its protagonist, Helga Crane, Quicksand examines, among other themes and issues, the problems of being biracial in both America and Denmark. It also critiques the black elite and explores the most oppressive aspects of marriage and motherhood. Passing centers on two women protagonists, Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry, both light-skinned enough to pass and both confined by the psychological narrowness of black and female life.
*This tutorial requires a 2-3 hour Sunday evening/afternoon commitment (precise times fluid and TBD), as we’ll gather as a large group to watch and discuss the films.
GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS
FORBIDDEN FRUIT: DANGEROUS IDEAS, DIVISIVE CONCEPTS, BANNED BOOKS, AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
INSTRUCTOR: MRS. LAZAR The development of this tutorial resulted from the controversial issues that have been a part of our society for quite some time but have come to the forefront as a result of the most recent presidential elections. This tutorial will focus on the following issues: healthcare, immigration, science and environment, gender, labor and wages, and education. In order to stimulate our discussion and writing, we will read several articles as well
INSTRUCTOR: MR. EDMONDS If you have followed the news over the past couple of years, you have undoubtedly taken note of the controversies surrounding the banning of certain books and ideas in schools (especially public schools). Why have people sought to ban young adult novels and graphic novels like The Hate U Give and Maus? Moving beyond fiction, why has The New York Times’ 1619
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as the following three books: Girl in Glass by Deanna Fei, Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok, and Lab Girl by Hope Jahren.
assignments will vary, ranging from the more creative (“Gift this poet’s collection to someone you know well. Write a letter to this person explaining why you think they’ll connect with this poet.”) to the analytical (“Explain and analyze references to current events in Hayes’ poem.”).
HOLDING THE MIRROR UP TO NATURE: THE PAST PLAYED OUT ON STAGE
INSTRUCTOR: MS. PRESSMAN Since ancient times, people have wrestled with some of the most challenging questions of human experience, and of their particular historical moment, by playing them out on stage, making theater a particularly fascinating lens for considering important social, cultural, and political issues across time. In this sense, plays are very much a product of the specific eras from which they emerge, and a lens through which contested pasts can be examined. At the same time, the very nature of a play is that it is interpreted and reinterpreted in each performance as a work of art—allowing future generations to reshape the original material to speak to their own moment. The study of dramatic literature, therefore, is an inherently interdisciplinary experience. In this tutorial—functioning as literary critics, historians, theater artists, dramaturges, and audience members—we will study some of the most important plays of the modern era to develop a deeper understanding of them as works of literature and art, and windows into the past. If possible, we will see a stage production of one of the works we study.
THE SIGNAL IN THE NOISE: ALTERNATIVE MUSIC AS COMMENTARY ON SOCIAL ISSUES, GLOBAL ETHICS, AND LIFE ITSELF
INSTRUCTOR: DR. HYDE Alternative genres of music such as rock, heavy metal, and punk are often negatively stereotyped as consisting of meaningless noise, or of promoting violence and even anarchy. However, there are many artists within these genres—if not most—who use their music as an almost poetic outlet for their personal views, producing eloquent musings on life, love, and death. Others tackle social issues such as racism, poverty, and corruption. These artists create music that often deliberately rails against mainstream views and societal norms. The music is designed to be hard-hitting and emotive, to encourage us to have difficult conversations, and to confront and raise awareness of what the artists feel are important issues or injustices in our society or on a global level. A song or lyric may contain an inflammatory concept or theme, not necessarily because this is what the artist believes or supports—instead, their intention is to criticize this view or to shine a light on the issue. The Sex Pistol’s “God Save the Queen” is a classic example: despite its title, which is also the title of the official royal anthem of Great Britain, the song is actually a scathing criticism of the British monarchy. This tutorial aims to explore examples of these alternative genres of music, to decipher the messages and arguments being expressed, and try to understand what might have influenced these artists and their views. We will examine a variety of songs by a variety of artists from the 1970s until the present day, organized by theme: songs that condemn war and describe its horrors; songs that rage about the damage we are doing (or may do) to our planet and ourselves in the form of pollution, climate change, and nuclear weapons; songs that tackle police brutality, gun violence, and the pandemic of school shootings in America; and songs that deal with love, loss, and grief.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE BY GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ
INSTRUCTOR: SRA. RAMIREZ One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of Latin America’s novels of excellence and one of the most important novels of the 20th century. Nobel Prize Winner Gabriel García Márquez wrote it in 1967. One of the most important characteristics of this novel is that García Márquez breaks with all realism and introduces myth in fiction. He constructs a mythical past in which fantastic elements are part of daily existence. Macondo, the town that the Buendía family founds, is more than just a place in the world; it is a state of being. We will discuss the novel within the frame of Latin America’s history and the creation of memory. Among the topics of discussion are: solitude, love, solidarity, the history of the Buendía family as a metaphor of Latin America’s history, incest, chastity, dreams, time, selfishness, public vs. private spaces, and death.
U.S. FOREIGN POLICY TOWARD LATIN AMERICA: CUBA – A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME
INSTRUCTOR: SR. MILLER The United States has a unique relationship with Latin America due to historical coincidence and geographical proximity. Perhaps no other country in Latin America has as special a relationship with the United States as Cuba. Cuba’s destiny has been inextricably tied to the foreign policy decisions of the United States since before its independence from Spain. Indeed, Cuban independence followed directly from military intervention by the United States. The relationship has gone through many phases, beginning when both were colonies of European powers, through independence for one, then the other, through revolution, the Cold War and a fifty year estrangement during the Revolutionary Period, to the brand new age of regularized relations, to a horizon which is again cloudy on both sides of the Florida Straits. In this tutorial, politico-historical in nature, we will give a brief account of the pre-Cuban independence period, pay more attention to the pre-Revolutionary period and devote a good
POETS OF OUR TIME
INSTRUCTOR: MRS. HURTT Poetry reaches well beyond our English classrooms when famous lines echo over the decades: “Just like hopes springing high / still I’ll rise” … “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood / and sorry I could not travel both” … “Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?” This tutorial will explore some of the most well-known, popular poets of our time -- Mary Oliver, Amanda Gorman, Li-young Lee, Billy Collins, and others. Our goal is to help readers appreciate a variety of contemporary voices, discover our own taste in poetry, and consider the role of poetry in our contemporary lives. Students will have input on the poets and poems we study. We will experience each writer’s unique voice, context and style, primarily by studying their poems, and also by viewing author readings and discussing critical reviews. Paper 10
deal of concentration to the Revolution and how it affected the relationship between the nations.
WRITING OUR OWN LITERATURE
INSTRUCTOR: MS. REDDY In an interview with writer and educator Alexander Chee, he explains his journey to writing about himself and teaching this skill to his students: “In the 1980s, I had to learn how to write myself and people like me onto the page. My own life on the page felt impossible to explain in any detail when I was a student writer. I had to ask myself why I was embarrassed to mention that I was Asian-American, much less to center it in a story. Strangely, it took finding writers like Mavis Gallant and Gregor Von Rezzori, whose works described characters who had lived among several cultures, as they were writing about Europeans. Reading about someone who was of Austrian and French heritage may not feel like a mix of cultures, but I unexpectedly found permission there—white writers teaching me how to write mixed-race Asian-American characters like me.” In this tutorial, we will examine how various AsianAmerican writers write themselves “onto the page.” By reflecting on their approaches, what they choose to examine, and how they tell their stories, you will be asked to complete a final project where you write your own story onto the page. For this final project, you will have the option to write in any of the genres we read in the tutorial: a “graphic” essay/portrait, a comedic piece that can be used in the form of a show or presentation, or a personal essay. Over the course of the tutorial, you will be writing analytical and personal pieces in response to the following: • Excerpts from Ali Wong’s Dear Girls and Michelle Zauner’s Crying in H Mart • Selected essays from Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning • Hasan Minhaj’s stand-up comedy film Homecoming King • Mira Jacob’s illustrated memoir Good Talk
“YO” BY JULIA ALVAREZ
INSTRUCTOR: SRA. DAVILA This tutorial will focus on Julia Alvarez, a Dominican Republic writer who was born in the United States, but returned to her native country when she was three months old. She was raised in the Dominican Republic until she was ten years old, at which point her family decided to return to New York City, where Alvarez witnessed fellow immigrant families seeking asylum or a better life in the US. Today, she owns a farm in the Dominican Republic, where she also runs a school to teach reading and writing to local farmers and their families. She also serves as writer-in-residence at Middlebury College. Her novel Yo shares the story of a brilliant woman seeking her identity and her place in the world. More than ever before, Latina women are finding their place and making their history in the US, and Alvarez is a perfect role model for American Latinas today.
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