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

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: 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 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: DEMOCRACY, POWER AND EMPIRE—ATHENS IN THE 5TH CENTURY BC What were the origins of the great Peloponnesian War, the twenty-seven year conflict between the city-states of Athens and Sparta? What were the foundations of Athenian democracy, and how did it become a symbol of Athenian exceptionalism? What is the nature of power, and how did it facilitate the concomitant development of democracy and empire? This course will explore these questions and more through a careful study of Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. In addition, we will draw on other primary source materials – historical, literary, and philosophical – to contextualize the key ideas, moments, and themes in Thucydides’ History, as well as to understand the socio-political world of fifth-century Athens. We will also learn about the city and archaeology of Athens itself: its topography, public spaces, sacred temples, and intellectual climate. Finally, we will consider the dynamic relationship between past and present. What lessons can be drawn from studying ancient texts and juxtaposing them with our notions of war, peace, leadership, and international relations?

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: HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT I Have you ever paused to consider what gives an object or a currency value? Or the centrality of international trade in our daily lives? Where did the economic policies and ideas central to modern life, and the field of economics itself, originate? Historians, economists, and politicians today owe a great debt of gratitude to the political and philosophical thinkers of the Early Modern world. In this course, we will delve into the social and cultural environments that give rise to economic policies. We will go in detail into a variety of scholars, both of the economy and society, from periods ranging from the Ancient world through early twentieth century Marxism. We will read a variety of philosophical and political primary writing to understand Early Modern economists in their own worlds. Primary source material includes but is not limited to the work of John Locke, Thomas Mun and the mercantilists, John Law, Mandeville’s Fable of the Bees, David Ricardo, Adam Smith, and Karl Marx.

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 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

GETTING PROXIMATE TO THE PAST: THE PRACTICE OF PUBLIC HISTORY AT SAS 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.

GLOBAL STUDIES: CURRENT ISSUES IN AMERICAN & INTERNATIONAL POLICIES What forces—cultural, economic, environmental, and political—will shape the twenty-first century? Drawing on a range of disciplines, including ethics, economics, geography, ecology and cultural and literary study, students work to develop an intellectual toolkit for understanding some of the most pressing issues facing the world today. This work will serve as the foundation for crafting informed points-of-view, responding to the ideas of others, and attempting to articulate paths forward. Students first examine the duties and obligations of citizens in an increasingly global society, and ways in which the media and popular culture shape—and misshape—our understanding of people and events. Further topics include: the scope and limits of military power, international human rights, climate change, world poverty, migration; and the cultural and political impact of economic globalization. Each unit is framed around a series of readings that offer multiple perspectives on a single issue. Texts include Brooke Gladstone, The Trouble with Reality; Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Fareed Zakaria, The Post-American World; and Paul Collier, The Bottom Billion.

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.

ASIAN PHILOSOPHY & RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS What happens when my truth and your truth are not the same? In this class, students explore what it means to live in a world where so many religions and worldviews coexist. As a complement to History of Religious Thought, students study traditions including (but not limited to): Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Jainism, and Sikhism.

The course seeks to understand historical and contemporary expressions of the world’s religions through readings, films, current events, site visits, written reflections, and classroom discussions. Students consider why religions exist in the first place, and how, as global citizens, we might enter into a more effective dialogue with various traditions.

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.

CHRISTIAN ETHICS: TURN THE OTHER CHEEK Our founder, A. Felix duPont wrote, “The purpose of St. Andrew’s School is to provide secondary education of a definitely Christian character at a minimum cost consistent with modern equipment and highest standards.” What exactly is Christian character? What are the values and principles that it is based on?

Using the New Testament as a guide, this course will focus on the Christian understanding of moral responsibility regarding issues including economic ethics, the common good, evil, extremism, creation care, suffering, theodicy, pacifism, bioethics, criminal justice, altruism, pluralism as well as unity and diversity. Texts may include: The Good Book by Peter Gomes, The Most Good You Can Do by Peter Singer, Justice by Michael Sandel, and The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

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?

THE HERO’S JOURNEY 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 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 the 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 the 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.

RELIGION AND VIOLENCE Throughout history, there has existed an uneasy relationship between religion and violence. In this course, students will critically examine the intersection of religion and violence, studying two central questions: • How is it that violent acts are committed and justified in the name of religion? What is, for example, the path from “blessed are the peacemakers” to the brutality of the Crusades? • How have religious movements actually sought to alleviate violent conflict? What role, for example, did religious traditions have in the Civil Rights Movement and the Indian Independence Movement in the 20th century? Students will look both to historical and present-day examples, focusing on conflicts noted above as well as those located in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.

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.

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.

ADVANCED STUDY IN ASTRONOMY 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 on Earth; constellations and comets in history and folklore; the mechanics of galaxy collisions; and the evidence for the Big Bang theory.

ADVANCED STUDY IN BIOENGINEERING We humans seek solutions to all sorts of questions. However, unsolved problems exist despite dedicated work by teams of highly trained experts. One subset of such experts are the engineers, who seek pragmatic solutions and who utilize highly valuable resources to make progress in their search. Resources include a team’s limited time, its domain-specific tools, and its aggregate brain power. Throughout our intellectual history, humans have solved problems again and again. Some solutions are invented, whole-cloth, using human ingenuity. Others are on loan from the natural world: consider the piece of fruit that exactly matched an ancestor’s daily caloric need. Still other solutions are inspired by the natural world: George de Mestral was inspired to invent the hook and loop system of velcro after noticing burdock burrs clinging to his socks. Stationary, brainless burdock had solved the problem of being fixed in space: it had learned to attach its genes to moving animals. In Bioengineering, students will study nature-inspired solutions. Students will learn to take the view that evolution through natural selection is primarily an engine of innovation. From the smallest viruses to the largest organisms on earth, we are all problem solvers. And, it is the view of bioengineers that there are many hidden solutions left to find. Our work is to become better collaborators with Nature.

NUCLEAR 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 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.

COMPUTER SCIENCE ELECTIVES

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE 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 AND 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.

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.