English

This interdepartmental course for fifth form students presents a detailed study of American history, literature, and culture and fulfills the American literature and United States history requirements.

Student study the foundational elements of a fact-based story. Meanwhile, they analyze short and long nonfiction, both contemporary and canonical, and work individually and collaboratively on storytelling projects that address current issues. Students engage in a diversity of narrative forms–the written word, as well as infographics, podcasts, photojournalism, and video. Students also practice accepted data-gathering techniques, employing statistics to strengthen the stories they tell.

Students explore the influence of classical Greece and Rome as the foundation of Western civilization, and how the surviving works of antiquity have shaped and informed culture from the Renaissance to contemporary times. Through the study primarily of literature, but also of historical, philosophical, and artistic works, students are introduced to some of the most influential writings of Western civilization.