(11/12 literature) What does it mean to be an immigrant in the U.S.? What do individuals experience when they move from one country and settle in another? What do these immigrants gain in the process, and what do they lose? How do they deal with being “the other?” How do immigrants connect or disconnect with their American- born children? Students explore all these questions and more by analyzing short fiction, films, and an excerpt from The Namesake, by acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winning author Jhumpa Lahiri. Throughout the mod, students read and respond to text on a nightly basis, gaining a better understanding of how difficult assimilation can often be for immigrants in their new abode. Students come ‘up close and personal’ with immigrant issues by interviewing an immigrant of their choice and writing up their interview in a People magazine manner. The course culminates with a final project which ties all the readings together thematically in a creative and artistic way, addressing the essential question: what is the immigrant experience?

Beat Making is a class designed for students who want to explore the process of beat making in music production. Students will explore the elements of rhythm through the lens of contemporary music styles like Hip-hop, Dub, House, Techno/trance, EDM, IDM, Jungle, Dubstep, Drum & bass, among other genres. Software and hardware will be used to develop a basic understanding of how to create beats and loops in songwriting. Projects will be assigned throughout the mod on a daily basis and shared with the class for review and appreciation. Students will have their own Soundcloud accounts. Over the ear headphones and laptops with an installed DAW (Garageband, Logic Pro, Ableton, etc) will be required. (No previous music experience or prerequisites are required for this class).

* This course awards credit towards the Social Justice graduation requirement

(9) The Bible as Literature course provides a brief introduction to the richness of the ancient texts that make up the Hebrew and Christian Bibles.  Many consider the Bible as one of the great world texts, and the stories continue to influence how we think of the world, each other, and ourselves.  Students will explore the Book of Genesis, much of the Book of Exodus, the Book of Job, and selections from the Gospel According to Matthew.  Together we will study major themes and consider the array of literary devices within these texts. 

 
This course awards credit toward the social justice graduation requirement. 

(9) In this required course, students will examine the structures and processes of the cell and human body. The course will investigate body functions from the micro to the macro level, examining how the activity of genes leads to cell specialization in organs and body systems. Our major themes, sickle cell anemia and diabetes, will provide depth and context to our work, emphasizing connections between biology and issues of social justice and equity. Students will experience the process and practice of scientific research through an in‑depth, self-directed research project, which will culminate in a public poster symposium. Skills in dissection and microscopy will be a component of this course. Students will demonstrate their learning through activities such as structured experiments, modeling, a poster symposium, and other summative assessments in various forms. This course will expand on the content of BioChemistry to consider nested levels of organization and complexity in biology. Students will leave with the ability to anticipate the interplay between biology and the larger social context.

This course examines how borders shape our world. Whether these are internal or external, societal or national, we all encounter barriers, but we do not all experience them in the same way.  From the establishment of Europe to the discovery of the North American continent, from the Scramble for Africa to the Islamic State, and from the declarations of independence by former colonies, the development of borders has played a key role in geopolitical, religious, racial, and cultural matters. The course looks at nationality, identity, and the meaning of nationalism. It examines the lines drawn by politics, race, religion, class, and education, that lead to the creation of separate communities. This course addresses the nature of rights; natural, national, and human that emanate from the recognition of borders and that determine their legitimacy. Rights give rise to conflict, and when it comes to living spaces, these disputes are even more contentious.

In this class we will explore the relationship of “culture” and “dance” and the ways the study of one informs our understanding of the other. We will take a non-comprehensive survey of dance in varied geographic and cultural contexts ranging from East Asia through the Americas. Our readings, viewings, and discussions will examine culture and history have shaped movement qualities  all over the world. As a complement to these larger scale considerations we will use movement explorations to reflect on our individual relationships to place, history and community.

(11/12)Decolonizing Women: Shattering Oppression examines the colonization of women in disparate societies around the globe. Whether by imperialist forces, colonial occupation, war, patriarchy, dictatorship, or political movements among others, women have encountered a super-imposed culture that has warranted adaptations and transformations. This in turn has given rise to internal and external resistance.  This course seeks to examine the origins and nature of these movements across the globe that have been generated by women for women. Incorporating their specific national, cultural, and traditional histories, this course will enable our students to learn about the impact colonization has had, and in some cases continues to have, on the development of women’s rights in regions far removed from their own. They will be able to make comparisons between their own (native) women’s movements, whether national or regional and establish underlying connections between the movements on the whole. This course will also focus on the question of location; how does the location of a women’s movement influence its success? What relevance do culturally specific laws, common law, and traditional societies have on the emergence of women’s rights and movements from within their communities? 

 

In this class, students explore drawing using text as primary imagery. Students learn about design and text-based drawing strategies to explore human rights while developing a body of drawings addressing their study. The course is designed to provide students with opportunities to explore fundamental human rights and varying Western/non-Western viewpoints and perspectives through the exploration of art as a vehicle to promote and encourage social change. The course explores the history of political art, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, blending both critique and debate learning opportunities with studio art practices. 

 

 

This course begins with an exploration of major movements in World Cinema: German Expressionism, Neorealism, and the French New Wave. Students will then view contemporary films from Chile, Senegal, China and Iran among others. Through writing, class discussion and presentations,  students will learn about the cinematic arts and begin to build greater cultural understanding.  

(9th)Food, Justice, and Power (FJP) is a foundational history course for all incoming ninth graders. 

Food, and access to food, have a close relationship to (social) justice and to the establishing and exercising of power. Together, these three forces create a triangle of advantage. With a concentration on food, justice, and power, the course exposes the student to the discipline of History and to the skills that enable the student to fully appreciate this study. These skills are subsequently reinforced in each department at CSW and the early exposure to them for our incoming ninth-grade class, therefore, allows for a growing familiarity and expertise with their use. Food, Justice, and Power also introduce the student to CSW, our shared vocabulary, and the communal mission that makes this school. It does this through the establishment of group guidelines, engaging in group discussions and hands-on activities, among others, in order to enhance both the skill-based and community-based aspects of this course. 

(Prerequisite: Completion of French 3 and department approval) Students will investigate Francophone gastronomy through films, short novels, and non-fiction texts that explore the diversity of food culture in the French-speaking world. Through these media, students will study culinary vocabulary, expressions, and notions present in French cuisine and around the world as it reflects the societies, languages, histories, customs, and attitudes where this cuisine is prepared. At the end of the course, students will have the opportunity to recreate a recipe of their choosing to have prepared and presented to the class. 

* This course awards credit towards the Social Justice graduation requirement

*This course awards credit toward the social justice graduation requirement. 

(10-12)The course will examine the evolution of American Musical Theatre. We will read and analyze the libretti of musicals that were key to the development of the genre and explore the relationship between text, music, and dance. We will consider the history of the American Musical in the context of the history of the United States, investigating: Which social, political, and economic factors influenced the development of the American musical? And how is the American musical a reflection of the American ethos? Or is it? 

* This course awards credit towards the Social Justice graduation requirement

(9/10th) The Holocaust is the most thoroughly documented example of human behavior in an extreme, man‑made situation. The study of this event can teach students the meaning of human dignity, morality, law and citizenship. We investigate the roles and responsibilities of the individual within a given society, and students struggle with issues and dilemmas which defy simple solutions. Why did it happen? What should they have done? What would I have done? The universal questions of morality and the lessons to be learned from a history of totalitarianism, racism and dehumanization are not unique to the Holocaust. Comparisons and parallels are made to past and contemporary issues, events, and choices. 

 

(11/12) Human rights are the fundamental rights of every man, woman, and child. They are so basic we assume we know what they are, where they come from, and what we can do with them. And yet, they are in constant motion; subject to interpretation by whoever wields power over other human beings, our fundamental human rights today are changeable, much as they have been in the past.   This course seeks to begin at the beginning, the establishment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1950, and proceed from there to examine where we are today in respect to the acknowledgment and empowerment of human rights. It looks at the choices nations, leaders, and citizens have and the choices they make that either respect or impede in the individual’s ability to enjoy their freedoms and opportunities. Students will be required to work independently and in groups, producing historical examinations and in-depth analyses of situations today where these fundamental human rights (may) have been violated.

(11/12) This course introduces students to the political and economic conditions that have evolved in Africa since the late 19th century. Students considered how actors—both internal and external to African nations—shaped these conditions. We engage these issues through a thematic case study of various African nations. In addition, students perform research on a wide range of topics pertinent to African countries. Course topics include the European colonization and exploitation of Africa, national independence movements, apartheid, African popular culture, and contemporary crises facing African countries such as poverty, political corruption, civil war, and AIDS.

 

* This course awards credit towards the Social Justice graduation requirement

Prior to the 2022-2023 school year, this class was titled "Modern Africa." 

(11/12) Latin American countries have consistently been pressed to implement economic, social and political arrangements that favor the U.S.  This course will examine efforts by some Latin Americans to develop alternative visions for their countries.  What were these alternatives? Why did some believe they were necessary? In what ways, and why, have these alternatives succeeded or failed? We will examine these questions by studying cases that include the Mexican Revolution, the Cuban Revolution(s), Rigoberta Menchu in Guatemala, and recent experiments such as Lula da Silva’s Partido dos Trabalhadores in Brazil, the Bolivarian Revolution lead by Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, and others.  We will also explore the connection between history and memory through the case-study of Che Guevara.   

(11/12 literature) This course approaches American literature with an emphasis on the ways in which non-heterosexual and non-cisgender identities and experiences have been represented in post-Stonewall (post-1969) writing. Despite the actual lived range and combination of gender identity, sexual orientation, and sexual practice, mainstream heterosexuality attempts to confine sexuality to a rigid duality where observation of a person’s secondary sex characteristics are supposed to infer hir (gender neutral pronoun) gender identity and sexual practice. In this context, the term “queer” is invoked to describe any possible combination of gender identity, sexual orientation, and sexual practice that challenges the norm presented by heterosexuality. By reading essays and literature by self-identified queer writers, we will challenge and redefine the concepts of sex, gender, masculinity, femininity, diversity, oppression, and empowerment. By the end of this mod, we will have developed a greater awareness of issues concerning gender and sexual identity.

(11/12 literature) Toni Morrison ranks as one of the most important American authors in history. She writes of a country in which her people have been forced to live, but never fully accepted. Her novels demonstrate that African‑Americans have fundamentally shaped the United States, as well as vice versa. Passion, violence, music, love, and pain permeate everything she writes. We will consider a range of Morrison’s works, possibly including Song of Solomon, Sula, and Beloved, for which she won the Pulitzer Prize.


*This course awards credit toward the social justice graduation requirement. 

(11/12 Prerequisite: Completion of BioChemistry and BioConnections or permission from the department. Must be taken concurrently with Marine Biology:Environmental Photo) The goal of this class is to give students a field research experience in which they come to understand how to work as a team to conduct experimental studies in marine science. Students will be off campus on Hurricane Island off the coast of Maine, where they will be involved in a variety of new and ongoing projects. They will study the structure of intertidal communities, develop hypotheses, and then implement a research study that will provide baseline data for future work in the area. The students will also study lobster biology and the historic management of the fishery so they can start to look critically at the current state of the Maine lobster industry. In the larval settlement project, students will study organisms that recruit on docks and in the intertidal of Penobscot Bay, and consider the role of invasive species and climate change in affecting biodiversity. Finally, they will learn about the efforts on Hurricane Island to design a sustainable campus and to reduce the carbon footprint. They will help monitor energy use and also learn about various innovative solutions to the problem of living “off the grid.” There is a charge for the off-campus portion of the course.

 

As of 2022, students earn 2 Science and 1 Visual Arts credit for the Marine Biology experience. Students must taken Marine Biology alongside Marine Biology Environmental Photography.

In 1982, Massachusetts started planning for what would become the US’s largest single public works project, the Central Artery/Tunnel Project known more familiarly as The Big Dig. The Big Dig, started in 1987 and completed in 2006, excavated enough dirt to fill Harvard Stadium to the rim 16 times, placed enough concrete to build a 3 ft.-wide sidewalk between Boston and San Francisco and back three times, and at its peak was employing over 5,000 construction workers a day. The project took an ugly and crowded elevated roadway that displaced an entire multi-generational neighborhood and had been the symbol of both the 1950s obsession with highways and short-sighted urban planning, and sunk it underground in the hopes of reuniting a fragmented and segregated city on the cusp of a major scientific and economic boom. In this class, we work our way outwards, like Boston’s spoke and hub roadway structure itself, to look deeply at the Big Dig and the other elements of transportation infrastructure it connects with (including the rest of Route 93, the T, and the Mass Pike), to see how the Boston-area’s transportation patterns and roadways are some of the most active historical actors in the landscape of race, class, migration and identity in Boston and the surrounding towns and cities. Did Boston’s roads really start as cowpaths? Did US subways really start in Boston? Is there really an on-ramp to nowhere still standing in the middle of the city? And did Charlie ever get off the MTA? We will examine these questions and many more in this applied environmental history class.

* This course awards credit towards the Social Justice graduation requirement

(Prerequisites Algebra 2 and Statistics.) The aim of this class is to introduce students to the basic concepts of applied statistics and data science. Students will learn how to clean and filter data, analyze large data sets, how to utilize math modeling programs, data visualizations techniques, and how to create and interpret math models. Though coding will be utilized in this course, no experience with coding is required. 

* This course awards credit towards the Social Justice graduation requirement

This is a ceramic hand-building course. No previous experience is needed; all skill levels, from beginning to very advanced, are welcome.

 

(Prerequisites: Completion of Spanish 3A and permission of the department. This course can be equivalent to Spanish 3B. If students take this course instead of 3B, an elective course will be required to take upon return of the course.)

 

(Prerequisites: Completion of Mandarin 3A or permission of the department. This course can satisfy the level 3B graduation requirement. If a student completes this course instead of Mandarin 3B as a 10th or 11th grader, it is expected that they will continue in the Mandarin program's upper level electives in the subsequent year(s) )

(Prerequisites: Completion of French 3A and permission of the department. It can be equivalent to French 3B. If students take this course instead of 3B, an elective course will be required to take upon return of the course.)

(Course previously titled "Exploring LGBTQIA Identities Through Art" )This course gives students the chance to explore subjects and strategies used by LGBTQIA artists. There are no prerequisites. LGBTQIA-identifying students as well as allies are welcome. Digital animation, collage, and live-action video will be part of the course curriculum.

*This course awards credit toward the social justice graduation requirement. 

(9/10th)What does it mean to be a citizen of the United States? What does it mean to be allowed to be a citizen of the United States? The history of who does and does not become a citizen begins with the establishment of a racial divide at the very foundation of the colonies that would evolve into a nation ostensibly founded on democratic principles. This course examines the colonization and creation of a race-based society, bending and eliminating evidence of previous indigenous societies and establishing groups on the basis of a caste system. The course takes a thematic approach and uses a curated selection of materials and documentation to address the racial history of citizenship and non-citizenship of the United States.  

* This course awards credit towards the Social Justice graduation requirement


Prior to the 2021-2022 school year, this course was titled "US History: Race in America"

(Prerequisite: 2 years of private lessons or permission of department)

 
Sudents must go through an audition process to join this section of Rock/Pop Ensemble. Interested students should have an alternate D-Block plan in the event that they cannot take this class.

* This course awards credit towards the Social Justice graduation requirement

 

(Prerequisites: Completion of Spanish 3 and departmental approval)

In this course, students will explore the representation of the Latinx community in film. They will discuss issues of language, race, immigration, gender, social class and the outcome of such representations in the wider community. We will examine films produced and distributed by mainstream film industries, as well as independent productions directed, written and distributed by Latinx filmmakers.

This class is also suitable for heritage speakers

This class is conducted in a 100% immersion setting.

*This course awards credit toward the social justice graduation requirement. 

This course is a musical exploration of Latin American and Spanish history and culture. We will focus on protest songs, music from the diaspora, contemporary music, and folkloric music. The artists and songs selected will allow for the exploration of topics such as: national independence, human rights, and Hispanic identity. This is an immersion course and is conducted entirely in Spanish.

(Prerequisites: Completion of Spanish 3B and departmental approval)

(Prerequisites: Completion of Spanish 3 and/or departmental approval)

(Prerequisites: Completion of Spanish 3 and/or departmental approval)
This course is designed to introduce students to the three most important muralists of Mexico and how they impacted the rest of Latin America. We will study the art work, politics and contemporary relevance of the following three artists: Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco y David Alfaro Siqueiros. Through the art produced by these three muralists, students will understand that Mexico, and the rest of Latin America, is a region full of contrasts, and with a population that is both racially and culturally diverse. The structure of the course will primarily follow a chronological path based on the artists and their artistic productions: Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco y David Alfaro Siqueiros. We will pay particular attention to enduring legacies, and challenges that Mexico, and the rest of Latin America, has confronted such as racism, classism, and patriarchy. 

* This course awards credit towards the Social Justice graduation requirement

(9/10) This course explores the origins, tumultuous paths, and impact of two of the world's first truly modern revolutions.  The French Revolution promised enlightened equality, but gave rise to the Terror and Napoleon's dictatorship. The Russian Revolution promised a Marxist utopia, but resulted in the reign of Stalin. . . and the subsequent slaughter of forty million people. Both revolutions also accorded an unprecedented and controversial public role to feminism, atheism, socialist, and anti‑imperialist ideologies, all of which we will explore.  In a comparative manner, we will examine the key historical actors and ideas that contoured these revolutions, largely through the exploration of original documents, including speeches, philosophical treatises, diaries, political manifestos and art.

 

The New Cold War class posits that the Cold War as we know it has taken on a new form and that we are experiencing its revitalization.  By delving into the past of the “Old” Cold War by  examining events such as the development of the atomic bomb, the Korean War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the intersections and relationship between the Civil Rights Movement and the Cold War, we examine how the Cold War played itself out in an increasingly violent fashion in every sector of American life and the lives of countless civilians abroad. The class considers the struggle for independence in newly emerging Asian and African nations, as it coincided with the US and Soviet struggle for dominance. We then look at the global playing ground of dominant powers in recent years and examine how familiar territories around the world are once again grounds for the resurgence of a power struggle.  Students will also examine the impact of United States foreign policy decisions and evaluate their lasting effect on the individual and national rights of nations in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia.  

Students examine a variety of primary and secondary sources, including foreign policy documents, scholarly historical analysis, film, and visual art to explore the role of a nuclear threat and global ideology and paranoia in domestic US life and policy. 

* This course awards credit towards the Social Justice graduation requirement

Come explore the development of jazz from slavery through bebop. Through recordings, guest artists, and readings, we will attempt to define this uniquely American idiom. Recent topics have focused on the music of John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and Duke Ellington.

(11/12) “Totalitarianism is not only hell, but also the dream of paradise..."

‑Milan Kundera.

 

This course takes students on a fascinating exploration of the totalitarian and fascistic tendencies that have proven to be alluring alternatives to the democratic states and societies.  These movements were often shrouded with utopian promises against a backdrop of apocalyptic struggles, regardless of the temporal or geographic location of the totalitarian movement.  We begin by examining five national case studies drawn from Europe and Asia between the 1920s and 1960s.  We then investigate more modern iterations of fundamentalism, including political, racial, and religious fundamentalism.  The class concludes by focusing on the nature and appeal of cults.  A final project invites students to tie the course’s main themes together.

 

(11/12)Black Studies is a broad field of study that can be approached from many disciplines. In this six-week course, we survey African American history from the period of the Great Migration through the present. We explore the socio-economic, political, and cultural contributions of African Americans with an emphasis on movements for racial equality, the arts, and Black feminism. Texts include foundational writings in African American history and literature, including writings from W.E.B. Du Bois; James Weldon Johnson; Booker T. Washington; Martin Luther King Jr.; Malcolm X; Ida B. Wells; Angela Davis; Shirley Chisholm; Audre Lorde; Richard Wright; James Baldwin; Langston Hughes, and many others.

 

(11/12) US Constitution is a hands-on, project-based class that seeks to examine the roots and development of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and then asks students to apply the document practically to several real and fictional Supreme Court cases. Hence, students begin the module with factual readings, the Federalist Papers and smaller debates, and general discussion. The class looks at the way fundamental concepts and definitions of freedom, citizenship, and “for all” have been shaped, undermined, and refined through the Constitution and its interpretation by the US Supreme Court. As the mod progresses, the assignments become more difficult and intense (briefing cases like Marbury v. Madison and Tinker v. Des Moines School District), culminating in the preparation and presentation of oral arguments for a mock Supreme Court in two cases, and sitting as a justice for one. Much of the grading for the class is done in groups, rather than individually, and so students are asked to trust and depend on their peers while making sure to hold up their own end of the workload. 

 

(11/12) How did European cattle wage war on the Wampanoag in colonial Massachusetts? How did the Bible’s Eden, a belief in magic, and a mapping mistake come together to lay the groundwork for race-based disenfranchisement and colonial incursion? How did soil make decisions about what slavery would look like in the Cotton South? How did capitalist ideas effect changes in the landscape of New England? How does the difference of 20 inches of rain per year lead to drastic differences in population, politics, and culture between eastern and western states? What myths do we tell ourselves when we visit our national parks? How are we, through globalization, forcing ourselves to change the way we talk about the natural world? What is truly natural and how do we use Nature as a weapon to destroy societies and the earth? With this introduction to the newest field of American History, we will learn to study history by looking at the roles humans play within ecosystems and the effects of those ecosystems on human society.

 

 

(11/12)Before Europeans arrived, indigenous cultures thrived in the Americas.  This course will start by examining their ancient past and move through the impact that Native Americans have had on the development of the United States and vice versa. The indigenous population of North America contains a vast array of cultural diversity. How do our own assumptions about Native Americans compare to their experiences? We will examine how Native Americans have managed to overcome (or adapt to) genocide, warfare, disease, assimilation, and massive land loss in order to retain their unique cultural identities.  We will explore the development of Native American history from the early years of the United States through the radical political movements of the 1970s to contemporary issues Native Americans face. This course will also push students to think of new ways to study history. How can we understand a culture, or cultures, so different from our own, especially when there are no traditional historical documents left? 

(11/12)Who has been likely to turn out to vote and what has been done to prevent voting - and what difference does that make for electoral results? What is the Electoral College and how does it work? How do voters decide their choice for president? How have voting rights become the most powerful vehicle for defining social power and identity in the US? Could elections be the key to a truly just United States? These questions are among the issues that students will explore by examining current and past presidential races and the laws, court cases, and media industry of elections. With a particular focus on the racialized, gendered and class-conscious history of voter suppression, we will also explore American politics in general, examining the ideas, ideologies, policies, people and events of the American political scene.

 

 

(11/12) This course explores the role of subcultures in contributing to the cultural spectrum of the United States between the 1920s and the twenty‑first century.  Studying subcultures can reveal as much about the shadows of society in which they resided as it does the mainstream.  Subcultures also represent a unique intersection of radical political ideologies and innovative artistic trends, often expressed through a group’s attachment to a specific genre of music, social outlet, and/or fashion.  We will examine the value systems, and the broader historical contexts that gave rise to them, of: the flappers; hipsters, and beatniks; greasers;  hippies; the hip‑hop and punk rock scenes, and street art.  We will also focus on the ways in which society has repeatedly co‑opted these previously marginal movements, rendering them into yet another popular means of corporatized mass consumption.

 

 

This course awards credit toward the social justice requirement.

(10) In this course, students will analyze films by Hayao Miyazaki, one of the world’s most famous animators and film directors, well known for masterpieces such as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away. Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series, Grimm’s Tales, and Japanese folktales are a few of the works that have inspired his films and will provide literary and cultural context. All of the works will provide ground to discuss the complex role of female protagonists in the world of animation and literature. The students will have the opportunity to create their own folktale.

How have water and humanity intersected around the world? How do we tell stories about water? Using an interdisciplinary and place-based lens, this double block integrated course will explore and document the science and ethics behind water scarcity and access, the chemistry and ecology of water systems, and the role water plays in the literature of populations around the world. Students will explore using primary documents, experiential hands-on activities, field trips, and documentaries. Students will also study water rights, investigative journalism related to water access, and literary representations and celebrations of water as a key resource. The course will start locally, broadening to a national and then international scope. The course will culminate in a final independent project that will employ both writing skills and research skills, and will present on their findings to their peers at CSW. This course will confer 1 Science and 1 English credit upon completion.

How have water and humanity intersected around the world? How do we tell stories about water? Using an interdisciplinary and place-based lens, this double block integrated course will explore and document the science and ethics behind water scarcity and access, the chemistry and ecology of water systems, and the role water plays in the literature of populations around the world. Students will explore using primary documents, experiential hands-on activities, field trips, and documentaries. Students will also study water rights, investigative journalism related to water access, and literary representations and celebrations of water as a key resource. The course will start locally, broadening to a national and then international scope. The course will culminate in a final independent project that will employ both writing skills and research skills, and will present on their findings to their peers at CSW. This course will confer 1 Science and 1 English credit upon completion.

(10) This survey of world poetry from ancient Egypt to the late 20th century introduces students to poetry from around the world written in or translated into English. Students will read haikus, Vedic hymns, Icelandic sagas, and verse from Garcia Lorca, Derek Walcott, and Seamus Heaney, among others. They will also examine the poetic form (sonnet, ballad, villanelle, and sestina, among others). Students will also practice their analytical writing and reading skills as they develop a greater appreciation and understanding of the verse form.

* This course awards credit towards the Social Justice graduation requirement

(9/10th) This one module class will examine the origins and practice of major world religions.  We will examine religion and our relationship with it. The class will explore the main characters and practices of these religions and how they have spread and developed. We will also explore the main schisms in such religions and analyze why and how they happened.  By the end of the class, we will develop a comparative study and identify commonalities and differences between these faiths.  We will also explore religious tensions in current domestic and international arenas.