Ramaz US Curriculum Guide 2013-14

UPPER SCHOOL curriculum guide

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UPPER SCHOOL curriculum guide

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. Freshman through

Junior Years

B. Senior Year

Judaic Studies

7. Department of Talmud 8. Department of Tanakh 10. Department of Judaism 12. Department of Hebrew Language and Literature

General Studies 15. Department of English 18. Department of History 19. Department of Mathematics

and Computer Science 20. Department of Science 22. Department of Foreign Languages 27. Department of Art 28. Department of Music 29. Department of Health Education 29. Department of Physical Education

Judaic Studies

31. Department of Talmud 31. Department of Tanakh 32. Department of Judaism 33. Department of Hebrew Language

and Literature

General Studies 35. Department of English 36. Department of History 38. Department of Mathematics

and Computer Science 39. Department of Science 40. Department of Foreign Languages 40. Department of Art 41. Department of Music 41. Department of Physical Education

MINI-COURSES: Spring Semester 43. Mini-Courses

UPPER SCHOOL curriculum guide

MISSION

As a co-educational, Modern Orthodox Day School, Ramaz strives to educate students toward the following goals:

• A commitment to menschlichkeit, reflecting fineness of character, respect for others, integrity, and the centrality of chesed in all its manifestations

• A commitment to Torah, mitzvot, Ahavat Yisrael, and love and support for the State of Israel

• A commitment to the pursuit of knowledge, intellectual rigor, scholarship, and a lifelong love of learning

• Loyalty and gratitude to the United States of America, and the democratic traditions and values of our country

• A sense of responsibility for the Jewish people and all humankind

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UPPER SCHOOL curriculum guide

Introduction

We are pleased to provide you with a guide that outlines the academic courses offered at Ramaz in both Judaic and general studies. The first sections describe the courses offered in the freshman, sophomore, and junior years. This is followed by the courses offered in the senior year, during which specialized Judaic and general classes are taken in the first semester and “mini-courses� are taken in the second semester.* The Ramaz curriculum is acknowledged by our graduates as an outstanding preparation for college and for post high school Jewish learning, both in content and in method. The dual curriculum also provides a unique bi-cultural perspective on problem-solving and analytic methods.

In every subject, we aim to challenge and encourage students to reach their highest level of potential. We have gathered a highly talented and devoted faculty who nurture each student’s abilities through individualized educational programming.

Please note that our curriculum is constantly evolving and slight changes to courses may be made from year to year. Changes will be updated on this site. *The mini-courses for 2014-15 will not be determined until later in the school year. What follows is the 2013-2014 program, which will give you a flavor of the exciting and varied courses typically offered to our Seniors.

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UPPER SCHOOL curriculum guide

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

All Upper School students are required to take nine academic majors, along with several minors, through each of the Upper School years.

There are five general studies disciplines and four Judaic studies disciplines. Graduation requirements at Ramaz are as follows: SUBJECT

YEARS OF STUDY

English

4 years

History

4 years

Mathematics

3 – 4 years

Laboratory Sciences

3 – 4 years

Foreign Language

3 – 4 years

Talmud

3 – 4 years

Tanakh

4 years

Halakha / Philosophy

3 – 4 years

Ivrit Language and Literature 3 – 4 years Physical education

4 years

Health education

4 years

Art / Music

2 years of each, plus a third year of either

Honors Seminars For both general and Judaic studies, the senior year offers an elective program that works within our graduation requirements. (See table). Choices allow students to create their own major areas of concentration, and pursue advanced studies according to their interests and proven abilities.

Honors seminars are offered in most subjects and are designed by our faculty to adhere to the most rigorous educational standards. Students are prepared for college-level studies and extend their academic, intellectual and creative abilities.

Students are given the opportunity to take Advanced Placement Examinations when appropriate.

JUDAIC STUDIES

Freshman, Sophomore & Junior Years

For all courses in Judaic studies, Hebrew is the primary language of instruction and conversation. Students must submit all written work in Hebrew.

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JUDAIC STUDIES

I. Department of Talmud Objectives: • Cultivating an appreciation for and commitment to learning Torah, and inspiring the informed observance of its mitzvot • Producing a learned graduate who is empowered with the desire and means to engage in the independent study and practice of Torah as a lifelong passion and as a source of intellectual and spiritual fulfillment • Acquiring knowledge and textual literacy

Teachers incorporate topics that are relevant to the religious and philosophical experience of the modern adolescent. Time is dedicated to the study of Parashat HaShavua, the weekly Torah portion, and upcoming Jewish holidays.

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT: Talmud classes are organized by level of ability — regular, accelerated and honors — allowing for individualized instruction based upon the background and motivation of each student. In the freshman and sophomore years, the regular track meets five periods a week, and the accelerated and honors tracks meet nine periods a week. In the junior year the honors track is known as Beit Midrash and meets thirteen periods a week. Class instruction is supplemented by learning with members of the Ramaz/RIETS/Stern College Kollel.

In 2014-15, the tentative choice for study is Masechet Bava Kamma.

In order to create a unified community of scholars and learners, each year the department teaches the same masechet (tractate) to the entire school.

Sugyot (units) within a particular masechet are chosen for their suitability for achieving the goals of the curriculum and for their compatibility with the various grade levels and tracks. At appropriate times of the year, the main masechet may be supplemented with other topical sugyot.

TALMUD

Equal emphasis is placed on exposing students to the principles and concepts of Jewish law and on training them to read from the original texts and their commentaries. The curriculum stresses the essential components of Talmud learning — critical thinking and rigorous analysis,

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JUDAIC STUDIES

II. Department of Tanakh Freshman Year A. Torah

B. Prophets

Objectives:

Objectives:

• Introducing methodologies of different commentaries for independent study of Torah, along with sensitivity to the biblical text and its interpretations • Planning equal emphasis on the role of Divine Providence in an individual’s life and in history, and on the literary structures of the biblical narrative • Encouraging students to analyze the complexities of the biblical text and its multitude of meanings

• Developing skills in reading, structuring and comparing large swaths of text as well as analyzing them for their literary and theological significance

The core of the course is spent on the stories of the prophets Eliyahu and Elisha. The course covers twenty-five chapters and approximately 200 years of the history of the Northern and Davidic monarchies and the Jewish nation.

tanakh

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT Focus is on Sefer Bereshit (Genesis) – main themes are sibling rivalry and interpersonal relationships between family members, and the concepts of brotherhood and responsibility to the Other. Subsidiary themes include repentance, free will, situational ethics and consequences, human nature, and the nature and efficacy of prayer.

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT This course begins at the beginning of Sefer Melachim (I Kings) with the building and dedication of the first Bet Hamikdash. Themes include: the goals of national life and the respective roles and nature of political and religious leadership in the realization of those goals.

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JUDAIC STUDIES

II. Department of Tanakh Sophomore Year

Objectives: • Studying and comparing the approaches and exegetical methodologies of the commentators Ramban and Rashi • Studying literary themes and patterns such as chiasm, contextual connections, literal versus aggadic interpretations and commentator methodologies • Exploring the initial stages of the Jewish experience; slavery, redemption, and the birth of the nation; the development and character of Moshe • Seeking parallels between the behavior of the Jewish people in the desert and their behavior today

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT Building upon the textual and analytical objectives of the ninth-grade curriculum, the focus of the tenth-grade Torah curriculum is the study of Sefer Shemot (Book of Exodus), with its focus on the origination and development of Jewish nationhood; slavery, redemption, and the birth of a nation; Moshe as leader, liberator and lawgiver of the nation; the Ten Plagues and the miracles of emancipation; the trials in the desert and the nation’s struggle with its “newlyacquired” freedom.

Theological issues discussed include free will, nationhood, anti-Semitism, the nature of law, miracles, and universality.

B. Prophets Objectives: • Understanding the prophetic use of language in descriptions of universal peace, justice, utopian worldviews, apocalypse and a philosophy of destiny • Understanding the complex relationships between prophets and monarchs • Appreciating the historical narratives of the earlier prophets as complementing later prophets and their oracular poetry.

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT The sophomore Navi curriculum continues chronologically from the freshman curriculum.

Portions of the book of II Kings are studied with an emphasis on examining large parts of Jewish political history, focusing on pivotal moments and characters. The second half focuses on the period of the kings under whose reign Yishayahu (Isaiah) lived as a prophet, studying some of the major themes of that book. The course culminates with the conquest of the Northern Kingdom at the hands of the Assyrian Empire in 722 BCE.

tanakh

A. Torah

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JUDAIC STUDIES

II. Department of Tanakh JUNIOR Year B. Prophets

Objectives:

Objectives:

• Comparing the parallels in earlier books of Tanakh in order to understand the reasons for repetition in the Bible • Utilizing the works of modern thinkers and Bible commentators, and of Midrash and its moral imperatives • Through independent work, analyzing as well as comparing methodologies of different commentaries

• Perfecting skills in reading and analyzing large quantities of prophetic text • Broadening knowledge of the historical events and major theological and national concerns of the period • Increasing independent learning skills • Focusing on Jeremiah’s literary structure, motifs, metaphors and the social and religious context of the Ancient Near-Eastern world • Contrasting the relatively obscure suffering and trial of Jeremiah with the trials of Jesus and Socrates, using passages from the Christian scripture and from Plato’s Apology

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT This course studies the difficulties of the Jewish people in the desert as they contend with their desires for food, water and stable living; the personal familial struggles of Moshe, Miriam and Aaron, the story of the spies, and the rebellions of Bilaam and Korach. Additional themes include idolatry, communal and personal relationships with faith, and national development.

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT This course focuses on selections from the book of Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah), with particular attention to chapters of the Haftarot. The course focuses on the period from 615 through 550 BCE, which includes the destruction of the Southern Kingdom of Israel and the first Temple by the Babylonians, the exilic period under the Babylonians and the Persians, and the period of Shivat Zion (The Return to Zion) under Cyrus of Persia. Students analyze the prophet’s specific role as the prophet of doom. The theme of truth versus falsehood is developed, as seen through the false prophets of this period, the “false” sacrifices of the Jews in the Temple and the “false” behavior between man and man.

The course incorporates themes of social justice, ritualistic and ethical relationships with God, the nature of conceptual faith versus active faith, and the concept of pre-synagogue religious life. Other themes studied include the transition from the Prophetic era to the Rabbinic era, pros and cons of national sovereignty, exilic Jewry, idolatry and monotheism, theodicy and destruction.

TANAKH

A. Torah

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JUDAIC STUDIES

III. Department of Judaism The Judaism course is currently under substantial review, and may evolve further for the 2014-2015 year.

The Judaism curriculum deepens students’ Jewish identity, Jewish belief, and developing thoughts. A combination of traditional and contemporary texts serves as the focal point for consideration of social, spiritual, ethical, and topical issues. Reflecting the Ramaz mission, content relates to commitment to the role of Halakhah in the life of the individual, and to developing a distinctive ‘Modern Orthodox’ perspective and outlook — while preserving free discussion and encouraging an open spirit of inquiry.

In each grade, time is allocated to appropriate halakhic and philosophical material relating to approaching chagim.

Freshman Year

Sophomore Year

JUNIOR Year

Objectives:

Objectives:

Objectives:

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT As students develop cognitively and emotionally, their understanding of prayer also changes. The purpose of this course is to help guide that change through an intensive study of the text of the siddur and the historical, philosophical and theological issues that permeate it.

• Enhancing students’ appreciation of halakha and the halakhic process, by exploring ways in which these laws and customs are designed to add meaning to the day • Increasing understanding of the source and development of laws and customs through study and analysis of innovatively-presented texts OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

Course content revolves around the positive or zekhira aspects of Shabbat observance. Topics include kavod, oneg, kiddush, havdalah, nerot Shabbat, and zemirot.

• Consideration of topics anticipating graduation and college • Establishing conceptual frameworks to deal with the choices and challenges of modernity OVERVIEW AND CONTENT A conscious effort is made to present topics that will become crucial to the student’s eventual adjustment to life as a Jew in open society, first in the context of college, and later as an adult participant in communal life. Topics for discussion include dealing with other faiths and others of different faiths, the distinctions among the three strains of Judaism, intermarriage and defining who is a Jew, science and the challenges to faith, why the righteous suffer, theodicy, and the concept of American Jews versus Jewish Americans.

Judaism

• D eveloping emotional, spiritual and intellectual appreciation of tefillah (prayer) • Studying the siddur in depth

JUDAIC STUDIES

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IV. Department of HEBREW LANGUAGE and LITERATURE

Departmental Overview, Objectives: The Hebrew language and literature curriculum increases in complexity from grade to grade, while maintaining common themes and methodologies. Current events, usually taken from Israeli newspapers or news websites, stimulate lively discussion. To enhance interaction with the news, students use E-Tone, an internetUlpan program that enables them to improve comprehension and speaking abilities.

By their sophomore year, students are expected to be motivated to read news more often on their own.

In each grade, one quarter of the year is dedicated to learning grammar as a main unit, following Hebrew grammar curriculum. Grammatical concepts and creative-writing skills are also examined and studied as an integral part of our literary curriculum.

In creative writing, emphasis is on mastery of grammatical concepts in the service of creative expression. In advanced stages, students work on implementing literary methods in their writing. All students are encouraged to write in journalistic style for the school Ivrit newspaper ‘Toses’, as well as to choose their individual writing style (poem, essay, interview, short story, play, letter, etc.) for the Ramaz yearbook.

Hebrew Language & Literature

The Ramaz Hebrew Language curriculum includes a program of Conversational Hebrew, Ulpan. The students are engaged in daily conversations, in pairs, in groups, or in the class as a whole.

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JUDAIC STUDIES

IV. Department of HEBREW LANGUAGE and LITERATURE Within the framework of the objectives for the total program, each grade covers the following CURRICULUM CONTENT:

Freshman Year

Sophomore Year

JUNIOR Year

• Students begin with studying the Hebrew of selected prayers from the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services, including vocabulary and concepts. Students are encouraged to explore their own feelings and connections.

• Students again begin by exploring themes from the Yamim Noraim prayers, looking at the more complex texts of selected piyyutim.

• The High Holidays unit studies and discusses ‘Unetannah tokef’.

• Students read and discuss poetry by national Israeli poet Chaim Nachman Bialik, studying his biography and his place in history.

• Students also study appropriate material relating to Yom HaShoah and Yom Hazikaron.

• In our next unit students focus on the theme of Aliya and Absorption in Israel, mainly through excerpts from Eli Amir’s novel, Tarnagol Kapporot.

It examines the life of a youth who immigrated to Israel in the 1950s and it deals with themes such as the cultural and generational gap, difficulties of absorption in Israel at that time, being an outsider in a newly formed society, conflicts between European and Middle Eastern Jews in Israel, and more.

• Remaining relevant to the spirit of the High Holidays, students continue with the theme of Akedat Yitzhak. Poems by past and current Israeli poets, including Natan Yonatan, Tuvia Rivner, Amir Gilboa, Chaim Gury and Naomi Shemer, are studied. Students compare these poems with their biblical source, and also explore how the poets use the theme as a metaphor for the unconditional commitment of the Jewish people to the Zionist ideal.

• The following unit deals with various historical and literary topics. Through books and films students discuss the themes of Aliya and absorption in Israel after the Holocaust, the cultural gap between Holocaust survivors and Sabras (Israeliborn), and the effect of these differences on Israeli society in the early 1950s. Students examine the differences between the language of the book and the language of the movies, paying special attention to the form of autobiography.

• As students approach the commemorative days in the spring, they examine the theme of “The Prayer in Modern Poetry.” This unit includes poems by prominent Israeli poets. Students discuss literary devices and their significance to the meaning of these poems. They are encouraged to make their own interpretation, as well as to understand the vocabulary and content of the material. The poetry unit also includes a selected poem by Bialik.

Hebrew Language & Literature

• Through reading and discussing stories of Hebrew authors Aharon Meged and Savion Librecht, students confront important issues such as cultural and traditional gaps between generations, as well as the conflict between the “Old World” and the new life in Israel. These are supplemented by other literary material. The stories are studied in specially-adapted abridged editions.

• Following this, students enter a related topic — the creative process of a poet’s writing, as expressed

by Bialik. Students discuss the creative process of writing after reading and analyzing Bialik’s own experience.

General STUDIES

Freshman, Sophomore & Junior Years

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General STUDIES

I. Department of English Freshman Year Objectives:

• This course focuses on the composition process. In small classes, students work through the prewriting, writing, and post-writing phases of composition

Prewriting includes observing, making plans, examining models, limiting topics, and developing thesis statements. All phases from prewriting to final product emphasize the concept of “drafting.”

Students revise, proofread, and prepare a final draft for evaluation or “publication.” Small group work enhances the effectiveness of this program by allowing time for many teacher-student conferences, enabling students to solve their own problems, and giving students an opportunity to learn from their peers in a cooperative setting. Types of writing include descriptive, narrative, process, comparison/ contrast, persuasive, literary analysis, and definition.

In addition to composing academic essays, students write informal response papers. The opportunity to write without formal evaluation encourages personal expression.

An intensive review of all parts of speech is conducted in the first semester. After a uniform, grade-wide grammar test is administered, the course moves on to more advanced work in subjectverb agreement, pronoun case, consistency of tense, and mechanics, including a complete unit on quotation and textual citation.

Freshman English covers several novels, poetry,

short stories, a classical tragedy, a selection of model essays, and Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In addition to the regular curriculum, students will read and write about two supplementary works.

All students use Vocabulary from Classical Roots: Book C, a vocabulary workbook that emphasizes using roots, suffixes, and prefixes to find word meaning.

TEXTS The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Alexie (summer) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Haddon (summer) The Fault in Our Stars Green

Persepolis Satrapi A Midsummer Night’s Dream Shakespeare Antigone Sophocles Short Stories from Points of View Ed. Moffet, James Poetry from Sound and Sense Ed. Perrine, Arp Units from Heath Grammar and Composition: Third Course Bergman and Senn Vocabulary from Classical Roots: Book C Fifer, Flowers The Elements of Style Strunk and White

The Odyssey Homer (Mandelbaum translation) Interpreter of Maladies Lahiri Goodbye, Columbus Roth

english

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

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General STUDIES

I. Department of English Sophomore Year Objectives:

• Investigate the forms storytelling takes through time, illustrated by tracing the plot shape of Beowulf: “Overcoming the Monster” through various genres • Grammar and usage are taught formally, and vocabulary is taught according to an approach that makes use of common Greek and Latin roots

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

TEXTS

The curriculum is divided into two connected units.

Semester one offers a survey of seminal works of British literature, including Beowulf, Hamlet, the poetry of the Elizabethan, Romantic and Victorian Periods, Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Joyce’s Dubliners. Semester two picks up on major thematic elements from the first semester, but expands the base of literary sources. The books selected are all works that can be paired critically with works from the first part of the year.

Something Wicked This Way Comes Bradbury (summer)

Canterbury Tales Chaucer A Raisin in the Sun Hansberry

Oedipus Rex Sophocles Winter’s Bone Woodrell Adventures in English Literature Harcourt Brace Heath Grammar and Composition: Fifth Course

Beowulf Heaney translation

Vocabulary from Classical Roots: Book D Fifer, Flowers

Dubliners Joyce

The Elements of Style Strunk and White

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

McCoy

English

Writing is emphasized in the tenth-grade English class. Students maintain a portfolio of their work, enabling both teachers and students to track the development of writing skills. Informal pieces, produced both at home and in class, are later developed into polished essays.

The Picture of Dorian Gray Wilde (summer)

Hamlet Shakespeare

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General STUDIES

I. Department of English junior Year Objectives: • Providing a chronological study of American literature in conjunction with the junior year study of American history • Emphasizing clear and effective writing, as well as the development of an individual voice, through bi-weekly portfolio writing assignments and drafting of full-length essays • Integrating vocabulary building into the curriculum and studying grammar on a diagnostic basis • Examining the concept of ‘The Outsider’ in literature (second semester)

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

TEXTS

While the historical sweep of the American literary heritage is outlined, there is considerable emphasis on in-depth analysis of literature. Students study American essays, short stories, poems, novels, and plays. In addition they read supplementary books that broaden their exposure to American literature in general and complement the major works taught in the course.

Into The Wild Krakauer (summer)

The Elements of Style Strunk and White

Heart of Darkness Conrad The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald Daisy Miller James I Am Legend Matheson Death of a Salesman Miller American Pastoral Roth The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Spark Heath Grammar and Composition: The Complete Course

English

In the second semester, the class will look beyond the confines of American literature by exploring the ways in which the figure of the ‘Outsider’ has been utilized by writers in various forms, including non-fiction, poetry, essays, and novels. The unities and distinctions among the works will furnish an opportunity for a deep consideration of this essential theme.

The Things They Carried O’Brien (summer)

Vocabulary from Classical Roots: Book E Fifer, Flowers

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General STUDIES

II. Department of History Objectives: • The history curriculum includes a research paper in the freshman, sophomore and junior years. The research paper follows the same general guidelines in each year and the preparation of the paper is broken down into discrete tasks leading up to the final paper. The Ramaz history research paper provides a unique and extraordinary preparation for college.

• Over the course of four years, students are encouraged to consult primary and secondary source materials and to develop their own research topics.

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT World/Jewish history course This course of study is taught for four semesters, beginning with incoming freshman students. The World/Jewish history course makes students aware of the emergence and development of modern civilization from its ancient roots through the twentieth century. At the heart of the school’s educational mission, World/Jewish history provides our students with an integrated curriculum geared toward understanding the unique relationship between the Jews and the modern world, with a focus on Modern Orthodoxy.

The course emphasizes the impact of the Western World on the Jewish people, as well as the Jewish role in Western civilization. Non-Western civilizations are also studied, particularly the Muslim world and the Near East. The last half semester of the sequence is devoted to the struggle to achieve Jewish statehood, the emergence of the State of Israel, and the evolution of Israel since its independence. Through classroom discussions, lectures, analysis of primary sources, and the assignment of research papers, the course imparts an appreciation of political, economic, social, and

intellectual history. Primary sources are selected from various books, and are presented in Hebrew whenever possible. Pioneered at Ramaz, this curriculum has been adopted by the Board of Jewish Education for use in other Jewish day schools.

TEXTS A History of Western Society, Volume C McKay, Hill, Buckler, Houghton Mifflin The Jewish World in the Middle Ages Bloomberg, Ktav Western Civilization: Sources, Images, & Interpretations Sherman, McGraw Hill World History: Patterns of Interaction Beck, et al., McDougal Little

Junior Year OVERVIEW AND CONTENT American history course The American history course concentrates on the political history of the United States from the colonial period to the present. This focus is designed to uncover the origins of American democratic institutions and ideas, while stressing that these have been challenged by a rapidly evolving domestic economy and social structures, and an increasingly complex global order. These themes are taught through the use of documentary sources, textbook readings, inquiry based on discussions, lectures, films, and individual research assignments.

TEXTS America, Past and Present Divine, Green, et al., Longman

history

Freshman and Sophomore Years

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General STUDIES

III. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Departmental Overview — Program: Mathematics

The Accelerated Program

Grade-Level Program

The mathematics program is designed to meet the needs of each student. This goal is accomplished through offering a wide variety of courses on each grade level, by keeping classes small enough to allow for individual attention, and by making available opportunities for remediation and enrichment.

Standards are more rigorous than those required by the New York State Regents curriculum. Every student is required to take math for a minimum of three years so that he or she is prepared to do advanced work in mathematics and to succeed on nationwide achievement tests and competitions.

Calculators, computers and other elements of educational technology are integrated with traditional topics in all courses.

There are two different accelerated tracks that are offered beginning in the ninth grade:

Students in this program take Algebra I in ninth grade, geometry in tenth grade, and Algebra II and Trigonometry in eleventh grade. Students in this program may take either Selected Topics in Algebra or Precalculus in their senior year.

The Honors Program Students selected for this program have exhibited exceptional talent in mathematics, have achieved high scores on standardized exams, and have been recommended by their teachers. The courses that they take present the traditional courses in an enriched, rigorous and sophisticated way. Their course of study includes geometry in ninth grade, Algebra II and Trigonometry in tenth grade and precalculus in grade eleven. These students are eligible for Honors Calculus, either I or II, during their senior year.

The second program is for students who have shown some proficiency in Algebra I, but have not demonstrated enough proficiency to allow them to skip Algebra I completely. These students will study geometry in ninth grade followed by Algebra I/II in tenth grade. This course consists of an indepth review of Algebra I skills and concepts. These concepts are extended to the topics presented in Algebra II (Intermediate Algebra). In the eleventh grade, Trigonometry and Precalculus are studied.

These students are eligible to take Calculus or Honors Calculus I in their senior year.

mathematics & computer science

At least three levels of courses are offered for each grade: an honors course, an accelerated course, and a grade-level course.

The first is for students who are one year ahead of the traditional program, but do not qualify for the honors program. These students have completed a year of Algebra I and have shown proficiency in their algebra skills, as well as an understanding of the major concepts presented in an Algebra I course. This accelerated track offers a course of study that includes geometry in grade nine, Algebra II and Trigonometry in tenth grade and precalculus in grade eleven. Students in this program are eligible to take Calculus or Honors Calculus I in their senior year.

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General STUDIES

IV. Department of Science Departmental Objectives: The science program is designed to provide each student with the full scope of the three laboratory science disciplines: biology, chemistry, and physics. The program is committed to meeting the learning needs of the individual student. These goals are accomplished through offering a variety of course groups on each grade level and by making different program options available.

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

The Grade-Level Program

Beginning in the ninth grade, different levels of courses are offered in each of the three science disciplines: an honors level, an accelerated level, a grade-level course, as well as a basic-level course.

Students in this program are offered a stimulating course of study that presents the material through hands-on laboratory work and classroom instruction.

The Honors Program

The Basic Program

Students selected for this program have exhibited outstanding talent in science, have achieved high scores on standardized tests, and have been recommended by their teachers. The courses that they will take are inquiry-based and present the material in an enriched, rigorous, and sophisticated way, with emphasis on laboratory work and data analysis.

Students in this program take a lighter version of each of the three science courses. The pace of instruction in these courses allows ample time for review. Emphasis is placed on basic concepts through classroom instruction and hands-on laboratory work.

The Accelerated Program

science

Students who are strong in science, but do not qualify for or choose to enroll in the honors program, are offered a rigorous and enriched course of study that presents the material in a challenging way through classroom instruction and extensive laboratory work.

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General STUDIES

Freshman Year BIOLOGY

Sophomore Year Chemistry

Junior Year Physics

Objectives:

Objectives:

Objectives:

• Establishing basic concepts and then proceeding through the study of life processes from the simplest to the most complex levels • Teaching the scientific method

• Providing students with an understanding of the nature of matter and the concepts that govern its behavior

• Providing students with an understanding of natural phenomena and increasing their awareness of their surroundings • Developing analytical skills for problem solving through the application of mathematical concepts to assigned problems

The following topics are included: the chemical aspects of living systems; cell structure and function; cell division; classical and modern genetics; evolution and classification; structure and physiology of Monera, Protista and fungi; structure and function of tissues, organs and systems in plants and animals; hormonal regulation and reproduction in plants and animals; human anatomy and physiology; and ecology.

The main topics of this course include: matter and energy; endothermic and exothermic reactions; simple atomic theory; bonding; modern atomic theory and the periodic table; the gas laws and kinetic molecular theory; the mole method; solutions, acids and bases; kinetics and equilibrium; redox and electrochemistry; organic chemistry; nuclear chemistry; and industrial chemistry.

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT Main topics include vectors, mechanics, dynamic and static wave motion; light and sound; electricity and magnetism; thermodynamics, atomic energy and quantum theory.

science

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

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General STUDIES

V. Department of Foreign Languages Departmental Overview Students are offered a choice between French and Spanish.

The foreign language department strives to instill a love of language and culture. Courses take a conversational approach, supporting an interactive classroom, and are taught exclusively in the target language. The department incorporates the most current media, and the state-of-the-art language lab enhances the learning experience. Language clinics are offered after school for students who would like to reinforce what they have been taught in the classroom.

Freshman Year FIRST-YEAR FRENCH

Freshman Year SECOND-YEAR FRENCH

Objectives:

Objectives:

• Developing excitement for learning a new language and an appreciation of the culture of that language • Enabling students to express themselves both in written and oral form

• Further developing skills, including writing, and dialogues based on everyday situations • Incorporating a broad base of vocabulary into speaking and writing skills

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

The present tense of regular and frequently used irregular verbs, personal pronouns, possessive adjectives, the numbers, and the calendar. Students acquire vocabulary, structures, and necessary idiomatic expressions to describe the weather, the human body, the family, occupations, food, clothing, colors, leisure activities, and cultural pursuits. The passé composé and future are introduced at the end of the year. Different educational media are used to reinforce the learning process.

This course assumes prior completion of a full year of French. Listening, speaking, reading and communication skills are incorporated in a graded curriculum, using a variety of educational materials.

The topics presented include shopping, food, the home and the restaurant, travel, directions, leisure activities, and cultural pursuits.

These topics are used in activities such as dictation, conversation, dialogues and original compositions.

Reading selections and films further reinforce the language experience. Grammar includes the passé composé of avoir and être, the future tense, reflexive verbs, negatives, personal pronouns, y and en, the imperfect tense, relative and interrogative pronouns, adverbs, prepositions, and numerous idioms.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

A. FRENCH

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General STUDIES

Sophomore Year second-YEAR FRENCH

Sophomore Year THIRD-YEAR French

Objectives:

Objectives:

• Mastering more complex concepts of the spoken and written language and increased appreciation of Frenchspeaking cultures

• Continuing the study of French grammar • Emphasizing communicative proficiency

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT This course is for sophomores who are in their third year of French studies. Emphasis is placed on comprehension at near-native pace, as well as on verbal communication skills. Students initiate discussions and present oral reports. Vocabulary and structures range from concrete to abstract use of the language. Reading selections include poetry, short stories from literary texts, and magazine articles. Compositions based on current events, personal experiences and reactions to the literature are written on a regular basis to form an individual student portfolio.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Grammatical and linguistic structures include a variety of irregular verbs, the past tense, the present subjunctive, use of direct and indirect object pronouns and reflexive verbs and adverbs.

Writing assignments reflect the grammar structures.

Compositions begin to reflect personal attitudes, tastes and goals. Students listen to standardized passages of various lengths and difficulty and answer questions to build up both oralcomprehension and writing skills. Prose and poetry selections are introduced as well.

JUNIOR Year THIRD-YEAR FRENCH

JUNIOR Year Fourth-YEAR FRENCH

Objectives:

Objectives:

• Mastering more complex concepts of the spoken and written language and increased appreciation of Frenchspeaking cultures

• Emphasizing reading comprehension • Perfecting oral skills • Emphasizing various literary genres

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

Students present individual reports on French civilization and its artistic, literary and musical contributions. Texts that illustrate contributions of particular figures are discussed in these reports.

Students present individual reports on French civilization and its artistic, literary and musical contributions. Texts that illustrate contributions of particular figures are discussed in these reports.

Presentations with slides, tapes and records are encouraged. Discussions are held on subjects that arise from the readings. The students’ compositions are either summaries of the stories or, once again, discussions of issues raised in the reading. The oral exercises begun in the first year are expanded in length and complexity to perfect skills. Works or excerpts from Molière, Camus, de Maupassant, and Mérimée are studied.

Presentations with slides, tapes and records are encouraged. Discussions are held on subjects that arise from the readings. The students’ compositions are either summaries of the stories or, once again, discussions of issues raised in the reading. The oral exercises begun in the first year are expanded in length and complexity to perfect skills. Works or excerpts from Molière, Camus, de Maupassant, and Mérimée are studied.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

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General STUDIES

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General STUDIES

B. SPANISH Freshman Year FIRST-YEAR SPANISH

Freshman Year SECOND-YEAR SPANISH

Sophomore Year SECOND-YEAR SPANISH

Objectives:

Objectives:

Objectives:

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

Students are taught the fundamentals of the spoken language. Reading and writing skills are also stressed. Grammatical concepts include present tense, introduction of the past tenses, commands and introduction to the subjunctive. Lessons cover the use of personal pronouns, adjectives and idiomatic expressions. Vocabulary deals with everyday situations.

This level seeks to develop proficiency in all of the language skills and to cultivate further knowledge of Spanish-speaking cultures. There is a concise grammar review followed by a discussion of various points of Spanish grammar, including the compound tenses and the subjunctive. Conversation is stressed, as are reading and composition skills.

Prose and poetry selections are studied as well. The course divides into two levels, one geared to the more advanced student.

• Mastering more complex concepts of the spoken and written language and increased appreciation of Spanishspeaking cultures OVERVIEW AND CONTENT The majority of grammatical forms, including the subjunctive mood, are studied. There are formal exercises of listening to passages of various lengths and answering questions orally and in writing.

Prose and poetry selections are introduced. There are three levels of this course, as determined by a student’s language facility developed in the first year course. The levels are geared to the students’ conversational comfort in the target language, as well as their ability to grasp syntactic complexity.

All three levels include formal exercises of listening to passages of various lengths and responding to questions in written or oral presentations. Students read selections of prose and poetry.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

• Developing excitement for learning a new language and an appreciation of the culture of that language • Enabling students to express themselves both in written and oral form

• Further developing skills, including writing, and dialogues based on everyday situations • Incorporating a broad base of vocabulary into speaking and writing skills

Sophomore Year THIRD-YEAR SPANISH

JUNIOR Year THIRD-YEAR SPANISH

JUNIOR Year FOURTH-YEAR SPANISH

Objectives:

Objectives:

Objectives:

• Completing the study of Spanish grammar • Emphasizing communicative proficiency

• Mastering more complex concepts of the spoken and written language and increased appreciation of Spanishspeaking cultures

• Emphasizing reading comprehension • Perfecting oral skills • Emphasizing various literary genres

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

Third-Year Spanish is an introduction to the study of Spanish and Latin American culture, history and current events using all available sources from texts, magazines and the internet.

This is an intensive course for students who have successfully completed Third-Year Spanish. Oral proficiency is stressed. Presentations with slides, tapes and different media are encouraged.

Discussions and compositions arise from readings.

Oral exercises are expanded in length and complexity to perfect skills. Students are introduced to various literary genres. There are two levels of this course. One is geared to the more advanced student.

This advanced-level course is for students who have successfully completed freshman secondyear Spanish. More complicated literary texts are introduced, as are current-events topics. The course divides into two levels, one geared to the more advanced student.

There are three levels of this course, as determined by a student’s language facility developed in the first year course. The levels are geared to the students’ conversational comfort in the target language, as well as their ability to grasp syntactic complexity.

All three levels include formal exercises of listening to passages of various lengths and responding to questions in written or oral presentations. Students read selections of prose and poetry.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

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General STUDIES

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General STUDIES

VI. Department of ART Departmental Overview The art curriculum is based on the philosophy that all individuals have creative potential and the ability to learn to see art on a sophisticated level. Art is learned intellectually, historically and experientially. Instruction in the upper school is conceptual and sequential: building from project to project and from year to year. Individual attention as well as group instruction is given.

Each student is helped to reach his or her full creative potential as well as learn about art. An ongoing process of working and critiquing occurs in all the courses.

Objective: “Draw What You See, Not What You Know.”

• Learning the tools and developing the vocabulary to appreciate the esthetics of artistic creation OVERVIEW AND CONTENT The students develop the skills necessary to coordinate their eye and hand movement by involving them in contour drawing. They discover that they can draw, and begin to see art in a new way.

Students are introduced to the concept of negative space; they learn to recognize and manipulate “pure form” by creating collages that give life to this concept. Students’ understanding of the science of color is refined in a collage that is referential to their original drawing. Time permitting, they learn to mix colors using paint and do their own color wheel. This color wheel becomes part of their Ramaz art portfolio and is used to reinforce the learning process.

Sophomore Year The Process of Abstraction Geometric Design Objective: “Geometry Becomes Art.” • Recognizing the universality of design inherent in all art throughout history, for all artists OVERVIEW AND CONTENT Basic principles of design are taught before the students begin to work. They are shown these principles in the works of artists past and present, through illustration and experimentation. They are encouraged to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the original work. They complete a design project using geometric form that requires them to apply the principles and concepts they have learned.

With the application of paint color, the challenge of bringing out the full potential of their original designs becomes the primary focus. The students discover that there are several options and that they must choose the one best suited for their particular design.

JUNIOR Year (ELECTIVE) DRAWING & PAINTING Objective: “Making Artists for the Future.”

• Learning to become independent in creating art — take risks, problemsolve, evaluate, dialog and critique OVERVIEW AND CONTENT Students refine their drawing skills learned in ninth grade, while at the same time reinforcing their understanding of form, both concrete and abstract. They are asked to create a complex still-life drawing, from a presented still life, in which shading is introduced. Their understanding of form, both abstract and concrete, is reinforced through a negative-space collage done directly from the still life.

The final project is painting. The students enjoy the experience of painting, either abstractly, experimenting with gesture and mark making or by completing a landscape painting done from a photograph. Time is the determining factor. Students are assigned a museum report per semester.

This course brings together in a more sophisticated manner all the concepts taught in the ninth and tenth grades.

art

Freshman Year INTRODUCTION TO ART

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General STUDIES

VII. Department of MUSIC

Objectives: • Developing the ability to understand and value music as a mode of human expression • Understanding the aesthetic marriage of creative process and formal design.

• Developing the skill of ‘deep listening’ • Learning to use and read basic musical terms, symbols and notation OVERVIEW AND CONTENT Deep listening is fundamental to all forms of musical expression. It is a critical part of performance and improvisation, composition and arranging, and general participation in or response to music.

Through a panoramic selection of Western European and American concert music, students develop the ability to listen creatively and critically, with an expanded sense of depth, commitment and value.

Students in freshman and sophomore grades are given CD compilations of pieces from the Western concert music tradition of several centuries.

The ninth-grade curriculum provides a solid foundation in the concepts of form, style, timbre, texture, tempo, tone-color, dynamics, pitch-range, rhythm and melody. In music listening journals, students write creatively and critically about the music they hear. In the first year, students participate in rhythmic improvisation sessions during “Percussion Week,” held once a semester. They learn about other musical cultures outside of the Western

continuum during biweekly “World Music Days.”

Students also learn to audibly identify instruments and instrumental categories in orchestras and chamber groups, and to recognize and discern song forms found in popular music.

Sophomore Year Objectives: • Understanding the form, content, and types of classical pieces, focusing on the symphony, the sonata, the chamber sonata and the concerto OVERVIEW AND CONTENT In the tenth-grade year, the aesthetics and history of the Classical Era are studied with an emphasis on the music of the three classical innovators: Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Students are required to attend a live concert of classical music and to submit a final project based on their listening and viewing experience.

JUNIOR Year (ELECTIVE) Objectives: • Enhancing understanding of music history, theory and composition within the historical perspective of Western music • Developing ability to analyze music, from Medieval and Renaissance music in semester one to Baroque and Romantic music in semester two OVERVIEW AND CONTENT Students are presented with projects that involve their composition skills as their ears are trained to detect the subtleties of composition, arrangement, and performance. Students will learn to compose an original fugue. As part of this assignment, they are also required to perform one fugue written either by themselves or by one of their classmates at Fugue Night, held in the spring.

music

Freshman Year

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General STUDIES

VIII. Department of HEALTH EDUCATION

IX. Department of PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Objectives

Objectives

• Motivating students to maintain and improve their health, prevent disease, and avoid or reduce healthrelated risk behaviors by providing information and skills that will enable them to make responsible decisions concerning their well-being

• Enabling students to develop the personal habits and routines that will promote physical health and wellbeing throughout their adult lives

The Health Education program is designed to offer up-to-date information regarding health issues that are appropriate to adolescents, infused with a strong commitment to Jewish values. Students will be assessed by the use of examinations as well as other creative projects.

Age and grade-appropriate topics will be reviewed in class including: drug, alcohol, and tobacco education, as well as their influence in the media, and human sexuality and gender issues. Mental health and emotional stability will be discussed in order to help develop a positive self-image.

All freshman students will be given a course of instruction in Adult CPR and receive full certification.

In addressing these topics and skills, students will build personal and social competence, as well as self-efficacy by practicing communication, refusal, assessing accuracy of information, decision-making, planning and goal-setting, self-control, and selfmanagement, which enable students to build their personal confidence, deal with social pressures, and avoid or reduce risk behaviors.

Each year begins with an assessment of each student’s athletic skills and fitness milestones. The curriculum is designed to develop athletic skill in various sports, to encourage sportsmanship and, simultaneously, to facilitate individual performance.

At the same time, the program enables each student to set individual goals in terms of personal fitness and to develop a program to help each student to realize these goals. Physical education is a requirement throughout the four years of high school.

Health & Physical Education

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

OVERVIEW AND CONTENT

JUDAIC STUDIES

SENIOR YEAR ACADEMIC PROGRAM

For all courses in Judaic Studies, Hebrew is the primary language of instruction and conversation.

Students must submit all written work in Hebrew.

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Judaic Studies

SENIOR YEAR I. Department of Talmud Honors Beit Midrash This course is designed for students who have already developed a strong commitment to Torah in general and to Talmud in particular, and have already displayed substantial skills and independence in Talmud study. It is open to students who have demonstrated a high level of motivation and achievement in the Beit Midrash class in the junior year.

(Two bands - 11 periods) By permission of the department

Accelerated Beit Midrash This course is designed for students who have been enrolled in either the junior Beit Midrash class or have achieved success in Talmud in the junior accelerated track. It provides an opportunity for students to refine their skills and mastery of Talmud and Rishonim in an intensive class that meets across two bands. It is certainly a course for students who wish to prepare for a year of yeshiva study in Israel. (Two bands - 8 periods) By permission of the department

Accelerated Talmud This class is for students who have been in the accelerated track in previous years. Modeled on the eight period Beit Midrash offering for seniors, it is for students who wish to continue their Talmud learning, but with fewer periods a week than required for the Beit Midrash classes, enabling them to enroll in more electives. One period a week is added to the four

period band in order to provide the number of class meetings suitable for the continuity of learning in the class.

By permission of the department

One paper will be required at the end of December based on the Rav’s essay, incorporating the students’ reflections on this major work and on their Ramaz education.

By permission of the department

Talmud This course is open to students who have been in the regular track in previous years. Meeting four times a week, it is tailored to help students who want to deepen their appreciation for Talmud while improving their skills and expanding their base of knowledge.

This is a class for students who wish to continue studying Talmud and acquire more self-confidence with negotiating a page of Gemara.

By permission of the department

II. Department of Tanakh Honors Tanakh – Clarity in the “Myst” Why did God create the world? Why did He create mankind? Must we believe that God created the universe in order to be a religious Jew? Why are there two chapters of the Creation story? Why were Adam and Chava chased out of the Garden of Eden?

Was building the Tower of Bavel really a sin? These are just some of the difficult questions students will try to answer in this college seminar format class.

The students, as well as the instructor, will teach and learn together in the language of the Tanakh.

Students will thereby be trained in the mastery of the Biblical text, as well as medieval and modern commentaries. Students will also analyze “The Lonely Man of Faith” by Rav Soloveitchik in English. This course is for those who wish to fathom the depths of the mysteries of Torah and want to learn “lishma.”

Explorations in Midrash You are invited to stroll in the “orchard” – ‘Pardes’ – of the aggada and enjoy its sweet fruits and intoxicating smells in an attempt to expose its hidden treasures.

On this journey, you will have the opportunity to get to know the people and events of the Tanakh that you have already encountered, as well as many that may be new to you. You will do so through the medium of aggada and midrash which will give you entrée to the inner meanings of existence and experience as described by Chazal. What is the difference between aggada and halakha? What are the keys to unlocking the message of aggada and what is the power of teaching in this way? Among some of the specific issues students will address via this medium are the following: Why was Adam created single? Did you know that Adam and Chava were twins? Does God punish man, or does man punish himself? What really happened in Noah’s ark?

The heart-breaking discussion between God and Moshe before he died, the formation of the nation in Egypt and its development from slavery to freedom, the relationship between crime and punishment, why does God cry?

Iyov The book of Iyov deals at great length with certain major philosophical issues that appear more briefly in other books of Tanakh (especially Mishlei and

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Judaic Studies

SENIOR YEAR Tehillim). The text is analyzed through a discussion of the following major topics: man’s suffering, “why bad things happen to good people,” man’s relationship to God, the problem of God putting man on trial, the role of Satan.

Megillot This course will be a thematic survey of all five of the megillot (Esther, Shir ha-Shirim, Rut, Eicha and Kohelet). What are the religious, historical and philosophical motifs that appear in each of the books? How do the character portrayals and literary structures of the megillot differ from those in the rest of sifrei Tanakh? What are the commonalities that run through these texts, and why were they specifically canonized and designated for vocal communal experiences? The role of emotional philosophy will play a part in our analysis of the megillot — specifically, how emotions such as love, grief, anger, pride and joy are expressed via the text of the Tanakh.

The Origins of Humanity in Sefer Bereishit This course will focus on the opening sections of Bereishit. Through textual analysis, students will examine the narrative of the sin of Adam ha-Rishon and the nature of humanity prior to the flood.

Students will study the stories of the Mabul and Migdal Bavel and their ensuing changes for humanity.

Utilizing classical and modern commentaries, students will develop the critical philosophical themes and ideas that emerge from the text and draw practical and moral application from the text to our lives.

Parashat ha-Shavua The course will focus on themes in the weekly parasha. In addition to the insights of other commentaries, including your own, the unifying link from one week to the next will be the commentary of the Ramban, one of the greatest and most sophisticated of the classic interpretations of the Torah. Aside from his allegiance to pshat, the Ramban’s sensitivity to history, psychology and spirituality make his work particularly appealing to the modern Jew. Following kriat ha-Torah in shul will never be the same!

Stories Your Teachers Skipped in Elementary School Delve into the stories your teachers skipped in elementary school and then you went home and read in English! What lessons are we to extract from these complex and morally difficult relationships and why do teachers skip these stories? Why were they included in Tanakh at all? Students will study the stories of Lot and his two daughters, Dina and Shechem, Tamar and Yehuda, Yosef and the wife of Potifar, all in Sefer Bereishit, and then conclude with Pilegesh b’Givah from Sefer Shoftim. There will be two short papers required for this course based on these stories.

III. Department of Judaism Honors Jewish Thought This course will be a comparative analysis of Western and Jewish philosophy. Students will examine critical themes such as knowledge of God, free will, reward and punishment, love and sexuality. As an example of our approach, there will be a focus on the contrast

between the dialogues of Plato and the biblical and midrashic narrative of the life of Avraham Avinu.

Students will explore the life of Socrates, his trial and ultimate acceptance of death as a contrasting model for Akedat Yitzhak By permission of the department

Faith and Doubt “Faith, like life itself, is paradoxically both weak and strong. It is delicate and sometimes falls apart at the slightest infection with doubt. At the same time, it is remarkably resilient, tenacious and tough: it somehow manages to survive the heaviest onslaughts.

Wounded, bruised, even humiliated, it often recuperates and regains its wholeness, its health, and its dignity. It may be extinguished in one place only to flourish elsewhere.”

- Rabbi Norman Lamm This course will explore Jewish perspectives on emunah through the eyes of several generations of Jewish thinkers, from the Middle Ages to the modern era. Students will encounter different philosophical approaches to questions of faith and doubt while also being asked to consider the social and historical contexts of these formulations. The course will seek to encourage students to explore, and as a result, strengthen their personal emunah as it seeks a place in the intellectual history of the Jewish people.

The Orthodox Response to the Enlightenment The Jewish Enlightenment of the 18th and 19th centuries, following the Enlightenment in the secular world, seemed to promise an end to anti-Semitic persecution and our acceptance as equals by the

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Judaic Studies

SENIOR YEAR non-Jewish world around us. Unfortunately, it all too often led to the wholesale abandonment of Judaism by its followers without any lessening of anti-Semitism. Judaism survived because of three powerful dynamic movements (Torah im Derekh Eretz, Chasidut and Mussar) and their incredibly charismatic leaders. If you are a committed Jew today, two hundred years later, it is primarily because of the “new” Judaism developed by them, which continues to adapt to our world today. Every Jewish community and philosophy of ‘learning’ is shaped by one or more of these continuing developing movements. Our course will examine the battles, ideologies and personalities, and what they say to us, the senior class!

Sefarad vs. Ashkenaz: The Same Difference In this course students will discover the variations between Sephardic and Ashkenazic laws and customs. By examining the similarities and differences in approach to halakhic rulings by the major Sephardic and Ashkenazic posekim students will deepen our appreciation of the richness and vibrancy of these two great traditions that share a common commitment to Torah and Mitzvot but diverged in some significant ways. Among the topics to be studied are tefilla, chagim, Shabbat and kashrut.

Zionism: Its Course through History This course will examine in detail the dynamic years of the twentieth century that created the miracle of modern history, the rebirth of the Jewish state after two thousand years of exile and destruction, which laid the foundation for the ongoing dilemmas faced

by Israel today. Our study will begin with the struggle for the Balfour Declaration, British-Arab collusion, and continue with the struggle within Zionism (religious, secular, socialism, Beitar), the illegal immigration up to and through World War II, culminating in the Irgun/Haganah/Stern Gang drive to the UN vote and statehood, and the War of Independence.

enables students to improve their Hebrew language skills. As a final project option, students will be allowed to film, direct, produce and act in their own short film in Hebrew.

IV. Department of Hebrew Language and Literature Srugim

Modern Israel (Honors) This course will conduct an in depth analysis of various genres of Hebrew literature such as poems, short stories and films, as they provide a window to Israeli culture since 1948. Students will explore the evolution of Israeli society — its values, norms and conflicts — as reflected through collective and individual culture from creative and aesthetic aspects. The class provides an optimum environment to listen and reflect upon many voices of Israel’s pluralistic and ever-complex society through the use of a “round table” panel group. This class is an honors level class in Hebrew and will require department permission.

By permission of the department

A sensitive and introspective comedy drama, this TV series takes place in a Yerushalmi neighborhood that attracts young Orthodox men and women and as a result turns into the most popular dating scene in Jerusalem. Students will watch the third season episodes with English subtitles. Students will have discussions in class before and after each episode.

Israeli Media and Current Affairs / ‘Mabat Lachadashot’ This course will cover political, cultural and daily life in Israel through an internet-ulpan program called E-Tone, which provides articles about current events in Israel, written in appropriate level of Hebrew for non-native speakers. Students will enrich their vocabulary as well as increase their awareness of the complex and challenging life in Israel.

Israeli Film In this course students will view contemporary Israeli films such as: Waltz with Bashir, One of Us, Walk on Water, Noodle, Lemon Tree, and the television series Bemerchak Negia, Through viewing and analyzing these films, which represent various genres and perspectives, students will gain a better insight to Israeli cultural life. Discussing the films’ form and substance also

Ulpan Ivrit In the Ulpan Ivrit mini course students will be engaged in conversational Hebrew about practical topics necessary for daily life in Israel. For each topic they will learn vocabulary related to the discussed topic.

Common and appropriate usage of slang will also be included in these conversations.

GENERAL STUDIES senior year

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General Studies

SENIOR YEAR

The Matrix of Self: Searching for Meaning (Honors Senior Seminar) The Western literary tradition documents the individual’s search for love and meaning through the shifting contexts of personal and social experience.

Whether this search is posed in spiritual terms as redemption or in psychological terms as fulfillment, human relationships — determined by community, gender and even, internally, within the “matrix” of self — struggle to grasp moments of exhilaration and connection, or, at times, reconciliation and resignation. In this course, students will explore the individual’s search for meaning in the network of his or her relationships with the “Other” as they reflect the many aspects of the self, the individual’s internal, personal identity.

TEXTS Othello Shakespeare The Maids Ionesco Waiting for Godot Beckett The Sorrows of Young Werther Goethe Crime and Punishment Dostoyevsky Sons and Lovers Lawrence The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne

The Beast in the Jungle James

The Shawl & Rosa Ozick

Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man Joyce

Collected Stories Paley

Selected poetry from Spenser, Donne, Herrick, Milton, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Browning, Yeats, Whitman, Pound and Eliot.

The Assistant Malamud

By permission of the department

Maus Spiegelman

Jewish-American Literature

What We Talk About when We Talk About Anne Frank Englander

This course will examine the trajectory of the Jewish/American experience through the lens of great literature: novels, essays, short stories, poetry and drama. The writers studied come from varied backgrounds, both secular and observant, but what links them together is the willingness to confront the essential dilemmas of the Diaspora experience. They have been fearless and inventive in attempting to understand and describe their own precarious, troubling, fascinating, and joyful situations as Jews in America. These writers have tried to answer the essential questions of the Jewish/ American experience: How does one meld into the American milieu, accept and believe in the American dream, while still retaining the historical, emotional connection to one’s own disquieting past? What is the cost of assimilation? What are the consequences of prosperity? The issues of anti-Semitism, intermarriage, sex, faith, and secularism are apparent in these works, and will be investigated.

TEXTS selected from The Ghost Writer & Portnoy’s Complaint Roth

Stern Friedman

Passing in Literature: Escape from the Self This course will use novels, short stories, plays and films to explore how individuals from marginalized or disenfranchised groups seek acceptance and empowerment by rejecting aspects of themselves and assimilating into majority culture. Students will examine this process through the agencies of race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation.

What motivates some people to relinquish parts of themselves and their histories? How does society respond to the “outing” of those who pass? Are these categories valid means of self-identification? Is passing a progressive or retrogressive act?

TEXTS selected from The Human Stain Roth Middlesex Eugenides “Yentl” Bashevis Singer

english

I. Department of English

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General Studies

SENIOR YEAR

Pinky Kazan

Shakespeare “All the world’s a stage / And all the men and women merely players / They have their exits and their entrances.” Enter the world of Shakespeare, a world peopled by complex and exciting personalities.

This class examines the genres of tragedy and comedy and studies several plays closely in terms of dramaturgy, character, theme, and language. Each play will be introduced by a complementary sonnet.

Course requirements will include the acting of scenes and the writing of several comparative essays.

TEXTS selected from Richard III Romeo and Juliet Othello The Merchant of Venice Sonnets

The Southern Gothic As an artistic genre, the Southern gothic has traditionally been America’s contribution to the sinister heart of darkness that looms grandly over certain corners of European literature. Within its secret histories, incestuous romances, fallen nobilities, and inhuman violence, we see the Southern tradition of a courtly aristocracy crumbling from

Storyville: A Course in Fiction Writing It is commonly said that the best way to learn how to write is to read — and vice versa. And Robert Heinlein once said, “Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.” In this course, students do not keep their writing private, but rather bring it forward in order to see what the entire class might learn from it. This uniquely structured class experience combines traditional literary seminar discussion (a rigorous study of literary form, style, technique and instrumentation) with the workshopping of student creative writing (fiction only). This course covers such fundamentals as point of view, voice, and character — along with more advanced concepts such as pacing, subtlety, dialogue vs. exposition, personal style.

In essence, there are three aspects to the class: Students are expected to: 1. read and be tested upon classic short stories; 2. write and share their

own short stories with the class; and 3. read and comment in writing upon the short stories of their classmates. (Nota bene: Many students believe that creative writing cannot be graded. In this course, it will be. This can be an exciting year for all involved; however, half of students’ grades depend upon their ability to develop and hone creative writing skills.

Writing Workshop Too often essays written for school are viewed as hoops through which a student must jump. Writing Workshop aims to restore purpose to writing by introducing relevant topics and real readers. Because the class is a workshop and involves peer review, students will know exactly for whom they write — their classmates. Students will also use creative writing as a channel to shape writing authority, voice, ease, and style. With targeted lessons addressing trouble spots in structure, logic, and language, this class will insure students know how to write an essay — and beyond — before graduation.

II. Department of History

History

What the Butler Saw Orton

its foundations, a culture of decaying facades and revelatory horrors. Examining some of the most famous and infamous Southern gothic novels, this course explores the history and development of the genre. What distinguishes the Southern gothic from gothic literature in general? What is the relationship between these texts and the history and culture of the American South? How has the genre evolved, if at all? What stylistic innovations are at stake? And, to borrow from Conrad, why are we so fascinated with these abominations? Authors may include William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Cormac McCarthy, Toni Morrison, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Edgar Allan Poe, Eudora Welty and Poppy Z. Brite. Students should read Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood over the summer and come prepared to discuss it on the first day of class.

Honors Senior Seminar: The Age of Reagan: 1968-Present The course will examine the collapse of the American liberal movement and the rise of the New Right, with particular attention to the role of Ronald Reagan. Among the major topics covered will be the disintegration of the New Deal welfare model, the final decades of the Cold War, the “Culture War”, the challenges to the economic power of the United States, and the search for a new American foreign policy. Students will be graded on preparation,

english

The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare

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General Studies

SENIOR YEAR Introduction to Economics

Bad Apple: The Five Points and New York’s Nineteenth Century Demimonde

“Who feeds New York?” — Each day billions of dollars worth of goods, labor, and cash circle the globe, providing for everything from skyscraper construction to milk in the supermarket refrigerator. Understanding how all this works is not only central to our daily existence, but critical if we desire a knowledgeable understanding of our world and an active role in shaping our future. The goal of the senior year economics course is for students to demonstrate an understanding of basic economic concepts. Students will become familiar with global economic systems, most specifically of the United States, but also of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. They will explore various components of these systems through the lens of current events and the issues shaping our world. Students will examine their roles as consumer, worker, investor and voting citizen. Topics of discussion include the stock market, classic macroeconomic theory, the developing field of behavioral economics, and the impact of political and social decisions on the economy.

This class will look at the evolution of lower New York as a center of noteworthy and notorious working class culture in the 19th century. Through this prism, students will explore a variety of issues including Abolition, Temperance, the Civil War, and Tammany Hall, as well as the evolution of the Five Points and Bowery as a unique cultural center that saw the development of such American mainstays as tap dancing, the Minstrel Show, and vaudeville. Although the class concludes after the first semester, when the weather permits, students will have of the option of registering for a walking tour of the Bowery and surrounding neighborhoods with a special focus on topics covered in this course.

The dream of creating a society untroubled by war, poverty, violence or disease has inspired humans for millennia. The dream of creating a perfect society has also led to the horrors of mass extermination and mass imprisonment in the gulags of the Soviet Union and camps of Nazi Germany. Through the lens of utopian and dystopic literature, students will be introduced to some of the most important developments in the history of philosophy, from ancient times to the 19th century, from Plato to Nietzsche, as they investigate assumptions about human nature, the role of nurture versus nature, and

By permission of the department

Honors Senior Seminar: European History The course explores European Civilization from the end of the Crusades to the fall of Napoleon, a span of time in which a small economic, technological, demographic backwater of the Eurasian landmass transformed itself to the verge of achieving global dominance. The survey course will examine the cultural, intellectual, economic, political and social history of Eastern and Western Europe. Students enrolled in this course will continue with a third quarter course that covers the time period from 1815 to the present.

By permission of the department

Introduction to Philosophy: Utopia

the conflict between individual ambition and social responsibility.

United States Government and Politics How does our political system work? The course will cover the origins and evolution of the major institutions and documents of the American political system: checks and balances, federal-state relations, how Congress is organized, how laws are made, political parties, interest groups, and the media.

The course will also survey the development of the American Constitution, primarily by examining major legal decisions issued by the Supreme Court.

Students will develop an appreciation of different theories of constitutional interpretation and of the interaction between social values, political power and court decisions. Although the course is not an honors course, students may choose to take the United States Government Advanced Placement exam in the spring.

The World Connected: World History: From Isolation to Globalization In 1000 C.E. the continents and people of the world were in relative or total isolation from each other.

A thousand years later they are both inextricably intertwined. This course will examine how this global connectedness developed and how the movements of raw materials, technology and ideology bind us all together. Some of the topics covered will be, for example, the role of the Silk Road, sugar, silver, rubber and the earthworm played in the growth of globalization. The critical issue of uneven development will be featured, seeking to explain why some regions lagged behind and others bounded ahead in wealth and power. Students who register

history

discussion, tests, and a yearlong research paper assignment.

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Does not fulfill history requirement.

III. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Honors Senior Seminar: Calculus I This is a college level mathematics course that is equivalent to the first course in calculus offered in colleges. This course is intended for students who have a thorough knowledge of college preparatory mathematics, including algebra, geometry, trigonometry and properties of functions as studied in a precalculus course. Topics include: properties of elementary functions—algebraic, trigonometric,

By permission of the department

Honors Senior Seminar: Calculus II This college level course is equivalent to the first year of college calculus. All topics covered in Honors Calculus I are required here. Additional topics covered include: sequences and series, parametric equations, polar functions and differential equations. This course is considerably more rigorous and theoretical than the Honors Calculus I course.

By permission of the department

Multivariable Calculus This course is the third semester in the Honors Calculus sequence. The prerequisite for taking this course is AP Calculus BC. Topics covered are: hyperbolic functions; vectors and the geometry of space; vector-valued functions; functions of several variables; multiple integration; and vector analysis.

Calculus This course is designed for students who have completed precalculus and who want to continue mathematics without taking an honors course. The course will take up the essentials of differential and integral calculus with emphasis on techniques and applications rather than theory.

PreCalculus This course develops a thorough understanding of functions, their properties and their graphs.

Particular attention is paid to polynomial functions, rational functions, exponential and logarithmic functions, and trigonometric functions . Probability, matrices, and transformational geometry are other topics dealt with during the year. In addition, limits and the derivative with its applications are explored.

It is strongly recommended that students in Algebra II and Trigonometry elect this course.

Honors Senior Seminar: Statistics In colleges and universities, the number of students who take a statistics course is almost as large as the number of students who take a calculus course. For example, at least one statistics course is required for majors in engineering, psychology, sociology, health science and business.

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the major concepts and tools for collecting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data. Students will be exposed to four broad conceptual themes:

mathematics & computer science

Exploring Identity: Psychological Perspectives The course will focus on exploring psychological and philosophical perspectives on human nature and motivation. The models that Freud, Frankl, Nietzsche and Rav Soloveitchik have developed to understand truth, motivation, personality, relationships, conflict and growth vary widely, and have dramatic ethical and psychological implications. For example, the unconscious can be viewed as a reservoir of sexuality, as a treasure of spiritual and existential longing , or as a primal combination of potentially creative forces.

The course will aim to strike a balance between analyzing nineteenth- and twentieth-century texts, and thinking through the psychological, philosophical and Jewish implications of those texts. The primary assignments will include essays, a paper/ presentation, and tests.

exponential and logarithmic; limits; differential and integral calculus. The emphasis in this course is on problem solving.

1. Exploring Data: Observing Patterns and Departures from Patterns; 2. Planning a Study: Deciding What and How

to Measure; 3. Anticipating Patterns in Advance; and 4. Statistical Inference.

Any student who has successfully completed math 11 is eligible to apply for this course.

By permission of the department

history

for this course will learn about regions and people beyond the scope of the Mediterranean and Western civilizations covered by the World Jewish history and American history sequences.

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SENIOR YEAR Honors Senior Seminar: Computer Science

Honors Senior Seminar: Chemistry

TEXTS

This course emphasizes programming methodology and procedural abstraction. It also includes the study of algorithms, data structures and data abstractions. A primary objective of this course is to teach students how to write logically structured, well documented, efficient computer programs. Java is the programming language that is used and taught in this course. No prior programming experience is necessary.

This course is the equivalent of an introductory college chemistry course. Through classroom lessons and labs, it covers the following topics: atoms, molecules, stoichiometry, gas laws, atomic structures, bonding, solids and liquids, acids and bases, equilibria, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, qualitative analysis, characteristics of families, organic chemistry, and nuclear chemistry.

Raven Berg and Johnson, Environment, 4th edition

Honors Senior Seminar: Biology This course is the equivalent of an introductory college biology course. The course covers the following topics: biochemistry, cells, energy transformations, molecular genetics, heredity, evolution, principles of taxonomy, survey of prokaryotes, protists and fungi, plants, animals and ecology. Extensive laboratory work is an integral part of the course.

TEXTS Biology, 5th edition Curtis and Barnes Biology, 6th edition Campbell and Reece Study Guide to Biology, 5th edition Fox and Monroe Biology Laboratory Manual, edition C The College Board By permission of the department

Chemistry, 4th edition Zumdahl Solutions Guide for Chemistry Brooks By permission of the department

This course is a college level, calculus based course designed to provide a foundation in physics for those students who plan to major in the physical sciences or engineering. Through class discussion and laboratory work, the course covers, in great depth, all aspects of mechanics and stresses problem solving.

TEXTS Physics, 3rd edition Tipler By permission of the department

Honors Senior Seminar: Environmental Science This course is an introductory level college course designed to provide students with the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships within the natural world, to identify and analyze environmental problems both natural and man-made, to evaluate the relative risks associated with these problems, and to examine alternative solutions for resolving and/ or preventing them. The course covers the following topics: scientific analysis, interdependence of earth’s systems, human population dynamics, renewable and nonrenewable resources, environmental quality, global changes and their consequences, environment and society, choices for the future.

Astronomy This course is designed to introduce students to the cosmos by exposing them to known facts, evolving ideas and frontier discoveries in astronomy today.

The course covers the following topics: earth and the solar system, stars, stellar evolution, the Milky Way and other galaxies and cosmology.

science

IV. Department of Science

TEXTS

Honors Senior Seminar: Physics

TEXTS Astronomy Today Chaisson

Forensic Science This course explores the science of crime scene investigation. The textbook provides an extensive overview of the complexities of the crime scene,

mathematics & computer science

By permission of the department

By permission of the department

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TEXTS

TEXTS

Triángulo Diaz

Forensic Science Deslich and Funkhouser

Spanish - A Guide For the Language Course Diaz

V. Department of Foreign Languages

Una vez más Couch

Honors Senior Seminar: French This course is designed for advanced students who have completed at least three years of French. Course material draws on a variety of sources including both literary and cultural readers, newspaper articles, songs, and film clips. Readings, discussions, lab work, and compositions develop a high level of proficiency in both verbal and written communication skills.

TEXTS Panaché Littéraire Baker, M. Controverses Oukada, L. Une Fois Pour Toutes Sturges, H. By permission of the department

Honors Senior Seminar: Spanish This is a college level course aimed at achieving a high level of proficiency in the spoken language and developing excellence in written skills. Students will

Lecturas Avanzadas Giulianelli By permission of the department

Fourth Year French This course is designed for students who have demonstrated a high degree of interest and ability in French studies and who elect to have a better understanding of French culture and civilization.

Students will develop their skills in speaking, reading, writing, and listening.

Fourth Year Spanish This course is designed for students who have mastered the material in the three-year course of study of Spanish and who elect to study the language on an advanced level. In this advanced conversation class, students are expected to lecture and lead class discussions on selected topics. Nativelike fluency in the four language skills is stressed.

Latin This course is intended for students with no prior

knowledge of the language. Once the basic structures have been taught, the course will include selections from literature. The text selections will come from masterpieces of Latin literature such as Virgil’s Aeneid and Caesar’s Gallic Wars. The course will enhance the pupils’ knowledge of the culture of the ancient world and its relation to their own.

VI. Department of Art Honors Studio Art Honors Studio Art is offered to students with special talent, or interest, who have demonstrated a commitment to art in the eleventh grade. This is a college level course. It explores drawing, painting and multimedia as an approach to the creative process.

Instruction takes the form of on-going critiques and dialogs during the process of working on a project and after the projects are completed. In addition to class time, students are required to spend extra time in the art studio each week. This class runs through the end of March. Students will keep a sketchbook and/or artist’s book throughout the year, in which they develop their ideas as well as do drawings.

Students can also take the AP Exam in May if they choose. Those students who want to take the AP exam must attend a department approved summer program for high school students over the summer between the junior and senior year. If they have completed sufficient work of the quantity and quality required by March, they can submit a portfolio for the AP. Those students submitting the portfolio must take AP prep in April as this is required for assembling the portfolio.

By permission of the department

art

listen to radio programs and read both literary texts and newspapers to enhance their fluency. Students who have completed at least three years of Spanish are eligible for acceptance to the course.

Foreign Languages

physical evidence and the crime laboratory. In addition, case studies and hands-on lab activities will be used to demonstrate such topics as fingerprints, DNA typing, cause and time of death, victim identification, shoe and tire tracks, blood analysis, ballistics, and fiber and glass analysis.

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This class will be a musical, historical, social, and aesthetic exploration through the ages of Rock & Roll in the United States, Britain and elsewhere.

We will explore Rock music from the 1950s to the present day. Styles will be discussed, and artists and bands surveyed. Along with musical aesthetics, the course will also examine the cultural impact and historical context of the various strands of Rock & Roll, including the ‘Mods and Rockers’ of the 1960s, the Punk scenes in New York and London of the 1970s, the suburban American Hard Rock culture of the 1980s, the Alternative and Independent Rock dynamics of the 1990s, and the multi-generational pop ‘soup’ of the past decade.

Does not fulfill history requirement.

The music’s influence on youth culture of several generations will be studied through deep and critical listening sessions, examinations of Rock & Roll literature, journalism, and scholarship. The course will include a final examination and a final project involving an oral and a written component.

VII. Department of Music

VIII. Department of Physical Education

Honors Senior Seminar: Music Theory

Gym is a requirement for all seniors. This requirement can be met by attending regularly scheduled gym classes or by participating on a varsity team. This year, senior classes (both boys and girls) have been offered the option of a yoga class or weight training to fulfill their gym requirement.

The course integrates the study of melody, harmony, texture, rhythm and form while focusing on the following major skill areas: analysis of notated examples; development of aural (listening) skills, sight-singing and keyboard harmony; part-writing and harmonization. The primary emphasis will require each student to develop skills and concepts related to the system of major-minor tonality with a brief introduction to 20th century techniques and terminology.

By permission of the department

music

Rock and Roll Music and Culture: A Seminar

Art History is a college level course offering a historical analysis of the development of art from the nineteenth through the twentieth century. It explores the effect of changes in thought and image created by the evolving political, economic, scientific and social atmosphere. The aim of the course is aesthetic and historic: students are taught to analyze as well as to recognize. The schools of art studied include: NeoClassicism (The Academy), Romanticism, Naturalism, Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Dadaism, Futurism, Surrealism and Post WWII Abstraction. The course is supplemented by bi-monthly visits to galleries and/or museums, along with critical papers on the material viewed. At the beginning of the semester each student is assigned an artist from the Abstract Expressionist Movement. Students will do a research paper on that artist’s development and impact on the history of art.

art

Art History: The Evolution of Modern Art

Physical education

SENIOR YEAR

MINI COURSES

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Kedushat Hamishpacha for Girls Required In this course, students will learn and discuss the laws and customs pertaining to women and family purity. The concept of mikvah will be taught both from the halakhic perspective and the spiritual perspective. Students will have the opportunity to learn different stories and customs about family purity throughout generations. This class will also focus on the Jewish perspective and values found within human sexuality, marriage, inter-personal romantic relationships, dating and families. The class will touch on issues that include eating disorders, body image, abusive relationships, and the female self. There will be an overarching theme of thinking about women from a contemporary cultural perspective, societal perspective, historical perspective, and the Jewish halakhic and hashkafic system.

Kedushat Hagever for Boys Required This course is designed to go over some basic knowledge and literacy regarding various mitzvot and customs including kippah, tefillin, tefillah and tzitzit while also introducing students to these practices’ philosophy and rationale. There will be a “lab” in which students are required to show proficiency

as a shaliach tzibbur in a facet of tefillah to be determined together with the teacher.

Campus Life and Jewish Identity Required Life can be a succession of ever-more significant and impactful transitions that move us along on a path from adolescence to adulthood to family, career, children and so on. Each of these transitions challenges and shapes our identity, the individuals we become. Our Jewish identity, so much at the heart of who we are, is surely developed during these transitions as well; but, perhaps, at no point and in no place, more significantly than on the college campus when, for the first time in many of our lives, our Jewish ideas and ideals are challenged in interesting and often unexpected ways.

This class begins a conversation during senior year that seeks to conceptualize and confront some of these challenges. It takes advantage of the familiarity, friendships, knowledge base and education that students have built during their time at Ramaz to participate in an informative and interactive educational experience. In “Campus Life and Jewish Identity” topics such as Zionism, faith, religious observance, Jewish pride, campus activism, academic integrity and other issues are discussed.

Aggadic Literature Judaic Studies What is the history and goal of the interplay between the simple explanation of the text (the pshat) and the thousands of years of enhanced explanations and ideas (the midrash) that make up its layers and shades of meaning? How and why are certain stories and histories interpreted radically differently than

they seem to appear in the text of the Torah? Why do some commentators make use of these midrashim while others do not? What does the phrase ’70 faces to the Torah’ really mean? Which is more valuable, the abstract or the concrete?

This class will analyze the different types and uses of aggadot, including parables, the filling of “gaps” in the story by introducing narratives and backgrounds that seem to appear nowhere in the text, “fantastic stories” such as talking inanimate objects, the creation of links between seemingly unrelated characters, objects and time periods as well as the use of miracles and angels in the midrash. Where do these tales, anecdotes and interpretations come from? Are they “real”? What do they mean? How are they used and why aren’t they part of the text?

Get ready to comprehensively study the history, beauty, brilliance and relevance of aggadic literature and its relationship to the text; its history, methodology and ultimate purpose.

Akeidat Yitzchak Judaic Studies This course will entail an in-depth analysis of one of the most enigmatic episodes in Biblical history and thought; Perek 22 in Sefer Bereishit, the story of the (almost) sacrifice of Yitzchak. The course will be a text-based one, dealing with the issues of the story as it is presented in Tanakh, but will ultimately focus on the theological issues raised by the episode. It will explore the ideas of universal morality, religious doubt, interreligious conflict and an overall analysis of Avraham’s relationship with the God that he discovered. Students will use sources from classic philosophical thinkers from both the Jewish and

Mini-Courses

As noted, the ‘Mini-courses’ for 2013-2014 – specialist offerings by individual faculty – will not be determined until later in the school year, and we are showing the 2013 program to give a flavor of the exciting and varied titles typically offered to our Seniors. This website will be updated as the information becomes available.

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Amnon and Tamar Judaic Studies This course will study the fascinating narrative that describes the relationship between Amnon and Tamar, two children of Dovid. The seduction of Tamar

by Amnon is a well-known but very difficult story to understand. Students will closely analyze the text, enabling them to arrive at a deeper understanding of the personalities and motivating factors that contributed to the unfolding of events in the Navi.

Furthermore, students will compare this story to similar narratives in Tanakh, allowing them to achieve a richer and more complete understanding of the text.

David and Batsheva Judaic Studies This course will study in detail the fascinating narrative of David and Batsheva. Focusing on a close textual analysis of the psukim, students will attempt to grapple with some of the following difficulties: what was the precise nature of David’s transgression, as it relates to his relationship with Batsheva?

Furthermore, what were some of the causes that eventuated in the performance of a grave sin by one of our Biblical heros? Finally, how did David confront his past transgression and eventually repent?

Dreams in Tanakh and Psychoanalysis Judaic Studies This course will focus primarily on the role of dreams in Sefer Bereishit. Students will examine a variety

of dreams that occupy a central role in the Biblical narrative and seek to develop an overall arching theory regarding dreams. Furthermore, close attention will be accorded to Yosef and his role as an interpreter of dreams. Finally, there will be an extended look at the way in which dreams are discussed in psychoanalytic literature.

Tanakh Stories

Pirkei Avot I and II

Judaic Studies In this mini-course, students will watch the unfolding drama as presented on the Israeli version of the show. Following each 30-minute episode, students will pretend to be the Israeli analyst and discuss our understanding and interpretation of the Hebrew dialogue between the patient and the analyst

Judaic Studies This course will provide an introduction to the ethics of our Chazal. Through a close and critical examination of key mishnaic passages from Pirkei Avot, students will attempt to develop a picture of how to conduct oneself in all areas of life. Furthermore, in an effort to enrich our understanding of Chazal’s ethics, students will study in detail Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics as a work of comparison.

The Neviim through the Music of Simon & Garfunkel, Kansas, Bob Marley and Many More Judaic Studies The music and the lyrics of popular song writers often reflect and express the same thoughts, emotions, and ideas that have been previously expressed in the Tanakh by our own Neviim. This class will examine some of these well known and favorite songs.

The requirement for the class is that students have a passion for music and love to listen to the lyrics.

Judaic Studies Students learn a story — that was skipped in elementary school — through a mature, in-depth approach. They will find out what these stories teach us today and why they were included in the Torah.

In Treatment — B’tipul

Ethnic Humor, Stereotypes and Cultural Power in Israeli Cinema Judaic Studies This mini-course illuminates trends and processes in Israeli cultural history and in current Israeli society, as represented in Israeli films from the 1960s to the present.

Topics include diverse aspects of Israeli society and culture: history and collective memory, formation and negotiations of national identity, ethnicity in relation to politics and the experience of immigration, wars, terror, the peace process and their impact on Israel consciousness.

Screenings of Israeli films are a central part of the mini-course.

Mini-Courses

secular world in order to encounter and analyze this difficult foundation story in Jewish thought.

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Judaic Studies This is a mandatory educational seminar for those students who are going on the Senior Trip to Berlin and Poland.

Students are required to keep a journal and take notes.

This provides essential background for everything that they will see, hear and experience during their travels focusing not only on the Shoah but on life in Berlin and Poland before the war and afterwards. The class includes a number of assignments including research into family history as well as reading of articles and books and the keeping and completion of a journal along the way.

Sephardic Rabbinic Response to Modernity Judaic Studies This course is an introduction to Sephardic world views, legal thinking and culture. How were modern issues dealt with by Middle Eastern and Sephardic posqim? This course will focus on the illustrious Jewish legalist Shaul-Matloub Abadi, as an example, with special attention paid to his world view and legal methodology. Students finishing these classes will have a better understanding of Sephardic and Middle Eastern world views and legal methodologies.

Faith and Doubt Judaic Studies This course will explore Jewish perspectives on emunah through the eyes of several generations of Jewish thinkers, from the middle ages to the modern era. Students will encounter different philosophical approaches to questions of faith and doubt, while also being asked to consider the social and historical contexts of these formulations. Broadly, the course

will seek to encourage students to explore and, as a result, strengthen their personal emunah as they seek a place in the intellectual history of the Jewish people.

Jewish Philosophical Questions Judaic Studies In this course students will examine one Jewish philosophical issue/question per lesson, allowing us to focus on some of the foundational elements of Judaism. The students will be responsible to formulate the issues that they will ultimately address, in an attempt to gain greater clarity and insight into our most basic beliefs. Furthermore, the class will devote specific lessons to the biographical, as well as, intellectual study of certain seminal figures that contributed greatly to the field of Jewish thought.

Unedited Talmud Judaic Studies This will be a source-based course exploring Talmudic perspectives on important issues of our time. The class will discuss: a) Homosexuality: Jewish perspective on

homosexuality and homosexuals b) Abortion – Is it allowed or not? When and why? c)

Forced Religious Practice: What do commandments have to do with religion?

And what does this have to do with the above two questions?

Rabbis Who Hijacked Judaism Judaic Studies This will be a source-based class that explores the nature and authenticity of man-made aspects of Judaism. Does God really care if we listen to the rabbis’ laws?

Religious and Moral Issues during the Holocaust Judaic Studies Can one commit suicide to avoid being sent to a forced labor camp? Can one steal money from another person to stay alive? Does one have to risk his life to put on tefillin? Can one pretend to be a Christian to hide from the Nazis? These were all moral and religious questions that Jews had to deal with during the Holocaust. This mini-course will deal with some of those issues, using rabbinic literature including the responsa of Rabbi Ephraim Oshry, Sheilot U’teshuvot Mima’amakim (Questions and Responses from the Depths), and other rabbis who lived during the Holocaust.

Rabbinic Reactions to Scientific Discoveries Judaic Studies This mini-course will look at two scientific discoveries that revolutionized our perception of the world we live in. The class starts by looking at the Copernican revolution of Heliocentricity and how Jews and Christians reacted to the challenge of a nongeocentric world. Then students look at the 18th century discovery of dinosaurs and see how Christian theologians and rabbis responded to a million year old world.

Mini-Courses

Senior Experience to Berlin & Poland

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MINI-COURSES

SENIOR YEAR Herzl! The Movie!!!

Judaic Studies In this two block course, students will explore the halakhic debates and considerations concerning a number of highly relevant and emotionally charged topics related to the end of life. Among the issues discussed will be the extent to which one must share information with a patient, live organ donations, extending the life of a terminally ill patient (how much must you do? how much can you do?), engaging in risky medical procedures, euthanasia, defining the moment of death (and its hotly debated ramification of treating brain death as death) and autopsies.

This course will be text based, enabling students to recognize and appreciate the underlying issues at play.

Judaic Studies Students will join us for this fascinating examination of the life of one of the most incredible Jews in the last few centuries, by examining his life through the new award-winning film HERZL, just released.

Jewish Leadership: Ancient and Contemporary Times Judaic Studies In this course, students will compare the challenges faced by our ancestors — from the Avot through Chazal — to the challenges presented to the Jewish communal leaders of today. As part of its aim, this course will help prepare students to assume leadership roles in the Jewish communities of their respective college campuses.

Jewish Speechwriter Judaic Studies This course will analyze the classical forms of Divrei Torah that Rabbis and individuals use in synagogue and at lifecycle events. Students will learn the skill of how to write a meaningful, dynamic and interesting Dvar Torah for all occasions in life.

Like Sheep To The Slaughter?

The Saga of Jewish Resistance Judaic Studies Students travel to the forests of Poland and Belarus, the ghettos of Hungary, and the streets of Paris, as they examine the incredible fortitude of the Jews under Nazi occupation as they struggled to survive, save their brethren, or at the least die with dignity.

Soul-searching questions that beggar the moral imagination which were dealt with by many of our very own grandparents will be asked. Texts and films will be the medium of study, beginning with the critically acclaimed film Defiance.

The Problem of Rescue — The Miracle of Rescue Judaic Studies This course will take on many of the burning issues of the Holocaust era, such as: • The U.S. immigration policy: Why the Jews of America didn’t protest (or did they)?

• The Evian and Bermuda conferences.

• Why wasn’t Auschwitz bombed? Would it have made any difference? Collusion? Antisemitism?

Ruthless strategic decisions?

• Were FDR and Churchill the greatest friends of the Jewish people, or the greatest fiends?

• The charge of Zionist collusion.

What WAS done will be studied through the actions of

the great rescuers, such as Valerian Fry, Raoul Wallenberg, Rabbi Weissmandel, the villagers of La Chambrons, and the Va’ad Hahatzala. These topics will be addressed through texts as well as media material.

Mah Rabbu Ma’asecha HaShem How Great Are Your Wonders Hashem!

Judaic Studies This course will explore the wonders of creation, following the approach of the Chovos Halevovos in the classic Sha’ar HaBechina. Students will study the natural world around us through amazing film footage, and with a trip to Central Park and the Museum of Natural History.

Maimonides Judaic Studies Students will explore the interaction between law and philosophy in Maimonides’ writings and specifically focus on three classic issues: 1)

The famous contradiction between chapter 51 and chapter 54 in the guide (part 3) that raises the question of whether Maimonides thought action/ethics were more important than knowledge/contemplation, and six important theories as to how resolve the contradiction.

2) The literary structure of the Guide and Mishna

Torah as cues to understanding Maimonides’

philosophy of law.

3) Sanctifying God’s name as a legal and existential category in Maimonides’ thought.

We look forward to fellow explorers of the Rambam joining in this tour of his thought!

Mini-Courses

Medical Ethics and Halakha: End of Life Issues

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SENIOR YEAR

This class will examine the role played by Jews in various forms of organized crime from Europe in the 17th century through the virtual disappearance of the “Jewish Mob” in America in the 1960s. Not just a history of criminals, it is also an examination of the societies in which Jews lived, and our relationship to those societies. Course material will be supplemented by viewings of the films Once Upon a Time in America and The Plot Against Harry.

viewings, and out of class live performances, as well as featuring visiting jazz artists.

This class will be a completely subjective dash through ages of Rock & Roll, the music’s impact on youth culture of several generations, and the boundless and transformative possibilities of the two minute pop song.

The class will examine rhetoric and the ways in which arguments are constructed and deconstructed.

Students will look at such matters as how one crafts an argument, how one evaluates which arguments are valid, what constitutes evidence, and how language can be used to skew meaning. Although the rules applied will be general, there will be a particular focus on arguments regarding Israel.

Jazz Is

The course will include intensive in-class listening sessions and video viewings.

From its role as America’s pop music of the early 20th century to its prominence as an art music of our time, Jazz has defined aspects of American society and has inspired and influenced listeners and musicians all over the world. This class offers a decade-by-decade run through of the various ages of Jazz music in America, combining musical aesthetics and form with the development of American culture. There is an emphasis on the African-American experience of the 20th century as well as the experimental fringes of European modern music, and an amalgamation of world rhythms and cultures.

The course will include listening sessions, video

An in-class study of Busby Berkeley musicals from the 1920s to the 1950s.

Rock & Roll High School

Students will explore Rock music from the 1950s to the present day. Styles will be discussed, and artists and bands surveyed. Along with musical aesthetics, the course will also examine the cultural impact and historical context of the various strands of Rock & Roll, including the ‘Mods and Rockers’ of the 1960s, the Punk scenes in New York and London of the 1970s, the suburban American Hard Rock culture of the 1980s, the Alternative and Independent Rock dynamics of the 1990s, and the multi-generational pop ‘soup’ of the past decade.

How to Argue About Israel and Everything Else

Busby Berkeley

The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin – The “Big Four” Bands of Rock Music Although many bands from the so-called “Classic Rock” era (late ‘60s to late ‘80s roughly) have stood the test of time, these four groups are widely considered to be the most influential and important.

Why these four bands? Is it the lead singers? The guitarists? Drummers? Specific albums? Or is it simply the songs? Weaving through various songs, live clips, and albums of each band over one block, this mini-course will set off some deep discussion and friendly arguments – who’s better, who’s best? (or maybe….they all rock!)

The Films of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin In this course, students explore the life and art of silent film director and star Buster Keaton. While Charlie Chaplin may be better known, Keaton set the standard for ironic romance narratives, clever set pieces, and outrageously dangerous stunt work.

Classes focus on the viewing of Keaton’s films in both clips and full showings, as well as readings of some selections from Keaton’s biography and critical selections.

The Cinema of Horror This course explores the dynamics of the contemporary horror film. Starting with the 1970s, students trace the evolution of the horror genre in cinema through its various manifestations: body horror and transformation, techno-horror, alien invasion, psychopaths, interface with machines, medical terror, torture and the grotesque, and others.

Students watch full movies in class, and will also be required to view movies outside of class (after school or during lunch periods) on occasion. Please be informed that these films contain pervasive scenes of violence. They’re gross — really. So it is inadvisable to enroll in this course if you are sensitive to such things.

The Language of Flowers and Flower Arrangements Vanessa Diffenbaugh’s New York Times bestselling novel focuses on the messages flowers can send.

Along with the novel, students will read poetry about

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Jews and Organized Crime

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Writing About Art and Art About Writing (2013) Using Henri Matisse’s paintings as inspiration, this class will focus on different forms of writing. The class will also visit the Matisse exhibit now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a final project, students will select a piece of writing and create a Matisse inspired artwork based on that text.

The 15-Minute Hamlet Students will study and perform Tom Stoppard’s masterful, hilarious condensation of all of Hamlet into fifteen minutes!

Teen Films Based on Shakespeare Study the performances of those great Shakespearean actors Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, and others in teen films loosely based on Shakespeare’s plays. Students will see, discuss, and compare “O” (based on Othello), “Ten Things I Hate About You” (The Taming of the Shrew), “She’s the Man” (Twelfth Night), and others.

Opera - Otello (2013) Students will attend a performance of the opera Otello at the Metropolitan Opera on Monday, March 11 at 7:30. All students must attend the opera. If they cannot make this performance, they must attend another performance. The class will review the opera, focusing on its plot and characters to compare them to Shakespeare’s Othello.

Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions That Changed the World 1940-1941 The course will examine, through the reading of Ian Kershaw’s book Fateful Choices, lecture and discussion, the 24 months between the Nazi conquest of Poland and the decision to exterminate the Jews. The course offers the opportunity for students to learn in depth the history of this time period.

Flashman and Pax Britannica The Flashman novels by George MacDonald Fraser purport to be the memoirs of Harry Flashman, one of the most despicable scoundrels who ever graced the British army with his presence. This course will introduce students to this reprehensible person and the history of the times in which he pursued his career of violence, deceit, and debauchery. The memoirs not only provide students with a window into the history of the nineteenth century, they also confront the reader with issues of gender and racial bias.

Marnie, Frenzy). This course will reflect on all these features of the world of Hitchcock — Hitchcock as a commentator on the world in which he lived, Hitchcock as artist, Hitchcock as inspiration for others. His impact on us has been so profound that in some sense it might be said that we live in a world that has been shaped by his vision.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame I The class is the first of two courses on baseball.

Students will learn how the American economy and culture influenced the evolution of baseball, with particular attention to the evolution of baseball stadiums. Students will attend a baseball game (date and time to be determined).

Take Me Out to the Ballgame II The class is a continuation (not a repeat) of the course in block 4, how the American economy and culture influenced the evolution of baseball. Students will learn about the origins of baseball customs and

The World of Alfred Hitchcock Alfred Hitchcock is deservedly regarded as a master film director. His significance lies in his achievements as an artist who played a major role in the development of classical film language. In that respect, his films have served as an inspiration for film directors ever since (how many times has a film reproduced a version of the famous Psycho shower scene?). Hitchcock’s importance is not confined to his artistic contributions. He was also a serious commentator on the world in which he lived. His film subjects ranged from the overtly political (Saboteur, Torn Curtain, North by Northwest, Notorious) to the social world of sexual politics (Vertigo, Psycho,

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flowers. The course will end in two lessons on flower arrangement, one focusing on beauty and the other on the hidden significance of different bouquets.

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March of the Living Dead The Modern Vampire: A Film Study This class will examine the origin and evolution of the modern vampire as romantic hero and conduit for repressed sexual urges. Students will also explore the growing popularity of his carnivorous comrade in gore, the zombie. Through films such as Interview with the Vampire, Fearless Vampire Killers, Lair of the White Worm and Let the Right One In, students will analyze how the figures of the vampire and zombie embody the values and obsessions of different cultures and time periods.

Linguistics Linguistics is the study of the nature and characteristics of language. Rather than study one or even a few languages, in this course students will examine language as a scientific phenomenon.

Students will discuss the origin, development, and history of language; language families around the world; the sounds of language; how grammar works; and what the human language faculty tells us about the mind and how it works. Students should emerge from the course with an appreciation of an omnipresent but often neglected aspect of their world.

Fringe Theater Have you ever been to an off-Broadway or off-offBroadway show? In this class, students will explore the variety of fringe, off-the-beaten-track theater in New York. Students will attend five to six evening

performances, and the shows will cost from $5 to $15 each. Class will also meet twice weekly for pre- and post-viewing discussions.

Guns and Provolone: The American Love Affair with the Gangster Film Why do Americans love “gangster” movies so much and what does it say about us as a society?

Animals and Man An exploration of the co-evolution of various animals with humans, with special attention to canines.

Dance On Film Dance and film are art forms that emphasize storytelling through non-verbal movement and action. This course looks at what it means to combine these two aesthetic forms by paying special attention to innovators such as Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, as well as noteworthy dance sequences from films such as The Red Shoes, West Side Story, Saturday Night Fever and the Japanese film Shall We Dance?

The Omnivore’s Dilemma Michael Pollan’s best-seller is an intense and intimate examination of what we eat and from where our food comes. Pollan structures his book around four different meals and traces the food he consumes back to where it originates. In the process, he examines the American food industrial complex, as well as defining what it really means to be organic, and even takes full responsibility for a meal he kills and cooks with his own hands. Anyone who eats should become familiar with Pollan’s books.

How to Read The New York Times This course is comprised of a discussion of the history of The Times, controversy on bias, objectivity, and fairness, a tour of the Times’ offices, discussions of journalism, and a daily dissection of the daily newspaper.

Dr. Seuss and the Brothers Grimm: What Children’s Stories Really Mean This course is comprised of reading classic stories of childhood, and analyzing them from various perspectives.

What Zombies Mean This course is comprised of a discussion of the recent wave of popular entertainment (films, novels, television series) that use Zombies as their central motif. The class will feature an interview with Zombie scholar and novelist Alden Bell.

Woody Allen’s Universe This course is comprised of screenings of several of Woody Allen’s films, followed by discussions of the unique world his works create.

The City Game: Basketball in New York City What is the City Game and how did it develop and evolve? This course will examine basketball’s history in New York in relation to the changing nature of the city itself. From settlement houses on the Lower East Side to the playgrounds of Bensonhurst, Harlem, and Coney Island to Madison Square Garden, the city’s love affair with the sport has produced a unique style of play that has influenced basketball at all levels. The

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statistics. Students will tour a baseball stadium in the minor leagues (date and time to be determined).

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History of Consumer Culture This course will explore the history of consumer culture in the United States. The central focus will be how and why ideas regarding consumerism, consumption, and materialism have changed, how this is a reflection of American society, and what these changes mean in American society and culture.

Some aspects of consumerism will be given more attention than others and students will occasionally examine the significance of a specific company, brand, or industry in more intricate detail.

War From Sumer to Byzantium There was man and there was war. No society has survived without mastering its complexities. To understand Babylon and Egypt, Persia and Greece, Carthage and Rome, Sasanians, Byzantines and Arabs, one must appreciate their armies. Highlights of this course will include analysis of selected film footage from a historical perspective.

Rise of the City Cities have been called “the defining artifacts of civilization. All the achievements and failings of humanity are here.” Today half the world lives in an urban environment and by 2030 two thirds of the world will do so. This course will trace: how and why cities came into existence, how different societies across the world attempted to adapt to challenges of urbanization.

The City Challenged

Probability

Modernity and the expectations of an urban lifestyle became inextricably interwoven in the late nineteenth century yet they both were transformed at a blistering pace. Paris, London, Vienna, Washington D.C., Amsterdam, Berlin, Brasilia, Canberra and Beijing are but a few of the cities that will be examined in light of modern urban geography and sociology.

Explore interesting probability problems, such as how likely it is for two people to have the same birthday, and how likely it is to win a game show. You will also have the chance to investigate the fairness of a game or lottery of your choice.

And Then There Was Columbus

In his many publications, the neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks describes fascinating phenomena of the brain and includes interesting insights into a wide range of neurological disorders. Students will explore selected case studies of Dr. Sacks as they consider the anatomy and physiology of the brain.

What about the Americas before the Europeans arrived? How did the Olmecs, Toltecs, Mayans, Aztecs and Incas live? What were the accomplishments of the Pre-Columbian civilizations?

Why did they rise and decline? These and other questions will be addressed in this introductory course to a world only recently explored from an anthropological and ecological viewpoint.

Applications of Calculus This two-block course will use concepts learned in Calculus to solve various types of problems. Students apply their knowledge of derivatives to solve rates of change and optimization problems. They also use integrals to find the area under a curve and the area between two curves.

Prerequisite: Calculus

Problem Solving Students use their algebra and geometry skills to investigate various types of problems and explore “what if” scenarios and attributes they have learned about geometric figures. This is an opportunity to explain and prove ideas mathematically.

Mysteries of the Brain: Case Studies of Dr. Oliver Sacks

Biotechnology & Ethics Advances in medicine and biotechnology have raised many complicated ethical issues. Topics such as the Human Genome Project, human genetic engineering and stem cell research will be discussed as students consider the principles of basic ethics.

Required reading: Biomedical Ethics by Walter Glannon

Select Systems in Basic Human Physiology This is an opportunity to get past preconceived notions of how students think the body works and to learn the real story. Using diagrams, video and articles, students will study the human body systems of digestion, cardiovascular and reproduction. Knowing the science behind the inner workings of the body can contribute to making better decisions about health.

Required reading: Articles and information packets

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course will also examine racial, ethnic, and gender dynamics within the game in order to understand how people attach meaning to sports.

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By definition, stem cells are pluripotent; they have the ability to make all cell types of the body. To understand and control the molecular mechanisms involved in the process of cell differentiation holds incredible promise in the treatment of injury and disease. After a brief overview of the history of stem cell research, students will learn about the molecular biology of stem cells and the latest developments in the fields of stem cell treatments and induced pluripotent cells.

RamCorps RamCorps is a Jewish journey of sorts. In Pirkei Avot (6:2) Hillel says it best, “Bemakon she-ein ish, hishtadel lihyot ish,” “Where there is no man, strive to be a man.” In Gemara Brachot (63a) it reads slightly differently: “In a place where there is no leader, strive to be a leader.”

The goal of RamCorps is twofold: Students will participate in social service programs where they will meet with and serve clients who depend on soup kitchens for their meals and receive provisions from food banks, visit with the men of the Doe Fund at their home base and also “walk their walk,” work with challenged youngsters in public and private institutions, and prepare a camping facility that services special needs children. There are additional projects but the ones noted are a sampling of some of the programs. Students will meet with agency professionals who direct the community service programs and who are responsible for initiating and designing the program.

Introduction to Programming and Applications Using Lego Robotics Students will begin with an introduction to programming language using fundamental skills of computer science; the students will design, write, test and debug source code of computer programs.

Then they will use these skills and apply them to building robots using LEGO Mindstorm; students will build small customizable and programmable robots.

This set enables students to build and program real-life robotic solutions. This course provides cross-curricular opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math. It enables students to explore the world of engineering by building complex control systems. The students will brainstorm and develop solutions in a team environment.

Introduction to Web Development In this course, students will learn the basics of designing and developing a web site. Students will cover basic web technologies such as eXtensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and JavaScript. Learn the basics of programming and creating graphics for websites.

Data Graphics Increasingly, our culture has come to rely upon visual representations to interpret complex sets of data. Our understanding of politics, economics, history, sociology and science (to name just a few) is frequently premised upon an ability to read and comprehend charts, graphs, maps, tables and other graphical media that attempt to summarize and communicate large amounts of quantitative data. In this course, students explore the history of data graphics from

their beginnings in the eighteenth century — and attempt to understand graphical integrity (that is, what makes a good data graphic and a bad data graphic) as well as the similarities between this kind of communication and other forms of storytelling narrative. This study will be largely influenced by the work of political scientist and statistician Edward Tufte.

Syrian Culture and Cuisine This course will focus on the elements of Syrian Jewish culture that led to the cuisine Syrian Jews eat today. In addition to historical selections, pizmonim, and poetry, the class will also experiment with Syrian cooking, making delicacies such as lachmagin and mechshi qusab.

Lego and Basic Architecture In this class, students will learn the basic principles of architecture using Lego. Through a study of prominent buildings and Lego creation, students will familiarize themselves with terms such as arches, buttresses, posts, lintels, and cantilevered structures. The class will culminate in a student created Lego exhibition.

A History of Contemporary A Cappella Music The course will examine the roots of contemporary A Cappella from the early part of the 20th Century to the present day. Students will look at the surging popularity of contemporary A Cappella music in the past twenty years including a discussion of NBC’s A Cappella reality show, The Singoff, and the movie, Pitch Perfect. A range of topics from musical and cultural influences to arranging styles and production techniques will be explored. Students will listen to different genres of music including Barbershop, Doo-

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Stem Cell School

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Film School in High School Based on the collective freshman year at film school, this course is aimed at those who simply love movies, and want to learn why they love them – from Scorsese gangster films and the Chris Nolan Batman trilogy, to ’80s flicks like The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. This course will teach students to appreciate (and write) movies with a fresh perspective, using simple techniques and criteria. Class will begin with screening clips of films related to the topic of the day, including character arc, story development, producing and cameraworking, and proceed to a combination of lecture and fun exercises to enhance the lesson. At the end of this course, the class will work together as a team to create a short film written by one or more students, and each student will leave the class with a DVD of the final product.

Geology of New York City Geology is the study of the earth’s rocks – their origin, history, nature, characteristics, structure, etc. In this course, students will study the rocks of New York City.

Besides classroom learning, students will explore the rocks of Central Park, and possibly other areas. From examining these rocks, students will see evidence of the deep history of the New York City area, going back millions of years. Students will also see how New York got its basic shape and topography (what the surface of the earth looks like here), and how New York’s geology has affected the city’s development.

Practical Excel Microsoft Excel is one of the most useful pieces of software ever created. Primarily designed to manipulate, calculate, and analyze large amounts of data, it is an essential tool for almost anybody working in the modern world, from teachers to financial wizards. In this course students will introduce the software, discuss and practice some of its most useful features, and provide a starting point for Excel life.

Number Theory Gauss, often known as the “prince of mathematics,” called mathematics the “queen of the sciences” and considered number theory the “queen of mathematics.” Math can be practical, but there is also inherent beauty in patterns, symmetry, and prime numbers. Students will investigate prime numbers, perfect numbers, and amicable numbers. They will also explore the origins of recreational mathematics.

Nutrition for Optimal Health and Fitness In this General Nutrition course, students will learn the fundamentals of healthy eating and nutrition.

Students will explore their current eating patterns and nutritional status through tracking food records and exploring their relationship to food. Students will develop the ability to create balanced meals, based on an understanding of macro and micro nutrients and best practices of healthy eating. Through this course, students will also develop an understanding of functional foods, whole foods and sustainable eating. A major emphasis will be on meal planning in college and avoiding eating pitfalls and negative patterns when away from home.

Stress Reduction and Relaxation (maximum 18 students) This course is designed to provide tools and techniques for students to manage stress and cope with the everyday demands of college life. Students will explore a variety of stress reduction techniques such as art, journaling, meditation, movement, mindfulness and effective communication. The course will allow students to understand the physiology and cognitive patterns of stress. Through this course, students will have a dedicated time to explore their patterns that may be contributing to or diminishing, stress and their personal philosophies and habits that may reduce or antagonize such stressors. Students are required to purchase/bring a journal and sitting pillow for class.

Human Rights: Roots, Conflicts and Activism This course provides as introduction to the field of human rights. Students will explore the meaning of human rights, including international law and standards. Historical incidents of mass violation and current conflicts will be discussed. Emphasis will be placed on the role of activism to bring light to human rights violations and stimulate change and justice.

Theatrical Design and Production (Senior Play Leadership) This option is open to all seniors, yet required for senior play directors, choreographer, musical director and artistic director (set, props, PR, costumes). Senior play leaders and all others with conflicts may register for this course, as meeting times can be set outside of the proposed time slots for this course.

In this cross department mini-course, students will gain knowledge, through education sessions

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wop, Collegiate, Jazz and Religious. The course will include a guest speaker from the recording industry, and attendance at a contemporary A Cappella performance.

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The Culting of Brands This course will examine brands like Apple, Jet Blue, Ben & Jerry’s, and others that have successfully recruited loyal and emotionally invested customer bases. Students will compare methodologies in the branding and marketing of these products to the mythologies in cult movements and outreach.

Students will explore cutting edge behavioral and social psychological research to gain a better understanding of their own social evolution and develop important distinctions between their collectivistic and individualistic selves.

Professional Etiquette This course will cover the fundamentals of resume construction and professional communications (emails, letters and phone calls). Students will review strategies for targeting and networking toward job and internship opportunities, as well as conduct mock interviews and skill-building.

Hispanic New York Hispanic New York is a class taught in English that will expose students to the Hispanic cultural heritage in New York City. The course will discuss music, food, and art in the city. Students will be required to attend a walking tour of Spanish Harlem.

Science of Vibrations — “If a Tree Falls in the Forest, Does It Make a Sound”?

An introduction to the philosophy and science of vibrations in macro and micro space, and the effect and cause of vibrations in the universe at large, understanding connections between propagation of matter and spatial coherence. Students learn to reference pitch and time as the bedrock of sound and the perception of music. “Is it on or off the grid?”

– understanding the difference between the theory and the actual experience of music as it relates to notation, capture and the advances of technology aiding this process.

Psychosis and the Myth of Normalcy Who is normal? Is that a term that we use to reinforce conventional definitions of identity? Is there really an objective reality of normalcy? Is that a medical or moral term? Do different cultures generate different kinds of normal people? How much does biology drive our sense of who is or is not normal? These are the questions that this minicourse will explore.

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and practical application, in theatrical set design and execution, lighting design, prop development, costume design, graphic design/publication layout and theatrical direction. In addition, this course enables the students elected to leadership roles for the senior production to develop skills and receive course credit.