Three Electives, and Many (Historical, Social, Political) Lenses by ERIN E. BERG Smith Visiting Scholar, Dr. Brian Purnell
Each year, Roxbury Latin faculty assess their curriculum and approach, determining where we, collectively, need more of this, or less of that. Occasionally that results in retiring some part of the program, but more often than not we are adding to the mix, eager that boys benefit from new thinking about content, skills, and their application as they move on from Roxbury Latin and out into the world. As a small school, we must be purposeful in limiting the various electives we offer, while also ensuring that our students benefit from a full range of offerings across the disciplines. (See page 29 for a list of electives offered over the last 20 years.) “Our responsibility in most cases is to whet boys’ appetites and hope that they will benefit from these foundational courses and go on in college and beyond to hone more rarefied passions and objectives,” Headmaster Kerry Brennan said. This school year benefitted from the addition of three History Department electives—two reimagined and one, thanks to our Smith Visiting Scholar, new this year. Learn what those teaching these compelling and important courses hope students will take away from their classroom experiences.
World Civilizations World Civilizations, an elective offered in Class III, aims to broaden students’ empathy in two ways: First, it offers an introduction to a number of religions and philosophies from around the world—from Buddhism and Islam, to Native American spirituality and Taoism. It also focuses on the study of multi-generational families’ stories—featuring individuals who have lived through defining historical events in modern South Africa, China, Iraq, and Native North America. “When we get granular about how people actually live, the study of history becomes more relatable and observable,” says History Department Chair Stewart Thomsen who teaches the course. “Trevor Noah’s upbringing as a mixed-race child in postApartheid South Africa; Scott Tong’s quest to uncover his family’s history in modern China; or Thaer Abdallah’s journey from war-torn Baghdad to Boston are all examples of that.” The History Department discontinued offering World Civilizations in 2013 when AP European History was introduced, and in recent years alumni have told Mr. Thomsen that World Civilizations had a real impact on the way in which they view the world.
N e w s l e t t e r o f Th e R o x b u r y L at i n S c h o o l
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