Three Electives, and Many (Historical, Social

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.

“I worry sometimes about the pressures that today’s college students feel to graduate with a degree that will justify the cost of that education,” says Mr. Thomsen. “High school may be the last time many students will choose to study the history of different parts of the world, or be introduced meaningfully to different religions and philosophies.”

“Religions and philosophies are complex features of history; on the one hand they deal with life’s big questions and inform people’s sense of morality in positive ways, but they can also influence changing social systems and political ideologies and produce really damaging historical consequences.”

Mr. Thomsen’s approach in teaching about these religions of the world is informed by Diane Moore of Harvard Divinity School—one of RL’s earliest Smith Visiting Scholars—who developed the Religious Literacy Project, which relies on three key tenets: 1) Religions are internally diverse; 2) Religions evolve and change over time; and 3) Religions are embedded in culture.

“College history courses tend to be one of three types,” says Mr. Thomsen. “One is an introductory/survey; the second is theme-based; and a third is more methodological. This course combines all three.” The study of ancient thought systems helps provide a context for some of the defining historical trends and events of modern history in the regions.

The readings for the course include a diverse group of authors, including Native American, Chinese American, South African, and Palestinian. Each tells a multigenerational story of their families, so—with the region’s culture and history as a backdrop—students study the lived experience of people as they struggle to control their own destinies in these four different regions of the modern world. “For instance,” explains Mr. Thomsen, “if you want to understand Trevor Noah’s experience of being a mixedrace kid, growing up with a single mom in South Africa during the transitional period between Apartheid and postApartheid, you need to spend some time first surveying the history of Apartheid in South Africa broadly.”

As part of the methodology for the course, Mr. Thomsen charges each student with researching and analyzing an aspect of his own family history. They then, together, look for patterns—of action, or moral values—across the stories they’ve shared and perform corroborative research as well.

“If boys learn how to research family history well and learn about the family experiences of men, women, and children across generations in other parts of the world, the ability for them to communicate with their peers—many of whom have deep connections to these and other parts of the world—is going to result in more empathy and understanding, richer friendships, and more meaningful, productive connections with others.”

Global Conflicts

“World War I and II were called ‘world wars’ not because they were necessarily fought everywhere, but because they had a global reach,” says Tim Kelly, who teaches semester one of the Class I elective Global Conflicts. The course— which focuses on WWI in the first semester and WWII in the second—explores the causes, courses, and consequences of the major global conflicts of the 20th century.

Prior to WWI, no war had seen industry, science, technology, and the massive populations of Europe, its colonies, and the United States come together in such a disastrous conflict. In semester one, students explore the causes of the war on both sides of the Atlantic, its different fronts around the world, the role of race and gender (the war led to the largest single enfranchisement of Americans), and the aftermath that has shaped Europe, the United States, the modern Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

In the second semester, students examine the social, political, and economic ramifications of major conflicts in the middle- and late-20th century, beginning with the rise of fascism in Italy, Japan, and Germany and the resulting catastrophes surrounding race-based ideologies of purity and cultural homogeneity. They then focus on the response of the United States as it became a key player and central architect of the post-war world. Topics of study include the internment of Japanese Americans, the impact of women in the workforce, the end to discrimination in the defense industry, and the ban on discrimination in the Armed Forces.

Tim Kelly

Roxbury Latin Electives Since 2000

Advanced Art 1 Advanced Art 2 Advanced Historical Research Advanced Music Advanced Topics in Physics Advanced Topics in Physics and Math America at War American Military Experience American Politics AP American Politics AP Art History AP Computer Science AP Economics AP French 4 AP Latin 5 AP Modern European History AP Music Theory AP U.S. Government and Politics Applied Art 1 Applied Art 2 Computer Design Computer Science Contemporary Global Issues Current Events Drama Economics Economics of Globalization Environmental Science Foreign Policy French 5 From Columbus to Chavez Global Conflicts Greek 1 Greek 2 Greek 3 History of the Civil Rights Movement Introduction to Watercolor Latin 4 Latin 5 Latin 6 Latin American Lives Law Making Sense of the Modern Middle East Modern America Modern China Modern India Modern Middle East Music (Class III) Music and Film Photography Physics 2 Advanced Post-Cold War American Foreign Policy Race and Gender in American Society Spanish 4 Spanish 5 Technology and Art The Mediterranean World in Antiquity Topics in Engineering and Design Understanding the Bible Woodworking World Civilizations World War I

“This is primarily a 20th century course, exploring how the two major wars would create lasting effects,” says Mr. Kelly. “The primary question is: How are these things relevant to you today? We look at the conflicts in the Middle East over the past 20 years, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia today. We like to make it a contemporary history class, connecting back to two major events that shaped it—not just Europe and the United States, but also the world.”

Chris Heaton—who picks up with a semester on WWII where Mr. Kelly left off—explains, “Throughout the course students are reading or viewing something—often primary source documents—and discussing what they’re learning, not only relevant to the events and individuals themselves, but also to the connections they’re seeing across time and place. There’s such a rich trove of materials, and when they’re analyzing an account they’re not only looking at it from a historical lens, but also from a social lens, an economic lens, a diplomatic lens, a political lens, and a military lens.”

“It’s important to me to have the students look at the war through the many different people who were involved,” says Mr. Kelly, “whether that was the home front and the role women played, or the role of African Americans, or people in the colonies. We don’t just look at it from the standard perspective: Germany going after France and fighting in the trenches. There are many different areas around the world to look closely at, through many different lenses, and then analyze the impact the conflicts would have on them. Rather than straight military summaries, both wars feature massive social changes—from the Holocaust to desegregation to defense. WWI, for instance, resulted in the greatest increase in suffrage in United States history. It also resulted in the greatest social experiment in U.S. history with the passage of the Prohibition amendment.”

“I hope students walk away with a curiosity about why the world is as it is today,” says Mr. Heaton, “about how the events of a century ago are still shaping the world they live in, consciously or unconsciously. So much of that will be rooted in their interest and ability to explore stories and personal accounts from history—what was it like to be in that trench? To be a woman serving in the French Red Cross? To have survived the Holocaust? People often jump to the macro view—maps, changes in maps, troop movements, bombs—but we explore the micro, personal, human stories of the times.”

“That’s why an elective is good, because you can take your time,” Mr. Kelly agrees. “We did a whole unit on horses in World War I, for instance—how they were used, and how many died. There were eight million horses that died as a result of the war.”

“The course title should be Stories from World War I and II, really,” says Chris, “and how they affected our world and the global conflicts of today.”

History of the Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights movement changed the meaning and nature of citizenship in the United States, and this year’s Smith Visiting Scholar, Dr. Brian Purnell, is exploring with Class I students how and why. In the elective History of the Civil Rights Movement, students learn how legislative and legal milestones ended legal segregation; how leaders and foot soldiers expanded notions of democracy; how debates and divisions exploded social upheavals; and how the nation changed as a result.

The syllabus for Dr. Purnell’s course is closely aligned with one he uses with his students at Bowdoin College, covering a range of material, events, and individuals: Martin Luther King, Jr., Lyndon Johnson, Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks, as well as obscure—but equally important— figures such as Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Bayard Rustin, and Whitney Young. They study key Supreme Court decisions (Brown v. Board of Education and Regents of U. of California v. Bakke) and pieces of national legislation (Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965). Students not only learn about, but also debate, social movement tactics and strategies, as well as liberal, conservative, and moderate approaches to social change. “I've always wanted to teach high school students,” says Dr. Purnell, “who I’ve imagined might give themselves a bit more leeway to be free, to have more fun, and be interested in learning for the sake of learning. My hope is to build upon the rich, broad history education RL students receive from grades 7 through 12, and to contribute to developing lifelong enthusiasts for serious history.”

Chris Heaton Stewart Thomsen

Dr. Purnell also wants students to understand how difficult the struggle for civil rights was, and not necessarily in the ways that we assume. “People are often aware of the prejudice and violence that individuals faced, but I don’t think people have an understanding of just how long it took to bring about gains in civil rights. Moving the ball inches took generations.”

An important takeaway for his students, says Dr. Purnell, is an understanding of the methods and strategies used by those fighting to advance civil rights. “For example, the legalism strategy—the Supreme Court strategy—was one that civil rights attorneys used to advance the important social issue of desegregating education. Community organizing is another strategy. I hope that, in identifying and understanding those methods, students will recognize them in the decades that followed the civil rights movement. And we’re also discussing social movement theory; we’re talking about biography and individual people’s lives, and about specific issues like education and employment, the law, political participation. And that ties back in with methods: the vote. There’s so much that we do about the importance of the vote.” The regret in structuring any elective course is that there’s always more exciting material than you can reasonably include. “I wish I was able to spend more time in this class on music, and how important music was to the movement,” says Dr. Purnell. “In this era of activism, music was so central to their cause and their lives. Nowadays we don’t see that within our politics—the centrality of music. It was just so important then—not just religious music, but popular music like Aretha Franklin’s ‘Respect,’ or Nina Simone’s, ‘Mississippi Goddam’ or Nina Simone’s ‘I Wish I Knew How,’ or anything by Nina Simone, really!”

“When we finish the class (in about the late 1960s), I hope the students have a grasp of the gains, the advancements— in voting rights, in particular—and about how extraordinary they were—how the effects are undeniable in American life today.” //