Ethnic studies, music among new electives for fall

JUSTIN PAK Copy Editor

Two electives have been added to the course list for those registering for the 2023-2024 school year.

School officials decided to give students the option to take Ethnic Studies before the class becomes a graduation requirement starting with the Class of 2030.

from Hera Kwon

“I think this is a class that we should’ve had a long time ago,” said social science teacher Hera Kwon, who volunteered to be the Ethnic Studies instructor. “Teaching American history for all these years, there’s a lot of parts of American history that I can’t really cover because of the limitations of time. Ethnic Studies opens us up to talk about it in more detail.”

The coursework hones in on the cultural, historical, political, economic and social facets of African, Native, Latin and Asian Americans and features a research project on a group, not limited to one of the four, of the student’s choice, Kwon said.

Another new elective, Music, Listening and Literature, will be taught by part-time choir teacher Aaron Duncan-Schwartz.

School officials said the number of periods both electives will be offered will depend on student interest.

“The Ethnic Studies class doesn’t seem like it’s for me, but some people can enjoy it if they want to learn about different cultures,” freshman Jacob Michaels said. “I think it’s good that they’re trying to promote people to learn about different ethnicities.”

Junior Michael Amescua, who takes Duncan-Schwartz’s guitar class, said he plans to sign up for the new music class.

“I listen to a lot of music, so I’m really excited for this one because it’s right up my alley,” said Amescua, who first learned about the class during a counselor’s presentation on registration.

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