It’s a sunny April afternoon during spring break, and you finally fend off your procrastination enough to log onto the Blackbaud Course Requests tab that you haven’t touched since last year. As you stare face to face with your future self, you have a lot to think about. What subjects should I take for college? Which options work with my schedule? Will I even have enough time to study for all these courses?
But simultaneously, a more exciting question also bubbles up: What classes do I want to take?
Next year, like every year, there will be exciting additions to the Bishop’s curriculum, primarily in the form of electives. From history, to science, to English, here’s a few of the intriguing electives — some new, some returning after two years or more — to consider as you pick your courses for next year.
SCIENCE
Astronomy — Available for 10th-12th grade
Are you interested in mathematics, solar systems, and our universe? Consider taking Astronomy. Previously offered as a semester course, Astronomy will now be available as a year-long class, with Physics Teachers Ms. Bryn Bishop and Mr. Marcus Milling each teaching one semester. Students can also take either semester individually.
The first semester will cover solar systems, while the second examines questions about “the nature of the universe,” Science Department Head Ms. Laura Cummings explained. According to Ms. Cummings, the class is “very inquiry driven.” Students will ponder “the big questions we have about the world and…what we think we know about space,” she added. While Astronomy will be lab-based, Ms. Cummings emphasized that it will also be a “philosophical discussion.” Ultimately, the goal of the course is to use “modeling and mathematical reasoning to try and piece together a cohesive view of the universe,” she explained.
Forensic Science — Available for 10th-12th grade
Calling all Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes, and Agatha Christie fans… Forensic Science will be back at Bishop’s next year. Taught by Biology Teacher Ms. Kristina Norrgard, this semester course will use a “case-study approach” to analyze crime scenes through a scientific lens, according to Ms. Cummings. Ms. Norrgard added that it will explore what evidence “can and can’t, tell us about what really happened in a criminal investigation.”
“There’s going to be blood spatter and DNA analysis — all of that exciting stuff,” Ms. Cummings said. Forensic Science is a great course for those interested in intensive research and delving into “the practical applications of biology and chemistry,” Ms. Cummings added.
“If you like actively participating (an absolute requirement), solving puzzles, and even playing devil’s advocate from time to time, you should consider this course,” Ms. Norrgard finished.
HISTORY – Available for 11th and 12th grade
Honors African-American Studies
Not connected to African-American Literature, a previously offered English elective.
Want the chance to study the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes’s poetry, and Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” all in one course? Lucky for you, you can do all that and more in Honors African-American Studies, which will be taught by History Teacher Mr. Damon Halback. This brand new class will cover African-American history from the Reconstruction Era (1863-1877) to the present day.
According to Mr. Halback, it will be a “multidisciplinary approach to examining African American history through cultural products.” He added that students will “examine the ways in which African-Americans express themselves” through various forms — from poetry, to speeches, to visual arts. A non-exhaustive list of sources students will study includes: Paul Robeson’s Communist literature, Billie Holiday’s music, and the 2017 Oscars Best Picture Winner Moonlight (2016).
ENGLISH – Available for 12th grade
Epic Epics
In the mood to take a course that will be truly… epic? As the name suggests, this class is a study of classic epic stories like Odyssey, Iliad, and Beowulf that “have shaped Western literature as we know it today,” English Department Head Dr. Clark explained. However, the course is also a broader and more modern exploration of the hero’s journey.
“Epic Epics has…come to include more world literature and more alternative epics,” Dr. Clark said. It does thoughtful pondering “about how contemporary writers and writers of multiple identities have adapted the epic form and made it their own,” she added. According to a preliminary course description, other works studied in this class include Circe by Madeline Miller, a modern retelling of the myth of Circe, excerpts from Marvel comics, and even classic films like The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Star Wars (1987).
If you want to dive into classic literature with a modern, more nuanced twist, Epics Epics is the class for you.
Women Writers
Did you love reading The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood in tenth grade? If so, Women’s Writers is perfect for you. Focused on “how women have shaped literature,” as Dr. Clark put it, it examines the world’s influential, often forgotten, female authors. “Especially in the 19th century, often women had to take pseudonyms and didn’t have as much visibility as writers,” Dr. Clark explained. As a result, Women Writers is “resurfacing that history” and the influence of women writers.
According to a preliminary course description, works by Emily Dickinson, Margaret Atwood, Sylvia Plath, Kate Chopin, and more will be studied in this course. Dr. Clark also mentioned that English author Virgina Woolf and her ideas are “crucial” to the course, even if her texts aren’t explicitly read. “[She] is someone who really thought about how the economic and domestic inequality that women confronted,” Dr. Clark said. “She thought about how the material conditions of women’s lives shaped them as creative thinkers and writers.”
Dr. Clark emphasized that she wants to put a “special pitch” for Women’s Writers, as a course she truly recommends to students. It explores central texts to understand the world that many students may never read otherwise.
Memory as Fiction
If you’re interested in studying psychology, love the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, or consider yourself a nostalgic person (don’t we all?), Memory as Fiction will most certainly peak your interest.
According to the designer of this course, English Teacher Ms. Amy Allen, Memory as Fiction delves into our memories as “a faulty foundation weakened by inaccuracy, unreliability, and confabulation,” but that nevertheless remain the way “we create a coherent sense of self.”
“[This course] is thinking about how recollection, memory and nostalgia are always in the stories we tell of our own identity and our lives,” as Dr. Clark explained. “It’s really pushing the boundaries of what is [considered] fiction.”
Ms. Allen mentioned that Memory as Fiction will also explore memory through a psychological framework, and examine specific forms of memory such as “episodic, traumatic, absent, and false memory.” Though subject to change, in the past, this class has watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Black Mirror episodes in the past, as well as read A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan and The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien.
Page to Stage (pending staffing)
Page to Stage is not yet confirmed to be running next year. If offered, it will focus on studying how “performance can enhance a reading and understanding of a text,” according to Theater Director Dr. Kristen Tregar, who would teach this course. Dr. Tregar also mentioned that Page to Stage will include “a small-scale performance.”
“It’s a great course if you’re someone who’s always like, ‘I have to read the novel and then I have to watch the movie,” Dr. Clark said.
Disclaimers:
- Course offerings and curricular descriptions are subject to change.
- The English Electives were written with information from preliminary course descriptions, in addition to an interview
- This is not a comprehensive list of electives that will be offered next year. It includes electives that are either new to The Bishop’s School, or have not been offered in at least two school years.
