Interdisciplinary
Minors
Decoding the Screen: Introduction to American Media Studies
Wilderness and the American Ethic
Interdisciplinary courses offer a unique opportunity to closely work in more than one area of study. Though the primary focus in the following courses is a specific topic, studying that topic requires significant attention to reading, writing and composition skills including analysis and synthesis
Grades 10 - 12
MAJOR
The purpose of the Great Issues and Controversies of the Modern World is to expose students to the diversity of the peoples and cultures in the world and to foster a better understanding of specific world events. Classes in the past have explored complicated and complex subjects such as genocide, American presidential elections, terrorism, globalization, and immigration.
In addition to these topical objectives, the course will help students improve their writing skills through exams, essays, and papers, their speaking skills through in-class discussions, and their analytical skills through readings and debates. By focusing on these objectives throughout the summer, the students will not only increase their knowledge of contemporary issues, but will sharpen the tools that are necessary in any discipline. Thus, the overarching goals are to learn more about the world, apply the material to improve the aforementioned skill objectives, and continue to follow world events beyond the Andover summer course.
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Grades 11 - 12
MAJOR
This course seeks to present American history to students as a dynamic field of inquiry rather than a static narrative of past events. Covering the time period from World War II through the election of Ronald Reagan, a period of American history that often falls by the wayside in high school history classes for want of time, this course will highlight major episodes of modern American history, including WWII, Cold War America, the civil rights and women’s liberation movements, Vietnam, and the “Culture Wars” of the 1970s. Rather than following the traditional model of textbook learning, this class will present American history through a series of juxtapositions, partnering classic films (such as Apocalypse Now, Mississippi Burning, The Stepford Wives, High Noon, Saturday Night Fever, Saving Private Ryan, Easy Rider, and/or Why We Fight) with academic scholarship for each period or event examined.
The goals of this course are three-fold: first, to enhance students’ knowledge of modern American history; second, to teach students how to critically examine cultural products (in this case movies) by analyzing their content and learning to read them as both historical artifacts and historical texts; and finally, to better understand history as a dynamic search for an objective understanding of the significance of past events. In successfully completing this course, students will have developed their ability to write original and incisive film analyses, to critically analyze and evaluate films as both primary and secondary sources, and to construct historical arguments by generating thesis statements supported with evidence and submitted for peer review. In addition to peer-reviewed written assignments, students will engage in in-class discussion and cooperative learning.
All Grades
MINOR
What is an advertisement really selling you? Do television networks report the news or create it? Can a popular film or album, or even a website, change history? If you have ever wondered, look further.
American Media Studies is one of the fastest growing fields in colleges and universities across the country. Dynamic and interdisciplinary, this course attempts to analyze the print, visual and online media that define the 20th and 21st centuries. Students in this class will examine journalism, advertising, literature, popular music, and the web as nuanced sources of cultural information and criticism.
Similar to Reading & Writing, this course will provide an opportunity for students to hone their critical thinking and improve their analytical writing through daily practice. In addition, students will work creatively to produce their own journalism, advertising, visual, audio and online media.
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All Grades
MINOR
Does morality play a role in how we protect or exploit our natural resources? Explore the historical, cultural and psychological underpinnings of the current environmental debate in the United States. In this course you will learn how colonialism, capitalism, democracy, religion and several other factors influenced the way Americans interact with and relate to the natural world today. We will look specifically at the Wilderness Act of 1964 and current climate change legislation being debated in Congress. If you are struggling to understand why environmental protection is such a volatile topic in the U.S. -this course is designed to provide some insight.
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