Week 8: Definition, Description, Resolution

This was an exceptionally productive and fun week! After essentially completing the scaffolding of our school, the past seven days allowed our group to delve into creative work: we wrote course descriptions for ten hypothetical classes, we wrote the plan for our model class, and we were able to finally sort out some lingering financial questions with a new tuition model.

Course Descriptions

2. The History and Application of Modern Mathematics
1. Students grow to understand the evolution and implementation of modern mathematical concepts through the study of their discovery, use of period tools, and historical perspective on significant works.
3. The Philosophical Impact of Physics
1. At its furthest understanding, the study of Physics calls into question many of the fundamental intuitions humans have about the universe. This class examines the impact of physics on the world’s philosophies of meaning. By exploring discoveries, missteps, and misunderstandings in Western and Eastern science, students gain insight into the entangled world in which we live.
4. Mathematical Understanding in Music
1. This course examines the mathematical concepts behind music. Unlike a traditional music theory course, MUIM takes a broad view of the development of key musical instruments, artistic movements, and musical perception among audiences.
5. Art as Political Power: Key Movements in Asia, 1900-1945
1. Art History, writ large. Taking a specific view of the world of Eastern art before and during the World Wars, this course encourages students to observe and analyze the artistic commentary on the tumultuous half-century leading up to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
6. Starter great books program (interdisciplinary history)
1. This is a tie in with our university partnership–basically students will read classic books that define a given era and analyze their historical context. Perhaps taught all 4 years?
7. 150 Years Later: The Civil War and the American South
1. We’re in Virginia, right? Why not try some some in-depth study of the civil war using the rural equivalent of City of Angels’s Urban Labs? Students can visit battlefields and re-enact the carnage! Perhaps the farm/student labor can serve as a metaphor to teach the economics of slavery. We’ll also read later southern literature and get a sense of why the war is crucial in understanding modern American democracy.
8. An American in Paris: French Language and Culture
1. This course is an immersion experience where American art movements are examined in a french context. Literature topics can be centered on the Lost Generation, music classes can analyze France’s strong affinity for Jazz, and more! Basic principles of the french language are taught through a relatable cultural lens so as to make them more accessible.
9. The Dog as a Symbol (or should we call it “The Dog, A Dog, My Dog”?): 
1. Mainly a literature-based course with discussions of society and history, focused on how the dog is “man’s best friend” and what that means, etc. Also involves interacting with real dogs! !
10. Biology and Evolution of Weird Animals
1. Teaches basic biological knowledge through an interesting focus: really weird animals that you’d think wouldn’t exist.

Our Model Class

The model class will consist of an introduction, an independent research exercise, and group assembly/discussion. Our model course, entitled Theology & Philosophy in Agrarian America, 1492-1960 is an interdisciplinary American Studies/History class, though such a distinction is more technical than observable for the purposes of this class. All sorts of paths will be explored and all sorts of lenses will be used to approach a better understanding of the following question: "How does an individual's experience of theological and economic forces drive their political association with a larger community?"

Our New Tuition Model

This is a small change, but we're switching to a pay-if-you-can model with regard to room & board. Everyone will be offered full tuition scholarships, and families that are able to pay for their child's accommodations will be asked to do so.