Students will investigate various aspects of theatre including acting, directing, movement, writing and design. They will begin the year by creating characters through analysis and improvisation. Further character work will be explored as students rehearse, direct and perform in monologues and scenes. Students will work together on a culminating directing/acting project, to be performed in the auditorium.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
CT 7 Description:
In the first semester of CT 7, students begin to build the fundamentals of communication through non-verbal means. They are given ensemble exercises and pantomime in order to develop their own physical expressiveness. Communications units focusing on small group dynamics, gesture, body language and listening skills are also introduced. In order to develop analytical skills, each student is assigned to write weekly journals reflecting on the prior week’s class-work. This work culminates in a playwriting unit, in which students create their own characters and monologues and eventually develop their ideas into short plays. In the second semester, students rehearse and perform selected student-written plays. They build on skills learned in the first semester as they embark on a storytelling unit whose main goal is to bring stories to life. Culminating units may include melodrama, physical theater and/or radio theater.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
CT 8 Description:
In CT 8, students are introduced to scripted drama in performance. Using the previous year’s work on developing physical expressiveness through improvisation, 8th graders work on scripted scenes in a concentrated way. The major part of the semester is devoted to character study using monologues and scenes. They are asked to write in role, describing the circumstances and conflict from their character’s point of view. They consider some technical aspects of theater such as blocking, set and lighting design. As a culminating activity for this course, students are expected to research and present their findings on various theatre topics. All students in CT 8 attend a professional theater performance as a co-curricular activity of this class.
Course Requirements:
CT 7
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Literature by Women (not offered in 2010-2011) Description:
This semester-long course for students in grades 11 and 12 will explore literary works by women from a variety of time periods. We will consider questions such as: Are there significant qualities or trends that distinguish female literary voices from male literary voices? What challenges do women writers face as they attempt to create a place for themselves in the literary world? Can writing serve as a form of resistance for women? Do women sacrifice “the universal” when they attempt to write “the feminine”? Authors may include Charlotte Bronte, Emily Dickinson, Kate Chopin, Virginia Woolf, Adrienne Rich, Sylvia Plath, Toni Morrison, Jeannette Winterson, Audre Lorde, and Maxine Hong Kingston.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Literature of Transgression (not offered in 2010-2011) Description:
This semester-long elective will explore the literature of great writers who transgressed the boundaries of societal rules and expectations in their writing. Some possible authors are Oscar Wilde, Kate Chopin, Andre Gide, Thomas Mann, Richard Wright, and Jeannette Winterson. This course will focus on critical analysis in both discussion and writing.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Experimental Poetries from 1950 to the Present (not offered in 2010-2011) Description:
This semester-long course will be offered to students in grades 11-ICY. The course will explore experimental and otherwise marginalized poetry and poetics from 1950 to the present, including The Beats, The Black Mountain Poets, The San Francisco Renaissance, The New York School, Language Poetry, Latino and Afro-centric verse, Slam Poetry and Hip-Hop. We will consider the way each of these movements have engaged several overarching themes, including but not limited to marginalization, the construction of identity, secrets, the image and communication.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Introduction to Literary Theory (not offered in 2010-2011) Description:
This semester course for students in grades 11 and ICY will provide an introduction to literary theory. We will explore a few central questions: how does language work? To what extent does it reflect (or distort) the writer and the world he/she is describing? What ideas, conventions, and habits impact the way that we approach and understand literature and, what different lenses can we use to approach the process of literary analysis? The core of the course will be a survey of critical approaches such as new critical, structuralist, deconstructionist, psychological, and historical. In order to keep our own work as readers at the forefront, we will also apply these theories to a variety of texts and films, such as Jane Eyre, The Big Sleep, Some Like it Hot, and Rambo.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
The 19th Century Russian and French Short Story and Novel (in translation) (not offered in 2010-2011 Description:
In this course, we will read great classics of 19th century Russia and France, including Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons, Aleksandr Pushkin’s The Queen of Spades, Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, and a work by Stendhal, Balzac, or Zola. In conjunction with the literature, we will also study artistic, political, and cultural movements of 19th century France and Russia.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
A.P. English Literature and Composition (not offered in 2010-2011) Description:
This full-year course will focus on the close reading of seminal works of literature over several centuries, beginning with Geoffrey Chaucer’s 14th century work, The Canterbury Tales. The course will focus on British literature, but some works of non-British writers will also be central to the curriculum. Over the course of the year, the students will read classic works (novels, essays, short stories, and poetry) by Shakespeare, Donne, several Romantic and Victorian poets, Austen, Dostoyevsky, Conrad, Woolf, Beckett, Eliot, Pound, Yeats, Bishop, Stoppard, and a contemporary novelist to be determined. Students will write both formal and personal analyses of literature, and will examine the historical context of works read. Class will be conducted in a seminar style. All students will be prepared to take the A.P. English Literature and Composition exam.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
19th Century British Novel (not offered in 2010-2011) Description:
In this course, we will read great British classics of the 19th century, including Jane Austen’s Emma (or Pride and Prejudice), Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, George Eliot’s Middlemarch, Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. In conjunction with the literature, we will also study artistic, political, and cultural movements of 19th century England.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Modernism in Literature (not offered in 2010-2011) Description:
This is a course in critical reading, thinking, and writing about literature for juniors and seniors who wish to explore the emergence of 20th century modernism in English literature. In our readings, we will attempt to discover what it is that made something “modern” in the literature of the last century. Students will read some of the works of the most influential modernist writers in the English language: Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, William Faulkner, and Samuel Beckett. This course is conducted seminar-style, with students raising questions and leading discussion on a regular basis.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Contemporary World Literature (not offered in 2010-2011) Description:
In this course, students will explore post-WWII world literature in its artistic, cultural, sociological, and historical contexts. Among the literary movements explored will be existentialism and magical realism. A wide range of literature will be read, including works by Samuel Beckett, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Albert Camus, Naguib Mahfouz, Salman Rushdie, and Bei Dao. This is a course in critical reading, thinking, and writing about literature; it is run in a seminar fashion on a college level. All students will be prepared for the AP Literature examination.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Modern Drama (not offered in 2010-2011) Description:
Juniors or seniors who choose this elective learn to define the differences and connections between “Classical” and “Modern” dramatic traditions. Students read, discuss, and analyze a number of plays by some of the major playwrights of the 20th and 21st centuries, among them, Strindberg, Chekhov, Shaw, O’Neill, Williams, Beckett, Sartre, Fugard, Wilson and Mamet.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
The Roots of Western Literature (not offered in 2010-2011) Description:
This is a course in critical reading, thinking, and writing about literature for juniors and seniors who wish to explore the roots of Western literature. Students will read some of the seminal works of Western culture. Selected works may include the Bible, Homer’s Iliad, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Dante’s Divine Comedy, as well as Shakespeare’s King Lear and his sonnets. This course is conducted seminar-style, with students raising questions and leading discussion on a regular basis.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Internship in the Teaching of English Description:
Seniors who engage in teaching internships will work under the guidance of a mentor teacher within the department in order to experience the challenges and satisfactions of the teaching profession firsthand. Interns must attend all class meetings of a designated internship section of English (usually, but not always, a lower-term English class) and work with the mentor teacher to support learning in and out of the classroom. In addition to regular observation of pedagogy and performance in the intern’s class, responsibilities may include leadership of small groups or activities, assessment of HW or other short assignments under the review of the teacher, regular conferences with the teacher about an individual student’s progress in class, and the tutoring of individual students as the teacher deems helpful. At the discretion of the teacher, strong interns may plan and execute full-class lessons and/or design teaching units. Teaching interns within the department are expected to rotate as assistants to the designated “extra help” teacher in the English after-school program, for one-and-one-half hours, several times during each semester, as needed. Teaching interns are also expected to attend scheduled professional development seminars in the art and science of teaching.
Course Requirements:
Individual faculty approval; department chair approval.
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Independent Study in English Description:
Seniors may elect to engage in independent study in writing or in literary research for up to two semesters under the mentorship of a selected member of faculty in the department. Students may pursue creative writing options in poetry or short fiction (note prerequisite), the novel, or memoir. Students who choose to conduct literary research may choose to do so in any area of mutual interest to the student and the selected mentor. Students who conduct independent studies will present a sample of their work to the faculty of the department at a reception held in June and will submit a bound collection of their work for the department archives.
*At teacher’s discretion, may be renewed for one additional semester
Course Requirements:
Individual faculty approval; department chair approval. Students who elect to pursue independent study in either the writing of poetry, short fiction, or a novel must have successfully completed Creative Writing (3120).
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Literary Science Fiction Description:
In this semester-long course, students will explore some of the masterworks of science fiction. Authors to include: Dick, Gibson, Mary Shelley, Bradbury, Clarke, Asimov, Bester, Gaiman, Stephenson. Student will be responsible for obtaining their own copies of the books for this class.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Joyce Description:
Open to seniors only, this semester-long course begins with a thorough reading of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man before embarking on an exploration of one of the greatest works of Modernist fiction, Joyce’s masterpiece, Ulysses. Students will be required to purchase Ulysses.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Latin American Magical Realism Description:
This course will explore the works of three major Latin American writers: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Luis Borges, and Julio Cortazar. The class will explore each author individually and consider the similarities and differences among the writers. Students will work to formulate a definition of Magic Realism, explore the relationship between style and content, and consider the connections between this genre and the Latin American political and social world.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Contemporary American Literature Description:
In this course, students will explore 20th and 21st century American literature in its artistic, cultural, sociological, and historical contexts. We will focus on such authors as William Faulkner, Tillie Olsen, John Cheever, James Baldwin, Allen Ginsberg and other Beat writers, Toni Morrison, Thomas Pynchon, and Li-Young Lee. The class will also choose a novel or play published after 2000 to read as a group. This is a course in critical reading, thinking, and writing about literature; it is run in a seminar fashion on a college level. All students will be prepared to take the AP Literature examination.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Shakespeare’s Comedies and Romances Description:
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” So says Hamlet to Horatio, and so says Shakespeare to us, even today. The reality Shakespeare offers us is vast – the deepest intuitions of minds stretched beyond moral limits, the magic of first love, the harshness of time, the lure of immortality, the myriad weaknesses of human nature – it’s all there somewhere. Maybe you think Shakespeare was the greatest genius ever, or maybe you’ve never quite understood what the fuss is all about where this writer is concerned. We’ll read comedies and romances in the fall, tragedies and histories in the spring. Find out what the big deal is.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Shakespeare’s Tragedies and Histories Description:
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” So says Hamlet to Horatio, and so says Shakespeare to us, even today. The reality Shakespeare offers us is vast – the deepest intuitions of minds stretched beyond moral limits, the magic of first love, the harshness of time, the lure of immortality, the myriad weaknesses of human nature – it’s all there somewhere. Maybe you think Shakespeare was the greatest genius ever, or maybe you’ve never quite understood what the fuss is all about where this writer is concerned. We’ll read comedies and romances in the fall, tragedies and histories in the spring. Find out what the big deal is.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Creative Writing Description:
Creative Writing is open to students in grades 11 and 12. One semester focuses primarily on poetry and uses as its text selections from the work of a variety of poets. Published poems are read and discussed in class as examples of the many ways in which poetry is being written today. Examination of student work is conducted as a writing workshop: while studying poetry writing, for example, members of the class may critique several poems each day; students will hand in one poem a week, complete exercises, read, and use a writers’ notebook. The spring semester, which focuses primarily on fiction, is different in several ways. After doing exercises in dialogue, description, characterization, and point of view, students leap into writing and critiquing their stories. The class also reads samples of published writing, by high school students and by professional writers. The class may also do extensive work in playwriting, and read central works for inspiration and insight.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Journalism Description:
This elective introduces students to the fundamentals of journalistic writing. Students will work on every aspect of a story from developing an idea for an article to reporting, interviewing, writing and editing journalistic pieces. Writing styles covered will include hard news and feature writing, opinion, reviews, and humor pieces. Students will also explore the shifting world of media, including radio and broadcast journalism, investigative journalism, blogging, and a variety of other new media. The class will delve into the ethical standards that shape journalistic practices and the ways in which those practices change in different forms of media. Students will ultimately produce a clip file – a collection of articles that showcase the range of their writing styles.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Advanced Logic and Composition Description:
This elective is for students who wish to hone their essay skills. During the fall semester, students write both personal and formal essays on a wide range of topics, with emphasis on writing in drafts, developing revision skills, and incorporating into their work the results of close analysis of published examples of these forms. In the spring semester, personal and formal essay skills developed in the first semester are applied to the explication of major works of literature in all genres: the novel, drama, the short story and poetry. The course includes an intensive review of grammar.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
English IV (11th grade) Description:
English IV is the final required course in the high-school English curriculum and focuses exclusively on American literature. Students must demonstrate their mastery of interpretive reading and written analysis of literature in a term paper based upon their close reading of a significant literary text not included in the department curriculum. In addition, each student must produce an original June Project—a creative interpretation of the subject matter studied in the term paper—as his or her culminating performance assignment for this course. Students must receive passing grades on both the Term Paper and June Project. Throughout the year, students will also build upon their short story writing skills, their personal writing skills, and their public speaking skills in oral interpretation and persuasion; they will also write their first critical essay about poetry.
Core literature and learning: The Scarlet Letter, the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, The Great Gatsby, Their Eyes Were Watching God or The Woman Warrior, Invisible Man, The Things They Carried, a 20th century American play, a 20th century American poetry unit, and an essay unit in preparation for writing the college essay.
Course Requirements:
English 7, I, II, and III
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
English III (10th grade) Description:
Students in English III explore themes of alienation, family, heroism, destiny, and identity in both classical and contemporary literature. Students are asked to think about the connections and contrasts among texts from different cultures and time periods. They also hone the formal and personal writing skills introduced in earlier grades, as well as experiment with different forms in writing poetry. The English III speaking curriculum includes a personal experience speech, a dramatic performance of Shakespeare, and other public speaking experiences (such as text-based speeches and debates). In both writing and speaking, students consider audience, purpose, and style, working towards fluency, clarity, and personal voice.
Core literature and learning: Hamlet, Oedipus Rex, Antigone, The Odyssey, Song of Solomon, The Metamorphosis, and at least two of the following: Pride and Prejudice, Oranges are not the Only Fruit, and Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Students will practice creative writing in a poetry unit centered around closed form and world poetry. There are also required units in public speaking and appropriate usage of the Internet.
Course Requirements:
English 7, I, II
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
English II (9th grade) Description:
In English II students read, analyze, and discuss books that reflect themes of the individual defining him- or herself vis-à-vis family and society. Over the course of the year, students develop analytical and personal connections to literature through public speaking, writing, and literary analysis. By the end of ninth grade students should feel comfortable writing personally and formally about literature. The writing program at this level focuses on refining and solidifying formal skills while encouraging students to further develop a strong personal voice in their writing. Students will be expected to implement MLA documentation criteria in their formal writing. Creative writing focuses on development of the short story. Public speaking is also introduced in the ninth grade year. In these units students will reflect on their own speaking strengths and weaknesses; learn to participate more actively/productively in class discussions; learn to speak persuasively about a selected topic; and bring literature to life through performance. Grammar skills developed in 7th and 8th grades will be reinforced and extended, and ongoing discussion about appropriate usage of the Internet will continue.
Core literature and learning: Romeo and Juliet or Julius Caesar; and at least five of the following: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, 1984, Great Expectations, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, All Quiet on the Western Front and W.W. I poets, and writings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There are also required units in public speaking and grammar and usage.
Course Requirements:
English 7, I
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
English I (8th grade) Description:
English I focuses intensively on essay skills and on the process of thinking and talking about works of literature. Titles on the required reading list have been chosen to encourage thought and discussion in areas that are particularly important in the lives of young adolescents—questions of identity, coming of age, and understanding the points of view of those in other cultures or circumstances. This reading emphasis complements students’ work in the Writing Program at this level: in addition to continuing personal and literary response writing, students are introduced to the formal literary essay, which asks them to analyze a piece literature on its own terms. Students will also be introduced to the major elements of poetry writing. As a support to their writing, students in English I also receive direct instruction in standard grammar and usage, and appropriate usage of the Internet.
Core literature and learning: Macbeth or The Comedy of Errors, The Joy Luck Club, A Tale of Two Cities, and at least two of the following three novels: Black Boy, The Chosen, The Secret Life of Bees. Students will study contemporary poetry and topics in grammar and usage; they will also be introduced to correct MLA documentation for literary citation.
Course Requirements:
English 7
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
English 7 Description:
English 7 introduces students to all of the English Language Arts competencies — reading, writing, listening, speaking, and viewing. In this process, students are also introduced to literary analysis, to cooperative learning, and to the habits of mind and academic skills that they will need for success at Hunter. The object of the writing program at this level is to help students develop comfort and fluency in creative, personal, and response writing. As a support to their writing, students in English 7 also receive direct instruction in standard grammar and usage, and appropriate usage of the Internet.
Core literature and learning: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, To Kill A Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, Persepolis, The House on Mango Street, world mythology, detective fiction, poetry, and topics in grammar and usage.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Composers Workshop (not offered in 2010-2011) Description:
This course is designed for students of all levels to begin writing musical compositions. Geared to both beginning composition students as well as the advanced musician, students will have the opportunity to compose acoustic, electronic, and electro-acoustic music using the new Hunter Campus School multimedia lab. Students will learn music software programs such as Finale and Pro Tools culminating in a final concert of original music by student composers. Open to 11th and 12th grade students only.
Course Requirements:
Music II
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Popular Music Description:
This course examines popular music in the United States, Europe, and beyond, furthering our understanding of the relationship between music and social identity. Specific genres include: minstrel, gospel, folk, blues, Tin Pan Alley, jazz, rock, dance, techno, electronic, alternative, fusion, avant garde, soul, funk, hip-hop, reggae, world beat, R&B, and rap. The course includes the exploration of the development of technology and its effects on the popular music scene as well as the inner workings of the popular music industry.
Course Requirements:
Music II
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Music lll (Grade 10) Description:
The goal of this course includes the understanding of the makings of modern music, to listen and enjoy an ever-growing variety of styles, and to strengthen individual creative expression through composition.
Topics include: origins of 20th century music , chromaticism, the 2nd Viennese School; Stravinsky and the revitalization of rhythm; American Composers ;new approaches to tonality; Minimalism; Contemporary Composers; jazz, commercial, and pop.
Composers include: Berg, Cage, Copeland, Corgliano, Debussey, Ellington, Gershwin, Glass, Ives, Messien, M. Monk, Reich, Reilly, Schoenberg, Strauss, Stravinsky, Tower, Varese, Wagner, Walker, Webern, Zappa
Course Requirements:
Music II
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Jazz Styles Description:
The goal of this course is to introduce students to the creators and major innovators of jazz, to heighten the pleasure of listening to different styles and eras of jazz, and to develop an appreciation and understanding of the basics of jazz performance.
Topics include: the origins of jazz; the big band/swing era; bebop; cool jazz; modal jazz; free/avant garde jazz; and fusion. Some of the artists/bands to be covered are: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Ornette Coleman, Weather Report, and the Marsalis family.
Course Requirements:
Music II
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Music II (Grade 9) Description:
In ninth grade music the curriculum draws on examples from the Baroque and Classical periods as well as Jazz. to explore concepts of form, texture, and simple tonal harmony. This includes the study of symphony, concerto, sonata, the Mass, oratorio, cantata, and opera. The study of musical forms include: binary and ternary forms, fugue, theme and variations, rondo, the sonata allegro and the blues. Students continue to work on perceiving monophonic, polyphonic, and homophonic textures and learn the basic principles of counterpoint.
Theory and composition are taught through the continued study of scales, learning key signatures and the principles of major and minor keys. Additional studies focus on chords found in the diatonic scales and simple chord progressions, cadences, harmonic and melodic phrase structure, and seventh chords. Composition assignments include harmonizing melodies in major and minor keys, writing melodies above given chord progressions and basic 12 bar blues progressions.
Course Requirements:
Music I
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Music I (Grade 8) Description:
The 8th grade music curriculum focuses on major compositions, compositional style, musical writings and treatises from the Age of Antiquity, Middle Ages, and Renaissance periods, as well as an introduction to opera. Cross-references and commonalities with non-western and popular music will be explored where appropriate. Students learn through analysis, composition projects, listening, and student performances.
Concepts taught in this class include form, texture, intervals, tonal and modal melodies, simple tonal harmony and counterpoint. Ear training skills, including melodic and rhythmic dictation, as well as score reading and writing are also studied.
Course Requirements:
Music 07
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Music – 07 (Grade 7) Description:
Grade 7 music integrates music history and music theory including examples from the Romantic period through contemporary styles. Primary musical concepts include rhythm, melody, harmony, tempo, dynamics, form, properties of sound, acoustics, and the study of instruments in the orchestra. Composition is used as a tool for exploration and discovery using the Hunter Multimedia lab.
Course Requirements:
None
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Painting Description:
Students learn the basic techniques of painting using various media: acrylic, watercolors, and mixed media. Traditional and contemporary modes of expression are discussed and contrasted with personal styles. Parental permission is required for painting from the nude model. Museum visits and slide presentations reinforce class work.
Course Requirements:
Art II
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Ceramics Description:
This course introduces students to working with clay as a medium of sculpture and 3-D exploration. Students learn hand building techniques including pinch, coil, and slab construction and additive and subtractive sculpture. Firing and glazing techniques are covered as well as the properties of different types of clay. Critiques and discussions about the students’ work as well as viewing the work of famous ceramists, is an integral part of the course. Gallery visits are required.
Course Requirements:
Art II
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Drawing Description:
Students receive studio experiences in analytical and subjective drawing using a variety of materials and subject matter. A permission form from parents is required because a knowledge of anatomy through life drawing from a model is one component of the class. All class work is extended through museum visits and slide presentations.
Course Requirements:
Art II
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Digital Imaging: Animation, Drawing, and Photography Description:
This course introduces students to basic techniques of using the computer as a visual tool to create 2-dimensional illustrations and to scan, capture and manipulate images using Adobe Creative and Design Suite applications: Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign, Flash and After Effects and to print their images. They will learn to combine traditional illustrative techniques with digital technology commonly used for Internet pages, video, and multimedia programs.
Throughout the course students develop practical skills and aesthetic and critical abilities. Students will learn through demonstration, discussion, and computer lab work. Students will be introduced to new technologies in the field and current trends in digital photography and contemporary art through visits to NYC galleries and commercial facilities. Gallery visits and responses are required.
Course Requirements:
Art II
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Advanced Art History II: Baroque to Present Description:
Students view and discuss works of art from prehistory to Renaissance. Building on prior coursework, students will master both formal and contextual analysis to achieve a fluent visual and cultural literacy. The visual arts and history of architecture are presented within a larger context and encourage students to appreciate images as historical as well as aesthetic objects. Through lectures and class discussion students explore aesthetic and social concerns in world art. We analyze the rise of modern ideas about art and artists and begin to explore the methodologies of art history by introducing new interpretive approaches. There are many visits to the various museums of New York City. A research-based term paper is required.
If Students take both semesters of Advanced Art History they will be prepared for the
Advanced Placement examination.
Course Requirements:
Art II
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Advanced Art History I: Pre history to Renaissance Description:
Students view and discuss works of art from Pre-History to Renaissance. Building on prior coursework, students will master both formal and contextual analysis to achieve a fluent visual and cultural literacy. Visual literacy and critical thinking are transferable life skills that will serve students well in whatever career they choose to pursue. Through lectures and class discussion students explore aesthetic and social concerns in world art. There are many visits to the various museums of New York City.
Course Requirements:
Art II
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Photography Description:
The first semester introduces students to basic techniques in the operation of a 35-mm camera, and to understand the physics and chemistry of the darkroom. Students learn to develop film and to print their images. The second semester explores more experimental techniques including the creation of special effects. New and emerging digital techniques for manipulating and enhancing images will also be learned. Students will be introduced to Adobe Photoshop and Indesign. Throughout the course students develop good practice in darkroom skills. Their aesthetic choices will be examined through class critiques. Social and ethical issues will be raised through the examination of the lives, writings, and works of famous photographers. Gallery visits and response assignments are required.
Course Requirements:
Art II
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Art II (Grade 9) Description:
Art II-art history explores the European Baroque, Neo-Classic, Romantic, Realist, and Impressionist movements. Students participate in slide lectures and discussions. They visit a relevant museum collection and complete a term project. Students will build a vocabulary of techniques, historical terms and concepts that will be assessed in art history exams.
Course Requirements:
Art I
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Art III (Grade 10) Description:
Art III - art history examines the twentieth century: Cubism, Dada, Futurism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Surrealism, Pop art, Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism. Students participate in slide lectures and discussions. They visit exhibitions at local museums such as Museum of Modern Art or the Whitney Museum and when relevant, galleries and special exhibitions will be utilized. Based on works seen at the museum, students execute a related assignment. There is a mid-term and final exam.
Studio art further develops visual awareness and perceptual skills. Projects use two dimensional space and shape to create sculpture. Many of the earlier techniques are developed to a finer and more technical degree. Advanced skills are refined in drawing and painting. Abstraction and simplification are explored in studio experiences.
Course Requirements:
Art II
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Art I (Grade 8) Description:
Art I-art history concentrates on the art of Greece and Rome as well as the European art of the medieval and Renaissance periods. Special emphasis is placed on the art of the High Renaissance. Students participate in slide lectures and discussions about ways that art reflects and influences the dominant culture. Students visit a relevant museum collection and complete a term project.
Studio art focuses on the formal concerns of composition and color. Students build their skills through the techniques of shading, volume, one and two-point perspective, and portraiture. Drawing, painting and printmaking techniques are introduced and developed.
Course Requirements:
Grade 7 art
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
Art-07 (Grade 7) Description:
Grade 7-art history studies focuses on a non-European culture. Students explore the relevant collections at such places as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Asia Society, Japan Society or the Museum for African Art. A museum project is required.
Studio art focuses on formal concerns such as symmetry, asymmetry, foreground, texture pattern, form and counter form, and value. Classes study primary, secondary and complementary color. They experiment with various expressions of line: contour drawing, quality, weight, and gesture. Students use organic and geometric shapes. These classes use a multitude of media such as paint, collage, construction projects. Throughout the course students are encouraged to develop their own creativity through the use of formal means.
Course Requirements:
None.
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on November 16, 2010
AP Environmental Description:
Last Updated:
This course information was last updated on December 14, 2009
