Trustees Give Green Light
to New Course
A new two-part humanities course is coming to Huntington High School after it was approved by the district’s Education Development Committee and given the green light by school board members.
“The African-American Experience: History, Politics and Literature” will also meet the core requirements for Participation in Government by focusing on a topic of “great interest” to students and matching the three required elements laid out by the state.
The new offering is aimed at seniors. It is slated to run in the fall semester with an expected enrollment of 25 students, who will earn a half-credit in social studies and another half-credit in English if they take both parts of the linked course. (Students can also elect to take only one component, i.e. just the one in social studies or the other in English, but are encouraged to enroll in both parts of the linked course.)
The social studies component of the course “will have a strong focus on government and politics and will cover topics and units in recent African-American history where economic opportunity, political inequality and issues of race intersect,” according to a proposal submitted to the EDC and provided to school board members. “History, politics, economics and race are so intertwined in the United States that it is impossible to discuss one topic without addressing the others. Essential political principles will be presented and explored in the context of racial harmony or disharmony.”
The English component “will explore concepts of race throughout American history as expressed in literature, including an examination of the correlation between socio-economic status and racial stereotyping,” according to the course proposal. “Through varied genres, students will interact with language politics and understand how authors explore race and identity through the literary arts.”
The course will include open discussion of issues related to racism in the past and present. The “final exam” of the social studies component of the course will take the form of an issues-based project. The English component will culminate with a research paper.
The new course does not require any additional staffing. It will utilize various books and periodicals and movies. The National Issues Forum series will also be an important resource for teachers. The estimated cost of materials is $900, which will be covered by the department’s 2010/11 supply budget.
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