This trimester, Division I Humanities students focused on social change movements while considering the question, “How do people with very little political power gain political power?”
First, they explored the women’s suffrage movement. We read articles, examined primary sources, and watched the documentary One Woman, One Vote. Then, students chose a theme to explore through a virtual museum exhibit. These themes included petitions, parades, hunger strikes, and the movement to oppose women’s suffrage. They then selected a series of primary sources that related to their theme, and they wrote analytical descriptions of these sources to generate their exhibits.
Following this project, we turned our attention to women who are often erased from our traditional history of the suffrage movement, including women of color and women who defied gender expectations around dress or sexuality. Students read about one particular woman or community from the book Finish the Fight! by Veronica Chambers and the staff of the New York Times. Then, they designed models of public monuments they would build to help those individuals and groups be better remembered.
Next, students explored how race affects our daily lives, including the effects of police brutality in our society, and how individuals choose to participate in movements for racial justice. They read the young adult book All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, which follows two teenage boys in the aftermath of a police assault in their community. As a final project, students wrote an analytical essay about All American Boys on a topic of their choosing.
For their final project of the year, students produced an original podcast centered on a question of their own design. These questions examined one of the topics we’ve studied this year, and students created a wide variety of creative ideas. Students then interviewed their peers, teachers, parents, and friends, and then edited these conversations together into short audio episodes.
In addition to these projects, students also selected books they wanted to read in literature circle discussion groups. As a culminating project after completing the book, students created projects that reflected their ideas about the text in a medium of their choosing, including new designs for book covers, sequel chapters, video essays, and even a parody punk song.
We hope you enjoy these projects!