Humanities: An Integrated Approach

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The Thomas Jefferson Humanities Department includes teachers of English and Social Studies. Many of our courses are integrated, with both disciplines represented. This interdisciplinary approach offers many opportunities to delve deeper into all subjects. Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior level core courses are all interdisciplinary. Senior level courses are optional for integration, as there are differing courses available for those students who prefer to study these subjects separately. The integrated senior courses are a way to study world events in the context of both literature and government.

Freshman Level: IBET- Integrated Biology, English, and Technology

This required three-period block integrates instructional objectives of Biology, English 9, and Design and Technology. In the IBET Program, the FCPS Program of Studies for each discipline is taught by using a process-oriented approach to help students establish connections across the disciplines and attain the objectives for each course. Student groups learn to collect data, conduct field work, conduct literature searches, write scientifically, and prepare publications and presentations through long-term project collaborations with private and governmental agencies. Separate and interdisciplinary grades are awarded for each course.

Sophomore Level:

Humanities I- World History and English 10

The humanities program offered to sophomores is a two-credit course that satisfies the graduation requirements for English 10 and World History and Geography II. In this team-taught interdisciplinary course, students examine the relationships among the economic, social, political, scientific/technological, and artistic developments in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Students study the world from 1500 to the present, after reviewing world history from prehistory to 1500. The study of geography is an important element in this course. The study of literature is coordinated with the study of history either chronologically or thematically. Unifying strands such as art, music, science, and engineering are presented throughout the year. In addition to the content of history and literature, the humanities program emphasizes the skills necessary to process information, to communicate, and to work with others. A strong emphasis is placed on the processes of writing, reading, speaking, listening, and viewing. Upon completion, students take the SOL end-of-course tests for World History and Geography II. Separate grades are awarded for each course.

CHUM: Chemistry 10, English 10, and World History

Combining Humanities with Chemistry allows teachers and students to identify and recognize the complexity of the world in a broad context.  If we accept Chemistry as a science that grew out of careful observation and experimentation in ancient times we must accept that it did not develop in a vacuum.  Surviving? Tickling the palate?  Making gold? Treating disease? Winning a war?  Chemistry combined with history, geography, literature, and art has produced many life-saving, life-enhancing, and life-threatening procedures and results.

The year long course will include a focus using Penny Lecourteur & Jay Burreson's book, Napoleon's Buttons  and includes targeted field trips, special projects, and guest speakers. This course explores the interdisciplinary possibilities for the application of chemistry in the service of humanity.

Junior Level: Humanities II

English 11 and VA/US History

This is a team-taught, interdisciplinary survey course in American history and literature from 1607 to the present. Students examine the interrelationships among art, literature, music, and architecture along with specific historic trends and events. The course focuses on the major themes and philosophies of our nation's history as well as on the men and women who created it. Students continue to refine their language, learning, and communication skills. The course emphasizes critical reading, writing, group work, individual and group projects, independent research, and interpretations of primary sources. Upon completion, students will take the SOL U.S./VA History end-of-course test and the Reading and Writing SOL test. Separate grades are awarded for each course.

English 11 and AP US History

This is a team-taught, interdisciplinary course in which students examine the interrelationships among art, literature, music, and architecture along with specific historic trends and events in America from 1607 to the present. Emphasizing critical reading, writing, group work, individual and group projects, independent research, and interpretations of primary sources, the course focuses on the major themes and philosophies of this nation’s history as well as on the men and women who created it. Students learn to assess historical materials, their relevance to a given interpretive problem, their reliability and their importance, and to weigh evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship while refining their language, learning, and communication skills. Students are required to complete a summer reading assignment, as well as up to sixty pages of reading a week. Upon completion, students take the Advanced Placement examination in AP U.S./VA History and the Reading and Writing SOL test. Separate grades are awarded for each course.

Senior Level:

Topics in Globalization:

A combination of AP Government and AP Language and Composition, this course focuses on authentic world problems of interest and significance that derive from and affect the evolving phenomenon of globalization. The composition work employs journalistic models, as well as classical rhetorical types of writing and the type of personal writing used in the college application process. In government class, students study regular AP Government topics, emphasizing the making of foreign policy and international economic relations. The study of global issues involves problem solving scenarios, authentic presentation of findings (as if presenting to government agencies), and simulations. Readings include current periodicals, thematically aligned novels, and texts by noted experts in globalization. Students research and write about these issues in journalistic forms such as editorials, op-ed pieces, columns, and feature stories. Students use the knowledge and skills they have gained throughout their years at TJHSST to grapple with these complex worldwide issues, and to develop possible solutions. Upon completion, students take the Advanced Placement examinations in AP Government and AP Language and Composition. Separate grades are awarded for each course.

Senior Seminar: Language, Power, and Politics:

What is the power of language? What is the language of power? Senior Seminar examines these questions through a fascinating look at the links between literature and politics. The course explores issues such as personal and political identities, leadership, and the power of the individual in our political system. Students engage in numerous individual and group activities in this course including a Model Congress simulation, novel reading groups, essay and imaginative writing, and Socratic seminars. Upon completion, students take the Advanced Placement examinations in AP U.S. Government and AP Literature. Separate grades are awarded for each course.