Here are some reports from the teachers of each of our Humanities classes for last weeks in the Program. We have organized them by class:
Freshmen Humanities (Ms. Kristen Harrell, Instructor)
At the beginning of the week, we spoke about the life of Socrates and his school of thought concerning Truth. After going over his trial and death, they made the connection between Socrates to other historical figures who’ve been killed for passive beliefs in teaching. They brought up Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and even Jesus to name a few. I had the students act out the allegory of the cave. I had students face the wall with their backs to the door. I then placed the overhead projector behind them to mimicking the fire casting shadows and I opened the door for more lighting which mimicked the outside world. I think they really enjoyed when one of the captives left the cave to discover Truth outside. For when he returned, according to Plato, and tried revealing Truth to the others, he’d be killed. They really enjoyed the play acting and no students (or teachers) were harmed in the making of the cave. At the end of the week, we continued with Plato’s concepts of Utopia and what Utopia actually means. The students brought up ideas such as socialism, capitalism, and communism. Again I let them debate with on the idea of the Philosopher-King and the caste system.
Grad Level, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties (Ms. Jessica Markstrom)
This week we covered the 14th Amendment “due process” clause and “equal protection” clause. Students learned about substantive due process and the rights formed from interpretations of the “due process” clause (privacy; procreation; marriage; private, consensual adult sexual relationships; and abortion). We also began an evaluation of civil rights with a focus on discrimination and the “equal protection clause.” Additionally, students watched documentaries on religious freedom and school integration. Documentaries watched this week included: “First Freedom: The Fight for Religious Liberty” by PBS and “Frontline – Separate and Unequal” by PBS. Cases discussed this week included: Griswold v. Connecticut, Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Skinner v. Oklahoma, Loving v. Virginia, Lawrence v. Texas, Dred Scott v. Sanford, Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education (I and II), Grutter v. Bolinger, Fisher v. Texas (I and II), etc.