Academy to Offer New Courses in 2021-2022

By: Max Chuang, William Lu, Catherine Wu

The Courses of Instruction for the 2021-22 school year featured an exciting array of new courses in the English, Exeter Innovation, Health, History, Mathematics, Modern Language, Music, Science and Theater and Dance departments. Most notably, the History, Theater and Dance and Mathematics departments aimed to extend the Academy’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) work with the addition of courses HIS515: LGBTQ History, THR207: New Voices, New Stories: Exploring and Performing Contemporary Plays and MAT40J: Mathematics of Social Justice.

With the appointment of new Music Instructor Eric Schultz, two new music courses, MUS205 and MUS590, were added to next year’s course catalog. His position as Director of Electronic and Emerging Music drove many of the changes that the Music Department has already seen this year, including the addition of the Emerging Media Composers Collective course, which will be renamed to Modern Music Making next year.

“Dr. Schultz is incredibly excited to offer the new courses of Musical Structure and Songwriting [MUS205] and Music Recording and Mixing [MUS590]. We feel that these courses add variety, breadth and depth to our music curriculum,” Music Department Chair Kristofer Johnson said.

The Music Department has also implemented eligibility changes to MUS077: Concert Choir— Concert Choir is no longer available to preps. According to Johnson, “This will provide new 9th grade students a common choral experience in the Exeter Choral Union in their first year while making Concert Choir an opportunity accessible to more singers. We feel that this change can provide a more equitable audition experience and encourage more students to be a part of the choral program over time.”

MUS011, previously known as African Drumming and World Percussion Ensemble, was renamed to Global Rhythm Ensemble. New Music Instructor Director of Bands and Jazz Marcus Rabb hopes to expand the course by offering Caribbean music through a steel drum ensemble. “The name change reflects the broader focus of the music that students will explore in this group over time,” Johnson said.

Many courses were added as part of the Academy’s DEI initiatives.

In the History Department, newly added course HIS515 was created to inform on LGBTQ+ History. “Like other departments endeavoring to carry on the work of DEI and anti-racist initiatives, the History Department is working on curricular changes that enhance these institutional priorities while fostering student inquiry on a variety of subjects across time and throughout the world,” History Department Chair Kent McConnell said.

In the Theater and Dance Department, courses THR201: Solo Performance and Stage Presence, and THR207: New Voices, New Stories: Exploring and Performing Contemporary Plays, were added. “These are courses created to reflect the direction we’re headed as a department,” Theater and Dance Department Chair Lauren Josef said. “We have several new members of the department, and we are shifting to better serve the student body, as well as making it clear and visible that we are working towards becoming an anti-racist department.”

But to accommodate these courses, others, including THR200: Theater for Social Justice, and THR302: Playwriting, have been removed. “Looking back at the last five years of enrollment, these classes haven’t run so we decided to try something different,” Josef said.

In the Mathematics Department, MAT40J: Mathematics of Social Justice, will also be added to further increase DEI work within courses. This course will discuss mathematics relative to public policy and inequity.

Additionally, the Mathematics Department added the new sequence MAT31X/32X/40X to compliment the original MAT31X/40X/41X sequence. After the fall term, the original 31X class will split into two groups enrolling in either MAT40X or MAT32X.

PHY440: Applied Physics, will be added to the physics elective offerings. “It is only one term long, so it is good for students who want to do a little more physics after the introductory level, but might not want to devote a whole year to Advanced Physics. Also, the math requirement is not as high as that for Advanced Physics, so it is accessible to more students,” Science Department Chair Albert Leger said.

The course CHE455: Building the Modern World: Chemistry of Smart Materials and Devices, will be removed. “The faculty is incorporating many of the ideas/concepts from CHE455 into the Chemistry 300 and 500 sequences so that more students learn about these topics rather than just a small group who takes an elective course,” Leger continued.

A name change was implemented in EPS450 from Earth Systems to Earth and the Climate Crisis. According to Leger, this update was implemented to reflect the importance of addressing climate change.

CHI570: Readings in Post-Imperial Chinese Literature, will be removed and replaced by CHI580: Chinese Through Digital Media, in the Modern Language Department. Regarding the removal of CHI570, “We decided it was time to update it,” Chinese Instructor Ning Zhou said, “in order to maintain a thriving Chinese language program, one that will generate additional interest from our core students.”

“We also seek consistency with other course offerings within the Modern Language Department, since both French and Spanish have digital media courses. Chinese teachers discussed the subject manner in 570 and decided to redesign the course, changing the focus from literature to ‘Chinese Through Digital Media,’” Zhou continued.

As for French electives, FRE550: Francophone Theater, FRE552: From Folly to Reason, and FRE553: Great Novels, will be removed. They will be replaced by FRE554: Humanism, FRE555: Change Makers, and FRE556: Studies in Francophone Cinema, since these courses alternate year to year. “We limit the number of courses offered in a given year so that enrollment will be easier to manage. If we were to make available our full array of advanced courses every year, inevitably some of those courses would be canceled due to insufficient enrollment,” Modern Language Instructor Katherine Fair said.

The Exeter Innovation course offerings also saw their yearly changes. Exeter Innovation is a program that enables teachers to propose courses which do not fit into standard categories. Courses run for two years in Exeter Innovation, after which they must be approved to be switched into Integrated Studies. This year, EXI539: From Bessie Smith to Beyonce: A History of Black Women Performers in America and EXI569: Leadership in Sports and Beyond were removed, and four new courses, EXI309: Social Stratification: Identity, Power, and Systems, EXI515: War, Identity, and Nationhood, EXI525: Latinx History and Culture in the U.S. and EXI545: The Intersection of Science, Health and Race in America were added.

“We are very excited about the four new Innovation courses and we hope students are, too. These courses harness a lot of the energy around providing curricula and learning opportunities that reflect our school values,” Director of Studies Scott Saltman said.