World Languages
The world languages department currently offers French and Spanish. We use an immersion method encouraging students to communicate in the target language from the very first day of class. Our two-year language sequence is designed to give students the necessary communicative and grammatical skills to prepare them for college coursework in foreign language.
French 1 is a course that focuses on the development of students’ communicative competence in French and their understanding of the culture(s) of francophone countries. The fundamentals of French pronunciation, grammar and culture are presented through a balanced approach of all four skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking. These language skills will be developed through the study and use of written and spoken material in French. The importance of communication and intercultural awareness is stressed from the first class through a wide variety of activities (group/pair work, video, audio recordings, computer assignments, etc.) This course is designed for students with little or no prior knowledge of the language.
Spanish 1 is a course that will encompass elements of the language and culture of the Spanish-speaking world. The class will focus primarily on the language skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening in order to get students communicating in the target language from day 1. The course will be content rich; the products, perspectives, and practices of the Spanish-speaking world will be investigated in order to cultivate a deep and nuanced understanding of the various cultures of the Spanish-speaking world.
Other Electives
This Ethnic Studies course operates from the consideration that race and racism, have been, and continue to be, profoundly powerful social and cultural forces in American society. As such, content is grounded in the concrete situations of people of color, and uses a methodological framing that emphasizes both the structural dimensions of race and racism and the associated cultural dimensions. The major purpose of this course is to educate students to be politically, socially, and economically conscious about their personal connections to local and national history. Ethnic Studies focuses on themes of social justice, social responsibility, and social change. The course spans from past to present, from politics to social reform, allowing students to identify similar social patterns and universal qualities present in other societies, including their own. (Adapted from UC Berkeley, Department of Ethnic Studies)
This is a creative writing and performance course where students will learn the history of protest theater beginning with Augusto Boal’s influential work; learn acting techniques through movement, voice, and scene study; and develop new works based on student generated themes. Students will be invited to participate in
planning various aspects of the course. The course is designed to give students a voice in their learning and opportunities to perform and create works where audiences are invited to critically engage.
