The following classes will be taught at GHA in 2008. Students select one broad-based and one intensive course. The Broad-Based Classes meet for a lesser period of time than the Intensive courses, and they are designed for students who simply have an interest in a particular area. No previous experience is necessary.
Handmade in a Material World
In Handmade in a Material World you’ll put your imagination to work for charity, the good of the environment and a little something special for yourself. We’ll learn how to embroider, stitch small felt creatures and refashion an old t-shirt. In the process, we’ll practice relaxing yet productive concentration. Each class will balance brief readings, thought-provoking discussions (like how crafts preserve traditions, relieve stress and produce unique works), short writings and reflections, and dedicated art work. We’ll talk to local artisans and take field trips to donate some of our creations for very good causes. All the while, you’ll learn to develop your imaginative side in a relaxing and inspirational environment.
Instructor: Molly Bassett
African Drumming and Dance and Taiko Drumming
This course is intended to introduce students to the drumming and dance traditions of music cultures in West Africa, and to the Japanese festival drumming tradition known as kumi-daiko or taiko. Through a hands-on approach we will experience the drumming and dance traditions the Ewe and Akan of southern Ghana, and the Maninka of Upper Guinea. In addition, we will learn a taiko drumming composition filled with explosive drumming rhythms and visually exciting movements. In addition, students will learn how West African drumming and dance, and Japanese festival drumming as collective musical activities reflect various aspects of the cultures that these traditions originate from. Instructor: Gordon Nunn
Writing for performance: Shameless Self-Expression
If you have ever been in an audience and thought, “Hey, I could do that,” this is your chance. Based loosely on the concepts and philosophy of No Shame Theatre (a national fringe organization dedicated to the ideal that theatre can be created by anyone – anywhere – at anytime) and designed for students with or without a theatrical or writing background, Writing for Performance will focus on through discussion and experimentation in a low-risk environment.
You will create monologues, memoirs, editorials, and short scenes (as well as some other really cool stuff), and then explore the process of bringing those pieces to life through performance, placing particular emphasis on the use of non-traditional performance spaces.
This is a class where you can express yourself without the fear of censure or the fear of failure. In fact, this is the one class where you actually can dare to fail – not because you want to fail, but because you are willing to take that risk in order to succeed.
Instructor: John Shirley
Shooting the Possibilities
Lights…camera…action! “Shooting the Possibilities” is the hot ticket at the 2008 Governor’s Honors Academy. Study all the different aspects of film, write scripts, hone your acting chops, and join a team to produce a totally original feature. Get ready for deep discussions, artistic collaboration, and a popcorn bucket full of fun.
Instructor: Mike BurrWhen you enter the universe of the absurd, your mind may be opened to new imaginative territory, allowing you to question the essential foundations of perceived reality, taking you to a new frontier of thought. In this mind-liberating adventure, we will read plays that deal with fundamental ideas of human behavior, communication and belief. This is not a performance class, but you may find yourself tempted to take the stage after reading works from some of the giants of the theatrical world—Eugene Ionesco, Edward Albee, Jean-Paul Sartre, Samuel Becket and others.. Instructor: Xavier Garcia
Writing History
Write a screenplay for a short film based on an historical event. Modernize it, make it retro, make it your own. Basics of screenwriting will be covered as well as all those other language arts necessities (theme, plot, character development, setting, etc.). There are so many outlets now for low budget filmmakers that your finished product may have the chance for airplay. Granted, it may get only five hits and they may be all from you but it will still be fun to watch--if you ever get it from paper to bytes. Explore the possibilities.
Instructor: Kristine Bybee-Finley
It’s an ocean of media: you sinking or swimming?
If you are an average person, you will spend about 400 hours this year with some form of media. From those experiences you will learn what is funny, what is attractive, what love is supposed to be like, and how you are supposed to interact with your family and friends. The media will influence the way you talk, the way you act and the way you think about an endless myriad of topics. Advertising will influence what you buy and how much you spend.
Yes, I know, you think the media don’t affect you that much, but trust me, that thought is part of the reason they do.
In this course, I’ll challenge you to be more media literate and media savvy, and you’ll learn how to be a better consumer of the media.
Instructor: Dan Hollis
Marco Polo, Martha Stewart
Imagine double-clicking on the spices at the Giant Eagle or in your kitchen. Consider the humble peppercorn, the pungent clove, the golden filaments of saffron.
Herbs and spices have centuries-long stories to tell. In this course we’ll look at how spices flavored Western history, how they flavor the Bible, Marco Polo’s and Christopher Columbus’s adventures, the Crusades, colonization, corporations. We’ll get out hands on some spices and possibly some madness, calm our nerves, fragrance our dorm rooms, ward off the plague and/or vampires, preserve and season our food.
In this course one of our goals is open our senses – through lively reading, writing, chatting, and art-and-craft-making. We’ll consider some of the mainstream and bizarre literature and lore of spices. Most of all, we’ll have our nosebuds and tastebuds stretched and delighted.
Instructor: Nicole Sheets
Front Row Bandits
“Explore the Possibilities”…come on! Really?!?! Why are you exploring the possibilities? An average American high school student going to college is arguably in the top 1% of history. YOU ARE THE POSSIBILITY!!! So let’s break open the youth generation and ask the tough questions: Why aren’t you good enough to get into Harvard? Why aren’t you good enough to start a revolution? What’s holding you back from impacting future generations? Front Row Bandits is an intensive, interactive look at you, your generation, and your potential.
Instructor: Henry Hampton
The resurgence of the Middle Kingdom - China in the 21st century
This short-term course on Chinese language and culture has two components. The language component focuses on the teaching of Mandarin Chinese pronunciation, the pinyin system (Romanization), basic conversations, and reading, writing and typing Chinese characters. A strong emphasis is made on spoken Chinese. Students will be able to perform various tasks in Chinese, ranging from meeting people, speaking about family, school life, shopping, talking about weather, etc. The culture component includes lectures on Chinese history and civilization, and cultural activities such as Chinese folk songs and dances, Chinese calligraphy, making Chinese dumplings, martial arts practice, etc. Important Chinese customs and holidays will also be introduced.
Instructor: Juan Yu
The Psychology of Butterflies
This course will focus on an overview of the history of butterflies; roles they have had and roles they have today, including global warming meters, marketing, art, etc.; how they affect and interact with people, their behaviors, basic life cycle and how it is an example for us to live by, migration patterns, their symbolism, and fascinating unique facts about butterflies. We will explore the possibilities of butterflies being messengers from unseen sources and how they have touch the lives of people during times of loss and how they do unexplained things.
The experience students will walk away with in this course will be one of a brand new perspective about these seemingly insignificant creatures. It will be a solace to share an unbelievable story with others when they may not otherwise feel believed. We will explore how butterflies can be used for relaxation and realization. A video will be shown in this class to gain the experience of the actual metamorphosis. “The Blue Butterfly” will also be seen as it is a story of how a butterfly directly changed and saved a young boy’s life. We all have been given the gift of beauty and complete change found in a butterfly. In addition, when we reflect on this, realizing the struggle this creature made to be beautiful, we too can make the necessary changes to grasp our highest potential as did the butterfly!
Instructor: Heather Ness
Mathematics: A Travel Through Time
Look at the history of mathematics, beginning with the parallel disciplines of arithmetic and geometry. We will investigate the great discoveries that merged arithmetic and geometry and produced a world of mathematics so diverse that many thought it was sacrilegious to study such things. We will utilize the computer to generate some of the most difficult constructions ever done, and we will photograph each other, analyze our faces for symmetry and discuss the science of beauty.
In addition, we will survey the GHA student body to look for common characteristics in order to produce a GHA profile. If there is a particular topic that the class wants to learn more about, then we will do just that.
Instructor: Tim McCartney
The Art of Conservation (Conservation Biology)
This course is intended to spark the interest of both people inclined to become biologists, as well as those who have a curiosity about nature.
A growing world population, increased urban sprawl, and greater demands on natural resources. That unfortunately sums up the world we all live in.
These demands threaten the remaining natural areas of the world, and the species found there. This course will take a look at the world’s biological diversity crisis (massive human induced period of extinction currently underway) and will focus on the most critically imperiled natural ecosystems. We will explore some of the efforts underway to curtail the world’s most severe species extinction.
We will discover the importance of species diverse ecosystems in maintaining the environment we call home. Students will learn basic techniques in plant identification, and produce a portfolio of 30 identified plant specimens. Some special attention to the importance of wetlands will be given. Time spent a field will familiarize students with common species of both plants and animals found in the immediate Bethany area. The course will conclude with a trip to a local wetland.
Course instructor: Patrick Raney
How the mind works: the nature of intelligence
What is intelligence? How do we measure it? Is it a stable entity or can it be enhanced? Come learn how theorists such as Binet and Wechsler have approached the nature of intelligence – and read the contemporary work of Howard Gardner. Become a theorist and construct a new theory or a new intelligence as you imagine the possibilities!
Instructor: Robert Kefferstan
Hands-on Energy
In this class, students explore the nature of energy through hands-on experiences, focusing on communication and technology. Activities include the construction of infrared detectors, communication using IR transmitters they construct themselves, and individual projects. The world of technology and communication provides an array of discussion topics including the fundamental building blocks of electronics. All students are encouraged to "Explore the Possibilities" around them and discover the synergism of ideas.
Students will learn how to read certain diagrams, design simple electronic circuits, and solder projects. Students will also discover that science is an activity that looks for patterns and relationships in the world around them and then create models and ideas of those patterns and relationships to explain the past, control the present, and predict the future. In the process, students will work on individual projects and a programmed course of study in electronics.
Instructor: Joe Boutwell