Advanced Education Division - Course Descriptions

Chinese Civilization

This course is a thematic survey of Chinese civilization, one of the richest and oldest continuous cultures in the world. The course examines the defining intellectual, religious, literary, political, and artistic developments that have shaped China over millennia.  The topics range as far back as the time of the Three Reigns and Five Virtuous Saint Emperors, about 7,000 to 12,000 years ago, and proceed through the dynasties over the last 5,000 years. The study of Chinese civilization is fundamental for students to understand the development of Chinese military, political, economic, and philosophical systems. The course also emphasizes enduring values, sensibilities, and beliefs within the development of Chinese civilization.

The goal is to arrive at a basic “cultural literacy” that encompasses China’s festival calendar, dynastic cycle, key religious practices, literary and artistic achievements, architecture, family structure, means of governance, and early science and technology. The course includes readings and interpretation of primary source texts. It is offered in both Chinese and English.

AP Chinese Language and Culture

This course develops students’ proficiency in the “5 Cs” goal areas in foreign language acquisition: communication, cultures, connections, comparison, and communities, with a focus on mastering the language across the three commuicative modes: interpersonal, interpretative, and presentational. Its aim is to provide students with ongoing and varied opportunities to further develop their Chinese proficiency within a cultural frame of reference. The course also interweaves age-appropriate and interest-specific content while providing students with frequent formative assessment. Instructional materials and activities are carefully and strategically adapted from authentic sources to support the linguistic and cultural goals of the course.

AP World History

The purpose of this course is to develop greater understanding of the evolution of global processes and contacts and interaction with different types of human societies. This understanding is advanced through a combination of selective factual knowledge and appropriate analytical skills. The course highlights the nature of changes in international frameworks and their causes and consequences, as well as comparisons among major societies. The course emphasizes relevant factual knowledge deployed in conjunction with leading interpretive issues and types of historical evidence. Focused primarily on the last thousand years of the global experience, the course builds on an understanding of cultural, institutional, and technological precedents that, along with geography, set the human stage prior to 1000 C.E. Periodization, explicitly discussed, forms the organizing principle for dealing with change and continuity from that point to the present. Specific themes provide further organization to the course, along with the consistent attention to contacts among societies that form the core of world history as a field of study.

AP Art History

This course engages students at the same level as an introductory college art history course and prepares them for the AP Art History exam. It examines major forms of artistic expression from the ancient world to the present and from a variety of cultures. Special emphasis is placed on the Renaissance in Europe through the 19th century in the West and China’s Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Students will reflect on essential questions such as the origin of artistic creativity, the role of arts and artists in culture and civilization, and the interrelation of art and thought. They will develop inferential skills in order to interpret art works and cultures.  A course-long art project chosen from selected topics will help students explore meaningful ways of interpreting art works and cultures.

AP English Language and Composition –
English Language Arts 500

This course guides students to become skilled readers of prose written in a variety of rhetorical contexts and to become skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes. Both their writing and their reading should make students aware of the interactions between a writer’s intention and audience expectations. The overarching objective is to enable students to write effectively and confidently in their college courses and in their professional and personal lives. This course emphasizes the expository, analytical, and argumentative writing that forms the basis of academic and professional communication, as well as the personal and reflective writing that fosters the development of writing facility in any context. In addition, the course teaches students to read primary and secondary sources carefully, to synthesize material from these texts in their own compositions, and to cite sources using conventions recommended by professional organizations.

Cross-Cultural Communication

This course is designed to prepare professional artists with the communication skills and cultural awareness needed to express their artistic intentions to the public. Through class discussion and role-playing, students explore the different ways in which Westerners and Chinese express themselves through language and nonverbal communication. The course will also explore some of the fundamental ways in which Eastern and Western art and music differ.  Students learn skills in public speaking, oral presentation, etiquette, and the media. Students learn how to conduct successful interviews and produce media advisories and press statements. Assessment is based on class participation and in-class projects. This course is recommended for the Advanced Level English for Artists (EFA) and English for Media Professionals (EMP) Language Program Certificates.

Public Speaking

In this course, students learn both the theory and practice of public speaking in different environments and for various media activities. The course begins with an overview of how to structure an argument and support a position. Faulty arguments, logic, and debate ethics are discussed. The course continues with an overview of mainstream media operations, surveying the differences among newspaper, radio, and television. Students practice various public speaking scenarios—from giving media interviews to making speeches. Each class begins with lively improvisation games aimed at helping students develop their creativity and articulation. Video recordings and mock interviews give students instant feedback about their performance while helping them gain confidence so they may look at public speaking situations as positive opportunities to improve themselves.

AP Calculus

Prerequisite: Algebra II and Trigonometry

This is a full-year course in college-level calculus that culminates in the Advanced Placement (AP) examination. This course teaches all topics associated with functions: graphs and limits, directives, integrals, and polynomial approximations and series. Students will have the opportunity to work with functions represented graphically, numerically, analytically, and verbally. Students will learn how to explain solutions to problems both orally and in written sentences. Students will use all available software and graphic calculators to solve problems, experiment, interpret results and support conclusions.

AP Computer Science

This is a one-year introductory course on computer science for students whose future work or study will involve technology and computers. It follows the AP Computer Science A curriculum standards and prepares students for the AP Computer Science A exam.

This course teaches students to design and implement computer-based solutions to practical problems; to select and use commonly-used data structures and algorithms; to code fluently in an object-oriented paradigm using the programming language Java and its commonly used class libraries; and to read and understand large programs consisting of several classes and interacting objects.

The development of useful computer programs is used as a context for introducing important concepts in computer science, including the development and analysis of algorithms, the development and use of fundamental data structures, and the study of standard algorithms and typical applications. In addition, an understanding of the basic hardware and software components of computer systems and the responsible use of these systems are integral parts of the course.

Computer Graphic Design

The course is a combination of artistry and technical ability. Students become well-grounded in the digital work environment and with the tools required to produce media in their daily life.

Four types of software are taught: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Final Cut Pro for Mac users or Adobe Premier Pro for PC users, and Adobe After Effects. In the study of each tool, students are taught what each tool can accomplish and the skills and techniques needed to achieve a desired effect. Students learn how to use Photoshop and Illustrator for 2D graphic design, such as posters, flyers, calendars, and video graphics. Students examine the non-linear editing program Final Cut Pro, which is used to create video or music projects. Students learn video editing, sound editing, basic story-telling concepts, titling, and production. Through the use of After Effects, students learn basic graphic animations, title animation, digital compositing, and film effects.

Introductory Electronics

This one-year course is offered to high school students to improve their understanding and practical skills in electronic technology.  Students learn the fundamentals in electricity, electronics, and related fields. The first part of this course covers basic concepts, theories, and applications in electricity, magnetism, and electronic circuits, especially RLC alternating-current circuits. Built upon the foundation laid by the first part, the second part equips students with basic concepts and applications in electronics and related fields, including semiconductor components, amplifiers, oscillators, digital and analog circuits, communication technologies, computers, and the Internet.

AP Music Theory

This course introduces students to musicianship, theory, musical materials, and procedures. The course emphasizes the use of harmony in music and addresses the integration of melody, texture, rhythm, form, musical analysis, and composition.  The course also addresses the influence of history, culture, and individual style. Musicianship skills such as dictation, general listening skills, sight singing, and keyboard harmony are an important part of the theory course. The student’s ability to read and write musical notation is fundamental. It is strongly recommended that the student has acquired at least basic performance skills in voice or on an instrument to enroll in this class.

AP Studio Art

The Studio Art Drawing course is designed to address a broad interpretation of drawing issues and media. The class covers drawing techniques such as light and shade, line quality, rendering, composition, surface manipulation, and illusion. The course covers these areas in the context of various media, including drawing, water color, painting, printmaking, and mixed media.

The course also addresses two-dimensional (2-D) design issues. Design involves purposeful decision making about how to integrate the elements and principles of art. The principles of design (unity/variety, balance, emphasis, contrast, rhythm, repetition, proportion/scale, figure/ground relationships) are articulated through basic visual elements: line, shape, color, value, texture, and space. Instruction in these areas is introduced in a way that helps guide artists make decisions about how to best organize and communicate content.