Senior First Semester Electives: Summary and Reviews

Molly Briggs ’19, Co-Editor-In-Chief

Every year, ‘Senior Electives’ are this big, mysterious question mark—no one seems to know what exactly goes on in them. I remember it being time to decide which electives I wanted to take and only having a vague idea of what they were, not to mention how they even work. And now that I’m a half-quarter into my senior year, I still don’t really know much about the classes that I’m not taking myself. So if you’re an underclassman musing about what you might want to take when it’s your turn to choose or if you’re like me and are just curious about it, here’s a little more about each of the senior electives and what students think of them.

For the first semester of senior year, you get to choose one history elective to take for the semester. To briefly summarize the Curriculum Guide, here are your options:

Honors Modern Cities: Art, Architecture, Photography and Cinema

Teacher: Mr. Black

This elective discusses the innovation and change occurring in modern cities from fashion to architecture. It focuses on city planning, modern art, architecture, photography, and cinema. Students taking this course will look at the urban and capitalist development since the 1890’s, specifically in our city of Cincinnati.

Here’s what people think:

“There’s a lot of work because we have so many readings. But, I’m excited for the project because we’re going to split up into groups and go downtown and make a presentation about it. It’s interesting but I think we’ve all found ourselves questioning some of the theories.”

“I’m learning a lot about the city that I live in, a lot more than I previously knew. I’m definitely not going to miss all of the readings, but Mr. Black is a very interesting teacher with a unique teaching style.”

Honors American Government

Teacher: Mr. Fossett

This course was made with the goal to help citizens like us understand how the government works. You will learn the purpose of government in general, and then move on to the American government in particular, learning about its structures and functions and the role of the American people in it.

Here’s what people think:

“I would say that there’s a moderate amount of workload for an honors class. We do an interest group project and present about something like the NRA or the American Red Cross. It’s very interesting because you get to learn about how government works. Mr. Fossett really knows his information because he used to be in politics.”

“I like Mr. Fossett a lot—he’s very theatrical (fun fact: he met his wife doing community theatre). The workload is intense—I have to read so many things. We talk about current events sometimes which is helpful to know what’s happening.”

Honors Economics and Society

Teacher: Dr. Tyrrell

In this course, students will learn about key concepts of economics, including our unlimited wants with the reality of limited resources, and will also learn analytical skills that will help them and society as a whole along the way.

Here’s what people think:

“I like taking Econ because it teaches us important lessons about stuff we’re going to have to know when we’re older. We’ve been focusing a lot on the 2008 financial crisis so far which is nice because I didn’t really know anything about it before. T-Rex makes sure that she’s teaching it in a fun and interesting way with our Roxaboxen video submission and our various projects.”

“There’s less work than I expected there would be. I really love Dr. Tyrrell and she’s the reason I took this class. It’s a good class to take because you learn a lot of practical knowledge (even though we’re currently doing a fun Roxaboxen project).”

Honors Roman Republic

Teacher: Dr. McCall

Honors Roman Republic is a study of the social, cultural, political, and economic birth, growth, and transformation of pre-industrial society. You will discuss the political protests, the city/country relationship, the aristocracy, the family, the culture, and the ending of the Roman Republic in this course.

Here’s what people think:

“I think it’s super interesting. DMac is super passionate about the topic, and he really knows the material. The textbook is small and the chapters are short but he expands on them in class. When we do have homework it’s a lot, but we only have it once or twice a week. The papers have good topics and the test are kind of fun. I’m really enjoying it so far.”

Photo source: https://www.storickgroup.com/blog/what-are-defined-benefit-plan-pros-and-cons/is-a-pension-qualified-or-nonqualified/