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Share the Talk of the Town
This semester in Jeanne Barr’s Upper School Talk of the Town history course, she has guided 13 seniors and one junior in reading The New Yorker and other publications and joining together in small groups to track themes in one of four categories: Art, Culture, Politics or Science and Technology.
Members of the class then participated in, and occasionally led, roundtable discussions about things they encountered in their readings.
Despite the transition to remote learning, the students maintained these same routines and built new ones, following The New Yorker and other long-form outlets into the depths of the global crisis.
As a culminating activity, each group developed a project to reflect upon the themes of the semester, which are available to view here.
The Art group created individual pieces of original art inspired by their course experience, curated into a museum site with artists' statements.
The Culture group co-wrote a piece about following The New Yorker in the time of COVID-19.
The Science and Tech group created a crossword linking the many pieces of journalism they read during the semester.
The Politics group gave a presentation on threats to our democracy in 2020.
Francis W. Parker School educates students to think and act with empathy, courage and clarity as responsible citizens and leaders in a diverse democratic society and global community.