The Roman playwright Terence wrote, "I am a human being, and consider nothing to do with humanity to be outside my province" ("Homo sum et nihil humanum a me alienum puto"). To be able to say this ourselves, we enlarge the usual province of student examination to include nations and continents far from here, both in miles and mindset. Prepare yourself to enter the world, through study of its societies and its literature.

S y l l a b u s

A rough outline of our intended path around the world. We may diverge, as interests and events warrant.

Our major units, grouped geographically, are 1. Geopolitics, 2. The Middle East, 3. Africa, 4. Russia, 5. India, and 6. China & Japan. Throughout the year, we will read and analyze literature -- novels, poetry, short stories -- and watch films native to (and/or referring to) specific regions. Other regions will be studied through an ongoing analysis of current events.

We will always attempt to synthesize each unit with all that came before it, to build an increasingly all-encompassing view of the world as it was, is, and may be. Assignments all along the way will engage different skills (research, creative writing, analytical writing, simulation, debate, 3-D media, etc.), and are designed to stimulate interest, understanding, and creativity.

We welcome you along for the ride!

- Mr. Jaskelewicz & Mrs. Overcash
- Mr.Neary & Mr. Sklar

Below is a simplified version of the course syllabus.

To see the summer Reading Assignment, click here; find the summer Current Events assignment by clicking here.

First Quarter

  • Current events analysis, summer reading, and our Brave New World
  • Propaganda, journalism, and the media
  • Geopolitics, culture, demographics, power
  • A study of power and legitimacy -- and human nature -- in literature: Shakespeare's Macbeth
  • Trip to the United Nations

Second Quarter

  • Religion, politics, and history: a study of the Middle East
  • Trip to Washington D.C.: the State Dept., the PLO, and the Israeli embassy
  • Africa -- beautiful and ugly, rich and poor -- as told through presentations of research papers.

Third Quarter Quar

  • Russia: the tsars to Dostoyevskyto Chekhov to Lenin to Pasternak to Stalin to Khrushchev to Yevtushenko to Yeltsin to Putin to...?
  • The mystery of India: A Fine Balance between religion, caste, the colonial past, and modern-day globalization

Fourth Quarterter

  • [India, continued]
  • Asia emerging: the philosophies and economies of China and Japan, the proud and poetic past, and the transitions of the last century
  • Final projects: class publication, video, and research-based projection of the future of the planet

Not too ambitious, eh? We hope you will stretch yourself, be alert, and plan to process a flood of new fact and fiction. We know you can do it!

 Grading Policy

Radnor High School Grade Scale

98.5 - 100= A+

92.5 - 98.4= A

89.5 - 92.4= A-

86.5 - 89.4= B+

82.5 - 86.4= B

79.5 - 82.4= B-

76.5 - 79.4= C+

72.5 - 76.4= C

69.5 - 72.4= C-

66.5 - 69.4= D+

62.5 - 66.4= D

59.5 - 62.4= D-

0 - 59.4= F