(Go to List of Past J-Term Courses)
One of the most exciting opportunities offered by University High School is the January Term. With two semesters of 18 weeks each, University High School has something most other high schools do not -- January Term. For three weeks in January, between first and second semester, students can immerse themselves in a single subject. This allows students to focus in detail on a subject of their interest. The January Term class counts as a single semester class.
The offerings change every year and reflect both student interest and faculty expertise. There are courses each year that offer travel opportunities. Every four years, the students have the opportunity to participate in the presidential inauguration. During January Term, students in oceanic studies learned how to scuba dive in preparation for their visit to the Florida Keys to explore an active coral reef. Students studying culinary arts visited local restaurants and kitchens as they learned about cuisines from around the world. Acting students attended a number of productions locally and in Chicago. Other students got a jump on a future career by interning at hospitals, law firms, schools and even a recording studio.
One January Term was especially significant for my daughter. She was able to establish an internship with Dr. Campbell, an OB-GYN at St. Vincent Hospital. She experienced situations to which only medical students would normally have exposure, and this piqued her interest in medicine. I believe it was instrumental in solidifying her desire to become a doctor.
Charles Phillips
This class will focus on developing acting skills and will accommodate beginners through experienced actors. A professional actor will teach the class.
back to topThis class will study the development of animal behavior as a science, the various types and roles of behavior, as well as the way behavior is controlled. Some of the questions we will explore and try to answer include: What is the history of animal behavior – who were the early scientists in the field, how has the study of behavior developed? How is behavior learned – what is innate, what has to be taught and learned? Do animals think – what do we mean by thinking, do animals think and plan their actions? Why do animals play – what is play, do all animals engage in play?
The class will consist of class discussions, laboratory exercises, and several field trips. In addition it is hoped that there will be many open discussions / debates about the topics being covered. Reading material, to provide a common base of knowledge, will primarily be in the form of journal articles and excerpts from textbooks. These will be supplemented with videos, speakers, and the internet. There will be one or two trips to visit the zoo and possibly other locations to talk with people working with animals or to make our own observations about animal behavior. In addition students will be expected to keep a notebook, take part in class discussions, write and present one or two research topics.
Becoming American: Citizenship and American Liberty, 1607-2000
The purpose of this course is to serve as an introduction to an historical understanding of the development of American citizenship and American liberty, the two not always the same. This narrative, in other words, has not been either simple or straightforward. Both citizenship and liberty have meant different things to different people at different times. The question remains as to whether or not there are some permanent aspects of both that have persisted from the beginning, as the Kipling poem calls upon the reader to consider. This question and many others connected to it should become the heart of our conversation.
Disney: The Making of an American Icon
This course will look at the history of Disney. Class time will cover the biography of Walt Disney and the development of the industry and its impact on society. Specific topics will include Disney pioneered developments such as the formation of the Disney Imagineers and the invention of audio-animatronics. The impact of Disney on everyday life will also be examined with daily reading assignments from a yet to be determined text. Students will have a daily research topic of their choice that will culminate in a final paper/presentation.
The class will culminate with a 3-day/4-night trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando where the class will take part in the Disney Youth Education Series. Students will attend class for 3 hours on two of the days to participate in programs on life management and in the area of the arts and humanities. The third day will be spent in the parks on teacher determined Disney “quests” for information.
EcoTeach provides travel experiences that combine education with conservation and cultural awareness. The cost of each tour ranges from $1800 to $2300 per person. The price generally includes the cost of guides, all ground transportation, accommodations, meals and snacks, activity and entrance fees, airport exit taxes, and travel medical insurance. The only things not included in the price are tips for guides and drivers and the cost of any personal items. The course will include a Spanish-speaking component - including vocabulary, scientific vocabulary, common phrases used in conversation, and a history of Costa Rica or Mexico and its inhabitants. The science portion of the class will study wildlife conservation, habitat conservation, endangered species, organic farming, sustainable agriculture, and eco-tourism.
Afghanistan, Georgia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, and Haiti are all countries that do not have large economies or large militaries. However, what goes on in them has a direct impact on the United States. Not only can a failing state pose a serious humanitarian issue, but it also affects the U.S. in terms of decreased trade and possibilities of attacks through ‘safe-haven’ status for terrorists. Some questions we will cover in this class include: What do we mean by state? Why do they fail? Why do we care? What can we do about them?
As a case study, we will look at the President’s biggest foreign policy issue today - Afghanistan and Pakistan. We’ll look at the history that leads to Afghanistan’s current state, including development and reconstruction efforts since 2001. This includes readings, movies and firsthand reports. We’ll also examine different aspects of US power (military, diplomatic, economic, social, information), and how they can be brought to bear. Students will then research their favorite failed (or failing) state.
This course considers film as an art form, briefly describing the history and aesthetics of film while making a close examination of the sophisticated elements that produce film experience, so that students broaden and deepen their understanding and experience of film. The course materials and lectures concentrate on how the plot is presented, a film’s narrative structure, and how its story is understood, issues of film style. Students will be expected to identify and explain a variety of technical aspects, such as how film images are produced, aspects of point of view, understand a story’s range and depth, and uses of time and space, along with the effects of editing, lighting, scene construction and the grammar of camera positioning. Classic concepts in film theory like Mise en-scene, montage, deep-focus shots, negative space, and rough cuts will become part of a student’s arsenal for explaining the structure and meaning of film experience. Another course outcome is to broaden students’ film experience by viewing a variety of different kinds of films, including those of the French New Wave, traditional Hollywood films, seminal independent films and classic films like Citizen Kane. The text is Film Art by David Bordwell. Films shown in the past include: True Confessions, Chinatown, Citizen Kane, The 400 Blows, Good Will Hunting, Shakespeare in Love, The Big Night, Topsy Turvy, The Limey, The Big Sleep, and Heaven Can Wait.
In this course, we will explore the rich cultural heritage of France. Students will be taken on a century-by-century tour of the major artistic, literary, and intellectual movements and figures of French history, culminating in a study of modern-day French life and customs and a visit to France itself. During the classroom part of the course, students will also spend part of each day engaging in language activities that will help prepare them for their visit to France. Activities will be practical in nature and will focus on real-life scenarios, from understanding métro signs and menus to ordering food and asking for directions. The final week of the course will be spent visiting Paris and the surrounding area, including Versailles, Chartres, and the Loire Valley. A valid passport is required!
This course will be taught partially at the Broad Ripple Art Center and partially at University. This is a beginning / intermediate course and is designed to teach the basics of molten glass forming including techniques used in glass blowing and solid forming. Students will gain a basic understanding of glass and some proficiency in glass working. Students will produce small vessels and paperweights by the end of the course. Development of good work habits will be stressed. Technical information will include glass formulation and melting, colorants and annealing. Class time will be divided between demonstration of technique and hands-on instruction. Group projects will be planned to develop the concept of teamwork and help build students’ confidence. Students will be encouraged to experiment with form, surface and texture. This class will also take several trips to view and examine Chihuly glass installations. This will include travel to the Botanical Garden in Columbus (OH), the Indiana Visitors Center in Columbus (IN), and the Indianapolis Children’s Museum.
This course will allow students to learn about various qualitative and quantitative techniques that scientists use to determine the identity of a substance (or substances) in a sample or to determine the amount of a particular substance in a sample. You will learn about the theory behind each technique we study and then use that technique on a given sample.
The various colleges, universities and industrial facilities that are available to us will determine the techniques we study. For example, infra-red spectroscopy is typically used to identify various functional groups in organic compounds and atomic absorption spectroscopy is used to identify the quantity of a particular element in a sample. Places where we might study include Butler University, University of Indianapolis, IUPUI, Ball State University, Earlham College, and DePauw University.
Our possible schedule could include ultraviolet & visible spectroscopy and atomic absorption spectroscopy during week one, infra-red spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry in week two, and chromatographic methods in week three.
The general purpose of this social studies class is to explore the Civil Rights movement through the lens of Muhammad Ali and the metaphor of boxing. We will look at the events and historical background of the Civil Rights movement, as well as biographies of Ali’s boxing career and social involvement. Through these lenses we will discuss the relationship between physical fighting and fighting for one’s rights. Students will have daily reading and writing assignments as well as a larger research project/paper. We will also watch some films and do some boxing.
The design of the class is that there will be a physical component to this class as there was in the past (we spent about an hour a day in the gym). You don't need to be a serious athlete for this, but if you have serious asthma or another physical ailment, this course may not be the best fit.
The class will include a trip to Louisville (day trip, potentially overnight) and other trips around town.
Who is telling the truth? What is going on? What did the President say? What is the Indiana Legislature doing about the State Pie of Indiana?
This class proposes to examine current national, state, and local issues through various media. The object is not only to learn about current events but, in particular, to learn about the sources of information. What did The New York Times say as compared to the Indianapolis Star and the Weekly Standard? What do the different radio commentators say? What do the cable TV stations report compared with the networks? What biases can be identified? What information is omitted or ignored?
Students will be expected to read and listen to a variety of opinions and reports on important current topics. Assignments will include reading print/internet materials and listening to radio and television reports. Students should be prepared to write critiques and comparisons of what they hear as well as research the "real" facts.
Guest speakers will include political reporters and politicians. Students will also visit the Indiana Legislature and the City Councils for Indianapolis and Carmel.
Students will travel to San Francisco to explore the conditions (cultural, artistic, demographic) that have fostered, created and elicited some of the most exciting, groundbreaking and progressive thinking, art and technology in the world.
The premise of the class is that the rich and vibrant culture of the city is imbued with the disparate narratives of those who have called San Francisco home. Students will explore those stories and that history: the hopeful and despondent stories of the Chinese immigrants detained on Angel Island in the early 20th Century, the stories of the San Francisco Renaissance poets and their articulation of the disaffected, the stories of John Muir and other conservationists, the stories of those affected by the AIDS crisis in the Castro District in the 1980s, and the stories of the turbulent 1960s and the technology boom of the 1990s. The list is endless.
In 2008, San Francisco is still pushing the envelope on progressive thinking and vision. How and why? And do the disparate narratives that shape its history and culture continue to inform and fuel the current generation of Bay Area residents?"
We’re going to spend J-Term on a modern epic in world literature. For three weeks, we will be discussing The Lord of the Rings, learning about Tolkien’s sources for and influences on the works, and examining the things that make this an important work of literature even beyond its role as the root of modern fantasy. This class is for students who have read the books already, so students should come prepared. We will be re-reading them, rather than trying to get through such a massive set of books in so short a time. I will also provide brief introductions to The Hobbit and The Silmarillion, which you are not required to have read. In addition to our discussions of the literature, we will be viewing film clips (and perhaps having an extra-curricular film festival) of the Peter Jackson movies, as well as discussing visual art both inspired and created by Tolkien.
Students should expect a heavy re-reading load and intense discussion, with some lecture days. There will be a term paper due at the end of the course, and one short project due at midterm.
Have you ever played golf and wondered why they always seem to put the bunkers and the water hazards in just the wrong place? Have you ever wondered why so many people are so crazy about golf? How is it possible that you hit down on a ball to make it go up? Why is it that one great shot (amongst 80 fair to bad ones) will be all you need to get you to play again? Why is the best sports movie of all time a golf movie?
The world of golf will answer all of those and more. We will cover all aspects of the game: the history, the technology, course design, careers, what is going on in the golf world today, and yes, we will play (indoors and out).
The course will have a travel component to it. We have not finalized where we will be traveling but it will most likely be to Florida to visit the World Golf Hall of Fame and play three or four local courses.
This offering is available to a junior or senior student with the permission of his / her mentor and the director of internships. Students should have a passion or interest in learning more about a particular career, business, or organization. Students spend each day of January term off-campus working with an individual or an organization.
Students are responsible for making their own arrangements, but will receive the guidance and support of the director. Final placement will occur by mid-September. Students submit a daily electronic journal entry at the end of each day. In addition, each student will articulate his or her personal experience and evaluate his or her work during the internship through a longer written piece and an oral presentation to the school.
