Interdisciplinary Electives

A number of interdisciplinary courses are offered which cross one or more academic disciplines and which engage and challenge students to immerse themselves in topics of conflict and importance in the modern world.
Interdisciplinary Course Descriptions (offerings vary from year to year)

TEDxLAGUNABLANCASCHOOL
One semester - Grades 9-12

This fall elective provides students with the opportunity to develop organizational leadership skills and strategies while working in a collaborative teamwork environment. Students will be tasked with all aspects of developing, designing, marketing, financing, filming, uploading, and programming for our first annual TEDxLagunaBlancaSchool in February 2018. Students will select the theme, recruit and choose speakers who appropriately represent Laguna Blanca and the TED community, design the stage, market the event, work with local technology/media experts on production and filming, collaborate with our development office and potential sponsors for fundraising and financing, and coordinate all activities on the day of the event. This experience will provide real-world, project-oriented leadership for our students and will showcase our school to the greater community.

CRITICAL THINKING
One semester - Grades 9-12

Critical Thinking is a course that concentrates on the act of thinking, logic, and reason rather than specific content. It addresses the cognitive skills necessary in order to be successful in school and life. One does not talk about critical thinking, but actually practices it on a daily basis through critical debate, examination of present day and past issues, fallacies of logic, and active problem solving.

INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY 
One semester - Grades 11-12

What is truth? What is goodness? What is beauty? This course invites students to join the Great Conversation about these questions by surveying the history of ideas and by scrutinizing important selected texts. We will find foundational ideas in the Bible, Plato, and Aristotle; think through Descartes, Hume, and Kant; consider the claims of Marx, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche; and delve into Derrida and postmodernism. This seminar-format course is designed to help students refine wonder into meaningful questions, to recognize and evaluate critical assumptions and beliefs, and to move toward well-informed personal convictions.
Prerequisite: Application and consent of instructor.

 
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