The Senior Project period launched April 28, as members of the Class of 2022 embarked on internships, design-your-own (DYO) projects in various academic fields, explorations and hiking, and plans to create art and develop performances for the community.
In addition, faculty members are offering seniors the option of a Senior Seminar, where students attend sessions on campus and complete independent work on an array of subjects, said Academic Dean Heather Sugrue.
“The students are excited because it gives them more options,” she said. “And the faculty offering the seminars are excited because it’s an opportunity to focus on a particular area of interest, and the students are opting in.”
The Senior Seminar became an option last year as some students remained remote due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The subjects include historical archeology, storytelling in sports, non-European roots of mathematics, cooking as activism, exploring the American legal system, magic, field sketching and illustration in science, race and the war on drugs, intro to public health, and machine sewing. In addition, several arts teachers are offering seminars for students to continue their work in a particular area, such as painting, advanced jazz, and photography. This gives participants an opportunity to create a portfolio or project without requiring them to write a DYO proposal—and the seminars provide a forum for peer critique and visiting artists, Sugrue said.
Students working on full and half DYO projects—half projects allow them to continue in a class or take a seminar as well as their DYO—are engaged in a wide range of activities. These include preparing music recitals, filmmaking, podcasting, learning to tap dance, interning at law firms and with journalists, shadowing physicians, teaching English as a second language, assisting in the Lower School, and working with the Department of Equity, Inclusion, and Justice on programming, among many others.
There will be several opportunities for the community to see Senior Project performances toward the end of the school year; additionally, a website will be made available on which students can showcase their work, Sugrue said.