Exciting New Classes At IMSA: From Books to Biology

It is almost time for course selection and 9 exciting new classes are set to take place at IMSA in the 2024-25 school year. With courses ranging from wellness to science, here is what’s coming:

ENG401e: Authors & Topics: Banned Books

This course is available in the fall semester and requires Literary Explorations III. It will address the fact that censorship and book bans are becoming more common and delve into controversies around these topics. Students enrolled will analyze literature subject to bans in a variety of topics as well as “engage with questions about the cultures that choose to restrict these works.” This course is perfect for the readers on campus as well as history lovers.

ENG401f: Authors & Topics: Adaptation: Literature and Films

Similarly, this course is available to juniors and seniors in the fall semester and requires Literary Explorations III. Students will explore aspects of movie adaptations. They will read novels as well as films by examining cinematic elements. Movie lovers and readers enrolled in this course can expect to “examine the migration of these intertextual stories and ideas across media and time.”

ENG401b: Authors & Topics: Satire

This class was previously approved and offered and will now be offered in the spring as a wider collection of English electives. It also requires Literary Explorations III. It recognizes the contemporary tool of satire, a use of humor involving irony to diminish a subject. Students enrolled will analyze satire as a genre as well as a literary device in traditional and contemporary forms. Difficult topics such as offensiveness and structural elitism will be explored from a historical perspective of satire. With prior and growing knowledge of satire, students will employ satire for their purposes.

HSS380: China in the World

This new course will be taught by a new HSS member, Dr. Patrick Buck, and replaces Ancient World/Greek courses. It is strictly available to seniors with one credit of history in junior year. The class aims to explore China’s role in world history and how it has been interacted with. Students will learn about media and scholarship involving China. This fresh course will provide students the opportunity to explore their own passions and share them with the class.

SCI316: Electronics

Electronics will replace Microcontroller Applications and will be one semester (either one) for both juniors and seniors. It is required that SI-Physics and SI-Chemistry have both been taken. The basics of electronics will be taught with topics of voltage, current, resistance, circuits, and induction while working with circuits. Students will work with components and test equipment and will get familiar with advanced topics ending in a summative project.

SCI465: Engineering: Statics & Dynamics

Statics and Dynamics in either the spring or fall semester will act as a more advanced and math-focused version of the existing engineering course that will remain an opportunity. It requires SI-Physics as well as concurrent or completion of any AB of BC Calculus course. Topics will be taught through project-based challenges with math, physics, chemistry, social science, and art to solve real-world issues in civil and aerospace engineering. In this course, students will “learn how to calculate forces…using linear algebra principles (linear algebra is NOT a requirement for the course), design structures to minimize weaknesses, understand modes of failure…and build structures to test their analysis.” The second half of the course will use principles combined with calculus to design a rocket and predict performance. It seems like this class will be perfect for those hoping to expand upon engineering at an advanced level and for those interested in applying calculus.

SCI316: Biology: Evolution & Environment

This will replace the fall semester of Advanced Biological Systems and requires SI-Chemistry and Methods of Scientific Inquiry. The class is an introduction to environmental biology and explores topics such as Earth history, evolution, metabolism, and ecology. It is based on the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Goals that the biology program focuses on (Good Health and Well-Being, Clean Water and Sanitation, and Sustainable Cities and Communities).

SCI316: Biology: Molecular & Cellular

This course will replace the spring semester of Advanced Biological Systems and requires SI-Chemistry and Methods of Scientific Inquiry. Students will understand and experience foundational biological concepts and similarly focus on the UN Sustainable Goals previously described.

WEL410: Psychology of Sport

Students enrolled in this course in either spring or fall will have an active approach to concepts in sports psychology while participating in various games. The games will have tactical approaches to learning and understanding each game as well as four categories: target, net and wall, fielding and striking, and invasion. Each week, students will participate in activities and follow with deep dives into the topics asynchronously. Some of the topics include cultural humility and sociological perspectives. It requires Moving and Learning or Foundations of Healthy Living previously.

As IMSA students begin choosing classes, these 9 unique courses provide some fresh and exciting opportunities to replace and add to the current ones.