Students and faculty from around the world will literally be a keystroke away during “Living and Learning in a Global Community”, an inaugural online webcast about Andover’s global education programs on February 12. A panel moderated by Head of School Barbara Chase and composed of Andover affiliates around the world will discuss Phillips Academy service programs and answer questions sent in online. Through several presentations, the webcast will explore how Andover has integrated and focused on interdisciplinary education within its curriculum. “It is imperative that our students leave Andover prepared to function in this globalized, multidisciplinary environment,” said Flavia Vidal, Instructor in English and a faculty panelist on the program. Chad Green, Director of Community Service, will participate via Skype from his sabbatical location in Cape Town, South Africa. Celia Lewis ’10, a freshman at University of Pennsylvania, will also take part in the event from Philadelphia using Skype. In the webcast, Green will discuss his involvement with the LEAP School, a focus school for disadvantaged communities, in South Africa. From Andover, Peter Merrill, Instructor in Russian, Vidal, Instructor in English and Rajesh Mundra, Instructor in Biology, will also participate as faculty panelists. Mundra will explore his program, “Why Teach India?,” explaining the importance of Indian studies in the classroom and Niswarth, a service-learning summer program in Mumbai, India. Lewis will share her experience as a participant in Niswarth and visitor to South Africa. Merrill, Vidal and Mundra are members of Andover’s Global Perspectives Group, a faculty organization created by Temba Maquebela, Dean of Faculty. The Global Perspectives Group seeks to establish programs that will promote educating students as responsible global citizens. Merrill said that the integration of interdisciplinary courses is subjective at Andover since there is no formula to harness the connections between subjects. Merrill said, “We sprinkle the courses into our curriculum and plant the seeds, mostly so that students get used to the places and issues they will keep hearing about. “As Juniors and Lowers at Andover, students may see connections across their course of study, but most of the time these connections are coincidences, namely because of the large range of courses new students take,” Merrill added. As a member of the Global Perspective Group and instructor of her own interdisciplinary course, Vidal hopes there will be more classes at Andover that bridge the gap between subjects. Merrill hopes that students will learn to analyze problems using many different subjects, as the toughest problems they will encounter may not line up in one specific discipline. The faculty has set out to increase interdisciplinary education by restructuring diploma requirements in past years and bringing in a variety of guest speakers during each academic year. “Programs such as SYA and Niswarth expand a student’s knowledge by means of experimental learning, which, although slower leaves a student with more tangible and personal knowledge,” Merrill said. Chase and Andover’s Alumni Affairs Office collaborated with the Global Perspectives Group and Brian Henson ’82, in Jim Henson Studios. Live from Hollywood, the program will take place online from nine to ten pm (EST) on Saturday, February 12. Both Andover alumni and parents from the Los Angeles area can attend the event as part of the studio audience. Through continued fundraising, Andover will continue to finance the types of courses and programs that give students the opportunity to think and learn globally.
