Curriculum

The Humanities Ladder program consists of a wide range of curricular activities centered around multi-disciplinary and college-preparatory reading, writing, and seminar participation. Some highlights from our curriculum include:

• The Stone House Center for Public Humanities offers year-long, weekly, college-level seminars held at Aliquippa High School and Union Area High School. With the assistance of high school teachers, Slippery Rock University professors and student mentors facilitate conversations among students. 
  
• Within the first three weeks of the program, students begin to develop a view of important texts and learn to detect hidden meanings, including poetry. They apply lyrical analysis methods, and argue for or against specific interpretations. Students produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
  
• By the final week of the first semester of the program,  students develop and analyze topics with relevant, well-chosen, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic; include graphics and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
• By the second semester of the program, students acquire and use accurately general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college- and career-readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
• By the ninth and tenth weeks, students use narrative techniques such as dialogue, description, reflection, multiple plotlines, and pacing of the second semester of the program, students develop experiences, events, and/or characters; use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, settings, and/or characters. They are also able to identify the core subjects of the humanities, provide examples of the key questions of the humanities.
• At the conclusion of the program, students are invited to a humanities summer camp at the Slippery Rock campus at no cost to them.
  
• The Stone House Center for Public Humanities will soon be implementing local cultural field trips as part of the Humanities Ladder program.

Metalsmithing with Dr. Sean Macmillan at Aliquippa High School

"This was a good experience, I truly enjoyed it."
~Aliquippa High School Student