Mr. John Fay

John Fay is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio with a degree in History and a Master of Education and Ohio Teaching Certificate from Ursuline College. He is the Eleventh Grade World Art History teacher, Twelfth Grade Geography teacher, and Tenth grade advisor. In addition, John is a licensure representative, Praxis Three Mentor, Professional Development, Curriculum and Leadership Committee Member, Photography Club advisor, and Guitar Club advisor.

Eleventh Grade: World Art History

Unit One: Developing a Toolbox :The purpose of this unit is to identify and enable students to use the tools and skills that experts in their fields utilize to analyze, comprehend, and connect individual and multiple cultures. The unit is designed to engage students in the study of culture in ways that go far beyond the approach in most textbooks. Students will explore the skills of researchers in anthropology, archaeology, sociology, theology, art, and history, in order to apply these skills to their study of cultures throughout the course. They will attempt to develop the objectivity of ethnographers who try to continually rethink their judgments about culture in light of new information or data.

Unit Two : Ancient Cultures: Now that students have developed the toolbox they need to examine culture, they can begin to use these tools to study the evolution of culture over the course of human civilization. The rest of this course will allow for the application of lessons and skills learned in Unit One. In Unit Two, students will explore three main ancient cultures: Mesopotamia; Northern Africa; China. These civilizations and geographic areas are the source of many discoveries and developments that influence our daily life even today. Students will develop hypotheses about these cultures and use research techniques to dig deeply for information that helps them develop understanding of each culture as well as to compare and contrast the three cultures. They will also look for ways in which they may have interacted or built upon each other’s accomplishments.

Semester Two:
Unit Three (approx. 700-1600 A.D.): During this time period, significant changes in religion and art occurred. Students will examine the rise and expansion of Islam and its contributions to world culture, particularly scientific and technological developments during the Islamic Caliphates of this period. The will explore the ensuing conflict with Christianity during the Crusades. In studying the beginning of the Renaissance, students will consider how wealth and relative peace allowed for artistic proliferation in Italy through important patrons like the Medici Family. This unit will emphasize analysis of art and music of the time period and of technological inventions like those of Da Vinci. Do you mean just drama and literature? This study will be build on the work students have done in religion on world religions and will link to the history of the Church through this period and how Aquinas’ teachings (heavily influenced by Aristotle) brought unity into a world that was fragmenting.

Unit Four: 1800 – present: This unit will explore the expansion of civilizations through colonialism and other societal forces during this period. Teachers and students will choose which countries and geographic areas to study based on student background and interests. Students will examine the evolution of modern culture, rooted in the Industrial Revolution. Students will consider the ways in which evolving technology led to the global society that people describe today. Students will evaluate how various cultures’ decisions relate to our contemporary notions of social justice.

Geography, Grade 12

The study of geography is the social studies focus for the senior curriculum and its theme of Care for Earth. No course should be more relevant to young people today than the study of the world, which is not unlike the “back yard” of former ages. They will have opportunities to see and impact every corner of Earth. This course integrates the physical and human dimensions of the world in the study of people, places, and environments. Roger Downs, author of Geography for Life, defined the purpose of geography study when he wrote, “We believe in the power and beauty of geography. We want to help students to see, understand and appreciate the web of relationships between people, places and environments. We see geography in the world that is nearby and around the corner. We see geography in the world at large, the global economy and global environment.” As with every other course at St. Martin de Porres High School, the study of geography will begin with the students own knowledge and experiences as the foundation for exploring national and global issues and trends through which natural processes and human activities shape our world. Study will begin with an assessment of students’ knowledge of maps, continents, countries, etc.

Professional groups in geography (the National Council for Geographic Education, American Geographical Society, Association of American Geographers and the National Geographic Society among others) have developed clear standards to guide geography education. These standards are rooted in six essential elements of geography:

• The World in Spatial Terms -- the relationships between people, places, and environments through mapping information about them into a spatial context

• Places and Regions -- the lives of individuals and peoples rooted in particular places and in those human constructs called regions

• Physical Systems -- physical processes that shape Earth’s surface and interact with plant and animal life to create, sustain, and modify ecosystems.

• Human Systems -- human activities that help shape Earth’s surface, human settlements and structures and humans compete for control of Earth’s surface

• Environment and Society -- physical environment modified by human activities, largely as a consequence of the ways in which human societies vale and use Earth’s natural resourcesl human activities influenced by Earth’s physical features and processes

• The Uses of Geography -- the relationships between people, places, and environments over time – that is, of Earth as it was, is, and might be.

Academics

Mr. John Fay