Session Details

There will be ten sessions, meeting on each week during the quarter. 

Description

In this course, students will be introduced to both creative and expository writing, with a focus on writing as a visual practice. Students will learn how to effectively convey the world around them through imagery, specificity of detail, and narrative strategies. In the creative portion of the course we will read memorable poems and short stories, and examine how poets and prose writers provoke emotion in their readers. In the expository portion of the course, students will learn how to write an essay that both informs and engages their audience.

Students will be introduced to a variety of organizational patterns and framing techniques, along with targeted reading and writing exercises. At the end of our sessions, students will have written in both creative and instructional styles, and will be comfortable implementing visual considerations into their own work.

Check back later for the announcement of the Spring 2020 theme.

Session Details

Fall 2018 featured two sessions of the Stanford Humanities Circle. "Crafting Science Fiction and Dystopic Stories" met on Wednesday evenings.

Description

“Science Fiction and Fantasy stories have been part of the human experience since the first person contemplated the stars in the sky and wondered about the nature of life,” writes author and editor Garyn Roberts. During this course, students will be introduced to some of the masters of science fiction and dystopic writing. Through teacher and student led discussions, students will explore the art of crafting fiction. Students will read short stories and excerpts in class, and these stories will serve as models for students to write their own works. Students will learn about the purposeful placement of events, how to write believable dialogue, develop setting and mood, bring characters to life, and appreciate the power of revision.  By the end of the class, students will let their imaginations soar to create their own compelling stories using all the various elements of fiction.

Instructors 

Dr. Gretchen Kellough and Ms. Kelly Ward

Session Details

Fall 2018 featured two sessions of the Stanford Humanities Circle. The Poetry session met on Thursday evenings.

Description

Poems have the power to haunt us, guide us, and help us remember. In this course we will focus on both inspiration and technique. Each week we will read memorable poems by writers including Louise Glück, Pablo Neruda, Sylvia Plath, and Wallace Stevens. We will examine how poets provoke emotion in their readers, as well as how they shape their poems through formal elements of craft. In addition to reading and discussing published writing, students will produce original work and experiment with revision strategies. A variety of writing prompts will engage students during class time, and we will take a walking tour of Stanford’s sculpture gardens to get inspired by art and nature. By the end of this course students will have written and revised several poems, and will be comfortable implementing literary techniques and visual considerations into their own writing practice.

Instructors 

Graham Barnhart

Session Details

Stanford Humanities Circle (Grades 6–8) focused on Philosophy during the 2019 Winter Quarter. The circle met on Wednesdays during the quarter for 1 hour 15 minutes each week. In these sessions, students were able to ask questions and make philosophical arguments. Through peer critique, students practiced reasoning skills that encourages critical and analytical assessment.

Description

In philosophy, we ask lots of questions. Would we be missing out on anything if it turned out that we were living in a very sophisticated simulation?  Are some things just plain wrong, no matter what? What’s the best way to organize society if we want to treat everyone fairly? When philosophers try to answer these questions, they often make arguments aimed at convincing other people to accept a particular conclusion. In order to understand and make philosophical arguments (and regular arguments, too) we need to first get a grip on how these arguments work. This class will take students behind the scenes of arguments, and logical reasoning more generally, in order to study some basic philosophical tools and methods.  We will introduce and practice the reasoning skills that philosophers rely on, focusing on arguments, the foundational concepts of validity and soundness, inductive and deductive reasoning, as well as patterns of bad reasoning to avoid (also known as logical fallacies). Equipped with these tools, students will be better able to assess the strength of the arguments they meet with in philosophy and in everyday life. And, just as importantly, they will be better equipped to construct compelling arguments of their own. 

Instructors 

Lauren Thomas