Upper School Advanced Curriculum

This course is a semester-long, focused exploration of advanced data structures in C++, spanning array lists, vectors, linked lists, stacks, queues, binary trees, heaps, dictionaries and lookup tables.

This semester-long course delves into machine learning, automation algorithms, artificial intelligence (AI), and predictive analytics using Python’s data analysis and visualization libraries.

This full-year course is a broadly focused exploration of Java programming that mirrors a 100-level college computer science course. The first third covers procedural programming, emphasizing Java’s foundations derived from C and C++.

Students in ADV English 11: American Literature & Rhetoric will do everything detailed in the English 11 description and undertake an additional focus on rhetoric, the art of using language effectively to persuade and influence others.

The five novels in this course resist being categorized within a single nation’s borders. They also share a preoccupation with whether it is possible to find a shared humanity — i.e., to create some form of justice — that transcends the boundaries of geography and identity both within and among modern nation-states.

This course introduces students to art and literature from and about the Middle Ages. The semester’s work begins with medieval literature (in translation!), asking students to identify and articulate literary tropes in stories about King Arthur and Camelot.

Literature has been an important mode of human understanding and expression for thousands of years. You have been required to study it every year of your education, which has emphasized the primacy of reading with skill. But what is literature for?

This is not a course about a solitary genius who lived and wrote 400 years ago in England, but rather a living, breathing body of literature that is in current production, adaptation, and public discourse all over the world.

In this ADV-level semester-long course, students will examine literature that engages with issues such as climate change, public health, economic inequality, and social and racial injustice.

ADV English 12: Women’s Literature applies several theoretical lenses (e.g., feminist theory, queer theory, formalism, old historicism, Marxism) to the study of literature written by and about people who identify as women.

This course will examine the power of race as a social construct — not rooted in biological reality — that has affected American life as much as any other human force or entity.

This Advanced seminar examines how popular culture has both reflected and shaped American life from the 19th century to the present. Through film, television, music, sports, fashion, advertising, and digital media, students explore how mass culture has expressed and contested ideas about race, gender, class, and national identity.

The Middle East is a region that is often described as turbulent, complicated and exotic in popular U.S. imagination. In ADV Modern Middle East, we will explore the history of the region to show the way that historical forces that students have explored in their foundational history courses — industrialization, imperialism and nationalism — have affected and shaped its diverse societies.

Sociologist Max Weber described the process of modernization as “the disenchantment of the world,” leading to a world governed by rational logic, programmable machines and a natural order transparent to human understanding — but, most importantly, with a negligible place for religion with all its mysteries and contingencies.

Traditional approaches to history have often relied on events and texts that prioritize the lives and accomplishments of men. How can we change our approaches to history, the evidence that we use and the questions that we ask to uncover the stories of women and people of marginalized genders?

In many ways, Durham represents the adaptability of the American South and a model of urban reinvention. And yet, Durham’s success is complicated.

Almost everyone on the planet lives in a nation, yet that form of social organization is a relatively recent and never-inevitable development in human history. What are the historical origins of nations? What are the benefits and limitations of living in a nation?

While the Cold War was an intense political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, its effects on the entire world were profound. This course looks closely at conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, and Cambodia that deeply affected international politics as well as the lives of millions of ordinary people after World War II.

This course will introduce students to the technological innovations of the ancient world. By examining developments in areas like medicine, engineering, agriculture and food production, students will explore ancient approaches to innovation, problem-solving and societal advancement.

The United States Constitution has been described as the most democratic document ever. Yet we are still struggling with profound questions some 230 years after it was originally ratified. How powerful should the federal government be?

What are revolutions and what drives them? Are all revolutions essentially about tensions between economic classes? When are they about trying to create a better world, and when are they simply excuses for violence? Are they just about one group trying to gain power over others?

This course focuses on global art history — primarily from 1800 to the present — through the lens of philosophy and aesthetic theory. Aesthetic theory poses the fundamental question: Does the value of an artwork come from the form of the object itself, from the appreciation of the viewer, from the object’s function or from other sources?

Psychology is a young and ever-evolving science. This course will cover a variety of psychology’s fundamental concepts and theories while also considering how our understanding changes with emerging data and recognition of individual differences; cultural, biological and social influences; and our perceptual biases.

In Advanced Thesis, students cultivate the skills and discipline necessary to conduct academic, independent research of choice in order to produce and defend a scholarly academic paper.

ADV Research is a fast-paced course that explores the complexities of real-world topics and issues by analyzing divergent perspectives. The goal is to provide students with the tools to evaluate information accurately and make compelling, evidence-based arguments.

This course will provide students with the requisite foundation in research skills and community engagement. Students will learn the principles of service learning and design thinking as they deepen their critical consciousness about our local and global communities and partner with community leaders and organizations.

This course will provide a structure for students to build and implement the projects they began in ADV Community-Based Research. Projects will be grounded in research, problem-solving, creative thinking, scholarship and real-world application.

This course will cover single-variable differential calculus. Students will develop understanding and skills associated with limits and continuity, as well as techniques and applications of differentiation.

The ADV Integral Calculus course is designed to build upon the foundations of single-variable differential calculus and provide students with the opportunity to build an in-depth understanding of integral calculus. Students will develop a strong foundation in the concepts of integration, focusing on Riemann sums, definite and indefinite integrals and the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus. Students will explore advanced topics such as improper integrals, numerical methods of integration and sequences and series, enabling them to tackle more complex mathematical challenges. Technology will enhance the curriculum and will be used on a regular basis to reinforce skills and concepts.

The ADV Multivariable Calculus 1 course is designed to build upon the foundations of single-variable calculus taught in ADV Differential Calculus and ADV Integral Calculus and provide students with the opportunity to build an in-depth understanding of multivariable calculus. 

The ADV Multivariable Calculus 2 course is designed to build upon the foundation in multivariable calculus set in ADV Multivariable Calculus 1.

This one-semester course introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of data science with a rigorous focus on advanced statistical methods, computational techniques and real-world applications.

This advanced course is designed for highly motivated students who are interested in creatively applying mathematics to complex, challenging and authentic real-world problems. Students will work collaboratively through the mathematical modeling process to study globally relevant, multi-faceted phenomena.

This Advanced course is an in-depth exploration of topics and experimental techniques introduced in a standard first-year college chemistry curriculum. ADV Chemistry includes a more sophisticated treatment of many of the topics studied in Honors Chemistry, as well as additional topics such as thermodynamics, quantitative kinetics, and acid/base chemistry.

In this Advanced course, students will gain an understanding of advanced topics in physics built from a calculus-based study of electricity and magnetism. Core topics will include electrostatics, circuits, and magnetism.

In this Advanced course, students will gain an understanding of advanced topics in physics built from a calculus-based study of mechanics. Topics addressed will include statics, dynamics, energy, momentum, and rotation.

How does a shark bite heal? What does it mean to receive a diagnosis? How do we decide who gets an organ for transplant? In this course, students will become confident reading about, discussing, and questioning medical topics.

Building on the first courses in biology and chemistry, students in this Advanced course will explore more complex content and experimental practices used by biologists. The Advanced Biology course will approach biological concepts through inquiry-based learning, using a combination of research and project-based learning, case studies, and laboratory experiments.

This course investigates contemporary Chinese society through the study of technology, economic development, and China’s global role.

This course examines early Chinese history and mythology through storytelling, cultural analysis, and comparative study.

This course explores the global Francophone world through fiction, poetry, film, journalism, and video. Instruction emphasizes sustained engagement with authentic texts and media drawn from diverse French-speaking regions.

This course examines themes of city and suburb, center and periphery, and identity across Francophone literature from the Belle Époque through the postcolonial period.

This course investigates the history and culture of classical Rome through close analysis of complex Latin texts. Instruction emphasizes literature of the Imperial period as a continuation of earlier study of Republican-era sources.

This course explores the development of Latin literature beyond the classical period, from late antiquity through the medieval and early modern eras. Instruction examines how Latin evolved linguistically and adapted to new cultural, religious, and intellectual contexts.

This course examines contemporary societal change through focused study of education, health, and technology in the Spanish-speaking world.

This course explores contemporary global challenges such as discrimination, feminism, and immigration through the lens of the Spanish-speaking world.

This course explores the Siglo de Oro, or Golden Age, of Spanish literature, with particular emphasis on Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quijote de la Mancha. Instruction centers on close reading, literary analysis, and interpretation of texts within their historical, cultural, and intellectual contexts.

This course explores the cultural and linguistic impact of influential Hispanic artists, with Shakira serving as a central case study. Instruction emphasizes advanced language analysis through close examination of song lyrics, media, and cultural texts that reflect questions of identity, belonging, and representation.

This course examines the enduring influence of the Inca, Aztec, and Mayan civilizations on language, culture, and identity in contemporary Latin America.