Carli Grims ’14, Emma Brumbaugh ’14: Each year, many upperclassmen have the opportunity to take semester electives, which offer a break from the core curriculum. These courses delve deeper into specialized subject areas from common physics myths to the inner workings of the human brain. MythBusters, Global Economics, Psychology, and Olympic History, which are semester long electives worth half a credit, are some of the most popular electives available.
While these courses are only available to juniors and seniors, it is never too early for underclassmen to begin to think about which courses they would like to take in later years.
MythBusters serves as fall semester, physics-based course taught by Edward Mathisen ’01, a member of the science department. The class examines the physics of the experiments tested on the popular television show “Myth Buster.”
Current Mythbusters student, Chris Fenimore ’13 explained, “We select myths from the show, and learn the science from each of the myths then conduct experiments to test each myth.” Fenimore noted that the course “applies science to everyday life, which makes it unique compared to other classes.”
Andrew Hess, a member of the history department, introduces students to the future models of international trade and economic development in his Global Economics class. Over the course of the semester, students discuss outsourcing, trade balances, and the fundamentals of business.
Teddy Ibarguen ’13 commented, “Mr. Hess puts an unparalleled effort into the class on a daily basis, providing students with basic knowledge of global economics.” Ibarguen recommends the course to students interested in business and economics. The course is also a prerequisite for those who choose to develop their economic understanding at a higher level in Hess’s AP Macroeconomics class, which is a spring semester course.
Lynne Hay, a member of the history department, takes an in-depth look human thought and behavior in Psychology. As stated in the Upper School Course Guide, topics include “sensation and perception, memory, sleep and dreams, learning, motivation, emotional components, and personality development.” Grace Van Arkel ’13 explained, “We learn about different theories about the brain and who developed them,” noting that “a chunk of our grade is based on opinion-based papers.”
The class studies many controversial topics. Van Arkel noted, “We recently discussed violence and its role in videogames and whether or not we believed videogames have a relationship with real life crime.”
When asked why she chose the course, she noted, “What drew me to the class was that there is no other core elective like it at Episcopal…it is fascinating.”
Amanda Vos Strache ’99, a member of the history department, teaches Olympic History for those interested in the politics that have surrounded these international events. The curriculum guide describes the course as “the study of political conflicts through the lens of the Olympic games.” The class studies the most controversial years of the Olympics including the Berlin, Mexico City, Munich, Moscow, Los Angeles, and Beijing games.
Casey Smyth ’13 noted, “I’ve learned so much about the evolution and different traditions of the Olympics.” Smyth revealed that Olympic History has given her a different perspective. She explained, “The aspects [of the Olympic games] and their large economic impact is something that I often overlooked.”
The course recently finished studying a unit on the controversial Munich games and the errors made by Germany in handling the terrorist attack..
Episcopal offers many electives to suit each student’s taste. From science to history, there is always the option to take a more in-depth look at a topic in a more personal setting.
Electives are one of the best ways to dig deeper into a specific subject.. Upper School students should try to take advantage of the elective opportunity during their time in upper school.

PDF Download