Meredith (“Mimi”) Garcia had the unique challenge of teaching “Apocalyptic Lit” amidst the COVID-19 hybrid year. Still, the central questions of the course remained, “Will the apocalypse bring total annihilation, transcendence, bloodthirsty zombies, or all of the above? Will it bring people together or tear them apart?” As a medium, fiction allows for distance from both the material and reality, enough to critically engage with the text. Despite the fantastical, sci-fi qualities to apocalyptic literature, Mimi stresses that each text, from The Walking Dead to Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, speak to questions of human nature and of hope.
Mimi’s new course offering, “Globalization, Literature, & Film”, investigates how globalization and media have come to shape each other and our everyday lives. The course utilizes films like Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon (1950) and Walter Salles’ Motorcycle Diaries (2004) to discuss how politics, history, and cross-cultural encounters come to manifest in film. Mimi notes that the entire film industry and how we have come to watch film also plays a role in how we analyze and reflect on the relationship between literature and media—to be both critical of the past and the present.
Rachel Brainin, Librarian, 3rd Grade Teacher, D-Escribe
Our youngest ones have so much wisdom to offer us. Former librarian and now 3rd grade teacher, Rachel Brainin carries on the legacy of Sheila Sienicki and maintains the publication’s spirit. Rather than having students strive to be published, D-Escribe is an open...
Darby Lee-Stack ’23, D-EcoNews
Amidst a busy hybrid year, rising Junior, Darby-Lee Stack ’23 saw an opportunity when she joined the Upper School Environmental club. Inspired by other established student publications like Parnassus and Calliope, Darby learned from ground-zero how to publish a...
“Throw your precious opinions out the window!”
That philosophy guides the Ethics Department Chair, Sr. Joseph Murphy, for his first-time tenth grade students. Sr. Murphy explains that, “they [students] think of opinions somehow like it's property that they ‘own it’ somehow, but they really don't own it fully until...
Stephen Bailey, “Beyond Empire”
The genesis of “Beyond Empire” comes from a personal place. As a first-generation American of Trinidadian immigrants, who came to the US amidst Trinidad’s independence from the UK, Stephen Bailey finds that it is imperative to trace these stories. The central...
Richard Blanco, Poet A D-E Middle & Upper School Assembly April 7, 2021 In Recognition of National Poetry Month
English Department Electives “Up Close”
With dedication and care, the English department faculty strive to expand students’ worlds through literature. Literature is a point of genesis and inspiration. Faculty members Stephen Bailey and Meredith Garcia speak on their excitement for this year’s electives.
A Conversation with Lisa Quirk
What has been your primary focus as English Department Chair, and what does the department hope students will gain from their learning experiences? I sort of have my own mission statement for the English Department. I believe that our goal should be to help students...
To enjoy the Zoom recording of Dr. De Jarnett’s D-E MIddle / Upper School Assembly with Ozan Varol
Think Like a Rocket Scientist!
This fall, Head of School Dr. Rodney De Jarnett hosted a special Zoom assembly presentation for Middle and Upper School students with the best-selling author Ozan Varol (Think Like a Rocket Scientist). All parents/guardians of D-E students were also invited and...
In the words of Dr. D:
"You have read or heard me describe that the ‘why’ we are together as a community is our Mission. Our Mission lies at the foundation of ‘why’ we are all here. The ‘what’ we do at school (the program, content, skills, activities) continues to change as we help prepare...
