Advanced Studies and Research

List of 15 frequently asked questions.

• Computer Science Principles ASR

  Weighted Grade

  Prerequisite: None

  Eligibility: Grades 10-12 

  Offered: Full Year

  
  

  Computer Science Principles introduces students to the foundational concepts of computer science and challenges them to explore how computing and technology can impact the world. With a unique focus on creative problem-solving and real-world applications, Computer Science Principles prepares students for college and careers. This course introduces students to the central ideas of computer science, instilling the ideas and practices of computational thinking. The curricular framework for this course includes Creativity, Abstraction, Data and Information, Algorithms, Programming, the Internet, and Global Impact.

• Cryptography in History & Mathematics ASR

  This course delves into the fundamental mathematical principles that underpin modern cryptographic techniques as well as their historical context. Students learn the mathematical principles used to build cryptographic techniques, and how number theory drives the way cryptography works in the present day. Topics include the emergence of simple code during the Greco-Roman era, the shift to more complicated cryptography methods during the Renaissance, the use of the Enigma Machine in World War II, and the revolutionary development of Public Key Cryptography during the 1970s. By the end of the course, students gain a solid foundation in both theoretical concepts and practical applications of cryptography as well as an understanding of the important historical frameworks that shaped their work. This course is co-taught by Math and Social Studies faculty and earns one trimester of credit in Social Studies and one trimester of credit in Mathematics.

• Robotics ASR

  Weighted Grade
  Prerequisite: Introduction to Robotics

  Eligibility: Grades 9-12

  Offered: Trimester 2

  
  

  Advanced Robotics is for students who wish to take their robotics skills to the next level after taking Intro to Robotics. This course is almost entirely student-led. It is centered around the Vex Robotics Game for the year (announced each May for the following year). Students work in teams to analyze the game rules, develop a strategy and project timeline using Gantt charts, design their robot digitally in CAD, build and code their robot, and test and iterate on their design—all planned, organized, and executed as student leaders and team. Students are required to compete in two tournaments on Saturdays during the trimester, as well as at the State Tournament if they qualify. This course is repeatable in subsequent years.

• AI and Machine Learning ASR

  Weighted Grade

  Prerequisite: Intro to Computer Science, Computer Science Principles, or Python for Biologists

  Pre-/Co-requisite: Pre-Calc Honors

  Eligibility: Grades 10-12

  Offered: Trimester 2

• The Anxiety of Influence ASR

  This course explores how intertextuality enriches understanding of literature. Using T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” as the core text of the class, students sift through the past, beginning with sacred Hindu texts that underpin Eliot’s poem. Students read and discuss a host of literary influences that speak directly to Eliot’s work and move toward a fuller understanding of Eliot’s impact on other works and authors. As Anthony Lane wrote in “The Shock and Aftershocks of ‘The Waste Land,’” the poem is “a symphony of shocks, and like other masterworks of early modernism, it refuses to die down…the shocks have triggered aftershocks, and readers of Eliot are trapped in the quake. Escape is useless.” This course examines the shocks and aftershocks of influence. Authors may include Derek Walcott, Dante Alighieri, John Milton, William Shakespeare, and Jessie Weston.

• Prizewinners Now ASR

  Each year, literary prizes are conferred for the most distinguished texts: the Pulitzer, the Neustadt, the Nobel, the Booker, and the National Book Award. While each of these prizes has distinctive qualities, they all aim to honor the “best” literature. This course asks: What makes a work of literature worthy of a prize? How does a prize-winning text differ from a bestseller? What do juries’ responses to literature reveal about both the literature and the jury? How do critical responses to literature shift over time? Students study a variety of the year’s award winners and interrogate the awards in three ways: quantitatively (identifying and evaluating the measurable qualities of award winners); philosophically (pursuing an understanding of aesthetics, taste, and beauty); and sociologically (asking questions about the cultures from which literature, juries, and critics emerge). Authors may include Barbara Kingsolver, Ananda Devi, Justin Torres, and Hernan Diaz.

• Economics in Theory and Practice ASR

  Weighted Grade

  Prerequisite: Social Studies & Math Department approval, writing & quantitative analysis assessment

  Eligibility: Grades 11 and 12
  ASR I - Yearlong Class

  
  

  This course introduces students to the core ideas of economics, including scarcity, allocation of resources, tradeoffs, the function of free markets, monetary and fiscal policy, the financial system, and international exchange, as well as the application of those ideas in the real world. The curriculum provides a full introduction to the field of Macroeconomics that prepares students to take the College Board’s AP Macroeconomics exam if they choose to do so, but it also exposes students to the field of behavioral economics and requires the production of a unique piece of synthetic research in the area(s) of global interaction, macroeconomic policy, and/or economic development. 

• The History of Ideas and Inventions ASR

  Weighted Grade

  Prerequisite: Social Studies Department approval, writing assessment

  Eligibility: Grades 11 and 12
  ASR I - Yearlong Class

  
  

  Eyeglasses, plumbing, elevators, surgical masks, lightbulbs, airplanes, cameras, the internet, and smartphones…all of these began as an idea, came to life through an invention, and then changed the world. This course aims to explore the emergence, development, and impact of ideas such as the ones listed above—and so many more. Students look at innovations from around the world and consider the systems that allowed for their development and the changes that emerged from their implementation. While very much a history course, we also draw upon cultural studies, literature, ethics, religion, science, engineering, the arts, and economics in our examinations. Topics include but are not limited to Renaissance art, Enlightenment philosophy, 19th-century medical discoveries, the Scientific Revolution, modern economic structures, and military advancements.

  
  

• International Gender Movements ASR

  Weighted Grade
  ASR II - Two Trimester Course

  International Gender Studies explore how forces within a society—family, media, school, science, etc.—help to create, regulate, and reinforce gender. Through a combination of reading, writing, film-viewing, discussion, and independent research, we investigate how gender overlaps and interacts with other aspects of identity—such as race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, political affiliation, etc.—all the while calling these categories into question. This course focuses on ways people outside the United States “do gender,” ultimately leading us to a more nuanced understanding of how gendered power and gendered roles are not inherent to our biology, but grow from a complex web of cultural forces. Students in this course should expect 45 minutes of homework per night, with texts ranging from sociology textbook chapters, critical studies from academic journals, and the nightly news. The course culminates in a research project based on individual student interest.

• Superpowers: China, Russia & the United States in the Modern World ASR

  Weighted Grade
  ASR II - Two Trimester Course

  Friends, enemies, allies, competitors, colleagues, opponents…China, Russia, and the United States have regarded each other in a variety of ways over the course of the last two centuries. The news is currently dominated by the actions of these three countries, both in tandem and alone. There is no doubt about it: they are global superpowers politically, economically, and diplomatically. Students in this course assess how and why these nations were catapulted to superpower status. Students study the modern history of each of these nations, and then consider the events in the 20th century that have propelled them both toward and against one another. This is an interdisciplinary and research-based course; students dive deep into the cultures and practices of these countries so that they can better grapple with their actions on the contemporary world stage.

  
  

• Independent Studies Class ASR

  Weighted Grade

  Prerequisite: Social Studies Department approval, written application and proposal for study, and at least three trimesters of Social Studies electives or ASR I.

  Eligibility: Grade 12

  When: Trimester 3 

  
  

  This course is designed for those students who want to continue their work as social scientists and historians but along a path that is centered around student choice. Students must identify their subject area of interest and then, during the second trimester of their Senior year, submit a proposal about their course of study and the product that accompanies it. Students create their own course of study with guidance from their teacher and with support from others in the class. While offered as a Social Studies course, the Independent Studies Class allows ample room for interdisciplinary initiatives, connections to experiential learning, varied research pathways, and multiple opportunities for assessment. 

• Music Theory ASR

  Weighted Grade

  Prerequisite:    Proficiency examination required

  Eligibility:          Grades 11-12

  Offered:            Full Year

   

  Music Theory is a yearlong course. Students are expected to have had some musical experience prior to entering the course and must pass a basic proficiency examination. The course is designed to provide students with an in-depth understanding and application of various aspects of music theory, including music fundamentals (pitch, rhythm, scales, and triads), foundations of harmony and counterpoint, interpretation and creation of chord progressions, and larger musical forms, jazz and modern era theory and practice, and developing skills in sight singing and dictation. 

• Senior Portfolio Class ASR

  Weighted Grade

  Prerequisite:   Portfolio Prep Class, exit critique, interview, and permission of instructor

  Eligibility:      Grade 12

  Offered:        Full Year

   

  This advanced seminar course is designed to engage students in the professional experience of building and exhibiting a portfolio of work. Students identify an area of focus within Ceramics, Photography, Studio Art, or Videography and develop a body of work and artist’s statement that represents their individual perspective and technical proficiency. Through peer critique, discussion, and reflection on historical and contemporary art, students learn to effectively convey their artistic voice. Opportunities to visit Denver-area galleries and artists are available. As an artists’ collective, students collaborate and curate an exhibition of their work. Throughout Trimester 3, students utilize their skills with other artists to collaborate on a community art project.

• Chinese Cultural Studies ASR

  This advanced language course offers students the unique opportunity to explore ethnic groups in China, economic dynamics, and diverse cultural traditions. With 56 distinct ethnic groups in China, each possessing unique traditions, cultures, and even languages, students can focus on those that intrigue them the most. In the second trimester, students look into China's economics, exploring potential connections with ethnic groups and examining diversity within economic contexts. The third trimester is equally engaging, as students unravel the nuances of Chinese cuisines, exploring differences among ethnic groups and regions and uncovering the reasons behind these culinary variations.

• 20th Century Hispanic Literature ASR

  20th Century Hispanic Literature, History, and Culture ASR is comparable to a college-level Introduction to Hispanic Literature course. The works on the list are of literary significance and represent various historical periods, literary movements, genres, geographic areas, and population groups within the Spanish-speaking world. The objective of the course is to help students interpret and analyze literature in Spanish. In this discipline, understanding context is essential, so students learn about different historical periods and artistic/intellectual movements relevant to each of the texts, along with relevant biographical information about each author, in order to enhance their understanding of each work.