The Bishop Noll social studies department is adding three new electives in culture and geography for the 2021-2022 school year.

Ethnic Studies, Geography, and Indiana Studies will be offered to students in all grades Ethnic Studies and Indiana Studies are one-semester classes, while Geography will be a two-semester class. 

According to Mr. Ryan Julian, social studies department chair, Ethnic Studies will focus on different global ethnicities. This class will be held to “try and get students to understand different cultures around the world.” Ethnic Studies will be about understanding race and racism while providing information to broaden students’ perspectives. Not only will this course allow students to further understand different lifestyles, and different cultural groups, but it will also allow students to have a conversation about the more recent acts of violence because of race.

Geography will focus on specific countries and their cultural history. Julian said this class was offered because “we want students to come into contact with the real world.” They also wanted students to know their geography and modernize this course.  This course will provide students with a new knowledge and understanding of major global themes including the origin and spread of world religions; exploration; conquest, and imperialism; urbanization; and innovations and revolutions. Human Geography and History of the World class course will look at primary and secondary sources, organize information by creating graphic representations, analyzing information to determine and explain patterns and trends, planning for the future, and documenting and presenting findings orally or in writing. Indiana studies will be taught the “history of Indiana since the beginning of historical time”, Julian said. According to Julian, this class is being offered because of the lack of awareness and education of our own state. This class course will compare and contrast state and national developments in the areas of politics, economics, history, and culture, as well as talk about the rise and fall of different leaders in Indiana.