Hackley Introduces the NEW Department of Interdisciplinary Studies 

[Tarrytown, New York] April 16, 2021

This winter, Hackley School’s Academic Committee—led by the Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs in partnership with department chairs—approved the creation of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, providing a departmental home for exciting current and new Upper School courses that span two or more disciplines.

The Department of Interdisciplinary Studies will be reflected in the upcoming 2021-2022 Academic Year Catalog.

“Hackley’s upper school teachers have long offered fascinating courses that draw on multiple disciplines. We serve students well when we can arrange aspects of our curriculum in ways that foster deep interconnection between fields of study,” says Steven Bileca, Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs. “By its very nature knowledge is indivisible—biology entails ethics, mathematics inspires music, history informs art—and new contexts call for the development of differing sets of skills based on this condition. This new department provides a compelling home for these kinds of courses—where the art of inquiry connects divergent approaches and helps to create novel paths of insight for students.”

The Department of Interdisciplinary Studies includes innovative offerings such as Food and Power: The Science and Politics Behind What We Eat, Southern Odyssey: A Global Context Course, Government and Politics: The United States and the World, Introduction to Filmmaking, Architecture and Design, Independent Research in English and History, and Machine Learning with Music and Art among others. The department will also introduce a new course this fall—Service Leadership for Social Impact—taught by K-12 Service-Learning Coordinator Emily DeMarchena Washington ‘94, P’30. This year-long course engages students in short and long-term community service and service-learning initiatives engaging with our local Westchester community and is open to tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade students. 
 
The development of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies supports Hackley’s strategic plan: Redefining Excellence: Learning Beyond Boundaries—to Redefine a Liberal Arts Education, expanding curricular offerings across academic boundaries to better prepare students for a life of continuous learning. 
  
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