The English 12 Honors course offered to twelfth graders at Bethel Park is specifically aimed at introducing students to the unique styles of literature around the world, past and present.
In fact, students are given a summer reading assignment before even entering the class that consists of novels from Japanese, Mexican, Hindu, and Buddhist cultures, and during the course they are introduced to African, British, and Middle Eastern readings.
Instructor Mr. Youngs even states in his course syllabus to buckle up for a “trip around around the world.”
Hence, the Nationality Rooms at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning have been a perfect fit as an educational experience for students to learn about the non-literary side of the cultures they study all year. The class has been taking the trip since 2003 and has been returning year in and year out. Mr. Youngs even said “The rooms put the country into perspective perfectly through artifacts, architecture, and art.”
When asked why he takes the trip every year, Youngs said, “We have such a historical site full of treausures in our backyard and many local students have not seen it. And I know senior students can appreciate the stories/details of the rooms as diligent scholars.”
These rooms are an array of 29 classrooms that depict and illustrate many different ethnic groups that remain an important part of Pittsburgh since its founding. Cultures being displayed include French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Armenian, Romanian, Swedish, and Turkish, but those are just a few. Youngs added that the rooms are “an experience of culture that you can’t get through videos, news, pictures and reading, something that leaves you feeling like a part of that country.”
As well as being open to tours and other events, the rooms are used daily by college professors and students to provide a change of pace to the ordinary classroom. However, the Early American room and Syrian room are solely open for tours.
The field trip consists of a one-and-a-half hour tour of the available rooms where a tour guide thoroughly explains each part of the room and its relation to the specific nationality. Students are given the opportunity to ask questions and engage in conversation with the speaker.
The tour is followed by a lunch of choice at one of the many restaurants located in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, a very diverse cultured area in itself. Students are given roughly an hour to browse the restaurant options and peruse the beautiful campus and Cathedral.
Overall, the trip is engulfed in ethnicity and diversity, a hallmark of the English 12 Honors course.
