The School’s upperclassmen curriculum largely centers on the Western canon, highlighting authors like Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Plato. These writers shaped literary and philosophical traditions, and their works remain deeply valuable to study. Yet their dominance in the curriculum raises an important question: whose perspectives are missing?
Because most of these canonical authors were men, the stories and ideas students encounter often reflect a primarily male viewpoint. While this does not diminish the texts’ significance, it highlights a broader issue of representation. If education aims to help students understand the complexity of human experience, the curriculum must also include voices historically left out of that tradition.
Grace Leslie-Waksman, the History Department Chair who teaches 10th and 12th grade history, says this is partly a result of a lack of time: “The hardest part about being a history teacher is that you can’t teach everything,” she said. “Every year is about making choices.” That challenge is echoed by upper school teacher Paul Scott, who has taught upperclassmen at the School for 26 years. “Every text that I add, I endeavor to subtract something [from the curriculum],” he said, “There’s always choices being made.”
Leslie-Waksman’s senior seminar, Women in Modern America, aims to broaden that understanding by revisiting familiar historical events through a different lens. Rather than simply adding women into existing narratives, the course asks students to reconsider how gender shaped the events themselves. “It’s not that women were completely absent from what I learned before,” senior Emma Backer said, “But. . .[Women in Modern America] showed me how much… context I was missing.”
For example, students examined the creation of the Social Security Act. While many textbooks describe the legislation as a cornerstone of New Deal reform, Leslie-Waksman’s class explored how gender assumptions influenced its design. Looking at this history reveals a more complex picture of the past. According to Leslie-Waksman, the goal is to move beyond narratives centered solely on powerful men. “The point of women’s history wasn’t to just add women and stir,” she said. Instead, examining women’s experiences can fundamentally change how historical figures and events are understood.
Scott similarly emphasizes context. In courses like History 11, which examine the intellectual history of the West, he notes that the tradition itself is “by definition problematic,” shaped by sexism and racism. Rather than masking that, his approach pairs canonical texts often written by men with voices that critique them, from women, queer writers, or scholars of color.
It is important to note that discussions of representation cannot stop at simply including more white women. “You can’t teach women’s history about only white women.” Leslie-Waksman said. Other senior seminars at the school similarly broaden historical and literary perspectives. Courses such as Asian American Literature and Global Indigenous Studies highlight voices often overlooked in traditional curricula, including women of color. While students cannot take these classes until senior year, their engagement remains crucial. As Scott noted, when students advocate for more inclusive curricula, it “speaks well” of the School’s students.