The Oldfields Humanities Department offers courses that are both rich in content and rigorous in their expectations. Through the study of English, History, and World Languages, our departmental mission is to awaken a deep respect and passion for the learning process and the human experience. Students study the language, literature, culture, and history of various countries in English, French, Mandarin, and Spanish, depending on the course. Humanities classes emphasize critical analysis of written work and encourage the expression of concrete and abstract thinking through thesis-driven compositions. Our classes focus on students achieving proficiency in writing analytically, and our teachers use unique, engaging methods to help them reach this goal. By the end of each year, students will have become increasingly perceptive readers, deeper thinkers, and more persuasive communicators.

Global Awareness Day, prominent guest speakers, field trips, and May Program all reinforce and expand the lessons learned in the classroom.  Opportunities for students to teach their peers about their culture, experience the beauty of Shakespeare's language on stage, or travel abroad to use a second language to help understand the context of major historical events. Through these experiences, the lessons from the pages of a book and the voices of the past come alive for our students in a relevant way.