2016 SPRING

2016 SPRING

GAM

The

Quarterly

Hands-on science

At the dedication of Morse Hall in January 2015, I invoked the Winston Churchill quote: “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” That reference, at that moment, was offered in the spirit of hopeful anticipation of how the addition of Morse Hall would shape our school. But I’m not sure anybody could have predicted just how much this facility would transform school life.

A snapshot of the days between Winter Break and Spring Break this year provides a sense of the impact of Morse Hall: 40 All-School Meetings, 40 lunch periods, four Parent Coffee Hours, two Cape Symphony post-concert receptions, two Film Falmouth screenings, two National Theatre Live broadcasts, the PA Family Game Night, Eighth Grade Parents and Students Dinner, College Night for Juniors, Falmouth Service Center lecture, Scholarship Exam Open House, GALA!, Science Fair Judges Orientation and Dinner, Cuba Spring Break Trip information meeting, and a Rube Goldberg device demonstration.

Add a Community Series lecture by Falmouth Academy alumnus and Amherst College Professor Ted Melillo on the historical, agricultural and cultural connections between Chile and California (see page 11), and a live webinar with Falmouth Academy science teacher Dr. Ginny Edgcomb, who spoke with 50 of our students and their teachers from a research vessel in the Indian Ocean.

If our buildings shape us, then Falmouth Academy is being shaped in diverse, innovative and exhilarating ways! Which is why we are particularly excited to announce that we will be breaking ground at semester’s end on our newest building project — a sweeping renovation and expansion of our current “cafegymtorium” into a state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center for Falmouth Academy and the broader community.

Building projects are much more than an enhancement of facilities. They are a reflection of the strength of the school, of its ambitions for the future, and of its commitment to providing facilities worthy of its students, faculty, families, and the greater Falmouth community.

Because of its proximity to downtown Falmouth, our new Performing Arts Center will offer a stunning venue for intellectual and cultural events by outside organizations, and our students will reap those benefits. For example, when the Cape Symphony’s Nth Degree performers conduct their dress rehearsals on Fridays for Saturday concerts, Falmouth Academy students — whether musicians or not — are invited to attend. The opportunity to watch world-class musicians as they fine tune for a public performance is an education unto itself.

A great deal of thought, effort and planning has gone into the shaping of our Performing Arts Center, and as we anticipate the start of this new project, we’re eager to see how it will take shape over the coming months, and how it will shape us for years in the future.

Stephen DuffyHead of School

First Bell

Falmouth Academy

7 Highfield DriveFalmouth, Mass. 02540508-457-9696falmouthacademy.org

AdministrationStephen A. Duffy, Head of SchoolMichael J. Earley, Assistant Head of SchoolKaren Loder, Director of Admission

The GAMGAM: “A social meeting of whaleships ... with all the sympathies of sailors [and] all the peculiar congenialities arising from a common pursuit.”

Editorial StaffPeter Kent, Director of CommunicationsBarbara Campbell, Director of Alumni and Parent RelationsOlivia Riddiford, Assistant to the Head of SchoolLaura McMahon, Design, Rosemarie Resnik & Associates, Inc.

Find more alumni news online in The Mariner, and send news notes to bcampbell@falmouthacademy.org

First Bell

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Up FrontScience in the Real World

Students investigate the effect of sea level rise on coastal communities with a “digital sandbox” — an interactive topographic modeling system — on loan from Zephyr Education Foundation. Tom Kleindinst photo Moffat photo)

On the Cover

The 28th annual Falmouth Academy Science Fair, featuring 165 student projects and a judging panel of nearly 100 scientists, engineers, physicians, researchers and other experts, was held in the gym on February 18.

The fair was the culmination of five months of independent research on the part of every Falmouth Academy student in grades 7-11, who were supported and guided in their work by teachers and mentors from the local scientific community.

As always, projects ran the gamut, exploring solar energy and wind power, sea creatures and pond life, water and soil contamination, carnivorous plants, termites, ants, bees, worms, the myriad effects of music and of color, the distractions of cell phones and texting, deflated soccer balls and clutch hitters, preserving bread and melting chocolate, gluten, ice cream, endotoxins in drinking water, and bacteria-ridden restaurant ice. And much more.

Upper School first-prize winners (see photos) received scholarships from leading sponsors. At the Middle School level, first prizes went to eighth graders Zephyrine Thompson of Vineyard Haven and Brian Freedman of Sandwich. Zephy, proud owner of a Jackhuahua (a Jack

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Charles Fenske '18 of Edgartown presents his findings to judge and Falmouth Academy alumnus Dr. Scott Brown '89. His project — “Analysis of Rocket Guidance Systems in a Wind Tunnel to Enhance Space Flight Maneuverability and Efficiency” — earned a first prize, the Marine Biological Laboratory Scholarship, and the Robert B. Gordon Award for depth of knowledge, independence and creativity in research.

Helena Connell '18 of East Falmouth won a first prize and the Sea Education Association Scholarship for “The Effects of pH on the Regeneration of Planaria.” She also received the Salt Pond Areas Bird Sanctuary First Place Upper School Award for her project.

Russell-Chihuahua mix), won for “Do Magnetic Fields Affect the Defecation Orientation of Dogs?” Her hypothesis was not fully supported, but her research efforts certainly were, thanks to daily data from dog-owning classmates, teachers, staff and others. “And all three of my judges own dogs,” she notes.

Brian, a lifelong swimmer and fledgling surfer, won for “The Effect of Varied Foreshore Slopes on Wave Structure.” As early fall planning began for Science Fair projects, “I knew instantly that I wanted to do something on waves,” he says. “I wanted to get a better sense of what they are and how they work.”

Organizations represented on the judging panel included Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole Research Center, NOAA, Sea Education Association, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Geological Survey, Cape Cod Healthcare, Visiting Nurses Association, and Mass Audubon. The judging panel also included faculty from major research universities such as Harvard, MIT, Rochester Institute of Technology, Tufts, the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale. Other judges represented area schools and colleges, municipal government and businesses.

Science Fair judges included Falmouth Academy alumni (front row, from left) Graham Marsh '01, Tim Cronin '02, Clifford Pontbriand '99, Helen (Williams) Malinowski '99, (back row, from left) Scott Brown '89, Keegan Krick '12, Abagail Bumpus '14, Jenny (Olson) Putnam '83, Phil Logan '05, Evan Dalton '04. Missing from photo is Talya ten Brink '06. Barbara Campbell photo

On the Cover

Théo Guérin '17 of East Falmouth discusses his project — “Engineering a Mechanical Sunflower 2.0: A Scalable Rooftop Dual-Axis Solar Tracking Design” — with judge and FA parent Dr. George Turner of MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Théo was awarded first prize, the A. Lawrence Peirson III Scholarship given by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the H. Walcott Brown Award for extensive research and technical ingenuity.

Susan Moffat photos

Be sure to check out the new Falmouth Academy website, launched in January and featuring a new design and navigation structure. Note the large, vibrant photos; school news headlines and graphics; a user-friendly calendar; photo galleries and more. You’ll also find “The Mariners’ Blog,” with topical discussions and musings posted by members of the Falmouth Academy community. Visit us at www.falmouthacademy.org … and let us know what you think!

Gary M. Schwarzman, husband of the late trustee Beth Schwarzman and father of Caitlin '88 and Megan '90, passed away in January. Gary and Beth were instrumental in the landscaping of the campus, and he led the open locker plan, organizing volunteers, materials and space to construct the lockers.

Lucy B. Wood, former Falmouth Academy librarian, passed away in November. She served as head librarian just prior to the opening of the new wing and library in 2005, and later worked at the West Falmouth Library. Mrs. Wood’s late husband, Norman C. Wood, was a school trustee.

Friends Remembered The Falmouth Academy community mourns the passing of two close friends of the school.

The Barnstable County Human Rights Commission presented its 2015 Rosenthal Community Champion Award to Falmouth Academy’s Julia C. Taylor at its International Human Rights Day breakfast in December.

Mrs. Taylor, a founding faculty member and college advisor, was recognized for her early and persistent support for the establishment of the Human Rights Commission in 2005, and for her ongoing advocacy and support for the commission’s work throughout the county. She is the Falmouth member of the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates.

The Rosenthal Award is named for Irving Leopold Rosenthal, who served as Barnstable County sheriff from 1922 to 1933.

The breakfast also featured a video presentation — “Growing Up with Human Rights” — by Maxine Zeger '11, who participated in the BC HRC Human Rights Academy while a student at Falmouth Academy. Ms. Zeger, formerly of Mashpee and now of Washington, D.C., is a 2015 graduate of Wake Forest University and is currently a business analyst for Deloitte Consulting.

Julia Taylor and her husband, Elliott, with Falmouth Academy colleagues and friends (from left) Tucker Clark, Monica Hough, Elenita Muñiz (now of the BC HRC), Susan Morse, and Barbara Campbell.

Julia Taylor Receives Human Rights Award

The BC HRC promotes equal opportunity in housing, employment, education, public accommodations, town and county services, insurance, banking, credit, and health care for all people in Barnstable County regardless of race, color, religious creed, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, sex, age, ancestry, sexual orientation, marital, family or military status, source of income, neighborhood, or disability.

FA Launches New Website

Summer is just around the corner, and registration for Falmouth Academy Summer Programs is underway.

Full-day summer camp programs for children

ages 5 to 12 feature arts and crafts, theater and

improv, water and field games, and exploration of the

seacoast, the woods and nearby ponds. Specialty programs include outdoor survival skills, computer programming and robotics, photography, circus arts and performance, and a wide range of field trips.

For teens ages 13 to 15, the new Leaders in Training program provides instruction, guidance and experience toward becoming a future camp or recreation counselor.

Sports camps — led by Falmouth Academy coaching staff, college coaches and players — are offered in soccer, lacrosse and basketball.

For adults and older teens, there are Wednesday evening classes in Thai cooking, rabbit culinary, and summer fruit desserts of France, along with Monday morning yoga — all led by Falmouth Academy faculty and staff.

Week-long camp and specialty programs begin on June 27. Learn more and register at www.falmouthacademy.org/Summer-Programs

SummerPrograms

Offer Fun for All

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Student Artists and Writers HonoredThe creative talents of 11 Falmouth Academy students have been recognized in the 2016 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program.

The national nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers has sponsored the awards program since 1923. Works are judged regionally through the more than 100 affiliates of the Alliance, and Gold Key winners go on to New York to be judged nationally by renowned artists, authors, educators, and industry experts.

Regional Gold Key winners are junior Stephanie Aviles of East Sandwich, for Drawing and Illustration; senior Grant Doney of Falmouth, for Video Games design; and senior Wanting Huang of China and Plymouth, for Photography.

Sophomore Megan Iverson of Marion received two Gold Keys for Photography.Sophomore Martha Clark of West Barnstable received three Silver Keys for Photography and for Drawing and Illustration, and two Honorable Mentions for Painting and for Comic Art. Silver Keys also went to sophomore Helena Connell of East Falmouth, for Photography; senior Greg Pickart of Falmouth, for Photography; and senior Cassandra Weare of Cataumet, for Print Making.

Ninth grader Leah Littlefield of West Tisbury received four Honorable Mentions (for Poetry, Flash Fiction, Short Story, and Personal Essay/Memoir). Senior Grania Gallagher of East Falmouth (Painting) and junior Celia Patterson of Falmouth (Flash Fiction) also received Honorable Mention.

Teachers Susan Moffat (Photography), Lucy Nelson (Art) and Allyson Manchester (English) assisted the students in selecting and submitting their works to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the regional affiliate for Massachusetts in conjunction with the Boston Globe.

Regional Gold and Silver Key winners were recognized at a ceremony at the MFA in Boston.

The 2015-16 Boys’ Varsity Soccer team, under the leadership of Coach Michael Deasy '10, received the Sportsmanship Award from the Cape and Islands Soccer Officials’ Association for the second consecutive year.

Falmouth Academy students named to All-Cape and Islands League teams for soccer: Andy Pritchard '16 of Falmouth, Charlotte Van Voorhis '16 and Eliza Van Voorhis '17 of Mattapoisett.

Eliza Van Voorhis '17 named Cape and Islands Girls’ Soccer MVP for the second consecutive year, making that four league MVP awards for FA athletes in four league seasons — joining Kendall Currence '18 of Bourne in Girls’ Basketball and Jane Earley '18 of North Falmouth in Girls’ Lacrosse in 2014-2015 (photo above).

Consecutive wins by Girls’ Varsity Basketball this winter en route to an undefeated regular season.

Percentage of students participating in Falmouth Academy athletics.

Points scored by Kunaal Rajagopal '16 of Buzzards Bay in a win over Rising Tide Charter School, establishing a new single game record for FA Boys’ Varsity Basketball.

Career points scored by Kendall Currence '18 in just two years of Girls' Varsity Basketball.

Athletics by the Numbers When FA joined the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Cape & Islands League in 2014, says Director of Athletics (and history teacher) Rob Wells, “many people on the Cape didn’t understand how strong our prep school opponents were athletically and wondered how we would fare in the public school athletic world. Well, no surprise to us, the results have been impressive, and the numbers help tell the story.”

1,050

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3

4

2240

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Sarah Knowles photo

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Coming AttractionsFalmouth Academy and community partners offer avariety of cultural programming this spring.

Students Present May 13-14 Spring Play May 20 Arts Evening & Concert

National Theatre Live April 8-9 Les Liaisons Dangereuses May 6 The AudienceJune 24-25 As You Like It

Film Falmouth April 16 The Sam Bush Story May 7 Love Between the Covers

Cape Symphony’sNth Degree June 4 Schubertiade

December 11, 2015

Exterior Views

Falmouth Academy Performing Arts Center RenovationFalmouth, Massachusetts

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Summer Groundbreaking Planned for Performing Arts Center

Centerpiece

Planning and fund-raising continues for a dramatically transformed Performing Arts Center that will provide a premier contemporary venue for Falmouth Academy students and teachers, and for the Upper Cape’s burgeoning cultural and artistic communities.Fund-raising for the $4.2 million center has entered the final phase, and plans call for an early summer groundbreaking.

The 7,200-square-foot center will promote arts education and performance to address the needs of Falmouth Academy students and teachers while serving as a cultural hub for local arts organizations, nonprofit partners, and the general public. The Performing Arts Center will be home to concerts, theater productions, fine art exhibits, classes, lectures, cinema, community outreach programs, and cultural events.

“A professionally appointed Performing Arts Center will promote the growth and creativity of all artists — aspiring and professional — and will create a more vibrant social, cultural and intellectual environment for the whole community,” says Head of School Stephen Duffy. “Our plan is to create a collaborative place where students, educators, professional artists, and patrons can engage, learn and share in a wide range of arts and cultural experiences year-round.”

The existing 3,500-square-foot, 240-seat performance facility dates back to 1989, when the school relocated from Massachusetts Military Reservation space in Bourne to its 34-acre campus on Highfield Drive. The expansion features a 300-seat theater and larger performance space, a new lobby and art gallery space, a music room for teaching and recitals, a scenery construction workshop, an updated backstage and “green room,” educational and rehearsal space for students and community programs, and a new technical control room. State-of-the art climate control, acoustic, lighting, and sound systems are included as well.

“The arts are an integral part of a truly well-rounded education and a crucial component in learning,” says Mr. Duffy. “Creativity is essential to intellectual development, problem solving, innovation, and the ability to express and interpret ideas. The Performing Arts Center will give us the necessary tools to support such key learning initiatives.”

December 11, 2015

Interior Views

Falmouth Academy Performing Arts Center RenovationFalmouth, Massachusetts

MUSIC ROOM VIEW1

MUSIC ROOM VIEW2

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Centerpiece

The Falmouth Academy Midwinter Concert and many other student performances and productions will have a new venue before long. Pictured are Randall Driscoll '18 (left) and Camden Emery '19. Susan Moffat photos

Falmouth Academy is already home or host to several regional arts organizations and nonprofit partners who bring their talents to the campus and the greater community through performances and events.

Musical partners include the Cape Symphony’s Nth Degree, a contemporary chamber ensemble; the Falmouth Chorale; and the Falmouth Academy Chamber Music Workshop, a summer program for young string musicians in collaboration with former members of the Cypress String Quartet, the Cape Conservatory, and the nationally acclaimed Aeolus Quartet.

The Cape Cod Theatre Project, which fosters new works of important American playwrights, takes place on campus each summer. The Woods Hole Film Festival and Falmouth Academy sponsor Film Falmouth, a monthly series of independent films, and the Woods Hole Public Library partners with the school to present broadcast recordings of productions from the National Theatre of London.

“The creation of an aesthetically inspiring, acoustically and architecturally superior performance and event venue will offer an invaluable resource to many arts organizations in the Falmouth community,” says Cape Conservatory managing director Stephanie Weaver. “Falmouth Academy has been a well-

The new center includes a music room to be named in memory of Gordon T. Heald.

An open lobby and gallery space will greet visitors to the school and the Performing Arts Center.

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December 11, 2015

Interior Views

Falmouth Academy Performing Arts Center RenovationFalmouth, Massachusetts

LOBBY VIEW1

THEATER LOBBY VIEW2

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island. Modern people end up in an “olden times” setting that is under a magic spell. The “world premiere” on the Falmouth Academy stage came in early February. The director later got together with Barbara Campbell, director of Alumni and Parent Relations, for a chat about her work and career.

“Who wants to get involved in the Middle School Play,” asked Bronwen Prosser-Polloni '99 at an All-School Meeting in the fall. A few hands were raised. “Who wants to write a play?” The hands shot up.

Fresh off the run of her play “Butterball” at the Cotuit Center for the Arts, Ms. Prosser-Polloni wanted to help students create a

play from start to finish. She contacted drama teacher Elisabeth Munro Ledwell, with whom she’d studied while a student here.

The result: “Cosmos,” a “Tempest-like” tale of shipwreck, prophesy, wizards, kings, princesses, and nymphs on a magical

Full Circle: Alumna returnsto write new playwith students

respected academic force in the Falmouth community for almost 40 years, and it has also been an important cornerstone in the arts community ‘On the Hill’, which includes the Conservatory, Highfield Theater and Highfield Hall.”

Peter Franklin, executive director of Highfield Hall and Gardens, says the center will provide “a boost to our local creative economy, from which we all benefit.” He adds: “The cultural face of Falmouth has evolved substantially over the past decade. The town of Falmouth, with Highfield Hall, the Falmouth Art Center, the offerings at Highfield Theater, the Conservatory, and Falmouth Academy, with its new center, will certainly make Falmouth a more dynamic regional magnet.”

The new center’s music room will be named in memory of Gordon T. Heald, whose wife Betsy is a leadership donor to the fund-raising effort. “I am a proud supporter of this campaign,” says Mrs. Heald, a former trustee. “Gordon loved singing — he sang in school, in college, and in a men’s choir that performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He would have been thrilled by this wonderful new venue.”

Many other families and friends have contributed to the campaign as well, including Mark Hahn and Rachel Graber of Vineyard Haven, parents of Samuel Graber-Hahn '17:“Sharing and performing with fellow students has been a very important part of Sam’s education. This new space will provide

Ava Poole '20, Beatrice Mattison '21, Noah Glasgow '21, and Isabel Heard '20.

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What gave you the idea to do a play this way?BP: Curiosity. As a playwright, it’s a natural progression to want to hear what kinds of characters the students wanted to play. Plus, they have incredible imaginations — there was never any shortage of ideas. Writing this play was so phenomenally rewarding for the students because they owned it. Nobody missed rehearsal. They understood the commitment. They made this project happen.

How did you corral all of the students’ imaginations to build the story?BP: It was an endless paring down and re-working of many puzzle pieces until I could put together all the bits we had developed through improv to make more of a linear structure.

What’s it like to be involved in Falmouth Academy drama now as a director? BP: It feels like I have come full circle in many ways. I feel very able to work with the current students even though it has been nearly 20 years since I stood on the same marks where they are standing now.

What role did your drama experiences play for you while a Falmouth Academy student and afterward?

BP: I’m glad Liz Ledwell was here to teach drama when I was a student. She created an incredible theatrical world where I got to explore my love of drama in a really in-depth way throughout my time at Falmouth Academy. From the time I was in seventh grade as a page in “Antigone,” I got to bond immediately with lots of students. It was a really good way for me to feel comfortable at school. I know the camaraderie that occurs when working on a play is an important part of feeling comfortable with your peers.

What else are you working on these days?BP: I’m working on a new play, “Face East,” which I received a grant to write. I do have a first draft; however, the play is a massive undertaking and a new form for me, so I will be working on it for a while. I am also working on two other scripts that need a bunch of re-writes. It never ends really. It’s good to write a school play — there’s a very clear deadline!

Bronwen Prosser-Polloni graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Boston with a self-study major in women and performance, and trained at New York’s Atlantic Theater Company Acting School. She has appeared in shows in Chicago, New York and Boston, as well as in the Sundance syndicated web series “Sparks” and the short film “Breaker.” At the Cotuit Center for the Arts, she has taught a writing class for adults on creating a solo show, written plays for its black box theater, and directed David Mamet’s "Boston Marriage" on its main stage.

even more opportunities for students and the community to experience outstanding performances, and so we are pleased to support this effort.”

Construction of the new Performing Arts Center is expected to take nine months, according to Mr. Duffy. The project marks the second major addition to the campus since 2014, when Morse Hall — named in honor of longtime trustee and benefactor Susan Morse — opened for school and community use. Both projects are part of an ongoing, comprehensive campus development and fund-raising campaign at the school.

“What a boon a new Performing Arts Center will be to Falmouth Academy and to the music and drama-loving citizens of the area,” says retired teacher and Arts chair Olivann Hobbie. “I can hear the applause already!”

Falmouth Academy chorus director John Yankee also leads the Falmouth Chorale and other ensembles.

Dr. Deborah Bradley leads a session with her student musicians. A "Twelfth Night" scene with (from left) Alex Kania '16, Nick Kania '18 and Zephy Thompson '20.

Matters of State:An innovativeapproach to exploring world culturesAn American embassy faces the threat of attack. A controversial figure seeks asylum in the U.S. Reconstruction in Syria poses staggering challenges. Government corruption thwarts progress across the globe.

Welcome to the U.S. State Department … and to teacher Donald Swanbeck’s World Cultures class.

On an early February afternoon, Falmouth Academy seniors representing the six State Department bureaus — African Affairs, European and Eurasian Affairs, East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Near Eastern Affairs, South and Central Asian Affairs, and Western Hemisphere Affairs — are deep in discussion of the annual Corruption Perceptions Index, released the week before by Transparency International. The students examine the rankings of nations within their respective bureaus, and the array of facts, factors and ramifications surrounding them.

The format of the World Cultures course is new, introduced in 2014-2015 by Mr. Swanbeck, a faculty member since 1990 and chair of the History Department. The dialogue among students in the classroom is informed, thoughtful and insightful. Clearly, they have done their homework, and clearly the format resonates with them.

“They are seniors. They respond well to this format, and it more resembles the kind of classes they will be engaged in at college,” says Mr. Swanbeck.

“I loved the class while I was taking it, but I appreciate it even more now that I’m in college,” says Tori Avis '15 of Mashpee, a first-year student at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. “The format of the class is incredibly useful for being culturally and globally literate. Having a baseline knowledge of key events in every region of the world facilitates conversations with people of different cultural, social and political backgrounds and views.”

Adds Phoebe Long '15 of Sandwich, a first-year student at Mount Holyoke College: “As someone who is interested in politics and current world events, I felt like World Cultures was the perfect class for me. Having the ability to follow and report on issues that were important to me not only made me an informed citizen, but also mimicked the open curriculum of college.”

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Classrooms & Beyond

Seniors in history teacher Donald Swanbeck's World Cultures course gather in Morse Hall for a policy conference. Barbara Campbell photo

Class of 1992 alumnus Edward D. Melillo, PhD, an associate professor of history and environmental studies at Amherst College, returned to campus in

February to offer a fascinating glimpse into more than two centuries of cultural, social, political, agricultural, and financial ties between Chile and California.

Dr. Melillo’s lecture was part of the Falmouth Academy Community Series, which since 2001 has featured prominent authors, scholars, journalists, government officials and others exploring topics of national and international interest and concern.

Before an audience of educators, friends and community members, Dr. Melillo used photographs and maps, facts and figures, travel itineraries and anecdotes in discussing the decade-plus he spent researching and writing his new book, “Strangers on Familiar Soil: Rediscovering the Chile-California Connection,” published in 2015 by Yale University Press.

The publisher describes the book as a “groundbreaking history” of numerous “unrecognized, enduring linkages” between

Over the course of an academic year, the students — working in teams — rotate through each bureau and thus interact with numerous cultures and issues. Daily classroom discussions and briefings are bolstered by mid-trimester “policy conferences,” where all of Mr. Swanbeck’s seniors gather in Morse Hall to air issues of global import and devise approaches to addressing them.

Coursework includes daily reading of news coverage by media outlets around the world, an array of books and journals, and reports of governmental and non-governmental agencies, and intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations. Students create annotated bibliographies, write blog entries, and deliver team-bureau presentations.

The course syllabus sets forth the content goals Mr. Swanbeck wants his students to reach:

• Understand culture within a global and comparative context and recognize that our culture is one of many diverse cultures and that alternate perceptions and behaviors may be based in cultural differences;• exhibit knowledge of global issues, processes, trends, and systems including geographic, political, economic, social, religious, and environmental dimensions, among others;• demonstrate knowledge of other cultures, including beliefs, values, perspectives, practices, and products;

• acquire an appreciation of the language, art, religion, philosophy, and material goods of different cultures, accept cultural differences, and tolerate cultural ambiguity.

The format also advances student development in the core skills that Mr. Swanbeck and all of his faculty colleagues emphasize across the curriculum: critical and creative thinking, clear and persuasive communication, and comprehensive and deliberate searching and reading.

“I loved how we shared and worked with our peers — the course was a great exercise for careful listening and thinking,” says Hope Allison '15 of Woods Hole, a first-year student at Middlebury College. “And, the annotated bibliographies we created while in each new bureau really helped prepare us for college.”

Alex Kania, a senior from Duxbury, says the “good habits” he’s forming — staying up to date on world affairs, daily reading and investigation, following the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal on social media — are essential to becoming “an informed citizen, and being an informed citizen is part of becoming an adult.”

He adds: “It’s great to have classmates who are well informed, too, and so both in class and out of class we’re not simply reciting ideas, but discussing world events and the deeper implications of things.”

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Rediscovering Connections Across BordersCalifornia and Chile, beginning in 1786 “when a French expedition brought the potato from Chile to California,” and concluding in 2008 with a diplomatic visit to the state by Chilean president Michelle Bachelet.

“During the intervening centuries, new crops, foods, fertilizers, mining technologies, laborers, and ideas from Chile radically altered California's development. In turn, Californian systems of servitude, exotic species, educational programs, and capitalist development strategies dramatically shaped Chilean history,” writes the publisher.

Reviewer Richard Feinberg writes in “Foreign Affairs” magazine: “This wonderful book weaves together captivating anecdotes with analysis of environmental interactions and economic exchanges between California and Chile in order to reimagine the making of the Americas.”

Dr. Melillo has authored numerous articles and publications focusing on history and environmental studies and is coeditor of the book, “Eco-Cultural Networks in the British Empire: New Views on Environmental History.”

He holds doctoral and master’s degrees in history from Yale and a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College. He joined the Amherst faculty in 2009 and previously taught at Franklin & Marshall College and Oberlin College.

A book-signing and reception featuring wines of Chile and California — courtesy of the speaker’s parents, founding faculty member Lalise Melillo and Marine Biological Laboratory distinguished scientist Jerry Melillo — followed the presentation.

Classrooms & Beyond

Harnessing the power of inspired learning in a world-renowned scientific and vibrant artistic community, Falmouth Academy emboldens each student to take creative and intellectual risks to confidently engage the challenges of our times.

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