Amelia Adcock didn’t expect a senior-year class to change the way she saw the world or her place in it.
But during the “Wilderness and the American Mind” course, she found herself doing more than reading environmental history or writing research papers. She was connecting deeply with nature, her classmates and ideas that shaped how she thinks about art, government and – perhaps most importantly – the global future.
“I’ve always felt most at home in the wilderness,” Adcock said. “I wanted to expand my knowledge of what I can do for environmental preservation, the origins of different views of the environment and how this has affected the history of U.S. society and policy.”
In the process, she added, “I learned a lot about myself.”
And that’s exactly the goal of the Senior Seminar program at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School, where students like Adcock trade traditional coursework for an immersive exploration of ideas they genuinely care about.
In their final year, seniors can opt for a year-long mentorship with a professional in the field – or they can choose a faculty-led seminar that allows for collaborative inquiry, travel, independent projects and deep discussion of a teacher-chosen topic. Both paths give students rich opportunities to hone their research and communication skills while connecting their passions to real-world questions. In the case of seminars, funding from the Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School Foundation provides financial support for student travel and course materials that would otherwise make the courses impossible to offer.
Senior Seminars reflect a blend of academic rigor and creative freedom. This year, the students’ work culminated on May 21 with the Senior Showcase, where they presented their research in large-group formats. The topics on tap included:
- “Moneyball: The History and Sabermetrics of Baseball.”
- “Simulating Manual Wheelchair Dynamics to Reduce Injury.”
- “Set Fire To the Kitchen: War, Migration, and Women’s Roles in the Middle East and North Africa: Voices Unveiled.”
- ”Do You Like the Zoo? Investigating the Morality of Animals in Captivity.”
- “Greener Cities, Smarter Strategies: Urban Planning Lessons for Richmond.”
- “Black Literature/Black Lives: African American History and Culture.”
- “Power of Story: Teaching Narrative Through Travel Writing.”
- What Should We Buy Next? An Analysis of Media-Driven Consumerism in America.”
Going deeper into a subject
For the “Wilderness and the American Mind” course, English teacher Adam Rotche modeled the experience on a transformative college course of his own. He developed the course as a way for students to interrogate America’s cultural relationship with nature, from the myths of untouched frontier to modern environmental crises.
The course, rooted in centuries of environmental writing and visual art, brought students outside the classroom – literally and intellectually. They read Henry David Thoreau and Edward Abbey, whose writings tap into philosophy, environmentalism and many things in-between. They analyzed environmental policy, took nature walks and spent the second semester tackling their own research.
For Adcock and her group, that meant studying America’s role in global mass production, focusing on its environmental toll. They tackled the same issue through health, humanitarian and economic lenses. “I was surprised by how much each of our personal experiences contributed to the conversations and material we discussed and debated throughout the year,” Adcock said.
Across campus, other seminars were pushing boundaries in different directions. “Photojournalism in the Digital Age,” taught by Georgianne Stinnett, equipped students with digital cameras and a critical lens. “We studied how photographs tell stories and preserve history,” she said. “But we also explored how students can tell their own stories through images, with both technical skill and ethical awareness.”
The idea for the course came directly from student interest. Students not only learned photography and editing but also dove into the history of the field and studied contemporary photojournalists.
Lessons that go beyond the classroom
Lessons learned during these seminars carry with the students after they leave the Richmond campus. For alum Sam McNamee, a love of history and a desire to travel led to enrolling in “The Evolution of London,” a former seminar course that culminated with a trip to England. “I was surprised by how much there was to learn,” McNamee said. “And the trip was unforgettable. Spending time with my classmates abroad created friendships and memories that stayed with me even after the class ended.”
That spirit of exploration is key to the success of these seminars, many of which include experiential learning and fieldwork. Kerry Sheppard, who previously taught “The Evolution of London,” will debut a new seminar next fall on Vikings and Anglo-Saxons. Inspired by travel funded through the Foundation’s Pat Taylor Award for Excellence in Teaching, Sheppard’s upcoming course will have students step into the role of skaalds, Viking poets who preserved cultural memory through stories.
“They’ll choose to study Vikings as raiders, traders or settlers, and explore how each role influenced the Western world,” Sheppard said. She hopes to include travel to historical sites such as the recreated Viking village in Birka – Sweden’s oldest city and one-time trade stronghold – and the Viking Ship Museum and adjacent harbor in Roskilde, Denmark.
While many students choose seminars for their collaborative environment and unique content, the mentorship option offers a more independent path. Seniors who opt for mentorships work one-on-one with a professional or academic expert on a topic or career path they want to pursue. Both options culminate in a capstone-style experience that reflects the depth of students’ thinking and engagement.
For Adcock, the choice was clear. “It was an opportunity to dissect topics I am truly interested in that I have never had the freedom to discuss in school,” she said. “Having a teacher so knowledgeable on the subject and classmates equally interested in it has made the class a very worthwhile experience.”