Dalton News

History Students Scrutinize Public and Private Spheres

Students in HS History Teacher Dr. Sarah Dunitz’s elective, “From Salons to Social Media: The History of the Public Sphere,” are exploring how law, art, and the media shape and negotiate notions of public and private, both historically and in our contemporary society.
Legal fellows from the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University led an engaging conversation about how the law surrounding freedom of speech intersects with current-day digital media platforms on February 9. 

The class visited the breathtaking "Edward Hopper's New York" exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art a week later. There, students considered how this 20th-century painter interrogated how individuals experience the crowded, noisy, and often very isolated realities of city life and how elusive the boundaries between private and public often are. 

Finally, on February 22, the class enjoyed a fantastic opportunity to hear from acclaimed New York Times investigative journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner, and Dalton parent Jodi Kantor P'24 about how her work shaped the MeToo movement. Jodi inspired and encouraged the class to examine the wider significance of serious, rigorous journalism in maintaining an active and engaged public sphere. 

The students are looking forward to more adventures to come in the remainder of the semester!


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