What does it mean to be 16 years old in New York City? In South Africa? In Australia? Sixteen is a high school class that investigates culture and coming of age from an anthropological perspective. Students collect artifacts, video footage and writings that document the story of how 16 is lived around the world. Their final projects – films about a youth subculture that they identify and choose to document – can be found here. Additional photos from the class are available at The Sixteen Project on Flickr.
This course proposes new questions about the high school experience: How might learning be more intimately connected to both personal and global questions? How do students engage with “other” communities and at the same time begin to see themselves as “other”? How significant is the physical classroom environment when these investigations occur across the globe via Skype, Flickr, Google Voice and Vimeo?
Hosted at the NYC iSchool, a public high school in SoHo, Sixteen is made possible by collaborations with schools around the world. We are always looking for equipment and partnerships that would allow us to collect documentary footage from outside of the New York City area. If you’re interested in participating in the project, please send us a note!
Heather Portnoy, hportnoy@nycischool.org
2014, 2015
Francesca Fay + Christina Jenkins
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
We are Sixteen. 