ETI’s The Creative World is a 2-year deep initiation into human history, culture, psyche, and literary arts for motivated youth starting at 16 or 17 years of age.

The pillars of the curriculum are World History, Culture, and Language Arts.

Our intention is to root emerging minds into our shared human heritage and help them orient in a changing world of radical new possibilities.

We have built our curriculum in alignment with AP curricular standards from the US College Board, and are currently applying for authorization to offer the AP Capstone Diploma.

What Do We Cover?

The following overview is written as a series of 4 arcs. Each arc describes a period of 5 months of study. Our literature and history courses are integrated, such that students read literary works that immerse them in the themes and environments of the historical periods we are covering. This provides a far deeper understanding of the world’s past, present, and future than students generally receive at this (or any) level. Throughout our studies we support in-depth engagement with discussions and writing projects empowering students to become genuine thinkers, creators, and communicators.

Arc 1: Roots, Identity, Civilization, and the Ancient World

History:

  • Pre-History: Indigenous Cultures & Mythic Lineage

  • Classical Periods: Wilderness & Civilization

  • The Medieval Period: Power & Empire

  • The Age of Discovery: Contact & Colonialism

  • The Dream of the World: Gods & Archetypes

  • Know Thyself: Initiation, the Shadow, & Self-Discipline

Origins & Initiation:

  • Hesse’s “Siddhartha”

  • The Epic of Gilgamesh

  • Daniel Quinn’s “Ishmael”

  • Laozi’s “Tao te Ching”

  • Euripides’ “Bacchae”

  • Le Guin’s "Wizard of Earthsea”  and “Tombs of Atuan”

Awakening, Discovery, & Contact:

  • Shakespeare: Hamlet, Macbeth, Midsummer Night’s Dream

  • Russell’s "The Sparrow"

  • Le Guin’s "Left Hand of Darkness"

Skill-Building Throughout:

  • Intro to Literary Poetry, Literary Analysis, and Essay Craft

Films:

  • "Dead Poet’s Society," “Samsara,” and “The Mission”

Storytime:

  • Prechtel’s “Secrets of the Talking Jaguar”

Arc 2: Colonialism, Imperialism, Tradition, and Revolution

History:

  • The Modern Period (1750-1900)

  • Georgian Society: Class & Social Roles

  • Victorian Hegemony: Imperialism & Domination

  • Industrial Revolution: Progress & Technology

Foundations and Early Social Order:

  • Miller's "The Crucible"

  • Austen's "Pride and Prejudice"

The Transforming World:

  • Dickens' "Great Expectations"

  • Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest"

Trade, Empire, and Their Consequences:

  • Ghosh's "Sea of Poppies"

  • Kuang's "The Poppy War"

The Colonial Project:

  • Conrad's "Heart of Darkness"

  • Achebe's "Things Fall Apart"

Reflection on Progress:

  • Le Guin's "The Telling"

  • Shelley’s “Frankenstein”

Poems of:

  • Dickinson, Keats, Yeats, Blake

Films:

  • Fiddler on the Roof, Les Miserables, Cloud Atlas,

Storytime:

  • Prechtel’s “Secrets of the Talking Jaguar”

Arc 3: Modernity, War, Critique, and the Multiculturalism

History:

  • The Contemporary Period (1900-2015)

Literature:

  • Great Powers, World Wars, and Changing Cultures:

    • Morrison’s “Beloved”

    • Orwell’s “Animal Farm”

    • Vonegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five”

    • Films: Schindler’s List, Oppenheimer

  • Absurdism, Critique, Multiculturalism, and the Open Society:

    • Arundhati Roy’s “The God of Small Things”

    • Stoppard’s "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead"

    • Beckett’s "Waiting for Godot"

    • Film: Life of Pi

    Sensualism and Neo-Romantic Renewal

    • Abram’s “Spell of the Sensuous”

    • Hesse’s “Narcissus and Goldmund”

  • Poems of:

    • Rilke, Lorca, Plath, Neruda, Mary Oliver, Seamus Heaney, Jane Hirschfield, Louise Gluck, Joy Harjo, Maya Angelou

Storytime:

    • Prechtel’s “Long Life, Honey in the Heart”

Arc 4: Grasping the Present and Imagining the Future

History:

  • Study of Contemporary Historical Situation and Trends

  • Review and Practice

Literature:

  • Dystopia:

    • Orwell’s "1984"

    • Atwood’s "Oryx and Crake"

  • Mid-Topias?

    • Herbert’s "Dune"

    • Le Guin’s "The Dispossessed"

  • Evolutionary Potential

    • Heinlein’s "Stranger in a Strange Land"

    • Clarke’s “Childhood’s End”

    • Stapledon’s “Star Maker”

    • Films: The Man from Earth, Arrival, Waking Life

  • Emerging and Current Movements:

    • Dialectics of Modernity: Secular universalism? Sectarianism traditionalism? Authoritarian fascism? Neo-Romanticism? Utopian transhumanism? What’s next?

Storytime:

    • Prechtel’s “Long Life, Honey in the Heart”