FIND BIS | I&S Department: Studying the Past to Build the Future

I&S (Individuals and Societies)

Boston International School offers a wide variety of I&S (Individuals and Societies) courses including IB DP History, Psychology, Geography, Business Management, MYP I&S, AP Modern World History, and IGCSE History, Geography, and Business. In addition to exam and coursework preparation, the I&S Department facilitates project-based education in order to fulfil our Universal Design for Learning pedagogy. Students can integrate their passions from other subjects such as Art, English, and Music into interdisciplinary approaches to analyse intersectional historical narratives and current affairs.

This week, we had the opportunity to chat with Ms. Gina Smith, the I&S Coordinator and MUN (Model United Nations) Director at BIS. She and her students and peer teachers from other departments have shared their experiences and thoughts on the History courses, MUN and college application at BIS.

 

Model United Nations （MUN）

MUN is designed to help students comprehend and solve global issues through public speaking, debating, and collaboration. MUN uses simulations and mock trials to help students understand how the UN attempts to resolve international conflicts. BIS has sent our delegates to multiple MUN Conferences within China. In addition, MUN students have worked in collaboration with the SEN (Special Education Needs) Department to broaden their perspective on disability access on campus by working with members of the SEN Team and conducting their own research on how to improve architectural universal design.

 

International Citizenship

MUN students also contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals by raising money for Kiva, an organisaiton that uses microloans to fund small businesses around the world. Students can choose which people, economic sector, and business they want to support through a loan that will eventually be repaid, and then reloaned, thus creating grassroots sustainable economic development.

 

Ms. Gina Smith

Gina Smith grew up in an international school in South Korea and graduated with the IB Diploma before obtaining her Bachelors in History and Masters in Education at an American university. Gina Smith uses her experience to assist our students with college applications in order to prepare the next generation for life after high school.