Focus Field

During their junior year, Social Studies concentrators submit Focus Field forms for approval by the Social Studies Board of Instruction. Students develop their Focus Fields in consultation with their academic advisor.

A preliminary form is submitted in the first semester of junior year; a revised final form is submitted in the second semester of junior year. During the senior year, students have extra opportunities to make final changes to their focus field.

It’s expected that students will continue to develop and refine their focus field over the course of their junior year as they further identify their intellectual interests and begin to explore ideas for their thesis project. Sometimes the changes are small, representing a slight shift in academic focus or interest in taking different classes than first proposed. Less commonly, students’ focus fields change completely over time. The overall requirements—four to six classes across at least two social science disciplines—are flexible enough to allow for significant shifts in academic interest from the time that students begin Social Studies 10a until senior year. 

Focus fields should be submitted via Canvas, using either the Social Studies Juniors site (for juniors) or the Soc-Std 99A site (for seniors). If you do not have access to the requisite Canvas site, email Katie Greene. For instructions on completing the form, please refer to the Focus Field Guidelines.

 

Sample Focus Fields

The sample focus fields below are based on work by the Social Studies classes of 2020 and 2021.