Modern Masculinities
We want boys to develop a healthy masculinity and foster deep bonds with their peers and caring adults. To do that, they need classroom time and space to model positive relationships, increase empathy, develop active listening skills, and broadly explore how gender is performed and lived. The Modern Masculinities suite of courses are designed to help boys expand their understanding of what it means to be a boy in the world today, and the possibilities that exist for them to live lives of purpose and connection.
Courses offered:
Grade 5 Radical Empathy
Radical Empathy is a Grade Five course dedicated to helping boys value understanding and sharing the feelings of others while teaching them how to be actively empathetic in their daily lives. After exploring the differences between sympathy and empathy, the boys go through a storytelling unit that teaches the skills associated with deep listening. The course culminates with the Panther Tank program in which students teams design non-profit organizations that address needs in New York City and present them to a panel of judges.
Grade 5 Mindfulness
Grade Five students take a semester course in mindfulness to develop the skills of slow thinking, positive visualization, and meditation.
Grade 6 Panthers Connect
Panthers Connect is a Grade Six course that builds on skills learned in the Radical Empathy course.
Based on the research of Niobe Way, Judy Chu, and Matthew Lieberman, the boys study the effects of friendship on health and wellness and consider why and how the capacity and disposition to connect with others is a “superpower” that humans use to build a life of meaning and purpose . After exploring why connection matters as well as the forces the interrupt or minimize connection, the boys engage in a “social school” project with the goal of constructing physical models of spaces at Browning that could be redesigned to fuel connection to others.
Grade 6 Health & Wellness
The mission for the entire Health & Wellness program at Browning is to expand students’ understanding of themselves, others, and the world around them through various lenses of health and wellness. In Health & Wellness 6, we will meet one to two times per week for one semester and primarily utilize a discussion-based format. At this level, students will hone their focus on the three foundational dimensions of a person’s health and wellness: physical, mental, and social. Through these dimensions, students will cultivate skills to connect and listen better, think critically and make responsible decisions, express themselves effectively, and take action to uphold their individual and community health and wellness.
Grade 10 Healthy Masculinity
In this course, boys will be asked to consider how masculinity is understood and performed as well as where those understandings come from and are lived. Through conducting interviews with men in their lives and critically examining the role culture plays in the lived experience of the various masculinities they encounter, they will ultimately come to their own understanding of what makes up healthy masculinity in the 21st century.
Grade 12 Tomorrow's Men
At Browning, we often use the phrase “Today’s Boys, Tomorrow’s Men.” In this course, boys will be asked to explore their own experiences, attitudes, and aspirations towards adulthood as it relates to gender. Students will explore a variety of mediums to reveal the attitudes and messages they are exposed to relating to masculinity. Students will also prepare their future outside of a single-sex community and prepare for community-oriented senior projects.