Native American High School Summer Program Curriculum
In this intensive three-week session, students attend lectures, participate in small-group, case-based learning sessions, do homework assignments, and present a final project demonstrating what they have learned and how it might be useful to their home communities. There are also extracurricular activities meant to enhance group cohesion and reward hard work.
An essential principle of the Program has been scrupulous respect for community jurisdiction. The communities select the students and teachers who will attend. They also determine the parietal rules for the students in their dormitories, within the constraints of university rules. The communities, in consultation with Program staff, have determined the subject area at the core of the academic program. The students' final projects are selected by the students and their community teachers/chaperones. This attitude of honoring the communities' authority has created an important degree of trust between Harvard Medical School and the Native communities; it has been seminal in the development of a collegial and productive partnership.
The entire third week of the program is devoted to the development and presentation, by the students, of individual and group projects. During the development phase Program faculty are available to answer questions and provide advise. Students will give their presentations to an invited audience in a medical school seminar room. Each community group will create a separate presentation that focuses on its own community. Students are encouraged to devise creative ways to present their knowledge in their home communities.
Applications are received through Fort Peck and Hopi High Schools only. Each community is responsible for their own application process. Please fill out the attached application and contact Jane Riccardi at Jane@hms.harvard.edu with any questions.
The 2019 deadline is February 28th, 2019.
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