 Welcome, I'm Elizabeth Moose, Dean of Humanities. My colleagues and I are so glad that you're joining our community and we look forward to working closely with you throughout your NCSSM journey. We love the subjects we teach and most of all we love exploring those subjects with you, our students. Why? Because learning at NCSSM, both in and beyond the classroom, is serious fun. In American Studies, for instance, which all juniors take, we'll dive deep into a variety of complex texts ranging from journals and logbooks, letters and speeches to song lyrics, poems, novels and plays. We'll also learn how to read visual texts such as paintings, photographs, architecture and advertisements. A big part of what we do in American Studies is to make connections between and among different areas of study. After all, life doesn't come at us in separate little boxes. We'll also ask questions that maybe you've never thought about before, questions about the very nature of history and of literature. For example, to what extent is history mutilated and incomplete? Who decides what texts are included in literary anthologies or left out and what do those choices have to do with power and authority? How do texts both reflect and shape the context in which they were created? All juniors also enroll in a world language course in one of the five languages we teach – Chinese, French, Japanese, Latin or Spanish – but we need your help in determining your placement. Now if you've never studied any of these languages, no worries, just choose the language you wish to study and we'll place you in the introductory level. But if you've had any experience in any of these five languages as a student or as a native or heritage speaker, then before welcome day, be sure to complete the online placement assessment for that particular language. You'll find directions and links for those assessments in focus. For Chinese, Japanese or Latin, complete the online intake form. For French or Spanish, take the online placement test. Now don't be tempted to use any dictionaries, online translators or other aids. We want a valid measure of your current proficiency, so show us what you know and what you don't know. It's okay not to know, really. Now you'll probably have room in your schedule for a humanities elective or two, so I hope you'll take a look at our vast selection of electives. Also be sure to consider our terrific fine arts courses, which you can take above and beyond your core courses. And if you're a musician or singer, please be sure to request orchestra, wind ensemble, chorale or jazz performance workshop. Our music performing ensembles need you, all three trimesters. So welcome to humanities at NCSSM, a community where learning is expected, respected and serious fun. That's why I love NCSSM, and I know you will too. See you soon.