The Driving Question

How can we use mathematical concepts to create visual representations that capture the essence and diversity of Brazilian music?

The Project: Visualizing the Numbers in Music

In response to this question, Huxley developed a computational and cultural exploration of music, transforming sound into data-driven visualizations that reveal its hidden mathematical structures while honoring its cultural roots.

The Conceptual Goal

Huxley challenges the idea that music is only what we hear, proposing instead that music exists across multiple forms such as video, sheet music, and MIDI. His goal was to redefine music as a combination of human experience, cultural identity, and structured patterns.

Mathematics & Technology

Using Fourier transforms and programming, Huxley converted audio signals into numerical data. These numbers were then analyzed and translated into visual representations, allowing patterns like rhythm, melody, and harmony to be seen rather than just heard.

Decoding the Visuals

The resulting visualizations communicate multiple musical elements simultaneously:

• The central spectrum represents the frequencies present in the sound.
• Color indicates root notes and tonal shifts.
• Texture reflects noise levels and rhythmic complexity and spiral shapes and spacing reveal drum patterns and timing structures.
  

Cultural Context & Meaning

To ground his project in lived experience, Huxley explored the deep cultural significance of music in Brazil:

• Music as Identity: In Brazilian culture, particularly in Bahia, music is inseparable from daily life, history, and spirituality.
• Spiritual Foundations: Through Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian religion, rhythm becomes a form of connection between people and deities (orixás), each associated with specific musical patterns.
• Celebration & Community: Events like Carnival demonstrate music as a collective expression of joy, resistance, and cultural pride, where rhythm and movement unify communities.

Final Product

The project culminated in a presentation combining cultural analysis, mathematical modeling, and interactive visualizations.
Huxley demonstrated how computational tools can uncover the structural patterns of music while maintaining its human and cultural significance.

The Summative Reflection

He concludes that while there are “numbers in the music,” music itself cannot be reduced to data alone. It is ultimately defined by the people behind it—their experiences, emotions, and cultural contexts—making music both a mathematical structure and a deeply human expression.

Driving Question:

How does capoeira embody the essence of Afro-Brazilian culture and history?

Module Summary:

The teacher-led module “Capoeira” explores the history, cultural significance, and practice of Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art with roots in African traditions. Students examine how Capoeira developed during colonial times, its periods of restriction and criminalization, and its eventual legalization and global spread. Through this lens, the module highlights Capoeira as both a physical discipline and a cultural expression deeply connected to Afro-Brazilian identity.

Throughout the module, students engage in hands-on learning and cultural immersion to develop their understanding of Capoeira. Learners participate in weekly Capoeira classes, where they practice movement, rhythm, and technique, as well as learn to play traditional instruments such as the berimbau. They explore different styles of Capoeira, including Angola and Regional, and deepen their skills through an intensive training experience with expert practitioners, including sessions at ABADÁ-Capoeira, a globally recognized Capoeira organization.

In their final assessment, students create and perform a choreographed Capoeira piece that incorporates the styles and techniques they have learned. The process requires collaboration, creativity, and communication, as students from diverse backgrounds work together to build a cohesive performance. Through this experience, the module emphasizes the importance of cultural appreciation, physical expression, and teamwork, allowing students to engage with Capoeira as both an art form and a living cultural tradition.

Driving Question:

How can we use multimedia literary expression to tell the story of conservation of biodiversity in Brazil?

Module Summary:

The teacher-led module “Narrative of Life” explores how storytelling can be used to communicate the importance of biodiversity conservation in Brazil. Guided by the driving question, how can we use multimedia literary pieces to tell the story of conservation of biodiversity in Brazil, students investigate environmental issues through creative expression, combining research with artistic interpretation to raise awareness about human impact on nature.

Throughout the module, students participate in a range of field experiences, workshops, and expert-led sessions that deepen their understanding of conservation and storytelling. Learners engage with professionals such as an agroforestry project leader, take part in poetry and vocal workshops, and join a boat expedition with a marine bioacoustics expert. A key highlight of the module is a week spent in the Amazon, where students gain firsthand insight into biodiversity and conservation efforts, supported by local organizations and experts.

In their final projects, students create immersive multimedia literary pieces that communicate environmental narratives in creative ways. These projects include performances, writing, and audiovisual storytelling that aim to inspire awareness and action. For example, students present works such as a song that personifies nature to highlight the impact of human exploitation, using artistic expression to convey complex environmental issues. Through this interdisciplinary approach, the module emphasizes the power of storytelling in driving meaningful change and fostering a deeper connection to the natural world.

Driving Question:

How can I use my personal life experiences to write and illustrate a children’s book that explores the topics of race, culture and identity?

Project Summary:

Samara M., one of our senior students, shared a deeply personal project inspired by her multicultural background, having lived in Kenya, China, Malaysia, and Tanzania. Despite loving books like “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” and “The Gruffalo,” she felt a lack of stories that reflected her unique experiences.

Identifying as a third culture kid, Samara highlighted the challenges and feelings of isolation that come with this identity. To bridge this gap, she created a children’s story that resonates with the third culture experience and beyond.

Samara conducted research across schools in Kenya and Tanzania, revealing a significant underrepresentation of black characters in children’s books. Motivated by these findings and Susan Sontag’s belief that stories shape our world, Samara wrote “The Little Frog’s Dilemma,” a tale set in a pond divided into four regions, each with distinct skills.

The protagonist, a frog with parents from different regions, embodies a blend of these cultures but struggles to excel in any single skill. Despite initial failures in dancing and magic, the frog’s unique croak, a metaphor for its mixed identity, ultimately earns it the honor of performing for the queen.

Through this story, Samara aims to reflect diverse experiences and foster connection. She encourages everyone to embrace and share their personal narratives, believing they have the power to ignite empathy and break down barriers.

Samara’s hope is that “The Little Frog’s Dilemma” will resonate with readers and become a cherished story, inspiring others to create bridges through their own unique tales.

I gained a newfound appreciation for all of the work that goes into architecture. This module made me excited for the future since I got to learn about many new and upcoming sustainable technologies.

-Class of 2023 Student Saffron B.

My project, “Central Palm,” is located on the golden shores of Kite Beach. The central courtyard is the house’s spine, allowing year-round use due to the shade of the ghaf tree while still maintaining privacy from the outside world. The state-of-the-art Tesla solar roof reduces the owners’ reliance on the grid, even allowing you to sell excess solar energy back to the grid. Water-collecting tech that utilizes local sea breezes alongside sound-absorbing glass, inspired by the Czech Republic Expo pavilion, combines sustainability and modernity, thereby maintaining harmony with the local environment. The house features traditional Islamic design, such as columns, a majlis space for entertaining guests, and a prayer room. This house isn’t the future; this house is now.

This module was unique to me, as I had never known how interested I was in architecture until I experienced it during these two months. I have also learned the importance of focusing on the journey and the learning instead of making my product look perfect.

-Class of 2023 Student Sara G.

Driving Question: How can I design and build a model home or community that will function efficiently in a desert environment?

Are you looking for a house that is both nature-friendly and luxurious? Then my project, “Fresh Air,” is perfect for you! Located in The Palm Islands, it combines different panoramic views, from the relaxing beach view to the moat with the fish, and finally, the lush green spaces all around the house.

This house combines many aspects of sustainability: It saves water by taking it from the beach and using it in the pool and the moat. The greywater is used for watering the garden and for the flowers all around the house. The materials used (concrete, bamboo, etc.) are very eco-friendly. Solar panels help produce electricity using solar energy. The fish in the moat produce waste that contributes to the growing of plants.

Driving Question: How can I improve my mental and physical wellbeing by going offline during an online term?

Module Overview: For this project, I researched the effects of one’s environment on their mental health, particularly in relation to COVID 19, as well as practices and techniques for improving mental and physical wellbeing. I then put these techniques into action through physical activity, yoga, meditation, reflection, and mindfulness in order to improve my own wellbeing. In addition, this project was done entirely offline, with both my research and process portfolio being done on paper. My final product was a bullet journal documenting my experience throughout the term.

Project Reflection: “This project was incredible for me. It might not be one of the projects that seems the most impressive or sounds the coolest, but I think it is the one that has been the most beneficial for me. This has been a hard year, and this project gave me the space to ask myself how it has affected me and what I can do to deal with that. Through this project, I learned how to take care of myself emotionally and physically, and I also learned how important those things are and how much they affect all aspects of my life.”

Driving Question: How can I address some of the present threats to global health while promoting human rights and social progress?

Project Overview: In this module, students were introduced to the foundations of global health. They learned about basic concepts, measurements, and determinants of health, and a number of key perspectives for considering global health issues.

For her project, Estelle explored water scarcity in Honduras, which leads to a lack of basic sanitation and clean water for up to 1.8 million people. Non-communicable diseases in Honduras attributed to water cause a DALY rate of 4,540 per 100,000 people. Disease spreads through contaminated food and water tanks, and poor management, climate change, and political unrest worsen the issue.

Project Reflection: “Exploring the niche of environmental global health opened my mind to so many new areas of interest in this field.  I thoroughly enjoyed this module and felt like the skills will be very applicable to other modules.”

Driving Question: How can we convey the complexities of ethnic and religious reconciliation through our experience of Bosnia and Herzegovina?

For her summative assessment, Class of 2021 student Malak B. went an artful route by working on a series of pictures of Bosnian strangers. Each held up a flower representing a value that they believe leads to reconciliation, along with a description of why they hold that belief.

The end project demonstrated how different people in Bosnia and Herzegovina hold different views on reaching reconciliation. In the end, it turns out, no matter their ethnicity, everyone strives towards the same goal.

Driving Question: How can I use creative art practices to engage in discourse and dialogue on counterculture, social justice or everyday life through zines?

Project Description:

In this module I made a zine (book) about the life of Rupert Murdoch, why he does what he does, and how his influence works.

Quote:

I learned that with a little bit of inspiration and a non-judgemental audience, art becomes a lot easier.