Henrico teacher honored for cultural-studies work

Clare Sisisky leads a staff of eight teachers and 130 students at the Center for the Humanities at Hermitage High School.

Understanding other cultures is a large part of the focus of theCenter for the Humanities at Hermitage High School in Henrico County.

For her advancement of those goals, the center's director, Clare Sisisky, has received the Award for Excellence in the Teaching of International Studies.

The award is given annually by the Virginia Center for the Teaching of International Studies, a partnership between the World Affairs Council of Greater Richmond and the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University.

She received a plaque and a small cash award.

In the humanities center, Sisisky teaches government, modernity and global cultures and world history. She leads a staff of eight teachers and 130 students in the highly regarded program.

"I have spent time in schools in India, China and Africa," said Sisisky. "What I've have noticed is a lack of coverage of these cultures in our curriculum.

"Mutual understanding is going to be very important for our students," she said. "We need to understand how to work together, how our economic systems are intertwined and how the governments affect our students futures."

Sisisky began the Global Humanities Curriculum initiative at Hermitage, which culminates in a course which explores the human condition by examining globalization, social justice, modernism, genocide and other aspects.

"Over four years, we build an understanding of culture and the complexity of issues," she said. Contact Lisa Crutchfield at (804) 649-6362 or .