City of Angels Zine Maps the Culture of Los Angeles

Co-taught in the first semester by Upper School Science Teacher Rachel Dunham and English Teacher Dr. Nathan Stogdill, City of Angels is an interdisciplinary course that invites students to explore Los Angeles through literature, history, and environmental science. Designed to challenge traditional definitions of academic learning, the course asks students to consider how place, people, and land shape the way knowledge is created and understood. One of the central projects of the first semester is creating a collaborative class zine.

According to Rachel Dunham, the early months of the course focus on the idea of “ways of knowing.” Students examine how understanding can emerge not only from academic texts, but also from lived culture and direct engagement with the city itself.

“Reading academic texts about the history of Los Angeles provides a very different set of information than talking to a lifetime resident, watching films about the city, or listening to music made by Angelinos,” Rachel said. “All of those perspectives are needed to create a full picture.”

The zine serves as a capstone project for the semester’s work. Centered on connections between people and land in Los Angeles, the project asks students to synthesize what they have learned while contributing their own voices and perspectives. While the class agrees on shared requirements for the zine as a whole, students take responsibility for brainstorming, coordinating, and producing the final publication.

Planning for the project begins about a week before Block Days. During Block periods, students use extended class time to physically assemble, photocopy, and reflect on the completed zine. Each student creates an individual page, choosing a format and focus that aligns with their interests or challenges them to try something new.

The project is closely tied to the course competencies, which emphasize collaboration, observation, and analysis. Students receive feedback not only on the content of their page, but also on how effectively they worked together and how clearly their work demonstrates growth in these areas. In a final reflection, students articulate what they were trying to show and how their contribution fits within the broader goals of the course.

For Jasper M. ’26, the zine represents both the individuality of the class and the collective learning that has taken place.

“The zine is a manifestation of what we students bring to the class,” Jasper said. “Dr. Stodgill and Ms. Dunham have told us that the class is different each year depending on what we offer, and that has rung true. Whether through our roundup presentations or this zine, City of Angels has allowed us to explore what we care about without the constraints of a strict curriculum.”

The course has also reshaped how students think about learning. Jasper shared that City of Angels challenged his assumptions about what it means for a class to be academically rigorous.

“I’ve reconsidered what ‘academic’ means,” he said. “At first, a double-block class focused entirely on Los Angeles sounded confusing. Now, after a semester, it feels like we’ve only scratched the surface. Through field trips, finding poetry at The Autry, and analyzing the topography of Lacy Park, I realized that academic work doesn’t have to look like taking notes during a lecture.”

Through projects like the zine, City of Angels encourages students to see learning as active and deeply connected to the world around them. By blending disciplines and centering student voices, the course offers a model of education that is as complex and dynamic as Los Angeles itself.

Read the full City of Angels Zine here.