2012 Course Listings
The courses at Explo at Yale will fuel your creativity and spark your innovative spirit. Simply put, they will inspire you. Our more than 90 courses give you the chance to follow your passions, develop your talents, and explore interests you've always been curious about.
First-Come, First-Served
Explo at Yale courses are numbered in the 100s and 200s. 100 number courses meet in the first period of the day; 200 numbered courses meet in the second period of the day.
Courses are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Class size is limited to 16 students. The registrar makes every effort to assign you to one of your preferred choices. In the event that a class is full, you will be assigned to your next preference. On your application, you will select and rank your top 6 preferences of 100-numbered courses and your top 6 preferences of 200-numbered courses.
Performing Arts
| 101 | 201 | A Stage of Your Own+ Acting + Directing When actors and directors work from the same frame of reference, they deliver powerful performances. We will analyze and interpret a variety of scripts, breaking each scene and dialogue sequence into beats. In small director/actor groups, you'll both direct and perform selected scenes with focused attention on line delivery, intent, story, and action. By watching classmates perform, you’ll discover how different directors’ perspectives can completely alter the meaning of a script. At our final performance, you’ll bring timeless works to life under the spotlight, while developing stage presence under the direction of your peers. |
| 102 | Off the Cuff+ Improv Comedy Do you have a talent for making people laugh? Think you're in line to become the next Amy Poehler or Jimmy Fallon? If so, then we’ve got a banana peel — er, an improv studio — waiting for you. You'll learn how to best express your inner comedian by studying characterization (think Tracy Morgan on 30 Rock), stage positioning, and other strategies that will keep any audience rolling in the aisles. You’ll discover the art of thinking on your feet and pulling from your acquired bag of tricks to turn anything as mundane as a trip to the grocery store into comedy gold. While the emphasis will be on developing confidence in performance and the ability to improvise alone or with a group, the major goal is to have fun! | |
| 103 | Dancing Like a Star+ Ballroom Dance Don't know your waltz from your rumba? Your tango from your mambo? Then make your first step (or two or three) with us as we introduce you to the twists and turns of ballroom dance. Starting with the basic moves of the foxtrot and the waltz, we'll focus on sound technique, keeping in mind posture, speed, body alignment, and weight distribution. As we get comfortable, we'll progress into the more advanced styles such as the mambo, rumba, and tango, and you'll have the opportunity to perform ballroom dance for your friends in the Explo community. The course will close with a spectacular performance at Explopalooza that will have you dancing like a star. | |
| 104 | Get Your Groove On+ Hip-Hop Dance Develop your bodily awareness and sense of style while learning to speak the physical vocabulary of hip-hop. From stretching, warmups, isolation, flexibility, and strength exercises, to just letting loose with the tunes, this course keeps you moving. We'll break down the freshest steps from hip-hop, street, funk, and jazz, helping you to feel it, dance it, and own it. By studying and discussing videos of today's pros, you'll analyze characteristics of professional dance and weave them into your own style. We'll experiment with improvisation and choreography and put it all together in a high-energy performance at Explopalooza. | |
| 105 | Lift Every Voice+ A Cappella Think of your voice as an instrument capable of playing nearly anything: a jazz riff one minute, a multi-layered hip-hop beatbox the next, and a barbershop melody a moment after that. In this course, while practicing your ability to sight-read, developing your sense of pitch, and learning basic principles of music theory, you'll work with a team of vocal musicians to create a variety of songs with harmony, melody, and rhythm. We'll translate some of our favorite tunes (whether they’re R&B, country, or pop) into a cappella arrangements to create layered musical soundscapes rich in tone and tenor. And like any band striving to be heard, we’ll take our show to the Explopalooza stage — blending solos and riffs into a beautiful vocal orchestra. | |
| 106 | 100% Rock+ Rock Performance Drums. Bass. Electric guitar. Cowbell. If it rocks, we'll play it. In this course, we'll revisit the history of rock-n-roll, rehearsing and interpreting music from a variety of rock masters (Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Radiohead, Nirvana, and others). Oh, and not to worry, there'll be plenty of time devoted simply to rocking out. Our in-class jam sessions will layer sound upon sound and incorporate a range of musical embellishments — getting you ready for an end-of-session live performance that will blow the doors right off of Explopalooza. Along the way, we'll investigate the dynamics of performing as a band, learn how to integrate a beat with a melody, and discover how to bridge tight progressions and rhythm shifts. So what are you waiting for? Grab your instruments and get ready to rock!
[Students must bring their own instruments and have at least one year's experience. A drum set will be provided.] | |
| 107 | Find Your Voice+ The Art of Storytelling It’s just you, a microphone, and a very rapt audience. What will you perform? Perhaps you’ll channel your inner David Sedaris (or Tina Fey), and tell us all about that cross-country experience with your mother and a group of fleas? Or maybe you’ll recite a tract about indigestion in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet? Or tantalize your audience with a story on post-holiday stress? Before you jump on stage, we’ll get you ready to spin your oratorical web. As you develop your source material, we'll help you focus on tone, physicality, and (comedic) timing. You’ll discover how your volume, rhythm, and movements affect the meaning of your tale, and work with vocal warm-ups and tongue-twisters that will turn you into loquacious lovers of enunciated English. Are you ready to transform your experiences into tales of epic proportions? There’s a spot waiting for you at our final performance at the Explo Drama Café — come break a leg! | |
| 202 | All the World's a Stage+ Guerrilla Theater Are you an artist? An activist? An art-activist looking for just the right creative outlet? Then try this on for size: guerrilla theater — an impromptu style of performance art that takes the Shakespearean axiom that "all the world's a stage" quite literally. We'll study the work of seasoned pranksters like Improv Everywhere and political activists like Abbie Hoffman, culling inspiration from both to create our own unique brand of spontaneous, theatrical, in-the-street artwork. You will deliver PSAs, carefully craft, plan, and assemble flash mobs, and create "living newspapers" all across campus. Yet with your art, there will be one overarching question: what's the best way to add some commotion to your cause? | |
| 203 | Dance Dance Revolution+ Modern Dance Since Isadora Duncan shocked and delighted audiences in the 1920s with what she called "Free Dance," the field of modern dance has incorporated aspects of every other dance genre. Come join us in our dance studio as we experience and investigate various styles of modern dance. We'll practice footwork and across-the-floor combinations, beginning with basic movements including turn rolls and leaps, and advancing to articulated adagio movements. As we investigate the nature of modern dance, we'll look at the influences of major choreographers and infuse our own ideas into an original modern dance that we will perform at Explopalooza. | |
| 204 | Vamos a Bailar!+ Latin Dance Looking to shake up your staid, old dance routine? Put a little spin in your step? A little drama in your stance? A little rhythm in your strut? Then join us as we twirl our way through the hottest dances from the clubs and alleyways of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil! Starting with the basic steps of salsa and merengue, you'll learn how to move, sway, and shake your body to different Afro-Caribbean beats. Focusing on posture, timing, speed, and body alignment, you'll develop a sizzling ballroom dancing repertoire that will truly shake up your next trip to the dance floor. Along the way, we'll experiment with the basic footwork and body movements of dances like the bachata, mambo, bolero, and reggaeton, a hybrid of salsa, hip-hop, and reggae melodies. So leave your white gloves and zoot suit at home — this summer, it's time to move to the Latin beat! | |
| 205 | No Business Like Show Business+ Musical Theater Yale is closer to Broadway than you think! Join our musical theater troupe as we sing, dance, act, and direct scenes from some of the most memorable musical productions ever performed. From small Off-Broadway revivals to classic hits, our class will investigate the technical aspects of musical theater as well as the dramatic relationship between spoken lines and singing and dancing. We'll analyze classic performances such as Rent and Phantom of the Opera, and explore how new Broadway hits like Spamalot and Wicked have expanded the genre. By the time we hit the stage at Explopalooza with our own final performance, you'll dance and sing your way to Explo fame. Watch out, Broadway! Here we come! | |
| 206 | Wax On to the Breakadawn+ DJing + Music Production Looking to scratch your DJ itch? Then join us and try your hand at the fundamentals of the (digital) turntables: beat-matching, mixing, and cross-fading. With a library of digital samples at your disposal, you'll practice constructing dance hall mash-ups and creative sonic landscapes. Together, we'll explore the various interpretations of turntablism, from the scratch-heavy production of DJ Premier to the multi-textured layers of beat composers like RJD2 and Cut Chemist. Finally, after creating and perfecting your own sound collages, you will have a chance to polish the wheels of steel at our final performance. | |
| 207 | The Lyric Lounge+ Songwriting Writing rhymes? Songwriting's a lot more than that. It's about telling stories, evoking emotions, and saying old things in a new way. It's Justin Timberlake pitilessly prodding his ex in “Cry Me a River.” It's Taylor Swift sprinkling specifics into songs about young love. It's Kanye stuck in a quandary over his conflict diamonds. In this course, we'll review the great songs and songwriters of all-time, discussing what made them legendary and one-of-a-kind. We'll explore how songwriting standards shift across genre — how Lil Wayne and Jay-Z construct a lyric differently than Bob Dylan or Death Cab for Cutie. And, of course, we'll practice by writing lots and lots of our own lyrics. Using basic melodies, we'll try our hand with different song styles and tempos — a solo acoustic guitar accompaniment vs. a top 40, beat-heavy banger. Now is your time to write. What will you say? |
Visual Arts
| 110 | 210 | Shutterbug+ Darkroom Photography In three weeks’ time, you'll learn the entire process of photography, from framing and lighting your shot to developing film and printing black and white images. In addition to focusing on the technical process of taking photos — reading and using an exposure meter, calculating shutter and aperture settings, and understanding focal lengths and film speed — we'll also focus on what makes for good photography, looking at the history of the medium and understanding the basic elements of photographic composition. As we learn the chemical development process, you'll make prints of your work directly from your negatives and will compile a portfolio to show in our end-of-session photography exhibit.
Please note: Students are strongly encouraged to bring their own 35mm SLR cameras. |
| 111 | 211 | Blueprint to Build+ Architecture In this studio-intensive course, we'll introduce you to the fundamentals of architectural design. After demonstrations of the tools of the trade and a review of some famous architectural plans for inspiration, we'll jump-start you into the process of designing your own structures. Beginning with hard-lined scale drawings and working your way to full-blown models, you'll develop an architectural project that will explore the nature of form, function, material, location, and aesthetics. Upon completion of final drawings and models, you'll pitch your project to a design jury and participate in a group analysis and critique. |
| 112 | Reel Life+ Narrative Filmmaking "You have to understand, my dears, that the shortest distance between truth and a human being is a story." — Anthony de Mello. From the storytelling-in-reverse Memento to the silent film rhapsody The Artist, the best narrative films take you on a journey that challenges your point of view and expands how you understand the world around you. If you could be in the director's chair, what story will you tell? This summer, join a band of fellow filmmakers and create a narrative film that speaks volumes. You'll storyboard, compose shots, and film the narrative at the center of your tale, collecting the raw footage for a short movie. As you learn lighting, audio, and basic editing techniques, we'll explore the best ways to frame your film, from beginning to end. So make your final edits and watch the credits roll — your cinematic opus is ready for opening night! | |
| 113 | Behind the Catwalk+ Fashion Challenges Challenge: design a Gossip Girl back-to-school collection. Challenge: create an American Apparel-inspired line for small dogs and pets. Challenge: design a series of belts, bows, and waist wraps to punctuate little black dresses. And, oh, we forgot to mention: the clock's ticking! With your teammates at your side, you'll be given a series of fashion challenges that will require you to act quickly, collaboratively, and creatively. Our work will focus on fundamental elements and principles of visual design (proportion, balance, rhythm, emphasis), which you'll incorporate to enhance the pieces you make — garments with ruffles, pockets, and fitted waist lines. Will your piece have what it takes to pass the test? There's only one way to know for sure: take them to the runway, and see if they flop or if they fly. | |
| 114 | Primary Palette+ Painting Pick up a brush and join in as we study and paint still life, portrait, abstract, and nonobjective artwork. Starting with basic value scales and painting techniques, we'll investigate the properties of paint, light, color, and form. As a class, we'll look at the history of painting and visit Yale museums to observe the techniques of master painters firsthand. As you develop your own compositions, you'll incorporate new painting strategies into your own watercolor and acrylic works. This is a studio-intensive course that will culminate with an exhibition of your paintings in the Explo Art Show. | |
| 115 | Improving Reality+ Digital Imagery Do you have a great photo of your family vacation, but the sky is overcast and you'd like to make it sunny? Have you ever wanted to seamlessly paste your head onto the body of a dog? Do you ever take photos with flash and wish you could get rid of the red eye? We can do all this and more as we crack the surface of the digital revolution and delve deep into the arts of retouching, color correction, and image masking. Our hands-on studio course will help you harness the power of Photoshop filters and understand how to properly manipulate CMYK and RGB levels. For our final project, you'll create a unique portfolio of digital images that will highlight the new tricks and techniques you learn throughout the course.
Please note: Students must bring their own digital cameras and media storage devices. | |
| 116 | Big Ideas, Unusual Materials+ Non-Traditional Sculpture Sculpt a bust of Snooki out of a block of styrofoam. Create a miniature sculpture of yourself out of a cube of sugar. Build an ephemeral, non-objective form from 20 spools of transparent tape. Carve a depiction of your favorite scene directly into the book it comes from. Join us for a conceptual studio exploration into the world of sculpture with a fun twist: all of your raw materials can fit inside a suitcase (so you can pack it up when you go home). Working with small materials, however, doesn’t mean we won’t be working with big ideas. Through curated tours of the Yale Art Gallery and the British Art Center, you'll respond to and analyze master works, and by participating in group critiques, you’ll learn how to speak intelligently about form, sculpture and conceptual art. So bust out your sculptural chops, play with form and materials, and remember: at the end of the day, it’s got to fit in your bag. | |
| 212 | Splice It!+ Film Editing Whittle 20 minutes of stock footage down to an action-packed, 30-second trailer. Sync up the rhythmic sounds of a train coming down the tracks with the shots that go with it. Splice footage into seamless transitions and dramatic, plot-changing cuts. In our Final Cut editing suite, you'll learn how to transform raw stock footage into commercials that sell and music videos that move you (literally). By weaving short and long shots together, you'll discover how to pace the telling of the story, put the emphasis where you want it, and highlight a moment of truth in an actor's performance. Once you've mastered the essentials, your editing team will be given the raw footage for a short film and asked to make a final cut, complete with transitions, Foley effects, music, and titling. As you wield the editor's knife and put the finishing touches on your film, you'll quickly realize that though movies are shot on set or on location, they are made in the editing suite. With all that power, what kind of film will your edits make? | |
| 213 | Will You Wear it Out?+ Sustainable Fashion Design Skirts made from old band T-shirts. Belts and bags fabricated from vinyl signage. Reclaimed shirts embellished and refitted with ruffles. “Green” fashion is all the rage right now. This summer, join the movement as we design, sew, and alter a new collection of fashion “redesigns.” En route to creating shirts, bags, and dresses, we'll forage for unique and engaging source material at thrift and vintage stores and other locations. Will you use the materials we find to evoke a past era — say, 1950s class or 1980s flair? — or will your designs blaze new ground and suggest new sensibilities? While we work, we'll take a look at the developing industry of green fashion — from eco-friendly materials and dyes to investigating industry practices. Creating designs that are both cutting edge and environmentally sound is a tough balancing act. Together, we'll walk that fine line all the way to the runway. | |
| 214 | From Sketches to Still Life+ Drawing From the energy of movement caught in a quick gesture drawing to the more polished feel of a studied piece, drawing is both challenging and fun. This course is a great introduction to basic concepts of art. We will choose from a wide array of subjects as we develop our skills by rendering perspective, tone, line, form, light, and shadows. We'll work extensively in pencil, charcoal, and pastels and will discover compositional tricks and drawing techniques of masters such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. At the end of this course, you'll have the opportunity to show off your work in the Explo Art Show. | |
| 215 | Just for the Font of It+ Graphic Design Graphic design is the art of problem-solving in visual form. Come learn how to use color, shapes, textures, and typography to effectively convey messages, moods, and information. We'll explore the formal elements of design through a series of investigative exercises that will expose you to issues of content, form, and design. Using current page-layout programs, you'll transform rough sketch ideas into fully rendered posters, brochures, and other printed material. Our in-class critiques will help you synthesize and develop your design ideas and prepare you for a final design project of your choosing. If you're interested in how words and images are composed in the world around you, this is the place to start composing those words and images yourself. | |
| 216 | The Campus as Canvas+ Public Art In Beijing: red umbrellas — tens of thousands of them — on bridges, hanging from trees, lining pathways. In Detroit: the sides of inner-city buildings spray-painted bright orange to draw attention to urban decay. For art to change the world, it must be out in the world. Together, we'll use the sidewalks, buildings, trash cans — even people — of Explo at Yale to install public art that will generate attention, create a buzz, and build community on campus. Commissioned to create a piece that represents the ideals and identity of Explo at Yale, you'll focus on medium, materials, and location to convey your singular artistic intent. Will your work emphasize the overlooked, unify the community, or challenge societal norms? This summer, the Explo campus is your canvas — the question is: how will you use it? | |
| 117 | 217 | Remake the Space+ Interior Design Your client is opening a bistro. She wants it to feel hip, urban, open, and inviting. Your job: make it happen. How will you lay out the floor-space? What type of furniture will you recommend? What color themes will you integrate? In this course, we'll get hands-on with interior design. You'll investigate color theory and textures to build harmonious palettes, implement light and lighting systems to evoke mood, and incorporate design principles to create efficient spatial flows. You will meet the aesthetic demands of a variety of clients and spaces — an architect's loft, a beach resort's lobby, or a suburban home's basement game room — coming up with comprehensive proposals, complete with color boards, fabric swatches, and layout designs to meet the unique needs of each situation. |
Writing + Language
| 120 | 220 | The Write Stuff+ Creative Writing What is the nature of the writer's craft? In this course, we'll look at works ranging from journals, to novels, to love poems, to science fiction. By exploring different types of writing and using your senses as prompts, you will learn to express in writing what it means to be human, to be alive, and to be yourself. In individual writing assignments, we will work on style, character development, and effective use of language in order to help you create your own writing voice. Through small group feedback and peer-editing sessions, you'll learn to grow through critique and bring your writing to a new level. |
| 121 | 221 | Progressive Polyglots ($350)+ English for Speakers of Other Languages There is a lot more to the United States than Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and The Simpsons. In this course, we will explore some of the things that help to define American culture — from baseball, to food, to movies. At the same time, you will practice your English speaking and writing skills through discussions, games, and journal entries. There will be a special emphasis on English as a spoken language, as you practice your skills interviewing your roommate or trying to figure out the lyrics of the summer's hottest song. You and your classmates will also have a chance to share your cultural heritage with one another. Please note: There is a $350 fee for this course due to smaller class sizes and significant one-on-one and small group instruction. |
| 122 | 222 | Speak Easy!+ Public Speaking If you would rather be in a room full of snakes than speak in front of a crowd, you are not alone. This course will help eliminate the fears most people have about public speaking and will introduce you to the art of articulating your opinions in ways that are persuasive, engaging, and informative. Public speaking is a skill that is not only necessary in the classroom, but is also necessary in everyday communication. Through debates, discussions, and writing exercises, you will learn how to hone the speaking skills hiding inside you. |
| 123 | I Have a Dream+ Writing For Public Figures "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." JFK made the quote famous, but who wrote those legendary words? A speechwriter named Theodore Sorenson! Every great speech begins with a great writer, someone who understands the power of language and can craft persuasive arguments. If you want to effectively share your point of view, ace writing assignments, or persuade your parents, why not start with the basics of speechwriting? In this course, we'll analyze famous political speeches, popular advertising slogans, and common newscasts for impact and effectiveness. As groups and individuals, we'll draft speeches and editorials, then hone our presentation skills in front of one another. At the end of class, you will test the power of your written pieces by presenting (or having someone else present) one of your speeches to the Explo community at large. Who knows? Maybe your next speech will go down in Explo history! | |
| 124 | Wrangling Rhetoric+ The Art of the Op-Ed Have an opinion? Want to make yourself heard? Join our editorial board and get published! We’ll break down the components of successful editorial writing — strong thesis, objective explanation of basic facts, creative reasoning and analogies — as you draft editorials, op-ed pieces, and even letters to the editors. Moving across the political spectrum — think Fox News to Rachel Maddow at MSNBC — you'll analyze how different published op-ed columnists, political pundits, and talking heads convey their opinions, and you will learn how to develop your own editorial voice by honing in on the use of language, tone, and "selective" facts to push your own agenda. Are you ready to help frame the public discourse? Ready to produce publishable work? It's time to write. Give your words traction and get the audience you deserve! | |
| 125 | Calling All Newscasters+ Broadcast Journalism Ten seconds 'til we're on the air... and nine... and eight... and seven... Here's your chance to see if you have what it takes to become a broadcast journalist. You'll take on the role of producer, writer, field reporter, and even appear as a talking head. You'll scoop out stories about current events at Explo and the world at large, learn how to film an on-air interview, and gain firsthand experience dealing with the constant challenges of broadcast news. Your experience with our newsroom will expose you to the legal rights and responsibilities of journalism and will give you your first shot at bringing your story to the airwaves. We hope you're ready, because we broadcast to the Explo community in three... and two... and one... | |
| 126 | Talk With the Hand+ American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is an active and engaging language of communication. Unlike linear spoken languages, ASL incorporates fluid combinations of hand, head, and body gestures into an intuitive system of dynamic grammar and syntax. Together, we'll learn a foundation of vocabulary, practice signing and visual comprehension, and develop basic expressive and receptive skills. We'll delve into Deaf culture, perform "shadow" theater, and master our signing etiquette with facial expressions and gestures. By the end of the course, you will be able to communicate via basic sign language and will have a greater appreciation for the craft that goes into communicating with ASL. | |
| 127 | Your Daily Show+ Satire + Parody “In times like these, it is difficult not to write satire.” The Roman poet Juvenal said that 2,000 years ago, and yet — if Jon Stewart, The Onion, Mike Judge, and Family Guy are any indication — it may be even more true today. As we examine and emulate these bastions of sardonic wit, we will create and craft our own articles, monologues, op-eds, and political cartoons that both ridicule and regale. We’ll also look at the function of parody, asking, for instance, what effect did Tina Fey’s caricature of Sarah Palin have on the 2008 presidential election? Or, what hypocrisies does Stephen Colbert’s I Am America expose? It’s easy to roll your eyes at the decadence and depravity of contemporary society. Satire, however, strives to look at the world head-on and speak the (hilarious) truth about it. | |
| 128 | To Be Continued...+ Fan Fiction When Greg MacGuire wanted to upend The Wizard of Oz, he wrote Wicked. And when Helen Fielding wanted to create a modern Mr. Darcy — we got Bridget Jones' Diary. Have you ever loved a story, but wanted to change how a story played out — or the fate of a certain character? Come get your creative feet wet as you reinterpret (and rewrite) one of your favorite tales. You'll brainstorm new character trajectories and endings, and will identify the impact those changes will have on the story’s central theme. (For instance, what if Dorothy never came home from Oz? or if Charlie had stolen his ticket to the Chocolate Factory?) Through peer review and other writing exercises, you'll flesh out your ideas and hone your writing craft. And while your characters may already exist, the direction your story takes is entirely up to you... What story will you tell? | |
| 223 | The Write Touch+ Personal Essay Writing Probably the first thing you learned about writing an essay was that you needed to start with a "thesis." The second thing? Probably that you had three paragraphs to "prove your thesis." Well, a personal essay is much more than a simple point-by-point, fact-by-fact argument. It can be a personal memoir, a meditation on an idea, a journalistic investigation, or a humorous anecdote. In this course, you will craft an array of personal essays that will be both purposeful and powerful, concise and carefully considered. Whether it's for a newspaper editor or a college admissions officer, your pieces will develop a distinctive tone and voice that will grab your audience's attention. Aspire higher than simply proving a thesis... aim for your writing to leave a mark. | |
| 224 | Start the Presses!+ Print Journalism Join our newspaper staff and investigate what it means to be a journalist. Working with headlines, leads, styles, and multiple reporting genres, we'll analyze various news sources and begin to understand the difficulties of "objective journalism." As we determine what news we'll report and how to report it, we'll experiment with layout software and study how the top publications in the country reach out to their audiences through visual formats and writing styles. By the end of the session you'll understand the power of print media as you help to investigate, write, edit, and design a news publication that will be sure to intrigue your Explo readership. | |
| 225 | Shutter to Print+ Photojournalism A sailor returning from war grabs a nurse and kisses her in the middle of Times Square. An unarmed man stops a column of tanks in Tian'anmen Square. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but these iconic images are far more powerful than that. Grab your digital camera and join us as we explore the magic of photojournalism. Together we'll find source material on the campus of Yale University and discover how to frame your images to communicate the essence of the story you're trying to tell. As you begin creating a portfolio of photo essays — some commissioned by freelance editors, some for inclusion in a gallery show, and some, potentially, for publication on Explo's summer website — you'll learn about basic photography principles and digital post-production techniques. The essential elements are simple: composition, timing, and something to say. With your camera in hand, this summer you'll tell all the best stories, without ever saying a word.
[You will need a digital camera for this course. Disposable and 35-millimeter manual cameras are not appropriate.] | |
| 226 | Explo Screen Writers Guild+ Writing for the Stage + Screen Whether it be Notorious or The Incredibles, Black Swan or The Royal Tenenbaums, a remarkable play or film starts with a remarkable script. Do you have the next Oscar-winning one bubbling inside you? Join us in our playwrighting workshop, where you'll learn the nuances of writing for the big screen and for the stage. Together, we'll review classic plays and screenplays and see how scenes in a script get translated into the final production of a film or stage production. As you begin developing your own script, you'll learn how to move a narrative along with stage directions, timely cuts, and fadeouts, as well as tricks for creating realistic dialogue and developing dynamic characters. If you've ever had an itching to pen the next great classic drama, this is the course for you. | |
| 227 | Not Just Another Tall Tale+ Mythology Cultures around the world use myths to share their history and explain natural and social phenomena. But how do these stories compare to one another? We'll investigate the roles that myths and symbolism play in different societies by comparing and contrasting how similar mythological stories are retold in different cultures. What does it mean when Disney appropriates a story like Hercules, but changes the ending to serve its needs? What do various explanations of the origins of man, creation from a cosmic egg, offspring from primordial parents, emergence from the ocean on the backs of animals say about the cultures that develop these stories? We'll also investigate the art of storytelling by writing and illustrating our own myths, as we begin to synthesize the importance and meaning of myth in the world. | |
| 228 | Upending Reality+ Fantasy Writing "The first rule about Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club." From the surreal scenarios of Fight Club and Catch 22 to the moral struggles in Lord of the Rings, fantasy fiction redefines reality with otherworldly characters and quests that shed light on life as we know it. If you were to write your own fantasy fiction series, what alternate universe would you create? Will your hero battle a foe that only exists in the main character's mind — or will she risk her life to put an end to the stranglehold of evil? As you conceive a cast of characters and build up the world in which they live, you'll test out different plot concepts and put sample passages up for peer review. Once you've decided on a central theme, you'll build the foundation — call it a moral center, or a question humans have been grappling with for centuries — that the rest of your story, book, and series will stand on. So grab a sword, or maybe just a pen, and let's get to it! After all, the hobbits won’t be safe for much longer... |
Humanities + Social Science
| 130 | 230 | Let's Get Personal+ Personality + Behavioral Psychology Which is easier to change: your personality or your behavior? Through discussion and brainstorming exercises, we’ll learn how difficult it is to make objective descriptions of personality due to its complex relationship with behavior. Looking at our family structure, birth order, interfamily relationships, and the influence of culture and our peers, we’ll discover the factors that contribute to our own character development. While dissecting individual elements of personality, we’ll discover what influences generally cause personalities to change. By gaining a better understanding of personality, you’ll begin to realize why you (and those around you) behave the way you do. |
| 131 | 231 | Minds of Madness+ Criminal Psychology What makes someone commit a crime? Genetics? Psychological problems? Social and environmental influences? Criminologists have attempted to understand crime in the context of these potential factors, yet why crime exists is still as difficult to answer as ever. In this course, we'll delve into various theories on criminal psychology, profiling serial killers, adolescent thieves, and white collar criminals to discover how different types of crimes correlate to various personality traits and socioeconomic backgrounds. After testing the popular "Broken Windows Theory" and examining the effects of Rudy Guiliani's zero tolerance policy on crime, we'll create our own crime-prevention policy and program, with the goal of not just slowing but breaking the cycle of crime. |
| 132 | Social Smarts+ Social Psychology How much does the environment you live in determine who you are? Through various oral exercises and by studying historical group behavior experiments, we'll determine the effects of socialization on identity and discover who determines our social norms and, therefore, influences our entire society. By utilizing the Myers-Briggs test, we'll begin to understand the different personality types that exist in the world and our relationship to them. Discussions will focus on why we are attracted to certain people as friends or mates and will give new insight into the behavior of individuals and societal groups. | |
| 133 | Copious Phobias+ Abnormal Psychology What is the line that separates abnormal behavior from mental illness? We'll attempt to answer this question and more as we explore schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and dissociative identity disorder. Studying the lives of supposedly insane historical figures — Winston Churchill, King George, Thelonious Monk, and Joan of Arc — will give us insight into the cultural and historical factors shaping society's view of abnormal behavior. As we debate various psychological treatments, you'll learn how to use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders to determine criteria for depression and personality disorders. Come gain a new understanding of what it means to be mentally ill and a better awareness of the issues surrounding the treatment of abnormal behavior. | |
| 134 | Not on My Watch+ Human Rights + Global Conflicts In a world that has seen the likes of AIDS, Auschwitz, and Darfur — where humans have treated each other as anything but — what does it mean to be human? As an acting member of Explo's Human Rights Committee, you'll investigate the implementation of the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the Geneva Convention and then craft a new human rights charter for a 21st-century world. You'll bring a mock war crimes case to trial and determine what consequences a conviction will have and what reparations it will bring for the victims. Do refugees have the right to return to their homelands, or does preserving domestic sovereignty override them? As you investigate the best ways to resolve human rights conflicts, you'll get us one step closer to a world where human rights abuses are a thing of the past. | |
| 135 | Does God Exist?+ Theology + Philosophy Whether it was Galileo's observation of the solar system in the 16th century or Darwin's publication of Origin of the Species in the 19th century, scientific advancements have a history of running up against theological doctrine. But do these discoveries disprove the existence of a God, or merely upset religious narratives? We'll wrestle with the questions of existence — both God's and ours — looking to religious tradition, philosophical argument, and scientific research for insight into ethics, morality, and the meaning of life. Does God exist? Can secular philosophies like humanism and existentialism replace the role of religion? Do commonalities in Jesus' and the Buddha's teachings confirm a single, true morality? Are there phenomena that can only be explained by the existence of a supreme being? Or is the notion of God, as evolutionary scientist Richard Dawkins contends, simply a human-made, centuries-old delusion? | |
| 136 | Fame Monster+ Sociology of Celebrity 72-day marriages, reality show suicides, phone hacking scandals, Bieber fever, and the rise of Gaga's Little Monsters... How can we explain our obsession with celebrities and our need to know everything about them? As we look at fandom and celebrity in the age of 24/7 media coverage, we’ll analyze how teen sensations like Selena Gomez are manufactured, debate what it means when celebrities like Ashton Kutcher have over 1,000,000 Twitter followers, and explore how and why celebrities react so differently to the pressures of fame. You’ll develop a “Celebrity Rubric” to quantify the different elements that make someone famous and conduct a sociological experiment where we attempt to manufacture a campus celebrity (or two) of our own. As you discover the realities and sociological implications of celebrity, you’ll figure out: do we idolize celebrities too much, or does celebrity culture provide us with a necessary respite from our daily lives? | |
| 137 | Everyone's a Critic+ Film Studies How do you judge a film's worth? By the performances of its actors? The intrigue of its storyline? Its box office pull? In this course, you'll learn to analyze cinema as an art form. We'll view clips from classic films like The Graduate, The Godfather, and Pulp Fiction, and examine how directors use a mix of elements to construct images, build tension, reveal character, and advance the narrative. From cinematography to editing, you'll understand how various aspects of movie production can work together to great success (and abysmal failure). As we critique both contemporary classics and old favorites, you'll learn to write your own opinionated film reviews, as friends look to you for the ultimate thumbs up or thumbs down. | |
| 138 | Playing God?+ Biomedical Ethics How do you feel about Jack Kevorkian? Are there certain cases where harvesting organs would be ethical? What are the moral implications of genetically constructing the perfect child? If these questions spark your interest, bring your inquiring mind to this class as we discuss and debate the ethical dilemmas that face the medical field today. From doctor-patient confidentiality, to abortion, to Eastern philosophy regarding organ donation, we will study all sides of the argument. Get ready to explore some of the most controversial questions facing humankind. | |
| 232 | Growing Pains of Growing Brains+ Developmental Psychology What happens to us when we grow up? What changes in our thinking, our feelings, our actions, and why? In this course, we'll study the mind's developmental process — from language acquisition to the interconnected psychological and emotional changes that occur as we grow older. Paying special attention to adolescent psyche, we'll examine the world as seen from the teenager's (that is, your) perspective. We'll look at what facial expressions reveal, conduct experiments on our peers that test for egocentric behavior, and assess ourselves for different types of intelligence. We'll also investigate the brain — looking at PET scans to determine a brain's cognitive strengths and observe for 'pruning' in brains of different ages. Through our work, we'll develop a sense of the mind's inner workings... as well as a sense of how our brains develop. | |
| 233 | One Thing Leads to Another+ Psychology + Sociology of Addiction How do you define addiction? An illness, an obsession, or possibly everything in between? We’ll look at the psychological and sociological triggers of gambling and drug addiction, and investigate the financial impact (and legal institutionalization) of addictive vices. You'll dissect PSAs — from "This is your brain on drugs" to "Let’s Move!" — and figure out why they did (or didn't) work before designing an awareness campaign of your own. We'll delve into how social interaction and peer pressure affect dependency — and decipher what effect an addict's choices have on society at large. As we start to understand the underlying causes and costs of addiction, we might come closer to an answer for this: how can we as a society work together to understand addiction — and ultimately, overcome it? | |
| 234 | The X/Y Factor+ Gender Studies "It's a boy!" or "It's a girl!" are the first words we hear at birth. What does this statement mean for us, for our identities, and for society as a whole? Gender is present in all of our interactions. It permeates every aspect of our lives, from team sports and family dynamics to popular magazines and romantic relationships. We'll examine the social and psychological construct of gender — what are the definitions of masculinity and femininity, and who decided them? Explore and discuss the ways in which culture and experience shape us as men and women. Come ready to bend your mind and question your most basic gender assumptions. | |
| 235 | A Wrinkle In Time+ Intro To Philosophy What does it mean to be good or evil? How does a just society operate? Are our lives real or just a dream state? We'll attempt to answer enduring philosophical questions such as these by studying and comparing the arguments of some of the discipline's foremost historical figures. In addition to analyzing the writings of philosophers such as Descartes, Nietzsche, Plato, and Locke, we will critique popular contemporary philosophy found in Hollywood movies like The Matrix and Waking Life. Join us as we attack age-old arguments and dilemmas with fresh ideas and try to shed new light on the mysteries of life. | |
| 236 | How to Tip a Trend+ Sociology of Fashion Fedora hats. Skinny jeans. Popped collars. Who decides what's hot and what's not? Do fashion magazines, top designers, and the wealthiest advertisers control what catches on? Or is it a cultural, grassroots movement? In this course, we'll explore how fashion trends are made, discussing ideas from books like The Tipping Point and examining the messages sent by the photo spreads, runway models, and glossy ads of major magazines. We'll investigate how fashion can define our sense of identity — posing the question: is it possible to be preppy, emo, jock, or hipster based solely on what you're wearing? Using what we learn about how to influence style, we'll attempt to start a fad of our own on campus. How will we market our image? Will we use 'models?' How can we seep into the student body's psyche? This summer, we'll put our trend-setting to the test. | |
| 237 | Turning the Tables+ Hip-Hop as Revolution “FIGHT THE POWER!” In the 1980s and 90s, artists armed with just a microphone, a turntable, and a really sick beat took on the powers that be, transforming a fledgling hip-hop music scene into a revolution for racial, economic, and social change. From the streets of Compton to an “Empire State of Mind,” you'll examine how groups like Public Enemy and the Wu Tang Clan used their words as a clarion call to bring the realities of the inner cities to light — and how the poverty, violence, and indifference they faced fueled their art. In addition to investigating the historical themes, cadence, and lyrics of influential rap songs, you’ll be challenged to harness the revolutionary spirit and write lyrics for a modern hip-hop song speaking to the issues of today. Come find out what it means to be “keeping it real” — and how “keeping it real” has changed over time. | |
| 238 | Beyond the Matrix+ Philosophy of Physics Black holes, alternate universes, wormholes, time travel, light speed. Where does science begin and science fiction end? And what answers do our scientific findings provide to some of the most enduring philosophical questions about creation, time, existence, and individual perspective? We will explore concepts like Einstein's theory of relativity, perform thought-experiments like Newton's rotating bucket test, and grapple with philosophical puzzles like Schrodinger's cat paradox — discussing and arguing the ramifications of each on our perception of reality. Throughout our investigation, we will look as well to science fiction like The Matrix and Star Trek: popular culture that has caught our collective imagination, stirred debate, and asked us not only what is possible... but what is real? |
Business + Law + World Affairs
| 140 | 240 | Can You Hear Me Now?+ Advertising + Marketing Have it your way. Obey your thirst. Make a run for the border. Do the Dew. I’m lovin’ it. Are you? Join the Explo marketing team as we investigate the history of advertising and brand-management and create our own Explo marketing campaign. Along the way, you’ll have the chance to become a project manager, art director, and graphic designer. We’ll develop catchphrases, ads, flyers, and billboards and conduct demographic field tests to give you a hands-on look at the effectiveness of various marketing techniques. Advertising: you can do it; we can help. |
| 141 | 241 | Explo Apprentice+ Introduction to Business Management "You're fired!" While you won't hear those words during your Explo apprenticeship, that doesn't mean it won't be challenging. Working in teams, you'll be assigned a series of tasks designed to develop (and test) your business sense and networking skills. You might be asked to administrate and coordinate an Explo dance, influence Explo students to wear the color orange on Tuesday, or gross the highest profit at an Explo lemonade stand. Although the classroom will be a competitive environment, everyone will be a winner as you learn to prepare a budget, identify a market, and improve your business management skills. |
| 142 | 242 | Show Me the Money+ Investment Methods Buy low. Sell high. Sell short. (What does that mean?) Come grab the bull market by the horns and manage your own stock portfolio. You'll learn how the Consumer Price Index is used as an economic indicator and how currency exchange rates, inflation, unemployment, interest rates, and debt affect the market. You'll gain a solid understanding of market indices, how companies manipulate values of assets, what stock brokers look for in selecting companies for their portfolios, why businesses merge, and what it means to be a stock holder. At the end of three weeks, your portfolio may be in the red or the black, but your understanding of the stock market will definitely be on the rise. |
| 143 | 243 | May It Please the Court+ Mock Trial The only way to understand the workings of a courtroom — and seek out the truth — is to stand in the shoes of a participant in the court. After familiarizing yourself with the facts of an actual civil or criminal case, you'll experience the drama by taking the side of prosecution or defense. You'll develop and present your case, grill witnesses in direct examinations, bark out "Objection!" at improper courtroom protocol, and enrich your character as a witness on the stand. From opening statements to closing arguments, you'll improve your public speaking skills, get a better sense of the judicial system, and be served a full dose of Explo justice as we take your trial to mock court. |
| 144 | 244 | Save the World, Anyone?+ Model United Nations The fate of humanity is in your hands. Move it in a positive direction by fighting for human rights, supporting developing economies, and resolving civil wars. As delegates to the General Assembly, you will research, present, and debate the different positions that nations take in order to solve the pressing issues facing our world. By examining the history, principles, and practices of the United Nations, you will gain an understanding of modern day international relations and learn to address many of the major problems that challenge humanity. |
| 145 | Apocalypse Soon!+ Global Problem Solving What are the 20 global problems of the next 20 years? Some are environmental: global warming and maintaining biodiversity. Some are humanitarian: curing infectious diseases and better public education. Finally, some are political: reinventing financial architecture, counterterrorist strategies, and biotechnology laws. Together, we'll pick one of these pressing, real-life issues and come up with a set of creative and feasible solutions for solving the problem. As a group of researchers and policy consultants, we not only will develop ideas for using technology and changing human behaviors, but also will come up with ways to work across borders and create a broad, multi-nation coalition to support our cause. It won't be easy — but then nothing worth doing ever is. | |
| 146 | Producing The President+ Political Media Studies Your candidate is running for president — how are you planning to win? We’re about to throw you into the fire of a real campaign simulation. Do you have what it takes to navigate the pratfalls of a finicky electorate? You’ll have to manipulate the media to paint your candidate in the best possible light — hiding her biggest faults and even spinning them to her advantage. You'll champion your candidate’s platform — making sure her proposals get ample mention in the press — and will fine tune her speeches and debate appearances to appeal to different voter segments. When you come up against obstacles — like that SNL skit that just won’t go away — you'll discover if you have what it takes to keep your campaign on track and win the trust and votes of the people. The clock is ticking… the straw polls are tabulating... are you ready to start writing an inaugural address? | |
| 147 | Make Your Point+ Debate When you're right, you're right — right? Wrong! When debating a case, the verdict depends not simply on "the facts," but also on a debater's ability to organize and argue those facts. In this course, you'll learn how to arrange a constructive argument, as well as how to cross-examine, critique, rebut, and refute the arguments of your opponents. We'll practice making our points through inductive and deductive reasoning, and discuss which of the two is more time-efficient and appropriate for specific cases. To conclude, we'll face off against each other in a debate tournament that uses both the team-policy format and the Lincoln-Douglas style. May the best contender win! | |
| 148 | Price, Profit + Providing+ Economics Why does Abercrombie and Fitch intentionally mark up the price of their clothing if they could sell more clothes at lower prices? What is the value of your leisure time? Would you work on Saturdays for $5 an hour? $10 an hour? $20 an hour? Come explore the basic principles of micro and macro economics as we learn how companies set prices to maximize their profits, explore the phenomenon of unemployment, and understand the effects of supply and demand on price. By studying and debating the economic issues surrounding taxes, monopolies, minimum wage, and monetary policies, you'll discover the important impact that economics has on social justice, political relations, the kind of car you drive, and where you live. | |
| 149 | Guitars + Gold Bars+ Music Business + Marketing In the music business, every success story is different. There are the well-connected (Miley Cyrus), the uniquely talented (U2), and the internet sensations (Soulja Boy). And as an A&R rep at a major record label, there’s no telling which kind of artist (talented but shy, beautiful but second-rate, brilliant but raw) will fall into your hands. No matter. Constricted by a limited budget but armed with knowledge of market trends, you will devise and implement cost-effective strategies that will ensure the success of the band (and profits for the label). What “look” will best sell your band’s sound? Which song should be their lead single? And what viral marketing techniques can you use to promote it? After all, this is the music business, which means the bottom line isn’t only fame or great art — it’s dollars and cents, too. | |
| 245 | It's a Small, Small World+ Globalization Big Macs in every country in the world. Pizza delivery orders in the US being taken by operators in India. Instant messaging between Beijing and Barcelona. Globalization makes all this possible, but at what cost? We'll look at the historical context of globalization and explore the role technology has played in its development. Through a series of debates and role-plays, we'll investigate the complexities and issues surrounding out-sourcing and the effects that information and cultural exchange have on industrial and third-world nations. We'll conclude with a mock summit, where you'll address the local and global issues of a fictional nation. Will your country become a homogenous cog in the global wheel? A marginalized player? A world leader? The fate of globalization is in your hands. | |
| 246 | Occupy This!+ Public Relations of Revolutionaries One oppressive regime. One brutal murder. One tweet to tell the world. What does it take to spark a revolution? From the palaces of Libya to the boardrooms of corporate America, one thing remains certain: information is power, and those in power — think Mubarak or Gaddafi — use it to control what people know and, more importantly, what they don't. We’ll unearth the motivations of revolutionary movements, from the Minutemen to Che Guevara to Occupy Wall Street, and examine what goes into creating the messages they project. You’ll follow the path of information from first revelation (a Facebook post — “We are all Khaled Said”) to revolution (occupying Tahrir Square), discovering what elements help keep a revolution non-violent — and what has to happen for it to go the other way. In today’s world, if a tweet can start a revolution, what tools do revolutionaries need to sustain the tide of change? | |
| 247 | Church + State+ Religion, Politics + the Law It's often said that America was founded on the principle of separation of church and state. But what do documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, and the Pledge of Allegiance reveal about America’s beliefs about God's role in government? Is there a place for prayer in school? Or for the Ten Commandments in a courthouse? Do Judeo-Christian traditions hold greater authority (too much authority?) in American governance compared to other religions? Are there some political issues that religion should have a say in (abortion) and others (worker pay) that it should not? To answer that question is to begin to probe the central issue of the debate itself: that is, can church and state ever really, truly be separate... or is there an inevitable intermingling? | |
| 248 | Buy a Fat Pig+ International Economic Development Do you know where your T-shirt comes from? Beyond the store where you bought it, and the country listed on the "Made In" tag in the collar? What if you could trace your T-shirt back to the cotton fields and the people that brought in the harvest? In this era of global commerce — where almost nothing is produced entirely in one place — we'll investigate the complexities and issues surrounding free trade and the aftereffects of international aid on industrial and third-world nations. For instance: Why would China pay for a new highway in Ghana? and: What is the effect of Americans buying fair trade products made by villagers in Laos? Through debates and role-plays, we'll explore the economic and social costs of the global market and simulate our own model of the world economy. You'll develop a micro-lending system that will lift a family (and an economy) out of poverty — and rewrite trade policy so that tariffs from trade can elevate a nation and put it back on track towards self-sustainability. Join us and discover the power of purchase, and how that shirt on your back may be more important than you might think. | |
| 249 | Fit to a Tee+ T-Shirt Design + Marketing Ironic T-shirts. Band T-shirts. Artistic design T-shirts. Ironic, artistic design band T-shirts. In this course, we're going to crank out T-shirts — whatever kind of shirt you can come up with. From printed ringer and tie-dye T-shirts of the 1960s to iron-on letters and heat transfers of the 1980s to the all-over prints of today, we'll investigate the art of the printed T-shirt. We’ll study composition, typography, color theory, and technique as you design and hand print single- and multi-color shirts. Once we've inked a collection of shirts, we’ll test our designs in the open market, selling them to fellow students. Do you have the designs and artistry to make them a success? |
Science + Engineering + Math
| 150 | 250 | Crime Scene Investigation+ Forensic Science Put a little menthol gel on your upper lip. It will help when you first encounter the smell of a week-old corpse. Join us as we learn about the history of forensics (from Sherlock Holmes to modern day CSI) by reconstructing the science of actual case studies. We'll use real shells and slugs to practice ballistic fingerprinting, debate the ethical question of maintaining DNA databases of suspected criminals, and learn how to establish time of death based on different stages of insect development in a corpse. And you had better pay attention, because in the final week, your class will be assigned to a mock forensics case that will demand all of the laboratory and sleuthing skills you can muster. |
| 151 | 251 | Dr. Emergency+ First Aid Training + Certification A cry goes out for help. Can you handle it? Join us as we teach you to respond to emergencies and tend to everything from simple scrapes to severe injuries. Emergency response requires quick thinking and immediate actions, so we’ll focus our attention on emergency scene assessment — learning how to identify concussions, shock, and choking victims. We’ll also learn how to set broken bones and how to treat for major bleeding. As we practice the proper response to heart attacks, we’ll master using AEDs to stabilize victims and CPR techniques for victim resuscitation. In the end, you’ll have gained the confidence and skill to be a part of any life-sustaining team.
Please Note: Students enrolled in this course have the option to become Red Cross First Aid, Infant/Child First Aid, CPR and AED certified if they elect to take the optional certification exam at the conclusion of the course. |
| 152 | 252 | How to Win+ Strategic Thinking in Games What if, in a game of rock-paper-scissors, you knew that the odds were your opponent would throw ‘rock’ the play after he throws ‘paper?' Or what if a company knew that by offering four variations of their candy bar, consumers would be more likely to buy it? From poker games and business cartels, to the grocery store aisles and The Price is Right stage, the statistics and strategy of game theory can be applied across many aspects of life. Together, we’ll play the numbers and, based on what they reveal, learn how to make rational, personally advantageous decisions. We’ll also practice manipulating those numbers — whether it’s to beat a friend in blackjack or ace a multiple choice test — to shift the odds permanently in our favor. |
| 153 | Schematic Fanatics+ Mechanical Engineering Your mission: to construct a tower that can stand on its own for at least one minute using only one sheet of paper and 20 inches of tape. Or, perhaps it will be to make a boat out of one piece of aluminum that will float for at least a minute while holding more pennies than any other group's. Either way, through a variety of hands-on and challenging projects, you will be introduced to dynamic computational engineering tools and will explore the fundamental concepts of engineering and design. This exciting introduction to the work of engineers will give you valuable insight into a wide range of engineering applications and put the power to build squarely in your hands. | |
| 154 | Mechanized Miracles+ Physics Of Motion A string of dominoes knocks a baseball off a table into a basket that is attached to a pulley, which lifts an exacto-knife that pops a series of water balloons, filling a pitcher that sits on top of a plate that sits on top of a halved orange that sits on top of a juicer that reams the juice out of the orange and into a glass. Sure, you could've just poured a glass of OJ, but what fun is that? Come investigate laws of motion and energy conservation by launching arrows, overflowing cups, catapulting marbles, and dropping bowling balls. Our exploration of kinetic and potential energy will switch on your creative juices, alter your understanding of physics, and transform mundane tasks into mechanized miracles. | |
| 155 | Spy Games+ Cryptography What do you get when you cross the genius of A Beautiful Mind with the ingenuity of James Bond? Cryptography. Learn how to make and break codes using probability, patterns, and mathematical equations. We'll look at the real world applications of codes. Without them, Caesar may never have had an empire, Hitler might have won WWII, and you might not be making secure credit card purchases on eBay. We'll look at the implications of cryptography from its incarnation in Egypt to its current effect on commerce, civil liberties, and law enforcement. Step aside, Professor Nash — this is cryptography for anybody's mind. | |
| 156 | Cracking the Code+ Genetic Engineering Recent advances in genetic engineering present the modern world with two questions: (1) What are the possibilities? and (2) What are the consequences? For instance, gene alteration can increase crop production and shorten growing seasons, but crops with similar genetic make-ups leave us vulnerable to disease and may be unsafe to consume. Join us as we explore the science and ethics of genetic engineering. We will learn how allele pairing affects genetic traits, extract live DNA in the laboratory, and use Legos to simulate transgenic and knockout techniques used to modify genetic sequencing. Throughout the course, we'll continue to debate the potential risks and rewards of genetic engineering — from its potential impact on biological warfare to issues surrounding human cloning. | |
| 157 | Be Afraid... Be Very Afraid+ Science of Fear What are you so afraid of? Actually, the better question is: Why are you so afraid of the things you're so afraid of? In this course, you'll get to explore the psychological basis for fear. We'll identify how cultural fears are perpetuated (think: spiders and boogeymen) and discuss case studies that analyze the origins of psychological fears (claustrophobia or a fear of heights, for example). We'll also look at the other side of things — testing and observing for the evolutionary benefits of fear, worry, and trepidation. Why do our hearts race when we're scared? Why do we freeze out of fear? Why do scary moments etch themselves in our memory? Why are we reluctant to take risks? Together, we'll discover that we may not like being scared-to-death — but that our fearful instincts may be the very things that keep us alive and kicking. | |
| 158 | A Bone to Pick+ Anatomy + Physiology Did you know that shivering and sweating are essential for our survival? What makes you blush? Cry? Sneeze? Why do we get fevers when we’re sick and how does our skin play an essential role in maintaining our major metabolic reactions? These common everyday phenomena and others will be explained as we delve into the evolution of our anatomical structure through in-class experiments and dissection. We’ll test our nerve transmission response variance between hot and cold; study the dangers of the super-sized meal as we simulate the digestion of fat; and learn about the various systems in our bodies that keep the human machine moving longer than most man-made machines. Join us as we put our own bodies under the microscope. | |
| 159 | Making the App+ Computer Programming + Processing Your first computer program doesn't have to say “Hello, World” in little black type. It can be more — lots more! Processing, a visual programming language created by the MIT Media Lab, has changed things. Think of it as an interactive, electronic sketchbook — one that's powered not by a paintbrush but by code writing. Using the same logic and syntax of Java, Processing allows you to draw complex shapes and figures and incorporate user keyboard and click functionality in applications you design... all in a snap. Create an image of a spinning doughnut, and with each click, have your users alter its frosting and flavoring. Implement a program that distorts images in a live camera feed based on sound inputs. Tasks that are cumbersome in other languages become simple and straight-forward in Processing, making the visual programming language a great way to get a strong foundation in computer programming. | |
| 253 | Building Under Blue Skies+ Sustainable Engineering With your help, our country can responsibly obtain and expend the energy and resources it needs — without compromising the natural environment and the needs of future generations. As we study hydroelectric, geothermal, wind, and bio-mass energy sources, we'll compare and contrast the pros and cons of these forms of renewable energy. We'll investigate the viability of hydrogen-powered vehicles, build a model solar car, and design an energy efficient building using human sensor lighting and body-heat activated climate control. From efficient transportation systems to eco-friendly waste treatment plants, we'll discover that a model for sustainable living can exist in an industrial world. | |
| 254 | The Big Balancing Act+ Physics, Math, + the Art of Mobiles The sculptor: You. The medium: Rods, weights, string, and all the metal, plastic, and paper you can handle. The goal: fluidly moving sculptures that shape shift, turn, twist, and recompose when drifting in the wind. Starting from the mobiles of sculptor Alexander Calder, you’ll design and engineer thoughtful and controlled works of movable art. Using cantilevers, fulcrums, and varying weights, we’ll apply Archimedes’ law of the lever — ”Magnitudes are in equilibrium at distances reciprocally proportional to their weights” — and work with the Fibonacci Sequence — 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8... — to find the most ideal balance points for your mobiles. By testing out different materials, you'll determine how each moves in relation to the others, and which work together to create the most interesting — and beautiful — works of kinetic art. Ready to put the physics back in art? This is the course for you. | |
| 255 | B3h1nd th3 Numb3rs+ Professional Mathematics Throw on your detective hat, grab a calculator, and get ready to join a different type of math team. Together, we'll learn how to use behavioral game theory to predict suspect movement, logic theory to forecast the next location in a crime spree, logistic regression equations to narrow a field of potential suspects, and carbon-14 dating to determine the age of bones. At the end of the course, we'll put all of our training to the test, and solve an active mock-criminal case using our wits, our sleuthing skills, and the overwhelming power of mathematics. | |
| 256 | The Sixth Sense+ Behavioral Neuroscience No one in the world has the same perceptive capabilities that you have. Join us as we learn the inner-workings of our senses of smell, sight, taste, touch, and hearing. You'll discover how fast-action potentials travel through neurons as we conduct experiments on papillary response and motor commands. To understand how we develop our sense of taste, you'll count papillae on the tongue to evaluate a subject's sensitivity to a variety of foods. We'll conduct a variety of experiments and develop a better understanding of the scientific process as we analyze data and formulate conclusions about how our senses function. Jump into our crash course in neuroscience and get ready to better perceive the way we perceive things. | |
| 257 | Body Wars+ Immunology From the trenches of innate immunity to the heavy artillery of adaptive immunity, your body, like a good army, has developed many ways to fight pathogenic invaders. An encounter with a common pathogen like E. Coli triggers an amazing counterattack by your body from the large organs like the skin, down to the tiny T-cells of the lymphatic system. We will discover the immune response to diseases like HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and the avian flu. By studying the attack strategies of our invaders, we can understand how to battle back. We bet you never thought it was possible to study a war in a laboratory! | |
| 258 | Nerds in the Outfield+ Biomechanics of Sport Have you ever wondered why pitchers are prohibited from throwing sliders until they're in college? Or how Beckham really does bend it — and score on the opposing team? Enter the field of sports biomechanics, a discipline that measures what happens when we push our bodies to the limit and the consequences of athletic competition. Using still frames, film, sensors, and traditional coaching techniques, we'll practice pitching, passing, tossing, hitting, jumping, and running, and use the laws of physics, anatomy, and mechanics to analyze the results. You'll find out what happens inside your body when you reach your peak performance and what goes wrong when you're sidetracked by an injury. And while this class isn't designed to make you a better athlete, it will teach you the physics behind your movements — which might just make you a better athlete after all. So come join us as we knock physics out of the classroom and pitch it into the world of sports. | |
| 259 | Mad Scientist Mother Nature+ Environmental Chemistry Beaches closed due to contaminants, ponds green with algae blooms, unsafe drinking water, and shellfish harvests cut short due to "Red Tide." These environmental problems all have something in common: chemistry! From simulating the chemical changes in the ozone layer to testing the ramifications of fertilizer runoff, we'll investigate the chemical foundations of environmental problems like global warming and acid rain. But there's a lot more to environmental chemistry than beakers, atoms, and the periodic table. Our laboratory work and policy discussions will help us create legislation and guidelines for corporations and the general public. We'll work on drinking water standards, the politics of vehicle emissions, and the science of global warming. Just another day's work for the environmental chemist! |