Splash! Fall 2012
Course Catalog

Have you ever wondered how the Declaration of Independence was written so neatly before the age of computers? In this session, we will go through some of the basic technicalities of calligraphy, look at some popular calligraphic alphabets, and start practicing the art of calligraphy. Learn how to impress your friends and family with beautiful handmade birthday cards and more.

Come and learn the basics of writing and drawing a comic. You will learn about various essential concepts from panel design to inking. In class, you will learn various techniques regarding the development of a comic; then, you will get the chance to write your very own short comic!

So you think you can dance? This class will cover some basic modern dance movement. All levels are welcome, but no experience needed! Don't be shy!


Prerequisites
Students should wear comfortable and moveable clothing- no jeans, skirts, etc. Bare feet are preferable.

You’re wandering around downtown one day, just hanging out, you know, when…hark! You hear some glorious rhythm and sound from around the corner. Street drummers! This class will provide you with a knowledge of basic street drumming technique, rhythms, posture, history and philosophy. By the end of the class, you and your classmates will be able to complete a basic, but impressive, street drumming performance. And you’ll feel really cool, I promise.


Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of rhythm (quarter notes, eighth notes) is very helpful, and a percussion background is super! Prior musical training of some sort is strongly recommended.

Woody Guthrie is the person who wrote "This Land is Your Land," a silly little patriotic song you probably sang in grade school. You might be surprised to learn that song has some verses that your teachers didn't teach you, and in the original, Woody wasn't so sure by the last verse whether this land was made for you and me at all.

Hear some of the music that Woody Guthrie and the hear some of the music he wrote that you probably didn't sing in grade school.

This class will focus on self identity through multi-media art. Each class will start with a discussion that explores self identity. The individual art projects will then be centered on ideas that students have developed through discussion and visuals. The projects are meant to construct / de-construct our notions of what shapes our identity. In the end, the students’ artworks will be put on display for the public.


Prerequisites
Enthusiasm and an interest for visual story-telling

Have you ever wanted to learn to juggle? To do acrobatics? Be amazing??? Well, if so, come to Le Vorris & Vox, UChicago's very own circus troupe to learn all there is to learn about being in a circus!


Prerequisites
Please be willing to move around and have fun. This will be slightly physically demanding

This class introduces students to improvisational drama, which is essentially acting without a script. We will spend most of the class doing creative improv exercises (like my personal favorite, Bus Stop). A sense of humor is essential and everyone will participate!

This class will give an overview of several different genres of dance including ballet, contemporary, bollywood and hip hop.


Prerequisites
Please wear appropriate attire (flexible clothing, no jeans)

Whoever said you had to write between the lines? Or even write at all?

Anyone can jam! Improvisation is a fun and easy way to create new music, and you don't need to play a jazz instrument to join in! Learn how jazz, rock, and bluegrass musicians interact with each other on the fly, and how you can take part too! We will explore the basics of improvisation common to all styles of music, then we'll look at and demonstrate different techniques and activities for practicing improv


Prerequisites
Ability to read music

This class will give an overview of lyrical and contemporary dance.


Prerequisites
Should be comfortable dancing, preferably some experience taking dance classes.

Introduction and practice of the art of hand-lettering, drawing on the basics of graphic design, typography, and illustration.

Three stacked bars of color painted on a red background. Thinly mixed paint poured across a canvas. A huge, menacing black cube. The art of the last century can seem silly at first glance, but once you understand the theory behind it, whole new ways of looking at art--and the world--emerge. Come learn about the ideas and brushstrokes that have shaped the last century, and find out whether or not painting really is dead!

Learning how to play the euphonium has many benefits: you can be one of the cool people who actually know what a euphonium is, you can balance it upside down, and you can kick some brass.
Come learn some euphonium history, learn how the instrument works, and learn some tunes!

A super fun and energetic dance class. The class will start with some warm up moves to upbeat Bollywood (Hindi and English) songs. This will be followed by a choreographed routine which will be taught to students. The music is going to be full of energy and the routine is going to be simple and easy to learn. By the end of the class all students will be allowed to perform together and to add their personal style to the moves. So get ready for the fun!


Prerequisites
Just wear comfortable clothes and shoes and bring loads of energy to the class room!

Harmonies are everywhere. They are in every type of music and come in different styles. This class will teach students how to sing in groups and how to mix different vocal parts together. We will go over very basic music theory (i.e. how to read sheet music, intervals, chords) but the class will mainly include singing short vocal exercises in order to get across the beauty of harmonies.

How do you pronounce Suppiluliuma? He's a pretty manly guy, or so his son tells us.

This class will cover the history of the Hittites, who ran an empire based in Hattusha in ancient Turkey in the early 2nd millenium BCE. Kings of the Hittite Empire were of equal status with their Egyptian and Mesopotamian counterparts.

No doubt you have heard something about the wave of uprisings and revolutions sweeping across the Arab world. But with all the different names, countries, and outcomes to get straight, understanding exactly what's happening can be kind of difficult. We'll do as much as we can in an hour to understand what is happening in the Arab world right now and why.

Art is something that almost everyone seems to make and like the minute they can hold a crayon. So why do art galleries too often work against this? We’ll dig into why this is not because “people are too stupid to understand art” but because of where and how we look at it. No interest in art, or knowledge about it is required or expected.


Prerequisites
Having ever been bored at a museum.

Most Americans have heard something (usually something negative) about Iran, or the Islamic Republic of Iran. We may also find Iran’s government, which is based on a minority type of Islam, slightly bizarre. In fact, we may find a lot of things about Iran bizarre: a grand leader who looks like an angry turbaned Santa Claus, a president who has spiritual experiences while speaking in the UN, and worshippers who beat themselves to show their faith.
During this class, we will explore what the brand of Islam called Shi’a Islam is and how it contributes to Iran’s national identity-and maybe how it explains some of the oddities about a country we hear about often but may not examine as frequently.

Interested in becoming the next Jane Austen or J.K. Rowling? Come join GALS to explore the world of female writers and discuss how female identity has shaped authors throughout the ages. You will get the chance to write your own creative piece using your own experiences as a girl to shape your writing.

This course will feature a dramatic retelling of the following five assassinations:

1) Gyges assassination of Candaules
2) Hassan-i Sabbāh's assassination of Nizam al-Mulk
3) Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger's assassination of Julius Caesar
4) John Wilkes Booth's assassination of Abraham Lincoln
5) The Black Hand's assassination of Franz Ferdinand

Should there be spending or austerity in Europe? That is the fundamental question that has divided Germany and France during the recession and recent eurozone crisis. Given this ideological gridlock, can Keynes offer us a solution?

This class will explore the fundamentals of Keynesian economics, in particular the Liquidity Trap and IS/LM Curves. Given this knowledge, how can governments end the current recession? Germany argues for austerity, saying the solution lies in interest rates and investor confidence. Meanwhile, France and Greece call for spending and active job creation. This class will weigh in on the debate using Keynesian economics.


Prerequisites
-A basic understanding of the current eurozone crisis -A desire to approach the question using graphical and mathematical models

Part education, part entertainment, museums are like no other institutions on earth. In this class, we will look at the first origins of museums, starting with their humble roots in odd-ball collections and "cabinets of curiosities", and see how they have transitioned into important centers for learning. We'll think about the fate of objects that are put in museums and how their meaning changes once behind closed glass. We will also compare and contrast the missions and strategies of different types of museums. Additional questions to consider include:

How do museums acquire their objects?
Why do certain objects go on display?
How do museums "teach"?
Are museums honest?
Is that spatula/scribble/pile-of-sand really important??

Self-styled as deconstructionalist hip-hop and dismissed as joke rap by others, Das Racist is the Brooklyn-based rap group behind hits like "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell". Sit down, man, and we'll listen to and discuss the themes in several Das Racist songs, including racial identity and consumerism.

Do you know of the glorious days of old? The age of Imperial Rome, the greatest of all European empires, that all Europeans since have sought to rebuild. You may know of their greatness, their accomplishments, and their golden age, but do you know of their decline? It began with a great crisis that led to them on a path to their eventual demise.From the seeds of their destruction, modern Europe was born. Do you know how all this happened? It all began with Crisis of the Third Century.

In the third century A.D., the glory days of the Roman Empire had passed. A series of foreign invasions and internal crises pushed the Roman Empire into chaos. In a mere half century, nearly 50 emperors and two new empires rose and fell and the fundamental character of the Empire forever changed. Struck by numerous migrations, economic collapse, and popular strife, the foundations of the Roman Empire were forever shaken. Ultimately, the Crisis of the Third Century was the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire and laid the foundations of medieval and Modern Europe.

Who wants to live forever? Apparently, a lot of people. So many people that they discovered continents, fought wars, and chugged poison for a chance at immortality. We'll study how this affected history and how we think about science and ethics. We'll also be looking at some of the more notable (hilarious) examples. We'll finish by examining "Transhumanism", a modern attempt that might finally achieve the goal (or kill us all).


Prerequisites
A finite lifespan.

"That bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures."

We've all seen her and become enamored by her. This perfect character that sweeps us away with her quirkiness and effervescent attitude towards life, who's imperfections only make her more endearing. In this class we will discuss this stock character and the movies in which she appears. We will also discuss how this character affects the perception of real life women and whether or not a "perfect girl" can exist in real life.


Prerequisites
An open mind, a good level of maturity, and the ability to speak freely!

Have you ever wanted to study magic as a science class? At one time, you totally could! Granted, that time was the seventeenth century, but at the time, alchemy was a completely respectable science. In fact, the concepts introduced by the study of alchemy influenced today's understanding of chemistry, psychology, and medical science. Learn about the ideas that inspired figures such as Isaac Newton, Mary Shelley, and John Locke.

Do you want to stop wondering quietly in your head/ obnoxiously asking out loud "Oh my God, is that a sari?" Every time you see a vaguely Indian looking outfit?
Better yet, do you want to learn how to wear a sari yourself?
And learn some basic henna designs while you're at it?
And get some swagtastic bindis and bangles straight from India to take home?
And most excitingly, learn the cultural significance behind every element of a traditional Indian outfit?
Well, you're in luck.


Prerequisites
Make sure you come to class wearing jeans/pants/ a long skirt, to facilitate optimal sari tying.

What is meditation? How do you meditate? Why should you meditate? What is the history of meditation?

Answering these and other questions is the goal of this course. We will strive not only to understand meditation intellectually but also try to experience what meditation is, in the hopes that after this class students will be able to continue with a meditation practice on their own.

An introduction to the nature and crisis tendencies of capitalism, explaining some eccentric phenomena of the modern economy.


Prerequisites
N/A

How do we attain knowledge? Space, time, life, death - what does it all mean? Do we have free will? What does it mean to be ethical?

These can seem like overwhelming questions, and this class will not address all the details to work towards definite answers. Instead, through discussion with your peers, the class will help show just how difficult and complex these questions are, breaking down the assumptions we make every day. The insight you gain through these efforts may inspire you to become individual philosophers!


Prerequisites
An open mind!

We are all familiar with the image of the farmer as a hard-working pioneer, building his future on the homestead day-by-day. But what is the actual state of farming and farmers in America today? And how does it affect YOU and the food you eat?

Double suicides, Nazi Germany, love that lasts a lifetime, the invention of 0, the Copernican, the French, and the Russian Revolutions ---- a list of evil? insanity? genius?

How about "Truth"?

Analyzing the most revolutionary discoveries and events in human history and the equally world-shattering events of great art and true love, we'll face down philosopher Alan Badiou's radical idea of Truth and begin to construct for ourselves a world where truly new things can and do happen.


Prerequisites
Part history, part philosophy, part massive creation -- be prepared to think change!

What makes someone attractive? What are the causes of aggression? How far will humans go to please others?

In this class, we'll explore the psychology behind a variety of topics from prejudice to conformity. Not only does this class aim to foster interest in psychology, but it also seeks to increase awareness of human nature and social interaction.

"Buddhism" may call to mind bald monks, karate, this old guy named after... a llama?, sitting cross-legged and saying "OHMMMMMMMMMM", and some jolly fat dude. But Buddhism is more: it's a religion, it's a philosophy, it's a way of living. The teachings of Buddhism are radically different from Western attitudes and thought, but they can bring us the insight and inner peace we seek. This class will explain some key concepts in Buddhism and what they mean to our lives, and will end with group meditation!


Prerequisites
No previous knowledge of Buddhism or meditation required, just an open mind :)

This class will guide a group of lucky students through an introduction of ethnic minorities in China, and the challenges they face in a country where they are only 8% of the total population. With 55 different groups, there's a lot to relish: Tibetans on their plateau, Uighur Muslims at home amidst brutal deserts, Miao people adorned in colorful garbs amidst the sultry southern provinces of Guizhou and Sichuan. Sign up and on Sunday get informed about these fascinating, dignified, but little-known groups of people.

8:00 - 4:00. Five days a week. 35 weeks a year. You may be a student who loves going to school or who hates it (unlikely, if you are here on a Saturday). But why is it a good idea for us to go to school? How has education changed over time? And, finally, what is it supposed to contribute to our lives?

You see them everywhere — there is not a single day or perhaps moment when you are not exposed to an ad. But what do you know about the thoughts that goes behind advertising?

Join this class to get to know about the art of selling. We sell, or else.

Mark Twain once said, "Never let your schooling interfere with your education." But what does he mean? What's schooling, and what's education? Is there a difference?

But most importantly, how do they affect you and how much you enjoy your life? And why should we even care?

(This "class" won't really be like what you have at school — instead, it'll be a relaxed and free-form discussion.)


Prerequisites
Come with an open mind, and we're sure to have a lot of fun!

Many great thinkers have struggled with man's apparent inability to ensure his own happiness. Reflecting on this problem led a large number of thinkers to suspect that common ideas about the nature of happiness must be radically incorrect. Others, however, embraced the vulnerability of human happiness, suggesting that reconciling oneself with this vulnerability plays a key role in man's ethical life. In this class, we'll discuss several classical responses to the problem of vulnerable happiness and try to work out a response of our own. Brief excerpts from Homer, St. Augustine, and Dante will help us to join this ancient discussion.

Most of us grow up wanting to get married. But fewer people are getting married. Why? What are the effects of this trend? What does this mean for you? We will consider some of the following topics: Why do people get married, how has marriage changed through history, who is no longer getting married, and why people are not getting married. We will consider the subject through economics, religion, and personal experience.

Am I the only one that finds it a little weird when people yell YOLO and then priced to do life-threatening things? We'll be taking a look at our collective inability to think clearly and how people use that to take advantage of us. This ranges from silly marketing to political slogans that just don't make sense if you think about then too much.


Prerequisites
Maturity. We'll be discussing sex and politics.

In this class, we'll discuss questions like:

1. What is a "teenager," and what are some of the social/ historical/ biological/ economic reasons that people ages 12-19 tend to think and act differently from those younger and those older?

2. What were some of the first companies that sold products to children and teens, and how did their sales tactics differ from today's sales tactics?

3. Why do teenagers buy things? Do they buy things for different reasons than adults buy things?


Prerequisites
Your life experience.

The Beatles not only defined a generation of youth and a decade of music, they created some of the most beloved and recognized songs today. This class will interpret some of their most well known songs and learn about what influenced them to write their classics.

Did you like all of the history classes you've taken? I sure didn't. Sure, there have been many exceptional people throughout history, but they were just human like the rest of us, and yet many teachers go about touting them as god-figures and forcing students to memorize countless facts and figures about them. This class isn't like that. It's about exploring what makes history interesting, how mistakes led to many of history's greatest triumphs, and above all, having fun. No memorization required.

Sometimes life just doesn't seem fair--but why should it be? We'll take a closer look at the state of civil rights in America, and get downright opinionated on anything from abortion to immigration to gay rights, because we still have our freedom of speech...don't we?

“What is Free Will?” “Do we have it?” “Is it even important?” these are all questions that have plagued philosophers as early as the 5th Century and which continue to be asked even today. This class will aim to introduce some of the philosophical thought behind these questions, as we work to discover how free we really are.

The Supreme Court made headlines this year when it upheld the Affordable Care Act. While some cases, like the Affordable Care Act, and like Bush v. Gore, get more attention from the media and the public than others, the Court decides seventy to eighty cases each year, on important issues like privacy, free speech, affirmative action, and intellectual property rights. In this class we will learn more about what the Court does. We will discuss how the Court decides cases, and why, and where the Court gets the power to do so.

Supposing you were an inch taller, would you still be the same person you are now? How about if you had a completely different personality, would you still be the same person then? And what if Julius Caesar had died 1,900 years before you were born instead of 1,901 years before you were born – certainly something like that couldn't make you a different person, could it?

In this class, by working through questions like these, we'll attempt to figure out what exactly it is that makes this particular thing this particular thing. At the end of these discussions we will attempt to answer one final question: How might a seemingly irrelevant question like "What makes this this?" come to play an important role in philosophical accounts of love?

In the early 1980s, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi issued a decree that all barbershops in his country close shop. Reasons cited for the intervention range from his decision that hair cutting did not constitute a productive profession to a nightmare in which he faced death at the shaving blade of a barber.

Of course, Gaddafi's position in Libya wasn't "dictator". (Technically, it was "Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution".) But was his action an exercise of dictatorial power? In this activity-led discussion about power, we will examine cases through history and attempt to set ground rules for what makes a dictator.

Existing at the heart of all debates surrounding religion are the most profound and moving questions on the subjects of nature and humanity: “Does God exist?”, “What is the meaning of Life?”, “How should I live?”, “Does objective morality exist?”, etc. Every thoughtful person regularly poses these questions to themselves, but the answers are not as readily available. In order to grapple with this controversial topic, we will explore these questions from the Atheist perspective. We will proceed by critically examining the essential arguments in distilled form that are regarded as compelling evidence in favor of atheism. We will then conclude by entertaining objections.

Class time will be evenly split between lecture and discussion. Persons of all religious backgrounds are encouraged to attend.


Prerequisites
None

Even if you're good at math, your brain can still play tricks on you when calculating how to make a decision. This class will show you how, and how humans tend to distort certain facts over others when they make decisions.

Come ready to play some games and engage in discussion!

For those of you preparing to or thinking about attending college, this class is designed to help you think about what that experience is like. The class will talk about some tips for succeeding in college.

That awkward moment when....the situation isn't awkward at all.

Have you ever shared an awkward silence with someone? Said something that caused an awkward silence? Or are you just awkward?

In this class we will look into the definition of "awkward" and determine what it means in a social context.

Learn about the inner workings of the Federal Reserve. What is it? Who's on it? How did they get there? Who appointed them? What are their superpowers once there? Why should I care?


Prerequisites
Bacis understanding of predatory lending, toxic debt, a willingness to appreciate that monetary decisions in Washington affect you're ability to afform CTA passes, Burger King purchases, Amazon gift cards and Starbucks.

Josef Stalin: the man who was once a god for a generation of Soviet citizens, now one of the greatest villains of history. So who was he, really? And what did he do? In this course, we will examine how Stalin became one of the most powerful world leaders, and his 30 year reign over the Soviet Union. We will also compare and contrast different historians to form a comprehensive opinion about one of the most controversial figures in modern history.

An analysis of the meaning of "Upper, Middle and Lower" classes in the Third World and an examination of how these often incredibly wide classes are impacting politics and socio-economic development in two focus countries: one African and one Asian. This course will further discuss the problems of "class isolation" in many parts of the Third World are causing, particularly given that many of the policy makers and the most educated portion of the electorate are part of the isolated Upper Classes. Finally, students will be asked to apply concepts discussed to US society in order to help draw parallels between the First World and the Third World when it comes to defining and living with poverty.

Learn about the beautiful and various arts produced in Islamic lands. We'll look at some common misconceptions about Islamic art before talking about work in a variety of media and from many different times and places. Both religious and secular works will be covered, as well as some art from Jewish and Christian communities under Islam.

Come prepared to discuss and learn about martial arts, both their applications in self defense as well as their philosophical underpinnings. Demonstrations will be included from Chinese and Philippine martial arts.


Prerequisites
Be able to break a piece of wood with your hand... just kidding.

Change Ringing is a team sport, a highly coordinated musical performance, an antique art, and a demanding exercise that involves a group of people ringing rhythmically a set of tuned bells through a series of changing sequences that are determined by mathematical principles and executed according to learned patterns.
Come learn how change ringing works and try pulling the ropes of the huge Mitchell Tower bells.

If you've ever played a game and thought, "I bet I could make something better," now's your chance to try it out! The best way to learn about making game is by doing it.

Come share some of your great ideas, learn a little about how to turn those ideas into games, and then get into a small group to create your own game prototype (like an outline for a paper).

We discuss some basics of Pokemon battling that should help players of all levels improve their strategies. We will cover how to select movesets for your Pokemon, how speed and damage are calculated during a battle and strategies to optimize the stats of your Pokemon.

In this class we learn some of the basics of literary Mongolian. The class will include an introduction the beautiful Uyghur script and a brief overview of Mongolian grammar. The class will conclude with reading a few simple passages in Mongolian.


Prerequisites
Students should have taken at least one foreign language.

In this class we will look at Classical Chinese poetry, one of the most celebrated literary traditions in the world. We will discuss the poetic principles at work and look at a number of poems in translation. In addition, we will talk about the place of poetry in the culture of Imperial China. We will also look at a few poems in Chinese so show the difficulties translators face in interpreting them (no previous knowledge of the Chinese language will be necessary for this though).


Prerequisites
A background in Chinese history or language might prove useful, but is not necessary.

We all know who Spider-Man is at this point, right? You'd be surprised, actually. We'll take a look at some of the original Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and John Romita comics and see just why Spider-Man is the greatest superhero.


Prerequisites
You should have seen some screen adaptation of Spider-Man.

Before James Joyce became embraced by American modernists like Ezra Pound and Ernest Hemingway for his searingly honest autobiography (Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man), or internationally notorious for inventively crude language (in Ulysses), or dismissed as a crazy writer of gibberish (Finnegans Wake), he was our age. In this class we'll look at, and discuss, a great writer's earliest ideas as a high school and college-aged student.


Prerequisites
No pre-requisites, but it would be great if you read something of his before our session. I copied a link to his short stories below... some are just a few pages long! http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2814/2814-h/2814-h.htm

Nostach be Orch gaer (you smell like ten orcs)!

This course will introduce you to our favorite fictional languages: Lord of the Rings' Elvish and Star Trek's Klingon. Then, you will work with a small group to build your own language from scratch based on what you learned! Create scripts, grammar patterns, pronunciations, and vocabularies.

Come read some awesome comics with us, talk about why they're awesome, and make one of your own! We'll be looking at all sorts of comics, from Chris Ware to Edward Gorey to Los Bros Hernandez to Alison Bechdel to Art Spiegelman. In the second half of class, we'll have a Lynda Barry-style creation session where we'll talk about images and ideas, and figure out how to express them.


Prerequisites
None! No art skills necessary. Just come ready to play around with ideas and read some comics.

Learn the basics of the Arabic script, alphabet, and grammar. We'll also learn about Arab culture and the influence of the Arabic language.

People talk. A lot. Yet sometimes it's intimidating to speak your mind in front of an audience. This course will examine the importance of public speaking and utilize several fun and easy exercises to improve speaking ability and quash nerves.

After this class, you'll be able to tackle almost any sentence like a pro.

When I was in high school, I had an amazing English teacher who taught me all the grammar skills that I used up and through senior year of high school. Never heard of a clause? Once you do, you'll never look at a sentence the same way again.

The beginning of the class will focus on parts of speech, from the simple "verb - it's what you do" to the indirect object. You'll learn how to analyze a sentence through diagramming. Ever expect to learn grammar by drawing rocket ships and an Amazon Jungle bug? Bring some sense of humor, because the sentences can get ridiculous.

After that, you'll begin to learn editing skills by using your grammar knowledge to pull apart sentences and paragraphs. Become an editing master

If you can bring some of your writing, that would be very useful, as we'll edit it together. This knowledge will help you immensely in your preparation for the SAT writing section and those infamous college applications. Let's get ready to learn.

“Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.”
― Charles Bukowski

A course about writing creatively without giving a damn. The focus will be on crafting interesting characters and narrative with fun writing tips stolen from the likes of Charles Bukowski, Stephen King and Elmore Leonard. Because everyone has a story and the rest is presentation. Mature themes will be covered.


Prerequisites
A willingness to write, an open mind, and the knowledge that I'll probably swear a fair bit, sort of like a sailor with an overpriced education.

Basic Introduction to Greek Alphabet, vocabulary, and Elementary components of sentence structure. The course will be geared towards reading a few things by putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

Learn about the basics of buying and selling on the financial markets as well as overviews of techniques that big banks use to make money.

In this lecture, I will give a brief overview of stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities and derivatives. I will briefly go over what they are, and how people make money with them.


Prerequisites
A basic understanding of algebra is helpful, but not required.

What problems can or can't be solved by computers? Are there any problems that a computer can't solve? We will spend some time discussing computation, and then we will answer the above questions.


Prerequisites
Experience understanding proofs is required. It would be helpful to know what the terms countable and uncountable mean, but we will quickly go over them in class.

How much does the earth weigh? How many piano tuners in Chicago? What is the probability this coin is fair? Most math classes devote themselves to solving problems exactly, given pencil and paper and lots of time. This class is devoted to solving problems quickly, roughly, and in your head.


Prerequisites
Basic algebra.

Ever wonder what actually happens when you install software on your computer? When you stick a flash drive in? How your pictures are actually stored.

In this class, we'll take a knife to the computer and spill some digital guts all over the computer screen.


Prerequisites
A tough stomach for ones and zeros.

If you have ever wondered where you might be able to find the Fibonacci Sequence inside Pascal's triangle, then this course is for you. We will briefly bore ourselves with a few uses for Pascal's triangle before delving into the strange properties that arise from simple addition, and most importantly of all, we shall ask ourselves why these properties exist.


Prerequisites
Having a familiarity with the factorial function is preferred but not necessary. There will be a proof by induction.

Once upon a time, mathematicians wondered if $$-1$$ deserves a square root. When they made one up, they found a two-dimensional family of other numbers—the "complex numbers"!

This makes graphing functions $$y=f(x)$$ somewhat difficult; if $$x$$ and $$y$$ can both be complex, we'll need four dimensions! Still, by using color (see the attached images), we can cope and maybe find strange shapes lurking in the complex world!

Pretty pictures will be included.


Prerequisites
Algebra II; expect to multiply some polynomials.

We put a lot of faith in statistics, but is it always right to trust the numbers? Crafting accurate and unbiased statistics is difficult; in fact, a whole lot can go wrong! Come learn about how people collect information, analyze data, and present or visualize it to help their arguments. We'll talk about statistical paradoxes, infographics and visualizations, advertising, politics, and more!

Can logic prove that human minds are something more than machines? Gödel famously proved in 1931 that all logical systems which are powerful enough to do simple arithmetic must be in some sense defective. This has lead some philosophers to argue that the human mind can 'see past' these defects, while machines can't. Hence we humans are not simply machines.

In this class we'll look at the incompleteness theorems, and you'll get the flavor of how they are proved. Then we'll discuss whether the mind is a machine or not, focusing on what these incompleteness theorems tell us about our own mind.


Prerequisites
Nothing is assumed beyond the knowledge of simple arithmetic. But the concepts we'll be dealing with will be quite abstract!

“I saw that at some stage in my life the whole structure would have to be utterly demolished, and that I should have to begin again from the bottom up if I wished to construct something lasting and unshakeable in the sciences.” –Descartes

Have you ever wondered what “7” is, or whether addition actually works? How do we know that numbers exist? What if I told you that you didn’t have to take your 1st grade teacher’s word for it when she said that 2+2=4?

In this course, we will start with nothing (quite literally) and construct basic arithmetic from the ground up, developing the natural, rational, and real numbers and proving that addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division exist and work like everyone says they do. Be prepared for some pretty rigorous proof along the way.


Prerequisites
In theory, this course should be accessible to someone who has never encountered math of any sort before. In practice, basic knowledge of set theory and mathematical proof are helpful (but not required), and you should be familiar with basic algebra, real numbers, rational numbers, etc.

Algorithms drive much of the technology we use every day, from your computer to Google. This class is a quick introduction to sorting algorithms: algorithms used to organize lists. If I gave you cards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 in a random order, how do you sort them? One strategy would be to shuffle them, check to see if they're sorted, and if not, keep shuffling until they are. This would take you a long time! A better strategy might be to look through, find the 1, put it on top, find the 2, put that second, and so on, until it is sorted. This is faster, but we can do better still.

Come see and try out stupid algorithms, funny algorithms, fast algorithms, and others. We will race against each other to sort different piles using the algorithms we learn about.

Set Theory is the foundation on which all modern mathematics rests. We will explore its motivations, definitions, and axioms, and finish off by creating the natural numbers. A strong mathematical background is encouraged. Topics include: Axiom schema, recursion, induction, Axioms of Choice and Infinity, and cardinal arithmetic.


Prerequisites
A strong mathematical background is encouraged.

It is a well-kept secret among calculus teachers that a large fraction of the problems that they assign don't actually require any calculus at all, and are actually easier without calculus! This is a class for students who want to tell their teachers that all this "derivative" and "integral" crap is unnecessary (but who will refrain from doing so because they realize that the assigned problems are really a way to build skills in techniques that will be useful again and again in other contexts).


Prerequisites
You should be comfortable finding the projection of one vector onto another and determining when two triangles are congruent. You should also agree with the statement that x squared is greater than or equal to zero for all real numbers x. You don't need to know any calculus (ever - that's the point of the class). However, having taken calculus (or being about to take it) is recommended if you want to come out of the class with a feeling of smug satisfaction.

(Disclaimer: This is not about video games or board games. But it's still awesome.)

The Cold War was a delicate and dangerous time. The threat of nuclear apocalypse loomed constantly overhead, and the world seemed always on the brink of utter destruction. But was there ever really a risk of nuclear annihilation?

We use the mathematical tools of game theory to try to answer this question. After a brief introduction to game theory, we'll see how it applies to Cold War and current nuclear policy, and come to some striking conclusions.


Prerequisites
None! Game theory is very accessible, no fancy math is required.

Ever wondered why the product of two odd numbers is never even? Or why the divisibility rules for 3, 4, 9, and 11 always work?

Modular arithmetic offers a convenient method for approaching remainders. Beginning with basic properties, this course will teach you all you need to know in order to prove that the number tricks you've learned can be trusted.

So how *do* computers actually work? We'll start with problems you've had or know about and divide those into The Six Levels of Computing. Once understand this scheme we'll go over The Standard Answers for problems at each of the six levels. Next we'll go over the nature of networking related problems with computers in the same sort of way.


Prerequisites
Understanding of English. Time working with computers helpful. No technical understanding / training of computers needed.

Maybe you want to start a blog. Maybe you want to get your photo portfolio online. Maybe you want to make the next Facebook. Or maybe you just want to pick up a really, really cool skill.

This class will be a crash course in front-end web design, i.e. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. We'll go through the process of creating a static website and then deploy it using Jekyll (jekyllrb.com). This class will also introduce tools like the command line, FTP, and version control.


Prerequisites
Ability to use a UNIX-like shell and version control (particularly git) helpful, but not strictly necessary.

We all know how to count, and we do it every day. Thus, it might be surprising that there is an entire field of mathematics, called combinatorics, devoted largely to counting different sorts of objects. Of course, the sets that combinatorialists count are much more complicated than the sorts of things we count in everyday life, which makes counting much more fascinating than it initially appears. Focusing on concrete problems (for example, "How many routes can I take on my way home from school?"), this class will introduce students to the beauty of combinatorics and to some of the techniques that mathematicians use to count what may at first seem uncountable.

No special math background will be assumed, but students should be ready to "get their hands dirty" working on combinatorial problems with the class.

Are you considering a career in Economics or Mathematics? Does the irrationality of the human race make you cringe? Do you want to be the very best? The best there ever was? If you answered yes to any of the above questions then you've found the optimal class given the model.
In this class, we will explore high level game theory concepts such as Bayesian Games and the Nash Equilibrium with both rigorous mathematical notion and approachable Pokemon examples! By the conclusion students will be able to adequately deconstruct any Pokemon battle into a model of probabilities and actions, crucial aspects of wowing your friends and wooing crushes.


Prerequisites
Students should be expected to have a comfortable understanding of the basic Pokemon battle mechanics and an interest in rigorous mathematics.

Have you ever played around with a cube or some other three-dimensional object? You notice that you get many different images if you rotate the cube or slice it at some angle (known as taking a cross-section). What does a four-dimensional cube look like, and what happens if you do similar things with the 4-cube? How many corners or edges would a 4-cube have? Although we cannot actually construct a 4-cube, we will construct a model of a 4-cube that will allow us to answer these questions. We will also watch a crazy video with animations that include rotations and 3-dimensional cross-sections of the 4-cube, with some intriguing and perplexing results.

This class will teach you how to invest your money. We will analyze the risks and returns of various investments and examine important considerations when choosing investments. Topics include discussion of the previous performance of various investment types, standard deviations of stocks and bonds, price to earnings ratio, and the role of corporate growth in the value of investments. Students will learn how to balance risks and returns over specific amounts of time according to their investment goals.

Become an archaeologist for a day! This hands-on program teaches students the processes of archaeology through the Oriental Institute's very own simulated dig site. Includes a tour of the galleries that focuses on the development of agriculture, specialization of labor, emergence of cities, writing, belief systems, and modern archaeological practices.

How does DNA sequencing work? Should you be able to choose the sex of your baby? What about their hair color or height? Where should we draw the line? Would you want doctors to use the information encoded in your DNA to treat you if you were sick? If you are healthy, but you will one day become sick, would you want to know?

These are some of the difficult questions that face us in the age of genomics. In this course, you will get a brief introduction to how DNA is sequenced, what it can tell us, and some of the hurdles in interpreting sequence results. Then you will rotate in small groups to discuss and debate different scenarios that today's doctors and families face in our modern genomic age.

Come prepared to think about tricky ethical genetic issues and debate them in a tolerant and respectful environment!


Prerequisites
Some high school biology background is helpful, but not necessary

This session presents an introduction on how to read recent studies on important life topics such as nutrition, medicine, and education, and how many intelligent people get it wrong. You want the truth? This course will teach you to find it for yourself.

My hope is to prepare you to respond critically to the news in a new way.

Ever wondered how an oven cake batter into a cake or cookie dough into cookies? This class will introduce the heat-induced processes that occur when foods are baked to transform them into delicious goodies. This class will also discuss where these processes occur outside the realm of baking.


Prerequisites
An interest in science and baking!

Ever wondered what happens when you close your eyes and your brain goes to sleep? How are dreams produced? What happens to your body and your brain while you're sleeping?

Learn all about basic sleep science (and how to improve your life through sleep) at the University that discovered 'dream sleep'!


Prerequisites
Basic Biology

Despite all of evolution's accomplishments, we still call it merely a tinkerer of engineering. The cell has a comforting familiarity, but applying engineering concepts allows us to stretch cellular life to its limits. Although synthetic biology may be considered the next logical step in biological engineering, its potential is truly thrilling.

In our class, we'll talk about some techniques behind synthetic biology, try an experiment ourselves, and explore the ethical and moral questions scientists and policy makers face. Our class will conclude with cute biology-themed treats. ^.^


Prerequisites
1 year of high school biology

This course will serve as both an introduction to star-based & galactic astronomy and an introduction to telescopes. The first 45 minutes will be dedicated to an interactive briefer on astronomy, covering the formation and evolution of stars and galaxy formation. Then, after a short chat about our knowledge of telescopes, we will mosey up to the Ryerson roof to use UChicago's 6" reflector dedicated to student observation. We will observe and discuss the photosphere of the sun (assuming it's not cloudy, in which case we will look at nearby buildings), and with remaining time open the telescope up to student exploration.

Students learn and use archaeological methods to examine artifacts. Engaging their deductive reasoning skills, they will draw conclusions about the people who created and used these artifacts as well as gain insight into the science and philosophy behind archaeology. Will also include a tour of the Oriental Institute Museum.

Every wonder how do things move? Ever pondered questions such as why a tennis ball fly straight up if two people hit it with hockey sticks at the same time?

Newton has the answers! We will introduce to you his three laws along with lots of interactive demonstrations so you can experience it first hand for yourself.

How does sound work? What makes melodies pleasing to the ear? Come find out!

Did you know that changing the color of a restaurants walls might make you eat more? How about that some people "see" words and numbers in color? Or that some animals can see thousands of times more colors than we humans can?
In this class, we'll explore different ways that color is a part of the world around us, and ultimately rethink the limits we put on what color can do and be.


Prerequisites
None at all

Exploding space shuttles, collapsing bridges, exploding naval guns… sometimes designs fail, and sometimes they fail catastrophically. These failures can be dramatic, deadly, or sometimes just plain silly, but they have one thing in common: they are all preventable. In this class we’ll cover the technical missteps behind some famous engineering disasters (and some you may never have heard of). We’ll talk about how smart people can make bad designs, the importance of communication, and especially the value of common sense.

An introduction to archaeology: how stratigraphy and material remains can help us understand a culture

A prism spreads light waves into a rainbow of colors. Can you do that with sound waves too?

Yes! Your ears do this all the time!

What else do light waves and sound waves have in common? (What kind of sound can move in a tight beam like a ray of light?) How are they like water waves? And what do MP3s and JPEGs have to do with all of this?

You've probably heard of chaos theory: a butterfly flaps it's wings and creates a hurricane on the other side of the world. This course explores the real mathematical principles behind chaos. We'll look at how chaos arises in simple physical systems, and look at different ways of modeling chaotic systems: bifurcation diagrams, state-space orbits, and Poincaré sections.


Prerequisites
Calculus, physics (mechanics), calculus based physics is preferable.

July 4th, 2012, CERN announced the discovery of the Higgs Bosom particle. Scientists worldwide celebrated this discovery, crediting the discovery with helping us explain why matter has mass. But what is the Higgs Bosom particle? Why is it so important?

In order to answer these questions we have to depart from the familiar world of mechanics and delve into unfamiliar concepts of Quantum Mechanics and Relativity. We will take you up to the forefront of physics so you can see how much we know, and how much there is yet to discover.

Have you ever watched syrup or thick oil pour and drip and wondered what makes its motion different than the flow of water? Have you ever played with a substance that was not quite liquid, but not quite solid? Come learn about the physics and applications of Non-Newtonian fluids. Demonstrations and explanations of gook and ooze will be provided!


Prerequisites
Recommended, but not required, prior physics knowledge

Einstein's widely celebrated Special Relativity is a founding pillar of modern physics, which overturns fundamental assumptions about the nature of space and time. This class is intended to introduce the mathematical tools and physical insight necessary to understand Special Relativity from a modern standpoint. We will cover vector spaces, inner products, the structure of spacetime (with the physical reasoning used to obtain this structure) and implications/applications, such as the Lorentz Transformations, the twin "paradox" and $$E= mc^2$$. Along the way, we'll introduce many concepts fundamental to modern physics and mathematics. The class should be quick but accessible.


Prerequisites
Familiarity with matrices (their multiplication especially) required. Calculus not necessary, but may aide understanding.

In our course, we'll examine some of the most important features of the most important organ in your body, the brain, by taking a look at what happens when stuff goes wrong. We'll take apart the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system and survey the different sensory systems with tons of interesting and sometimes unsettling examples.

Take a crawl, jump, splash, or squiggle into the world of marine invertebrates. In this class, students will cover the basic biology of everything from crabs and coral to jellyfish and giant squids and learn about the crazy adaptations these little critters have developed over the millions of years they have been on the planet. Students will be performing a dissection on their very own invertebrate as well as participating in discussion and games about the various invertebrate phyla and their ecology.

We'll look at some strange edge-cases of science. We'll make fire that's weird colors, play with a liquid that sticks to and acts up around magnets, and see how to set something on fire while leaving it unharmed. And there's more!

Participants will learn the basics of CPR and First Aid. This is a non certification course. By the end of the course, students will learn how to do Citizen's CPR, and manage basic injuries.


Prerequisites
Participants should be at least 16 years old

What creates an ideal society? What creates a flawed or unjust society? How do we determine whether a society is ideal or flawed? For centuries, people have used literature to express their answers to these questions. In this class, we will look at works of fiction that portray dystopias, or societies that are marred by oppressive governments, social inequality, or lack of individual freedom. We will see what happens when the status quo is challenged in these societies, and we will try to come up with your own answers to the above questions.