2020 Courses
Not for credit or grade, our courses provide in-depth, interactive exploration of advanced topics. Courses range in subjects from Bioscience to Business, Music to Machine Learning, Physics to Political Science, and Creative Writing to Cosmology. Please note: courses are subject to change.
Use the left-hand navigation to filter our extensive course listing to find the course that is right for you!
Use the left-hand navigation to filter our extensive course listing to find the course that is right for you!
Courses Frequently Asked Questions
What does "grade level" refer to?
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What does "grade level" refer to?
Grade level refers to the current grade that an applicant is in at the time they submit their application. Reference for 2020 programs:
|
Graduation Year from High School (Class of) |
Current Grade |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 12 |
| 2021 | 11 |
| 2022 | 10 |
| 2023 | 9 |
| 2024 | 8 |
Will exceptions be made to the age and grade requirements?
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Will exceptions be made to the age and grade requirements?
No exceptions will be made to the grade requirements for any reason.
Applicants who are outside of the age range, by no more than three months, may apply but this will result in lower priority in the evaluation process. As with the age restrictions, grade restrictions are important in providing a social environment that maximizes the value of the program experience. These restrictions are also important because students enrolled in the same course also live together in the same residence. Because the social and academic components are tightly integrated, students will have greater academic development by learning alongside others who are close in age and grade.
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Applied Arts
Bioscience
Business
Computer Science
Design
Engineering
Interdisciplinary Sciences
Interdisciplinary Studies
Mathematics
Physical and Earth Science
Social Science
Writing
Writing and Humanities
Writing and Applied Arts
Social Science
Topics in Politics and Public Policy: Deliberative Democracy
This course examines the theory and practice of democracy—in particular, deliberative democracy—and engages in a dialogue with critics. The course...
Bioscience
Topics in Bioscience
How does the brain allow us to think, sense, behave, and feel? In this course, we will begin by learning...
Computer Science
| Mathematics
Introduction to Logic
Symbolic logic undergirds a vast range of contemporary sciences. From Mathematics and Computer Science, to Engineering, Law, Philosophy and Game...
Business
Business Strategy
What are the key business strategy issues facing companies today? What can entrepreneurs do now to out-perform their competitors in...
Engineering
| Design
Engineering: Urban Systems
When we say "urban systems," we might mean anything from the planning of entire cities, to building design, to the...
Mathematics
Discrete Mathematics
Discrete mathematics encompasses a broad range of mathematical fields centered on discrete (non-continuous) mathematical structures with an eye toward applications...
Computer Science
Game Design
Whether you are the last one standing in your favorite Battle Royale game or clicking "like" on Facebook or Instagram,...
Social Science
Legal Studies: Become a Highly Effective Critical Thinker
The top qualities companies seek in people they hire are critical thinking, problem solving and communication prowess. This skill set...
Computer Science
Artificial Intelligence
The goal of this course is to help students better understand what artificial intelligence is, and how intelligent systems learn...
Engineering
| Design
| Applied Arts
Product Design
A robust portfolio demonstrating creativity, sensitivity to materials, and a coherent vision is the key to a successful design career....
Physical and Earth Science
Cosmology
This course aims to provide a solid foundation of the fundamental principles of modern cosmology, while also exposing students to...
Social Science
International Relations: The Ethics of War
In the 1990s, many political writers and commentators hailed the end of the Cold War as the inauguration of a...
Physical and Earth Science
Topics in Physics
Physics seeks to discover and understand the how of nature. With its tools, we can reveal the order beneath apparent...
Engineering
Embedded Systems
To many people, embedded systems are mysterious because the way they function is often hidden from our eyes. The reality...
Bioscience
Investigations in Bioscience: Developing New Surgical Technology
We live in a golden age of medical technology. New techniques and markets allow us to develop and evaluate interventions...
Business
Business and Entrepreneurship
This course provides students with an intensive introduction to core business disciplines, addressing a wide range of topics including business...
Social Science
Topics in Sociology: Mental Well-Being and Society
In recent years, mental health has become a hot topic of conversation in the media, following reports of a "mental...
Writing
Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, and Poetry
This intensive three-week course is an exploration into the craft of writing creatively. Students will read a variety of works...
Bioscience
Investigations in Bioscience: Neuroscience
This class is designed to serve as a first foray into the wondrous domain of learning and memory. We will...
Physical and Earth Science
Astrochemistry: Origins of Life in Space
Remarkable advancements in experimental techniques, development of observational telescopes, and powerful computer algorithms are making the detection of complex molecules...
Mathematics
Cryptography
How can two people communicate secrets back and forth, even when a third party can eavesdrop on everything they say?...
Mathematics
The Mathematics of Symmetry
Symmetry plays an important role throughout mathematics and the sciences, and this course will lead students on an exploration of...
Bioscience
Investigations in Bioscience: Understanding Genetics
Genetics is the scientific study of heredity. The field of genetics has rapidly progressed within this last century, effectively changing...
Physical and Earth Science
Quantum Mechanics
This course is intended for students who have had exposure to physics but yearn to discover more about the modern...
Engineering
| Physical and Earth Science
| Interdisciplinary Sciences
Materials Science and Engineering
Materials science and engineering (MSE) is one of the newer engineering fields, stemming primarily from a need to understand how...
Business
Business Strategy
What are the key business strategy issues facing companies today? What can entrepreneurs do now to out-perform their competitors in...
Bioscience
Investigations in Bioscience: How We May Defeat Cancer
This course will draw in a range of topics in biology, medicine, history, technology, and bioinformatics as it asks students...
Business
Digital Marketing
With the global reach of the internet and the prevalence of mobile devices, it is a challenge to imagine a...
Physical and Earth Science
Particle Physics
This course is an introduction to the physics of the smallest building blocks of matter. We will discuss developments in...
Writing
| Interdisciplinary Studies
Writing Across Disciplines
How can a computer scientist help archaeologists study Neolithic China? How can studying literature help neuroscientists understand the human brain?...
Physical and Earth Science
The Frontiers of Physics
Frontiers of Physics will launch students into an exploration of the groundbreaking discoveries in physics in the early 20th century...
Computer Science
Introduction to Data Science: Visualization and Modeling
Data science has revolutionized the way our world works and how we understand it. Technology enables us to ask more...
Physical and Earth Science
Theory of Relativity
Developed a little more than a hundred years ago, Einstein's Theory of Relativity is a groundbreaking scientific breakthrough that revolutionized...
Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Chemical engineers are multi-disciplinarians who apply principles of chemistry, physics, biology and engineering to solve a range of practical real-life...
Writing
| Applied Arts
The Visual Writer
Poems and stories have the power to haunt us, guide us, and help us remember. We write to make sense...
Social Science
Social Media, Digital News, and Modern Politics
The internet has dramatically increased access to political information and perspectives. With the rise of Facebook, Twitter, WeChat, and Weibo,...
Social Science
Topics in Psychology
This course introduces students to methodological and theoretical aspects of the field of psychology through in-depth study of some of...
Writing
| Applied Arts
| Interdisciplinary Studies
Modern Approaches to Composition
This intensive creative writing course will challenge students to take themselves seriously as artists and guide them as they develop...
Computer Science
| Engineering
| Mathematics
Machines that Learn
We have personified computers for generations: memory, processing, and thinking are terms used to describe what a computer is doing....
Social Science
Sociology of Inequality
Social justice is often marked as the goal to be achieved by those aiming to reform society to be more...
Writing and Humanities
Ethics: The Art of Persuasion
Books, magazines, newspapers, TED talks, political speeches—a great deal of writing and speech is persuasive. Persuasion is not only a...
Computer Science
AI Robotics
Welcome to the multidisciplinary field of Robotics. Students will be introduced to the primary subsystems of robotic solutions starting with...
Mathematics
Logic and Problem Solving
Problem solving is both an art and science; it is a most intellectually entertaining activity. In this course, we will...
Applied Arts
| Interdisciplinary Studies
Why Music Matters
What is music? Why do people make music? What can it mean? And why, in the layered political contexts of...
Physical and Earth Science
| Interdisciplinary Sciences
Environmental Science
During this course, students will explore a range of fields of study that focus on the environment and oceanography, tackling...
Engineering
| Design
| Applied Arts
Architectural Design
This course will introduce students to the inspiring field of architecture. We will practice a process of creative problem-solving which...
Writing
| Social Science
| Interdisciplinary Studies
Media and Social Justice
This course explores how language and writing can enable historically marginalized individuals to articulate traumatic experiences, protest unjust conditions, and...
Business
Business and Brand Marketing
Businesses around the world—profit and non-profit—are tasked with driving awareness and consideration for their products or services. The challenge is...
Mathematics
Number Theory
Number theory, the study of properties of integers, has attracted the interest of mathematicians for over 4000 years. This branch...
Writing and Humanities
| Applied Arts
| Interdisciplinary Studies
Investigative Journalism: Is Seeing Believing?
Contemporary journalists are reporters, commentators, cultural critics, photographers, captioners, reviewers, essayists, and more. They write pieces from 280 to tens...
Physical and Earth Science
| Writing
| Interdisciplinary Sciences
Writing for the Future of the Planet
Good writing can change the world—even, perhaps, a world that is already changing. The writer that aspires to alter the...
Writing
Authentic Authorship
This class will challenge students to view themselves not just as writers, but as authors. Through group workshops and instructor...
Interdisciplinary Studies
| Business
| Design
Entrepreneurship for Social Innovation
The goal of this course is to ignite students' curiosity and interests in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM)...
Writing
Self, Place, Style
Who are we? How do we know what we know? How does our context change us? In this course, we'll...
Computer Science
Introduction to Programming
This course is an introduction to computer programming with a look into the fundamental skills of web design and development....
Engineering
| Physical and Earth Science
Electromagnetics
Of the four types of interactions that control how matter, energy, space, and time produce our physical world, electromagnetism is...