Mini-Course Listings | Senior Program

Why are some countries poor and others rich? What can you do to help balance inequality? Gain a multifaceted view of international poverty as you examine its economic, political, environmental, and social impacts, and raise awareness about global inequality and development.

Explore how Islamic faith and culture are portrayed in the media, looking at how (and whether) entertainment may sometimes come at the expense of accuracy. How do cultural and religious stereotypes find their way into different media today, and what effect does this have on public perception of Muslims throughout the world?

Darfur to Lebanon. Mexico to America. Thousands of people are displaced from their homes, and become refugees every day. Track the evolution of modern refugees as you begin to comprehend political causes of refugee exodus by examing the music, film, and personal accounts of refugees of the past and today.

Taxis honking; flashing lights; buying the newspaper at the corner news stand; colliding with another passenger on the subway. City life is a unique experience unto itself. Enter the city slicker’s psyche as you examine the psychological workings of the city on the urban dweller’s mentality.

“The American” is omnipresent, making appearances in political rhetoric, literature, and the media, among other places. Cast a critical eye on these representations and explore how this much-invoked image continues to evolve.

From Facebook and MySpace, to online banking and purchasing, to chat rooms and dating services, the internet has truly reshaped our notions of what is private. We will take a look at a variety of security risks, how online sites are responding, and how you can protect yourself while still being an active citizen of the online world.

Try your hand at public relations as you plan, publicize, and promote your very own Explo event. Utilize social media, networking, and your public as you learn about public relations in the professional world and in your personal life.

Do you ever see a pair of shoes and think to yourself, “I just have to have those?” Where do cravings for french fries come from? Delve into the world of consumerism as you investigate how trends are established and who sets them. Examine the roles of psychology and advertising as you investigate where your cravings for new kicks and fries really come from.

In As Good As It Gets, the obsessive-compulsive behavior of Jack Nicholson’s character was a large part of the movie’s comedy. A Beautiful Mind exposed many moviegoers to one conception of schizophrenia. In this course, we’ll explore popular perceptions of mental illness as we critique these and other representations of mental illness on film.

Armies stretched from the Marne to as far as the Dardanelles, 60 million European soldiers mobilized, and an entire generation was decimated fighting World War I. We’ll analyze the strategy and tactics, as well as the causes, of the "Great War."

We often rely on fast food as a quick and cheap source of nutrition. But is the “dollar menu” even economically sound? Learn about food from the farm to the table as you practice making the healthiest food choices for yourself, the economy, and the environment (with a little room for indulgence built in).

What does your outfit say about you? We'll analyze the underlying motive of an outfit, examining how trends have influenced political leaders (and how political leaders have influenced trends). Equipped with your fashion analysis, you'll try your hand at designing an outfit you see fit for the political leaders of tomorrow.

Who lives on Sesame Street? Delve more deeply into this mainstay of children’s entertainment, and children’s television programming more broadly, exploring how kids interact with and react to the images and stories they see on television, and what such programming says about our broader culture and society.

Conquest of the known world, factional political intrigue, bread and games; these were the concerns of the Caesars of Ancient Rome. Come explore how the Caesars rose to power, how they created diversions to please the masses as they lounged in luxury, and how the mighty militaries of Rome dominated all barbarian opponents for the better part of 400 years.

Many take pride in deeming themselves “anti-conformists.” But is anti-conformity even possible? Can we live in society without subscribing to its trends? Whether or not you think of yourself as a mover or a shaker, we’ll create our own social trend at Explo as we investigate the psychology of conformity amongst our peers.

From US Weekly to MTV’s Cribs to the reality TV show I Wanna be Paris’ New Best Friend!, we are a culture obsessed with celebrities. Examining popular imagery of celebrities in magazines and television, we will explore our fascination with fame and celebrity lifestyle and try to determine the rationale behind our obsession.

Come explore the art and beauty of the world of science and chemistry. In this course we will combine basic principles of organic chemistry with art through drawing and three-dimensional sculpture. Organic chemistry is all about understanding how molecules interact with one another during a reaction, so we’ll explore (and recreate) just what these reactions look like through a variety of artistic media.

How do planets, stars, and galaxies form, and just what happens when a star dies? In this course we will create a chronological map of the universe, starting with the Big Bang and the mysterious first few minutes of the universe, and move into exploring what has come to be since that moment. Where has the universe been, and where is it going?

From smallpox to polio to AIDS, each generation or two seems to face a new epidemic, and doctors across the globe face a variety of challenges as these epidemics hit new populations. Explore how diseases spread, how epidemics take hold, and how countries can respond, and come up with plans of attack for countries hit hardest by these outbreaks.

Euclid lived more than 2,000 years ago, but his work still forms the basis for modern mathematics. Similarly, Archimedes’ principles can be found throughout modern physics and design. In this course we will explore the development of mathematics and try to figure out how, with only the most primitive technology, we were able to come so far.