Splash Spring 19
Course Catalog

A super fun and easy introduction to modern calligraphy in a workshop-style class. Calligraphy is a really useful skill for journaling, poster-making, card-writing, and more!
We'll cover how to create beautiful letterforms, brushstrokes, flourishes, and floral doodles using pens and markers. All materials will be provided!

Already a pro of just beginning! Bringing a fancy DSLR or a just a smartphone! All are welcome! Here, we will learn some camera basics and I will delve into other topics the group is interested in before going outside and having a practice portrait session!


Prerequisites
No camera or camera experience required!

Come learn a fun, upbeat dance to the song "Lean On" by Majpr Lazer. Don't let the name fool you, no experience is required! Make sure you're wearing clothes you can move in, and sneakers!

An introduction to the basics of acting/improvisation through fun performance activities, ensemble games, and working on small scenes! All you need is a willingness to move around and an open mind towards creativity, no theatre experience needed.

Interested in bioengineering? Do you want to learn more about the engineering design process and medical device design? This class will cover nature inspired design, and will introduce current bio-technologies that are transforming medicine.


Prerequisites
Basic biology course

Your heart can move up to 2000 gallons of blood through your body in a day. How does the heart keeps your body running? How do doctors keep track of this activity? Come find out with Engineering World Health!


Prerequisites
High school biology preferred

What defines a life well lived? How can you live your best life? Clearly, these questions have no definitive answers, but that’s what makes philosophy fun! Through philosophical discourse, you can deepen your outlook on friendship, love, careers, and way of life. Among others, we will study the work of Aristotle, Diogenes, and Nietzsche, focusing on how you can apply their work to your everyday life. The class will focus on seminar-style discussion, giving you the chance to voice your opinions and engage with other class members.

Climate records have been erased, and the Trump Administration does a lot to defray the public about climate change, even resorting to outright lying to the public about a scientifically proved phenomenon. Fishy? You thought right! Come learn about the secret Polluter-Industrial Complex working behind the scenes in our government, how the fossil fuel industry controls our government, and what you can do to expose the corruption!

A brief introduction to environmental justice in the context of Boston, one of the nation's most segregated cities. This is the right to equal access of all to a clean environment, regardless of socioeconomic status. Come learn where Boston is falling short and how we can do better.

Well, that got your attention… So what makes you think the Harvard education is so valuable? Is there a particular reason why you want to study? Well, why should we study? Besides to accumulate debt, we all aspire to go to college in hopes of an education and to better our lives. Join a class discussion that explores the values and limits of education and future you aspire to have!


Prerequisites
Nothing! Just be prepared and willing to contribute to the class

Poetry is not just for sullen figures spitting slam through cigarette smoke and gritted teeth or for swooning lovers counting stars between the leaves of an aged tree. Poetry is for anyone and everyone and can serve as a valuable tool for communication with yourself and others. Take this workshop if you're interested in using language as an art, tool, or anything in between!


Prerequisites
No prerequisites required! Whether you've never read/written a poem or are an avid reader/writer, you're ready for this class.

Enjoy a break for lunch with your friends! Please register for at least one lunch period on each day of the program.

Enjoy a break for lunch with your friends! Please register for at least one lunch period on each day of the program.

Learn the basics of computer programming through the lens of creating a simple Processing 3 app.

Come learn the basics of Python, one of todays most in-demand programming languages! Python was used to code Instagram, Reddit, Spotify, Youtube, and even Google! We will be learning the basics of Python, and then use what we know to code our own game of Rock, Paper, Scissors!

We will be learning the basics of HTML and CSS to build our very own websites! No experience is required!

If you're interested in learning about the current approaches to curing blindness, then this is the class for you!
We will learn about how vision works, the neural processes underlying it, the diseases and injuries that can cause blindness, and how biomedical engineers are currently developing "cures."


Prerequisites
Some biology

Come do fun hands-on science and engineering experiments with us! All are welcome.

A fun and interactive class where you will learn the ins and outs of minimizing stress and the effects it can have on the brain. Look forward to stress reducing activities!


Prerequisites
A good attitude

In the past ten years, Russian operatives have absolutely not poisoned a man with radioactive materials, nor poisoned another man with a deadly neurotoxin, and they certainly didn't accidentally shoot down a commercial airliner. Because that would be ridiculous.

This class will cover how forensics teams cracked a few infamous international incidents. It will have a focus on the techniques and evidence involved in figuring out the likely players in international crime, and explains why the international community implicated the people that they did.


Prerequisites
Comfortable talking about some pretty nasty crimes; if you're not comfortable with discussions involving death and blood, please don't take this class.

Ah, yes, chemistry labs. The only place in the world where people hand you-- no, make you handle-- substances that you otherwise aren't supposed to touch with a ten-foot-long pole. Of course, high school chemistry labs are only mildly very dangerous, so for this class we're going to kick things up a notch, and give a brief, sometimes ridiculous introduction to some chemicals that ought to be kept in a fume hood behind several locked doors, and some other that you may come across if you study chemistry in the future-- even though they too probably ought to be locked up as well.


Prerequisites
A bit of high-school level chemistry. Knowing a bit about the reactivity of different periods on the periodic table would be really useful.

Have you ever wondered how science REALLY gets done? Sure, you've probably had to tame an ancient Bunsen burner or stared at some petri dishes of some common strain of bacteria in a class in school, but what about the cool stuff? We're talking about the sort of things news anchors explain poorly after some "researchers" did a "study" somewhere, and then maybe some movie messes up by making it look like graduate students actually sleep or something.

In this class, you get to come up with the questions you want to answer, whether it's how to cure cancer, how to grow cantaloupes on the moon, or how to make enough spider silk to be able to sew it into a sofa, and I'll try to walk you through the sorts of cutting-edge methods real scientists would use to try to solve your problem, no matter how ridiculous it is. That being said, I am mostly familiar with biochemistry, so that's roughly what I want this discussion-based class to focus on.

Warning: nothing discussed in this class should be attempted at home, even if for some reason you have the resources to do so. That's what labs are for-- providing a nice safe space so you don't make a massive fire or unleash genetically engineered grasshoppers on your neighborhood.


Prerequisites
Some basic familiarity with biology and the things you're likely to find in a lab would be good, but is not necessary. Come willing to ask questions.

Do you have a morbid fascination with human parasites? Want to learn about microscopic organisms that will fuel your nightmares? Then this class is for you! From toxoplasma gondii to rabies to mad cow disease, we will learn learn how these parasites hack your neurology and examine the strange results that follow. In this class, we will focus specifically on parasites that change your brain and learn about new research revealing the shocking effects of a mind-altering parasite that has already infected at least 30% of humanity.

This class will teach students an interesting introduction to neuroscience! We will dive into topics like neurons, neural communication, brain structures, and fascinating new findings in the neuroscience research world! Get prepared to fall in love with our favorite 3 pound organ, the brain.

AKA: Chronobiology

Circadian rhythms - everyone has one, right? Turns out that some people have rhythms that make them nocturnal (hi), while some people have rhythms that better suit them for life on Mars. This class is for anyone who HATES waking up early, anyone who's ever felt like they got run over by a bus after an international flight, or anyone who is interested in why exactly the number "24" isn't just a construct but is woven into our DNA.

We'll definitely be getting into some neuroscience and genetics here, but we're also gonna talk about what it's like to live in a cave and whether that sleeping cure your Grandma tells you "works every time" is real or not.


Prerequisites
A bit of genetics or biology would be helpful, but definitely won't get in the way!

Basics of Cellular Engineering through the review of academic papers

Specifically we will are reviewing the paper The Dynamics and Mechanisms of Endothelial Cell Spreading

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15849250


Prerequisites
none

Basics of Tissue Engineering through the review of academic papers.

Specifically we will are reviewing the paper Treatment of Sickle Cell Anemia Mouse Model with iPS Cells Generated from Autologous Skin

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18063756

Do you ever think about all the engineering it took to land the Mars Pathfinder safely? The Mars Pathfinder entered the upper atmosphere at 7.6 kilometers per second, encountered forces 25 times Earth's gravity, and bounced on the Martian surface, as high as a 10 story building before coming to a rest. Design your own rover in this course and see if your payload survives.

Occupying less than one percent of the ocean floor, coral reefs are home to more than twenty-five percent of marine life. These incredibly diverse marine ecosystems are not only home to a vast array of oceanic organisms but also provide significant benefits to human life. Despite their beauty and utility, coral reefs are threatened by various anthropogenic environmental changes including climate change, ocean acidification, and agricultural runoff.

Come learn what makes these ecosystems so unique and find out how what is in store for the future of coral reefs. We will also be conducting an experiment on several salt water samples to learn about how various environmental changes alter the chemistry of the water and the health of coral organisms.

So I'm a neuroscience major and all that, yeah, but my absolute guilty pleasure is watching game shows of all kind. Chain Reaction got rebooted? I'm on it. I've probably seen every episode of Cutthroat Kitchen twice. And don't even get me started when the Big Brother live feeds turn on. But why just watch when I can instead mastermind my own "show" for you to play?

And I've done just that. There'll be teams, there'll be challenges of all sorts, and there may even be prizes. Whether trivia or solving puzzles is your thing, or you're more of a "creative" brain, you're competitive as all get out, or you just enjoy working with a team (or manipulating them)... Game on.


Prerequisites
We're putting lecture slides and laser pointers away on this one, team, so be prepared to play!

Have you ever stayed up late working on an assignment due in only a matter of a couple of hours? Have you ever felt overwhelmed with the amount of work you've had to get done in any given point in time? Have you ever felt STRESSED OUT about anything, be it school, work, or anything at all?

If you answered yes to any of the above listed questions, or are just simply looking for any tips, tricks, and advice on how to handle and manage your stress levels, this class may help provide you with some real-life, applicable solutions!


Prerequisites
An open mind and respect!

Learn how to be smart with your money - everything from budgeting, investing, credit cards, and loans, and anything else you want to know about. Probably will not talk about taxes because they are boring.


Prerequisites
Can add 2+2 (if not, thats ok I'll teach you)

Learn How to play Texas Hold'em and Blackjack, and some of the Basic Strategies. Don't ask me about more complicated games, I don't know how to play them. Except sort of Omaha, we can try to talk about that