【HSYLC】附件：2014哈佛峰会的课程简介
Introductions to seminars
我整理了很长时间，还研究了每个课题。估计没什么人看，但是改天我加上Seminar Leader的照片后你们肯定就会看了~
1.The History and Ethics of Modern Biotechnology
What exactly is biotechnology and how is it used in our world today? What are the ethical implications of utilizing these biotechnologies? How do they change our notion of identity, individualism, and ownership? This seminar will provide a brief overview of the history of biotechnology over the past century or two. We will explore several examples and identify the prevalence of these technologies in the world we live in. Next, we will explore ethical dilemmas that arise with the implementation and usage of these technologies, with a particular focus on gestational surrogacy, recombinant DNA, and stem cells. I will lead discussions and we will look at readings, but the seminar will be very discussion based with the students driving most of the discussion. My goal is each of you will think about technology in different ways and you should have greater confidence in expressing your ideas logically.
2.Health and Fitness:Benefits Beyond the Body
How does fitness affect the body? More specifically, how does it play a role in brain performance? How does this increased brain activity impact our daily lives? This seminar will explore the biological effects that exercise has on the body through discussion of the anatomy of the brain and gene expression. These biological processes will be defined by the measurable effects we see and how they increase our ability to learn. Through discussion, we will work to understand the methods of integrating fitness into each individual’s life and what types of exercise work best for our goal of a healthier body and brain. At the end of this seminar, my goal is to have each student gain motivation to adopt a healthy lifestyle through the understanding and appreciation of fitness, not only for its direct benefits on the body, but also for the ways it impacts the biology of the brain.
3.The Politics and Economics of Marriage
Everyone thinks about it at least once; Taylor Swift mentions it in about 30% of her songs; it creates and complicates every perfect family on TV. But what does “getting married” really mean? Who gets married? And most importantly, why? In this seminar, you will take on the role of a person whose social, economic, sexual, and religious background has been assigned--but you will be able to make the important decisions using the information given to you. By the end of the seminar, your character will have dated, become engaged, and become married (or perhaps not) to another person in the class. Afterwards, you will have to deal with a life crisis (job layoffs, war, discriminatory legislation) and reflect on how the institution of marriage helped or hurt your ability to deal with the realities of a chaotic world.
4.Diachrony,Phonology,and Structure:An Introduction to Linguistic Theory
What are the tools linguists use to analyze language? How can we use those tools to understand how languages change, how sound systems function, and how language is structured? In this seminar, we will dive into three of the major subfields of linguistics: diachronic (or historical) linguistics, phonology, and syntax. We will begin by covering the field of historical linguistics, in order to discover how languages can develop and diversify and the factors that elicit such changes. Next, we will explore the rich field of phonology and examine sound systems across various languages. Finally, we will end with a specific activity examining a particular phenomenon of English syntax: the contraction of “want to” to “wanna” and the syntactic constraints limiting its use. After this seminar, you will have a good grasp on a number of fundamental linguistic concepts, which I hope you will be able to use in the future as you not only learn languages but also learn about languages.
5.Friendship
We will tackle questions such as: How many people would you count as your friends and in what context have you met them? How have friendships changed as people have become more embedded in online communities? Is it harder to make friends with the opposite sex or are friendships stronger and more stable than romantic relationships? The course will begin with a consideration of the meaning of friendship through an examination of a box office hit, The Bridesmaids, in which the main characters are put through situations that test the bounds and the strength of their friendship. What does it mean to be friends? Do romantic relationships “trump” platonic friendships or vice versa? We will then contemplate what contemporary friendships are like: How do people become friends, how do we keep in touch, and what happens to the friendship when a friend moves away? We will read various texts that form historical threads and inform our contemporary concepts and practices of friendship and romance. These readings will include views from Winthrop, Montaigne, Aristotle, biblical sources, and blogs.
6.An introduction to Shakespeare
How has Shakespeare impacted Western society? What was his interpretation of the human condition? How did his life experiences impact his writing? In this seminar, we will learn about Shakespeare’s plays in relation to the history during which they were written. We will start by learning how to understand, interpret, and analyze Shakespearean poetry through the famous Sonnet 18. We will then apply these skills to the entertaining and clever comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, and the celebrated tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. For each, we will discover the story and analyze, act out, and admire key scenes. We will then study the difference between interpretations of these stories from Shakespeare’s era to the present. Through these interpretations, we will discuss Shakespeare’s cultural and literary impact on the English-speaking world.
7.Dystopian Literature:What Makes A Perfect World?
As society advances, we are constantly aiming to create a world that is better than the society of the past. But what constitutes a perfect society? What negative effects can result in the efforts to create a perfect society? It is said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and we will see this throughout our study of dystopia. In this seminar, we will explore the creation of dystopian societies and how they arise in response to societal flaws. We will discuss popular dystopian literature including Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games. Throughout the seminar, keep in mind the question of what societal flaws each dystopian governing power is trying to solve and what you personally believe is the solution to such flaws. As a group, we will also try to keep an open mind about such solutions and to consider the ways that good intentions can go horribly wrong.
8.The Secret Life of Pronouns
This seminar will focus on what exactly language’s most ignored words say about the nature of our hearts, minds, and motives. Then we will apply those findings to classical rhetoric, the way we present information and ourselves to the world. James W. Pennebaker’s book The Secret Life of Pronouns uses years of research and hundreds of thousands of analyzed documents to show what our pronoun use says about our emotions, friendships, social statuses, and leadership ability. Our pronoun use changes when we lie, when we’re being dishonest, and when we’re depressed. It even changes when we argue or persuade. This course will combine basic rhetorical theory with Pennebaker’s work, allowing us a completely new perspective on the way we come into contact with language. This will be your opportunity to practice constructing arguments with razor-like precision.
9.The Bible as Literature
"What's the meaning of life?" It's a classic question, as old as humanity: Why am I here? What am I supposed to be doing? What's the point? Rightly or wrongly, the Bible claims to answer those questions, and the answers it gives drove Western civilization and thought for millennia. This seminar will not only explore those answers, using literary tools to find a coherent story in the Biblical texts; it will also involve coming to terms with that story, questioning how compelling or disturbing it truly is and what that means for us. After all, our answers to these fundamental questions influence us immensely and can completely change the trajectory of our lives. Ultimately, we will end up questioning ourselves - why do we live in the way that we do? What is the meaning of life? In the end, everything - from the proper interpretation of the text, to what we take to be meaningful - will be the subject of an ongoing discussion. A range of opinions is expected and encouraged, as is lively debate!
10.Morality in a Digital Age
We live in a technologically advanced age that has instilled in us expectations of instant gratification. In this seminar, we will analyze the implications of technology through a psychological and then a moral lens. We will begin with an overview of the technological revolution to put into perspective how short but influential it has been. Our discussions will then lead into popular technologies that we have become dependent on, such as cell phones, search engines, and social media services. You will also be challenged to experiment with and report on their own technology use (i.e. record in a journal all instances of technology use, attempt to communicate without messaging, etc). Finally, we will look at psychology papers that reveal human biases and psychological setbacks and discuss whether or not recent technologies help or hurt these setbacks. For example, if I am already inherently biased, is it bad that I control what I see on my Twitter feed? Is Facebook (or other social media) really a good thing if it makes me feel left out when I see my friends post photos without me? To bring the seminar to a close, students will give a short presentation on a specific technology and explain its implications through a moral or psychological lens.
11.The Globalization of Soccer
Soccer, or football as it is known throughout the world, is the world’s most popular sport, with over 250 million players in 200 countries. It has stopped wars, revitalized economies, and brought together even the bitterest of enemies. Despite its overwhelming popularity, it remains to achieve similar levels of renown in two of the most influential countries in the world, China and the USA. With the FIFA World Cup being in Brazil this year, now is a better time than ever to learn about the beautiful sport and partake in the fervor of this global phenomenon. This seminar would discuss the history of football and the respective development of the sport in various regions of the world, including Europe, Latin America, Africa, USA and Asia. In particular, there would be a focus on the privatization and business model of the growth of the sport into various regions of the world. I hope that I can spread my wild passion for football to those who are willing to give it a shot and fall in love with the craze that stops the world for 90 minutes at a time.
12.Analyzing American Constitutional Rights
This seminar will focus on America’s evolving understanding of rights through recent history. We will analyze situations where the Constitution directly addresses rights, and areas where it distinctly does not. We will look not only at what the United States Supreme Court has ruled on these matters, but will also critically analyze original documents and theories on our own on some of the most contentious issues of our time. The seminar will be almost entirely discussion based, as the best way to learn about this topic is by having your ideas critically analyzed and by listening closely to others' ideas and learning from them. I hope it will be a great learning experience for all of us.
13.Understand What People Think:A Case Study on American Public Opinion
How do we know what a large group of people in a city or a country thinks? How do we ask questions that are unbiased and accurately gauge public opinion? In the media, we often hear statistics such as “40% of people believe…” or “6 in 10 people oppose…” This seminar will introduce us to how people arrive at these numbers and the importance of public opinion in government. We will be learning about how questions are written, why they are written, and how their answers are used in public policy. This will involve a series of presentations and group activities that will allow us to practice some of the approaches and strategies used by pollsters and public opinion analysts. Finally, we will also engage in political scenarios where we will advise elected officials based on various datasets and statistics. By the end of this seminar, I hope that you will have a better understanding of the methods used to understand public opinion and how it is important in everyday life.
14.A Legal,Ethical,and Political Perspective on Biotechnology
As technology becomes more innovative and widespread, it also becomes a greater part of our daily lives. In fact, technology may soon play a critical role in the creation of life itself. This seminar explores the moral, political, and scientific implications of new developments in biotechnology, particularly within the context of a modern legal and judicial system. Does science give us the power to alter the world around us, and possibly to alter human nature? If so, how should we exercise this power? What do we value as human beings, and how are our values changing as a result of biotechnology? And how can the principles of law and effective regulation help us to address the critical moral questions that these developments create? In light of such questions, students are encouraged to not only become informed about the issues we will address, but to develop their own position and to support it in an in-depth discussion.
15.Marketing and Advertising in Multicultural America
What does the term “multicultural America” mean? How have corporations tried to appeal to specific cultural, racial, and ethnic groups in their marketing and advertising initiatives? This seminar examines the implications of marketing to specific cultural, racial, and ethnic groups in the United States. By looking at a variety of ads and reading scholarly works on multicultural marketing, we will discuss whether culturally-targeted appeals empower minorities as consumers in the American marketplace or rather perpetuate stereotypes, common ideas about certain groups that may be untrue. By looking at how companies market cigarettes to minorities, we will also examine how multicultural marketing can adversely affect consumers. This course will allow students to engage in an interdisciplinary discussion on media, technology, race, and American history.
16.Capital Markets:Understanding Financial Instruments
What are capital markets? In this seminar, we will explore the different types of capital markets (equity markets, debt markets, etc.), and look at how they have evolved over the past few decades around the world. After we develop a basic understanding of capital markets, we will dive deeper and look at specific financial instruments, such as derivatives, asset-backed securities, and credit default swaps. In a broader perspective, we will consider how financial innovation (the creation and usage of new financial instruments to decrease risk and/or get higher returns) has affected society. Has it contributed to overall social welfare or has it been a detriment to society (for example, the Financial Crisis of 2008)? By the end of the three days, you will be able to have extensive conversations about capital markets and financial instruments with your peers, and you will have the foundation to learn about more advanced topics related to finance.
17.Humour and the Meaning of Life:The Case of Monty Python
Life can bring about many questions involving the meaning and purpose of it all. As surprising as it may be, someone else had thought about it before you - and that’s great. Many questions were raised but not many answers were found. Many claim that the questions themselves are eternal, and it is the path you walk to find them that make up your life. I would claim that humor can be your best companion on this journey. More specifically, the Monty Python troupe has built their career by raising and answering such questions, while highlighting the absurd that surrounds human life and being. The Monty Python group consists of five British comedians (all Oxford and Cambridge graduates) and one American animator, who were brought together to put on a late night comedy show for the BBC in the late sixties and early seventies. Their revolutionary TV show and later four movies changed comedy and TV forever, greatly influencing the creation of Saturday Night Live and other comedy shows around the world. I would not be the first to say that they are, in fact, the Beatles of Comedy. Join me to explore and uncover philosophical themes in their sketches, which have become milestones of Western culture and comedy.
18.An Aural Exploration of Jazz
What is the purpose of music? Is it entertainment or expression, both or neither? Music is such an integral part of the human experience, a unifying force in a diverse world, yet it is often difficult to pinpoint exactly why we like a certain song, artist, or genre. This seminar will attempt to tackle this giant question by looking specifically at the evolution of Jazz music in America. We will start by evaluating the unique social climate that led to the birth of the genre, before exploring the evolution of jazz through listenings and discussion. Ultimately, we will end our journey by looking at the social consequences jazz has had on the world. Hopefully, through your exploration, you will come to have a better appreciation of what leads to the creation of certain music, why we humans derive such enjoyment from particular aural stimulation, and how we can learn from musical trends to better understand and predict social changes in the future.
19.Food,Music,and Identity
“Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are,” once said a wise French food expert. Indeed, beyond its necessity for survival, food fundamentally shapes us and our culture. Music plays a similarly instrumental role in our lives. Think of all of life’s important gatherings and events—weddings, graduation ceremonies, birthdays, sporting events, or romantic dinners. It has been said that “whenever humans come together for any reason, music is there.” Clearly, food and music are essential to our identities as human beings, but there are vastly different types around the world. What can we learn about the values, social norms, or history of a country by studying its food and musical traditions? We will explore characteristics of the typical meals in three countries of interest and their holiday traditions, comparing them to our own experiences. We will also discuss how food appears in the news, social media, and advertisements before exploring and comparing each country’s musical traditions. Each person will get a chance to demonstrate his or her anthropological skills by choosing an aspect of food or music and presenting to the class using the concepts learned in class. By the end of the seminar, I hope that you will have a new appreciation for the importance of food and music to each culture’s identity, as well as a new openness to embrace and explore the world.
20.What is Justice:Philosophical and Psychological Approach
How should we define “justice”? What kind of guidelines are we following when we determine what is “right”? This seminar will lead us to explore the conscious and unconscious process by which we respond to such questions. We will be learning about the philosophical and psychological factors that influence our decision making. This will involve a series of presentations and group discussions that will allow us to think analytically about why we believe in what we believe as “justice”. Throughout the seminar, we will have opportunities to have discussions on real-life situations and also learn about intriguing experiments that show the psychological underpinnings of our thought process. By the end of this seminar, I hope that you will gain an insightful understanding of the concept of justice from both philosophical and psychological perspectives.
21.3 Fun Facts in Astrophysics
What is the universe and where did it come from? When and where is it going to end? What have been the biggest discoveries in astrophysics and what are the strangest, least intuitive things we’ve discovered about the universe? This seminar will introduce us to the study of astrophysics and get us up to date on the work scientists are doing to answer these questions. Including a number of practical activities to help illustrate concepts, group reflections and cool videos, this seminar seeks to employ a holistic approach to learning so that it will not only leave us understanding complex physical concepts, but also help us to develop our own thoughts about what might be going on - after all, no one really knows yet! While most of the big question are still unanswered, by the end of this seminar we will have a much better understanding of what scientists do know, what they need to find out, and what tools they need to help them.
22.The Techniques and Technical Components of Nonfiction Flim&Video
What do you consider as a film? What sort of elements are found in a film? Does a film need to have these elements? These questions and more will guide our exploration of Nonfiction or Documentary Films. We will challenge our preconceived ideas of what a film is and should be. Additionally, an optional video project will compel you to begin to see the world in images. In an effort to move away from theoretical or historical notions of Film, we will also concentrate on the technical components of video, the truly nonfiction elements behind every film. Shot composition, lighting, and color along with the tools that craft them will be of particular interest. In short, the seminar aims to expose a different kind of film and introduce helpful techniques and technical components.
23.The Rise of the Internet of Things
What is the Internet of Things? How will it shape our future? This seminar will introduce us to how technological developments have set the stage for an age of unprecedented growth in “smart” electronics. We will be learning about advancements in hardware and software, pioneering technologies such as driverless cars and Google Glass, and the security and privacy issues that will inevitably arise. Discussion will be a vital part of the seminar as we explore the ways in which the Internet of Things will impact our lives and our environment. By the end of this seminar, I hope that you will be more informed about modern trends in technology and be able to converse intelligently about them.
24.Digital Platforms:A Look at the Internet Layer by Layer
The Internet operates in layers, and so does much of the technology that connects to it: PCs, mobile phones, tablets. Nearly two decades ago, those platforms were conceptually simple: a "generative" base offered by one manufacturer, on which anyone could build. Today, we have hybrids like the iOS and Android operating systems or the Facebook and Twitter platforms, where the platform makers offer their systems as services rather than products. This influences and controls the connection between users and developers. What counts as a "level playing field" in a platform, and what responsibility, if any, is there for public authorities to enforce it? Can we develop a framework for reasoning about how platforms should be governed and regulated?
25.Studying the Human Brain:A Window into the Mind and Soul
Over the past few decades, the advancements made in neurobiology have been incredible. In just a few years, things that were once thought to be the stuff of science fiction have been made a reality, and the field is growing at an ever-faster rate. In this course, we will look at how these advances give us insights about the human brain – what it is made of and how it works. However, perhaps more importantly, we will also think about what it might mean for us. While we go about living our lives, something that we do not often appreciate is that our deepest thoughts, desires, and aspirations that shape our lives are the result of our brain. An even less considered idea is what happens when there are changes or damages to it. We will look at human cases of how different injury or misfortune has led to changes in the brain and to remarkable and fascinating changes in the person afflicted. For the final part of the course, we will look at how recent advances and findings about the brain have affected people’s thoughts and behaviors. As we put the first two parts of the seminar together, we will also delve into the possible ethical implications such research and findings pose for us.
26.A Discussion of Feminism and its Impact
What really is feminism? The term can have a positive or negative connotation, depending on who you are. The word has been proudly claimed by celebrities (think Beyonce), and yet I’ve heard many women quickly deny being feminists while making comments in support of gender equality in some form. This seminar will try to define the movement, and then explore the ways in which “feminism” permeates and shapes the world around us. We will examine the way feminism is discussed in politics, as well as, perhaps more interestingly, the different ways feminism is portrayed in media. We will go through the history of feminism and its present day existence in both the East and the West. The scope of our discussions will include the racial inclusiveness of mainstream feminism, reproductive rights, gender equality in cinema, body image, gender roles, and whether or not gender equality has already been achieved in the work place. We will also look at the anti-feminist movement and look at postfeminism. Since feminism is above all a cultural phenomenon, all of this will involve looking at blogs and videos, songs and speeches. We will have discussions about your own experiences and your beliefs about societal norms. I hope to question your views on “feminism” and what really belongs to the feminist discourse.
27.Race in America
How have ethnic minorities contributed to American society? How have race relations evolved over time? In this seminar, we will look at how Asian Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, and Latin Americans have contributed to American society, and the struggles they have faced. We will start with issues facing minorities in the 19th century, and then continue through today’s American race relations. We will look at stereotypes, segregation, violent conflict, as well as racial minority roles in the media and their places in American comedy. This seminar is designed to introduce you to America through the lens of the country’s racial history, providing a fresh look at the USA, while having fun at the same time.
28.Isn't All the Same?An Examination of Regional Cultures Within the United States
Is America a homogenous country or is it a nation with a host of distinct regional cultures like China? What are the various manifestations of these disparate cultures and how does studying them help us to gain a more vivid understanding of America? Most importantly, when we draw a connection between these complexities and those that exist just as certainly in China, how can we create a better sense of empathy between our two nations? With these questions always in mind, we will explore America in all of its intricacies. We will discuss key factors of America as a whole while also beginning our dissection of America into different diverse cultural regions. Groups will be able to present a detailed project on each of these regions. Following these presentations, we will watch video clips, look at art and landscapes, and listen to music that all portrays a unique attribute of each cultural region. Finally, we will discuss what we have learned, how this has altered our perspective of America, and how we can then apply this to both Sino-American relations and our perspectives on China as a whole. We will thus work to gain accurate concept of what it means to be an “Average American” and, more importantly, to perhaps realize that an “Average American” does not even exist.
29.The Art of Filmmaking
How does a film come to be? In this holistic seminar on filmmaking, we will answer this fundamental question that every filmmaker must consider before embarking on a project. We will explore the key aspects of filmmaking, from script to the cutting room, to show just how collaborative and multifaceted the filmmaking process is. Students will be exposed to film history and theory, learning the thought process behind telling a story visually and cohesively. Students will learn to think like a director, writer, cinematographer, production designer, and actor, and hopefully come to a unique and personal understanding of how to bring a story to life.
我整理了很长时间，还研究了每个课题。估计没什么人看，但是改天我加上Seminar Leader的照片后你们肯定就会看了~
1.The History and Ethics of Modern Biotechnology
What exactly is biotechnology and how is it used in our world today? What are the ethical implications of utilizing these biotechnologies? How do they change our notion of identity, individualism, and ownership? This seminar will provide a brief overview of the history of biotechnology over the past century or two. We will explore several examples and identify the prevalence of these technologies in the world we live in. Next, we will explore ethical dilemmas that arise with the implementation and usage of these technologies, with a particular focus on gestational surrogacy, recombinant DNA, and stem cells. I will lead discussions and we will look at readings, but the seminar will be very discussion based with the students driving most of the discussion. My goal is each of you will think about technology in different ways and you should have greater confidence in expressing your ideas logically.
2.Health and Fitness:Benefits Beyond the Body
How does fitness affect the body? More specifically, how does it play a role in brain performance? How does this increased brain activity impact our daily lives? This seminar will explore the biological effects that exercise has on the body through discussion of the anatomy of the brain and gene expression. These biological processes will be defined by the measurable effects we see and how they increase our ability to learn. Through discussion, we will work to understand the methods of integrating fitness into each individual’s life and what types of exercise work best for our goal of a healthier body and brain. At the end of this seminar, my goal is to have each student gain motivation to adopt a healthy lifestyle through the understanding and appreciation of fitness, not only for its direct benefits on the body, but also for the ways it impacts the biology of the brain.
3.The Politics and Economics of Marriage
Everyone thinks about it at least once; Taylor Swift mentions it in about 30% of her songs; it creates and complicates every perfect family on TV. But what does “getting married” really mean? Who gets married? And most importantly, why? In this seminar, you will take on the role of a person whose social, economic, sexual, and religious background has been assigned--but you will be able to make the important decisions using the information given to you. By the end of the seminar, your character will have dated, become engaged, and become married (or perhaps not) to another person in the class. Afterwards, you will have to deal with a life crisis (job layoffs, war, discriminatory legislation) and reflect on how the institution of marriage helped or hurt your ability to deal with the realities of a chaotic world.
4.Diachrony,Phonology,and Structure:An Introduction to Linguistic Theory
What are the tools linguists use to analyze language? How can we use those tools to understand how languages change, how sound systems function, and how language is structured? In this seminar, we will dive into three of the major subfields of linguistics: diachronic (or historical) linguistics, phonology, and syntax. We will begin by covering the field of historical linguistics, in order to discover how languages can develop and diversify and the factors that elicit such changes. Next, we will explore the rich field of phonology and examine sound systems across various languages. Finally, we will end with a specific activity examining a particular phenomenon of English syntax: the contraction of “want to” to “wanna” and the syntactic constraints limiting its use. After this seminar, you will have a good grasp on a number of fundamental linguistic concepts, which I hope you will be able to use in the future as you not only learn languages but also learn about languages.
5.Friendship
We will tackle questions such as: How many people would you count as your friends and in what context have you met them? How have friendships changed as people have become more embedded in online communities? Is it harder to make friends with the opposite sex or are friendships stronger and more stable than romantic relationships? The course will begin with a consideration of the meaning of friendship through an examination of a box office hit, The Bridesmaids, in which the main characters are put through situations that test the bounds and the strength of their friendship. What does it mean to be friends? Do romantic relationships “trump” platonic friendships or vice versa? We will then contemplate what contemporary friendships are like: How do people become friends, how do we keep in touch, and what happens to the friendship when a friend moves away? We will read various texts that form historical threads and inform our contemporary concepts and practices of friendship and romance. These readings will include views from Winthrop, Montaigne, Aristotle, biblical sources, and blogs.
6.An introduction to Shakespeare
How has Shakespeare impacted Western society? What was his interpretation of the human condition? How did his life experiences impact his writing? In this seminar, we will learn about Shakespeare’s plays in relation to the history during which they were written. We will start by learning how to understand, interpret, and analyze Shakespearean poetry through the famous Sonnet 18. We will then apply these skills to the entertaining and clever comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, and the celebrated tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. For each, we will discover the story and analyze, act out, and admire key scenes. We will then study the difference between interpretations of these stories from Shakespeare’s era to the present. Through these interpretations, we will discuss Shakespeare’s cultural and literary impact on the English-speaking world.
7.Dystopian Literature:What Makes A Perfect World?
As society advances, we are constantly aiming to create a world that is better than the society of the past. But what constitutes a perfect society? What negative effects can result in the efforts to create a perfect society? It is said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and we will see this throughout our study of dystopia. In this seminar, we will explore the creation of dystopian societies and how they arise in response to societal flaws. We will discuss popular dystopian literature including Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games. Throughout the seminar, keep in mind the question of what societal flaws each dystopian governing power is trying to solve and what you personally believe is the solution to such flaws. As a group, we will also try to keep an open mind about such solutions and to consider the ways that good intentions can go horribly wrong.
8.The Secret Life of Pronouns
This seminar will focus on what exactly language’s most ignored words say about the nature of our hearts, minds, and motives. Then we will apply those findings to classical rhetoric, the way we present information and ourselves to the world. James W. Pennebaker’s book The Secret Life of Pronouns uses years of research and hundreds of thousands of analyzed documents to show what our pronoun use says about our emotions, friendships, social statuses, and leadership ability. Our pronoun use changes when we lie, when we’re being dishonest, and when we’re depressed. It even changes when we argue or persuade. This course will combine basic rhetorical theory with Pennebaker’s work, allowing us a completely new perspective on the way we come into contact with language. This will be your opportunity to practice constructing arguments with razor-like precision.
9.The Bible as Literature
"What's the meaning of life?" It's a classic question, as old as humanity: Why am I here? What am I supposed to be doing? What's the point? Rightly or wrongly, the Bible claims to answer those questions, and the answers it gives drove Western civilization and thought for millennia. This seminar will not only explore those answers, using literary tools to find a coherent story in the Biblical texts; it will also involve coming to terms with that story, questioning how compelling or disturbing it truly is and what that means for us. After all, our answers to these fundamental questions influence us immensely and can completely change the trajectory of our lives. Ultimately, we will end up questioning ourselves - why do we live in the way that we do? What is the meaning of life? In the end, everything - from the proper interpretation of the text, to what we take to be meaningful - will be the subject of an ongoing discussion. A range of opinions is expected and encouraged, as is lively debate!
10.Morality in a Digital Age
We live in a technologically advanced age that has instilled in us expectations of instant gratification. In this seminar, we will analyze the implications of technology through a psychological and then a moral lens. We will begin with an overview of the technological revolution to put into perspective how short but influential it has been. Our discussions will then lead into popular technologies that we have become dependent on, such as cell phones, search engines, and social media services. You will also be challenged to experiment with and report on their own technology use (i.e. record in a journal all instances of technology use, attempt to communicate without messaging, etc). Finally, we will look at psychology papers that reveal human biases and psychological setbacks and discuss whether or not recent technologies help or hurt these setbacks. For example, if I am already inherently biased, is it bad that I control what I see on my Twitter feed? Is Facebook (or other social media) really a good thing if it makes me feel left out when I see my friends post photos without me? To bring the seminar to a close, students will give a short presentation on a specific technology and explain its implications through a moral or psychological lens.
11.The Globalization of Soccer
Soccer, or football as it is known throughout the world, is the world’s most popular sport, with over 250 million players in 200 countries. It has stopped wars, revitalized economies, and brought together even the bitterest of enemies. Despite its overwhelming popularity, it remains to achieve similar levels of renown in two of the most influential countries in the world, China and the USA. With the FIFA World Cup being in Brazil this year, now is a better time than ever to learn about the beautiful sport and partake in the fervor of this global phenomenon. This seminar would discuss the history of football and the respective development of the sport in various regions of the world, including Europe, Latin America, Africa, USA and Asia. In particular, there would be a focus on the privatization and business model of the growth of the sport into various regions of the world. I hope that I can spread my wild passion for football to those who are willing to give it a shot and fall in love with the craze that stops the world for 90 minutes at a time.
12.Analyzing American Constitutional Rights
This seminar will focus on America’s evolving understanding of rights through recent history. We will analyze situations where the Constitution directly addresses rights, and areas where it distinctly does not. We will look not only at what the United States Supreme Court has ruled on these matters, but will also critically analyze original documents and theories on our own on some of the most contentious issues of our time. The seminar will be almost entirely discussion based, as the best way to learn about this topic is by having your ideas critically analyzed and by listening closely to others' ideas and learning from them. I hope it will be a great learning experience for all of us.
13.Understand What People Think:A Case Study on American Public Opinion
How do we know what a large group of people in a city or a country thinks? How do we ask questions that are unbiased and accurately gauge public opinion? In the media, we often hear statistics such as “40% of people believe…” or “6 in 10 people oppose…” This seminar will introduce us to how people arrive at these numbers and the importance of public opinion in government. We will be learning about how questions are written, why they are written, and how their answers are used in public policy. This will involve a series of presentations and group activities that will allow us to practice some of the approaches and strategies used by pollsters and public opinion analysts. Finally, we will also engage in political scenarios where we will advise elected officials based on various datasets and statistics. By the end of this seminar, I hope that you will have a better understanding of the methods used to understand public opinion and how it is important in everyday life.
14.A Legal,Ethical,and Political Perspective on Biotechnology
As technology becomes more innovative and widespread, it also becomes a greater part of our daily lives. In fact, technology may soon play a critical role in the creation of life itself. This seminar explores the moral, political, and scientific implications of new developments in biotechnology, particularly within the context of a modern legal and judicial system. Does science give us the power to alter the world around us, and possibly to alter human nature? If so, how should we exercise this power? What do we value as human beings, and how are our values changing as a result of biotechnology? And how can the principles of law and effective regulation help us to address the critical moral questions that these developments create? In light of such questions, students are encouraged to not only become informed about the issues we will address, but to develop their own position and to support it in an in-depth discussion.
15.Marketing and Advertising in Multicultural America
What does the term “multicultural America” mean? How have corporations tried to appeal to specific cultural, racial, and ethnic groups in their marketing and advertising initiatives? This seminar examines the implications of marketing to specific cultural, racial, and ethnic groups in the United States. By looking at a variety of ads and reading scholarly works on multicultural marketing, we will discuss whether culturally-targeted appeals empower minorities as consumers in the American marketplace or rather perpetuate stereotypes, common ideas about certain groups that may be untrue. By looking at how companies market cigarettes to minorities, we will also examine how multicultural marketing can adversely affect consumers. This course will allow students to engage in an interdisciplinary discussion on media, technology, race, and American history.
16.Capital Markets:Understanding Financial Instruments
What are capital markets? In this seminar, we will explore the different types of capital markets (equity markets, debt markets, etc.), and look at how they have evolved over the past few decades around the world. After we develop a basic understanding of capital markets, we will dive deeper and look at specific financial instruments, such as derivatives, asset-backed securities, and credit default swaps. In a broader perspective, we will consider how financial innovation (the creation and usage of new financial instruments to decrease risk and/or get higher returns) has affected society. Has it contributed to overall social welfare or has it been a detriment to society (for example, the Financial Crisis of 2008)? By the end of the three days, you will be able to have extensive conversations about capital markets and financial instruments with your peers, and you will have the foundation to learn about more advanced topics related to finance.
17.Humour and the Meaning of Life:The Case of Monty Python
Life can bring about many questions involving the meaning and purpose of it all. As surprising as it may be, someone else had thought about it before you - and that’s great. Many questions were raised but not many answers were found. Many claim that the questions themselves are eternal, and it is the path you walk to find them that make up your life. I would claim that humor can be your best companion on this journey. More specifically, the Monty Python troupe has built their career by raising and answering such questions, while highlighting the absurd that surrounds human life and being. The Monty Python group consists of five British comedians (all Oxford and Cambridge graduates) and one American animator, who were brought together to put on a late night comedy show for the BBC in the late sixties and early seventies. Their revolutionary TV show and later four movies changed comedy and TV forever, greatly influencing the creation of Saturday Night Live and other comedy shows around the world. I would not be the first to say that they are, in fact, the Beatles of Comedy. Join me to explore and uncover philosophical themes in their sketches, which have become milestones of Western culture and comedy.
18.An Aural Exploration of Jazz
What is the purpose of music? Is it entertainment or expression, both or neither? Music is such an integral part of the human experience, a unifying force in a diverse world, yet it is often difficult to pinpoint exactly why we like a certain song, artist, or genre. This seminar will attempt to tackle this giant question by looking specifically at the evolution of Jazz music in America. We will start by evaluating the unique social climate that led to the birth of the genre, before exploring the evolution of jazz through listenings and discussion. Ultimately, we will end our journey by looking at the social consequences jazz has had on the world. Hopefully, through your exploration, you will come to have a better appreciation of what leads to the creation of certain music, why we humans derive such enjoyment from particular aural stimulation, and how we can learn from musical trends to better understand and predict social changes in the future.
19.Food,Music,and Identity
“Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are,” once said a wise French food expert. Indeed, beyond its necessity for survival, food fundamentally shapes us and our culture. Music plays a similarly instrumental role in our lives. Think of all of life’s important gatherings and events—weddings, graduation ceremonies, birthdays, sporting events, or romantic dinners. It has been said that “whenever humans come together for any reason, music is there.” Clearly, food and music are essential to our identities as human beings, but there are vastly different types around the world. What can we learn about the values, social norms, or history of a country by studying its food and musical traditions? We will explore characteristics of the typical meals in three countries of interest and their holiday traditions, comparing them to our own experiences. We will also discuss how food appears in the news, social media, and advertisements before exploring and comparing each country’s musical traditions. Each person will get a chance to demonstrate his or her anthropological skills by choosing an aspect of food or music and presenting to the class using the concepts learned in class. By the end of the seminar, I hope that you will have a new appreciation for the importance of food and music to each culture’s identity, as well as a new openness to embrace and explore the world.
20.What is Justice:Philosophical and Psychological Approach
How should we define “justice”? What kind of guidelines are we following when we determine what is “right”? This seminar will lead us to explore the conscious and unconscious process by which we respond to such questions. We will be learning about the philosophical and psychological factors that influence our decision making. This will involve a series of presentations and group discussions that will allow us to think analytically about why we believe in what we believe as “justice”. Throughout the seminar, we will have opportunities to have discussions on real-life situations and also learn about intriguing experiments that show the psychological underpinnings of our thought process. By the end of this seminar, I hope that you will gain an insightful understanding of the concept of justice from both philosophical and psychological perspectives.
21.3 Fun Facts in Astrophysics
What is the universe and where did it come from? When and where is it going to end? What have been the biggest discoveries in astrophysics and what are the strangest, least intuitive things we’ve discovered about the universe? This seminar will introduce us to the study of astrophysics and get us up to date on the work scientists are doing to answer these questions. Including a number of practical activities to help illustrate concepts, group reflections and cool videos, this seminar seeks to employ a holistic approach to learning so that it will not only leave us understanding complex physical concepts, but also help us to develop our own thoughts about what might be going on - after all, no one really knows yet! While most of the big question are still unanswered, by the end of this seminar we will have a much better understanding of what scientists do know, what they need to find out, and what tools they need to help them.
22.The Techniques and Technical Components of Nonfiction Flim&Video
What do you consider as a film? What sort of elements are found in a film? Does a film need to have these elements? These questions and more will guide our exploration of Nonfiction or Documentary Films. We will challenge our preconceived ideas of what a film is and should be. Additionally, an optional video project will compel you to begin to see the world in images. In an effort to move away from theoretical or historical notions of Film, we will also concentrate on the technical components of video, the truly nonfiction elements behind every film. Shot composition, lighting, and color along with the tools that craft them will be of particular interest. In short, the seminar aims to expose a different kind of film and introduce helpful techniques and technical components.
23.The Rise of the Internet of Things
What is the Internet of Things? How will it shape our future? This seminar will introduce us to how technological developments have set the stage for an age of unprecedented growth in “smart” electronics. We will be learning about advancements in hardware and software, pioneering technologies such as driverless cars and Google Glass, and the security and privacy issues that will inevitably arise. Discussion will be a vital part of the seminar as we explore the ways in which the Internet of Things will impact our lives and our environment. By the end of this seminar, I hope that you will be more informed about modern trends in technology and be able to converse intelligently about them.
24.Digital Platforms:A Look at the Internet Layer by Layer
The Internet operates in layers, and so does much of the technology that connects to it: PCs, mobile phones, tablets. Nearly two decades ago, those platforms were conceptually simple: a "generative" base offered by one manufacturer, on which anyone could build. Today, we have hybrids like the iOS and Android operating systems or the Facebook and Twitter platforms, where the platform makers offer their systems as services rather than products. This influences and controls the connection between users and developers. What counts as a "level playing field" in a platform, and what responsibility, if any, is there for public authorities to enforce it? Can we develop a framework for reasoning about how platforms should be governed and regulated?
25.Studying the Human Brain:A Window into the Mind and Soul
Over the past few decades, the advancements made in neurobiology have been incredible. In just a few years, things that were once thought to be the stuff of science fiction have been made a reality, and the field is growing at an ever-faster rate. In this course, we will look at how these advances give us insights about the human brain – what it is made of and how it works. However, perhaps more importantly, we will also think about what it might mean for us. While we go about living our lives, something that we do not often appreciate is that our deepest thoughts, desires, and aspirations that shape our lives are the result of our brain. An even less considered idea is what happens when there are changes or damages to it. We will look at human cases of how different injury or misfortune has led to changes in the brain and to remarkable and fascinating changes in the person afflicted. For the final part of the course, we will look at how recent advances and findings about the brain have affected people’s thoughts and behaviors. As we put the first two parts of the seminar together, we will also delve into the possible ethical implications such research and findings pose for us.
26.A Discussion of Feminism and its Impact
What really is feminism? The term can have a positive or negative connotation, depending on who you are. The word has been proudly claimed by celebrities (think Beyonce), and yet I’ve heard many women quickly deny being feminists while making comments in support of gender equality in some form. This seminar will try to define the movement, and then explore the ways in which “feminism” permeates and shapes the world around us. We will examine the way feminism is discussed in politics, as well as, perhaps more interestingly, the different ways feminism is portrayed in media. We will go through the history of feminism and its present day existence in both the East and the West. The scope of our discussions will include the racial inclusiveness of mainstream feminism, reproductive rights, gender equality in cinema, body image, gender roles, and whether or not gender equality has already been achieved in the work place. We will also look at the anti-feminist movement and look at postfeminism. Since feminism is above all a cultural phenomenon, all of this will involve looking at blogs and videos, songs and speeches. We will have discussions about your own experiences and your beliefs about societal norms. I hope to question your views on “feminism” and what really belongs to the feminist discourse.
27.Race in America
How have ethnic minorities contributed to American society? How have race relations evolved over time? In this seminar, we will look at how Asian Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, and Latin Americans have contributed to American society, and the struggles they have faced. We will start with issues facing minorities in the 19th century, and then continue through today’s American race relations. We will look at stereotypes, segregation, violent conflict, as well as racial minority roles in the media and their places in American comedy. This seminar is designed to introduce you to America through the lens of the country’s racial history, providing a fresh look at the USA, while having fun at the same time.
28.Isn't All the Same?An Examination of Regional Cultures Within the United States
Is America a homogenous country or is it a nation with a host of distinct regional cultures like China? What are the various manifestations of these disparate cultures and how does studying them help us to gain a more vivid understanding of America? Most importantly, when we draw a connection between these complexities and those that exist just as certainly in China, how can we create a better sense of empathy between our two nations? With these questions always in mind, we will explore America in all of its intricacies. We will discuss key factors of America as a whole while also beginning our dissection of America into different diverse cultural regions. Groups will be able to present a detailed project on each of these regions. Following these presentations, we will watch video clips, look at art and landscapes, and listen to music that all portrays a unique attribute of each cultural region. Finally, we will discuss what we have learned, how this has altered our perspective of America, and how we can then apply this to both Sino-American relations and our perspectives on China as a whole. We will thus work to gain accurate concept of what it means to be an “Average American” and, more importantly, to perhaps realize that an “Average American” does not even exist.
29.The Art of Filmmaking
How does a film come to be? In this holistic seminar on filmmaking, we will answer this fundamental question that every filmmaker must consider before embarking on a project. We will explore the key aspects of filmmaking, from script to the cutting room, to show just how collaborative and multifaceted the filmmaking process is. Students will be exposed to film history and theory, learning the thought process behind telling a story visually and cohesively. Students will learn to think like a director, writer, cinematographer, production designer, and actor, and hopefully come to a unique and personal understanding of how to bring a story to life.
