"It's often the things that are right in front of us that are the hardest to see" -Apollo Robbins

Magicians have been known to perform seemingly impossible tricks from an ordinary deck of cards, but what the public often doesn't know is that most tricks are based off of a small selection of "sleights" or techniques put together in new combinations. In order to confuse and fool, magicians practice these fundamental sleights for years, honing every motion. In this class, I hope to show you the sleights that eventually become tricks that blow away spectators. What you eventually do with this information is entirely up to you! Grab a deck of cards, and join me for an hour of craziness with cards!

Bughouse Chess is chess for teams of two with a twist- every piece you take gets passed to your teammate! Learn from a pro and watch the pieces fly (lterally!).


Prerequisites
Basic Understanding of how all chess pieces move

Students will engage in public speaking activities to build confidence and develop skills.


Prerequisites
None

Learn the fundamentals of chess strategy from one of the Nation's best chess players! This course covers middle-game planning, deep calculation, and the infamous "Grandmaster Dance" (courtesy of Youtube)


Prerequisites
Knowledge of how all of the pieces move. Prior chess rating/tournament experience recommended but not required

Introduction to how the technology of cryptocurrencies can be used to regulate cap and trade for carbon emissions.


Prerequisites
None

Many engineers (mechanical, civil, biological, environmental) take an introductory course on statics and mechanics of materials. In this course we will study objects in static equilibrium under various loading conditions. Statics can be applied to practically any physical system in equilibrium, such as the buildings, bridges, and even the human body. We will learn to determine if a mechanical structure will fail given its loading condition.


Prerequisites
Basic physics course or knowledge about vectors and forces.

We will be discussing what synthetic biology is, how it is done, and its various applications. Come learn the basics of genetic engineering and discover how our engineering project team (iGEM- International Genetically Engineered Machines) uses this new technology to develop solutions to real-world issues. We will be explaining the details of our most recent project: a water-purification device that uses genetically engineered E. coli to filter out heavy metal contamination from water.


Prerequisites
Basic Biology (freshmen level)

Do you love to read and write? Do you think you could be the next J.K. Rowling, John Green or Suzanne Collins? Would you like to learn how to write a novel in 30 days (or less)? Come join us as we discuss how to take our stories to the next level through short writing prompts and fun discussion. Plus, learn how to join the global event that is National Novel Writing Month!

Throughout the 1st Century, B.C. the Roman world was rocked by social and political turmoil. By the end of the century the emperor Augustus had risen as the sole political power in Rome, ending the political freedom of the Republic.

How did the Romans, who prized freedom above all else, let their society completely fall apart? This course intends to lay out the key focal points in the socio-political struggle, and analyze the motives and desires of the people who drove this cataclysmic change in Roman society

Basic understanding of Roman political and social structure recommended but not advised. We'll be going over thing's like what the senate did and what the patricians and plebeians were, but the more basic familiarity the better, since it lets us get to the juicy stuff!

Why do humans love some animals but eat other ones? Is it moral to consume animal products? Can we consider Specie-ism an ism on the plane of racism or sexism? This course hopes to cover the most groundbreaking question in philosophy since Plato- the question of what it means to be human in the world and how that line we draw around ourselves affects us.

An overview of blitzkrieg (the purported German way of war in World War II) at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels. Includes the development of, application of, countermeasures for, and lasting impact of blitzkrieg.

Reason vs. Irrationality; Logic vs. Passion; Thought vs. Feeling; We will be exploring these dichotomies through the historical periods of Romanticism and the Enlightenment. We will be discussing the history, art, and literature of these periods. Come learn some history, look at some paintings, and argue about a few of life's most important questions!


Prerequisites
Some knowledge of World History.

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

Why can't we write a program to solve any problem? What's the difference between problems that aren't practical to solve and problems that we literally cannot solve? How does all of this relate to keeping your data secure from prying eyes? We'll finish out with a glimpse at how modern scientists are pushing on these limits!

Quantum information science is an emerging field that brings together multiple disciplines––physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, and chemistry––in the quest to build a radical new kind of computing machine. In this class, we will first explore what distinguishes classical physics from quantum physics, how these distinctions can be interpreted in the context of information processing, and how the limits of Moore's Law provide the motivation for quantum computation. Then, we will construct a theoretical model of a quantum computer and explore quantum algorithms that such a machine could solve. We will end with a discussion on experimental quantum devices and possible future developments.


Prerequisites
Prior knowledge of vectors and matrices will be useful. The course will move at a relatively fast pace, using vectors and matrices throughout. However, the mathematics will also be taught at the beginning of the course.

This course will provide students with a survey of history's great pandemics and the consequences they had for the people they affected.

We're all pretty familiar with light. But it turns out if we think a little harder about some things we've seen, we'll quickly realize that the behavior of light is much more complicated than we'd ever imagined.

In this course, we'll look at some familiar optical phenomena in a new light, and in the process, we'll learn some of the big ideas that physicists actually think about when they describe the quantum mechanical world.


Prerequisites
Some familiarity with probability (such as the probability of two events A and B happening versus A or B happening) would be helpful, but we'll go over this in the class.

Humans are weird. We stand upright, have huge brains, talk to each other, etc. It is estimated that we share 95-99% of our genes with our closest ancestors, the great apes, yet we look and act so differently... or do we? Learn about the evolutionary history of humankind, from why we are so smart to where diabetes comes from. We will also talk about current forces of natural selection and where they may take us in the future. This class will be a lecture/discussion combination. Talking will be encouraged!

Do you know that over the course of the 20th century, the average life expectancy of Americans has increased from 45 to 75 years? Did you know that public health improvements are accredited with adding 25 of those years? This class will explore the "science and art of preventing disease", by introducing students to the importance of public health as a strong preventative measure to medical treatment.