2022 Summer Enrichment Virtual Courses
Summer Enrichment Virtual Courses
*All courses do not earn credit towards graduation
Humanities Enrichment (7 Courses)
Name of Course/Module: Introduction to Asian American Literature
Course Description: Students will read and discuss works of fiction, essays, and poetry by writers such as Maxine Hong Kingston, Amy Tan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Charles Yu, and Michelle Zauner. We’ll consider how Asian American writers treat topics such as history, language, and identity. How have texts represented Asian American experiences? During the week students will engage in literary analysis and personal writing; take part in reading/writing groups; and produce works of their own.
Eligibility: All interested students.
Dates: June 21-24
Synchronous sessions: 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.; Office Hours: 1:00 - 1:30 p.m.
Name of Course/Module: Genetic Genealogy
Course description: Genetic genealogy is the combination of genetic analysis and traditional genealogical and family history research. We will discuss and research a variety of topics including: inheritance patterns, relatedness, endogamy, admixture (ethnicity) estimates, atDNA, mt-DNA, Y-DNA, and X-DNA, haplogroups, and ethics. We will also briefly discuss traditional genealogy to provide context for what genetics can provide as an additional source of data. Please note: No student is expected to have access to DNA results; all sample data used will be provided by the instructor. We will not be discussing any health- or wellness-related options provided by DNA companies.
Eligibility: All interested students.
Dates: June 27-July 1
Synchronous sessions: 10:00 -11:00 a.m.; Office Hours: 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Name of Course/Module: Introduction to Linguistics
Course description: Linguistics is the scientific study of language. In this course we will explore the basic elements of language structure: phonetics, phonology, morphology, and syntax, and then will expand to related subtopics including historical linguistics, socio-linguistics, and language change. For the topic of computational linguistics, there will be a chance to ask questions of someone who has graduate degrees in Linguistics and Computer Science and who has extensive experience as a natural language processing data scientist. No previous knowledge of linguistics is necessary.
Eligibility: All interested students.
Dates: July 5-8
Synchronous sessions: 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.; Office Hours: 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Name of Course/Module: Astrofuturism: Exploring the Universe of Speculative Fiction
Course Description: Recently, speculative fiction has become the catch-all phrase describing not only established genres such as fantasy, science fiction, and horror, but a new blending of stories that fall within the boundaries of these categories. Students will begin the course by reviewing traditional genre definitions. Students will then build on their understanding by exploring how writers such as Ray Bradbury, Octavia Butler, Ted Chiang, Ursula K. Le Guin, to name a few, play with these genre boundaries. We will explore questions such as: What world of possibilities speculative fiction can provide the reader? How might speculative fiction meet our moment? How might it be fun to mash-up genres, both as readers and writers? By the end of the week, students will have opportunities to write speculative fiction pieces while engaging in discussions about the works read.
Eligibility: All interested students.
Dates: July 11 - 15
Synchronous Sessions: 10:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m.; Office hours: 12:30 -1:30 p.m.
Name of Course/Module: Psychology of Learning
Course description: Students will learn about the current psychological research related to the brain and learning. How does the brain learn new information? What are the optimal ways to learn new information? What are the habits that lead to optimal learning in school? Students will reflect on their own learning practices and explore ways to make their learning experience at TJ more efficient and healthy.
Eligibility: All interested students.
Dates: July 18 - 22
Synchronous sessions: 10:00-11:45 a.m.; Office Hours: 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Name of Course/Module: Legitimate Decision-Making in Times of Crisis
Course description: Times of crisis create significant challenges in determining what is the right thing to do. Time is limited and decisions must be made with haste. Even the right decisions have unfavorable consequences. Over the course of the week, students will learn how to prioritize what is necessary and learn a variety of ethical frameworks to have in their toolbelt to help them determine what to do. Students will work through ethical dilemmas and by the end of the week learn more about themselves than they might have expected. On the last day, upon availability, students will have the opportunity to engage with ethicists from the Hoffberger Center of Professional Ethics at the University of Baltimore.
Eligibility: All interested students.
Dates: July 25 - 29
Synchronous sessions: 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ; Office Hours: 1:15 - 2:15 p.m.
Name of Course/Module: Science Journalism: Take What You Understand (or Don’t) and Show Your Audience Why It’s Cool
Course description: Students will learn how to effectively communicate to an audience of their peers what makes science “cool,” reminding them why they decided to attend TJ in the first place. It will also give students the opportunity to create multimedia packages about a narrow scientific topic that they find interesting, while requiring them to localize for their audience. Students will compose a feature article about an area of interest, and pair it with multimedia to create a publishable article. This is a workshop-based enrichment opportunity, so come ready to create!
Eligibility: All interested students.
Dates June 27-July 1; July 5-8
Synchronous sessions: 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.; 2:00 - 2:30 pm; Office Hours: 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.