Is the Comic Sans hate justified? What the heck is a bitmap? And how on Earth did Starbucks come up with its logo, anyway - more importantly, do you think you can do it better?

Come find the answer these questions and more In this brief and comprehensive introductory lecture to graphic design. We will go over the basics of typography and the principles of design, look at the different programs used to create graphics, and touch upon how to bring an idea from abstraction to reality.

This course will give a brief introduction to investing in the stock market. We will cover how to analyze stocks and specific companies. It will not be overly complicated but will require an interest in making money. I am a huge fan of Warren Buffett's, and the course will mainly be derived from his unique investing philosophy. This is not academic finance. This is the real world stuff.

Are you considering the field of Electrical/Computer Engineering? Maybe even Civil or Chemical Engineering? Or do you want to know electricity powers your devices, combining theoretical and practical knowledge? Then join this class and partake in a journey filled with math, physics, and engineering!

Did you know that when your mother was your age, women in the United States were not allowed to hold credit cards, without asking their father or husband for permission?

You may have heard about Sheryl Sandberg’s recent book, Lean In, or about the controversy surrounding it. You may have heard of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, Simon de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, or Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. What is feminism? And more importantly, does it still have a meaning for us today, in 21st Century America? What impact will feminism have on you, your career, your life? And more importantly, how can we make a change?

Female and male students both encouraged to attend!

This class will introduce the historical and philosophical underpinnings of the environmental justice movement, as well as some major modern topics in environmental justice. The majority of the class will be used for students to debate these issues, which will include Chevron-Texaco in Ecuador; Majora Carter and Sustainable South Bronx; nuclear development in Georgia; and many more!


Prerequisites
None

This course is designed to give its students an insight into great leaders from the past. Students will explore, debate, and analyze how these leaders handled difficult decisions.

The music industry is rapidly changing, and with this has come innovation, disillusionment, and crisis. How do people respond to change? How can leaders best lead change? What makes for effective innovation? What contributes to disillusionment and resistance?

This class will examine these questions using recent fieldwork and research on a dying opera house. Highly recommended for (I) musician-leaders, (II) those interested in business/creative industries, and (III) budding social scientists.

Biology is often harped on for not having too much intense math but neuroscience is out to change that image- computational neuroscience is gaining hold. A famous textbook titled "Theoretical Neuroscience" was published by one of Columbia's own faculty, Larry Abbott, alongside Peter Dayan. We will look at basic concepts in this textbook by studying mathematical models of the brain!


Prerequisites
Basic neuroscience background encouraged but not required (such as knowing what an action potential is)

Come and learn all about PI. How to approximate it, from the simplest methods to the most elaborate ones. And what are its applications? (aka. radians) And there will be pie (maybe).


Prerequisites
a bit of calculus cannot do harm, some geometry skills neither.

Come learn the basics of computer programming in Python! Python is a programming language that makes it easy to learn to code for the first time, and easy to build something really cool! We'll build a game that responds to the player's input. No prior experience with programming is required.


Prerequisites
You MUST have a laptop computer with WiFi, and you must be able to download files from the web and send emails.

What is a graph? This might seem like a simple question, but I bet Euler would disagree! Together we will discover a branch of Mathematics that was discovered hundreds of years ago, but has deep significance today.We will delve through its rich history, and explore applications in Abstract Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Sociology and many more fields! And it all begins with seven bridges...

You might grow up thinking that Mathematics is about algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and eventually calculus. But contrary to popular belief, Mathematics has dozens of other branches (over SIXTY different, occasionally interrelated, but always applicable).We'll delve into different topics of Mathematics, their applications, and how you can develop a stronger passion for your own favorite field in Math!


Prerequisites
None

Always wondered what it means to program? Want to learn one of the most widely used programming languages?

Sign up to learn an introduction to Java!

Cryptology is the study of making and breaking ciphers. In this course, we'll investigate how some basic cryptosystems work and how to attack them. Along the way, we'll use some basic mathematical tools and explore how we can apply them to help break ciphers.

An introduction to front-end web development. This course will cover the HTML and CSS markup languages that form the basis for the design of the internet, as well as JavaScript and the jQuery library. No previous experience with HTML, CSS or other programming languages is necessary.


Prerequisites
You MUST have a laptop computer with WiFi, and you must be able to download files from the web and send emails.

We will do an introduction to neuroscience at the high-school level, and examine action potentials and all the chemicals constantly featured in the news: dopamine, seratonin, and endocannabinoids- you name it!
Most importantly, we will learn that the brain is not a "big bag of chemicals" to quote David Anderson of Caltech by examining the work of legendary eccentric scientists of neuroscience!

Did you know that you have thousands of mitochondria inside every cell type in your body? (There is one exception - do you know it?) Did you know that the mitochondrion is mose closely related to an intracellular parasite that causes endemic typhus? Did you konw that you make and consume your body weightin ATP every day?

Come learn more about the mitochondrion, a truely incredible organelle!


Prerequisites
Biology

Every day we hear about the challenges faced by physicians and scientists as they attempt to combat disease, mortality, and aging. This class will explore some of the hottest topics in modern infectious disease, including the recent outbreak of Ebola Zaire in Africa. In addition, we will use the cutting edge development of robotic and artificial limbs and engineered organs to look at how we are treating previously debilitating injury. Finally, we will explore the latest cancer treatments in order to see how we can delay age-related disease and increase the human lifespan.

Students are free to suggest topics for discussion. As many reasonable requests as possible will be accommodated.


Prerequisites
High school level biology, as well as an interest in the fields of science and medicine.

With significant breakthroughs over the past few decades, stem cell research is a rapidly growing field with the potential to revolutionize medicine. In this course, we will explore the following questions:

1) What are the defining characteristics of stem cells?
2) What is the difference between embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells?
3) How do stem cells differentiate into different mature cell types?
4) What are key applications of stem cells in medicine?
5) What are current obstacles to stem cell research?

While ethical aspects of stem cell use are worth discussion, the focus of this class will be given to the scientific aspects.

We have all seen hurricanes, tornados, and other natural disasters in the news, but how do these natural disasters come about? What qualifies as a natural disaster? How are natural disasters impacted by climate change? What are the social impacts of natural disasters, and how can we better prepare ourselves? This 45 minute long lecture will answer these questions and more, allowing for 15 minutes at the end for students to discuss policy and engineering innovations for natural disasters.


Prerequisites
Some introductory Earth Science preferred, but not required.

Being able to read and comprehend published research articles is an important skill not just for scientists but for anyone who desires to understand where information comes from. But these articles can contain lots of jargon, complicated figures, and obscure writing styles, making them daunting for most people to approach. In this workshop, we'll discuss how to break down the different sections of a research article to understand just what was done, how it was done, and why it matters. We'll also discuss different types of research papers and different means of presenting information graphically.

How do our brains and eyes work together? You probably know we see things when light enters the eye and hits the retina . . . but then what? How do we make sense of that? How do we recognize objects? How do we see color? Why do we see spots after we look at a light?

In this class, we will explore the biology behind visual perception.


Prerequisites
Basic high school biology

Quantum mechanics is a really scary term. It's thrown around a lot, but without much context.

What does it actually mean and why should we care?

Come learn a conceptual understanding of what Schrodinger's equation actually means and why everything you've ever learned about physics in high school is totally wrong.


Prerequisites
An open mind and an interest in physics. An understanding of subatomic particles (electrons, protons) and atomic structure (electron orbitals) will be very helpful.

Learn about how energy is generated in America, where we stand compared with other countries in the world, and what steps we have taken (if any) to respond to the growing threat of Climate Change.

How do we acquire knowledge about the world? We will provide an intellectual history of this question, situating it in a historical context by discussing key ideas of philosophers. We will then discuss how scientists and engineers approach this question through model building. We will conclude with discussion of how intelligence relates to understanding and controlling the environment. This course will attempt to provide an overview of various perspectives on this problem that may be interesting to people interested in science who would like to understand the pursuit of knowledge as a humanistic endeavor as well as those interested in philosophy who would like to understand how scientists and engineers develop knowledge.


Prerequisites
No formal background is required. However, this class will be most appropriate for those who have at some point felt an urge to pick up a book on philosophy.

What does it mean to "start your own company?" Is it the same as the lemonade stand you and your friends had when you were little? Actually... yes!

Starting your own company is a route many passionate, driven people take to meet personal and professional goals. Learn what exactly "starting your own company" means, and what it takes to succeed in doing so.


Prerequisites
None!

We read, speak, and think in words almost all of the time. It's no wonder we have game shows like "Ask Me Another" and spelling bees dedicated to the understanding of words! Want to learn what a spoonerism, pangram, or ambigram is? Come to play a game or two and maybe create a word game of our own with our new knowledge!


Prerequisites
Interest and desire to learn!

Does your lab partner have a defensive attitude, or is he/she just feeling cold? Did a salesman just lie to you? Come learn body language essentials: how to read others, change social dynamics, and the evolutionary and cultural roots of our unconscious behaviors.

Come learn how linguistics helps us understand one of the most important but taken-for-granted aspects of our lives: language. Specifically, we'll focus on trying to understand how we make sounds on a fundamental level. How can we classify and analyze all the sounds that make up English speech, or that of any other language? This isn't a matter of grammar or spelling—it's something completely different and really exciting!

Interested in economics? Of course you are!

In this class, we'll explore what you might learn in college-level introductory economics classes. To do this, we'll think through a couple of interesting (and very important!) questions that we've talked about in my econ classes here at Columbia. For instance, do people work more or less if you pay them more? How well has the US recovered from the 2008-2009 recession?

If you're interested in how economists solve problems, or if you're considering studying economics at Columbia or elsewhere, this class is ideal for you!


Prerequisites
You should like cookies. And while we almost definitely won't be solving any actual math problems, these concepts will show up: - Equations of lines (y=mx+b) and the slope of a line. - Graphing in an x-y coordinate plane. - Percentages & percent change.

This course will cover the history leading up to, during, and after the 2007/2008 Financial Crisis. The course will delve into unconventional areas that are extremely important to understanding Wall Street and its role in the Financial Crisis. Rest assured, the course will cover the more recent, polarized history (such as the falls of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers). And, finally, the course will assess our present situation--analyzing what we have done (if anything) to prevent a future financial calamity.

This course will follow a wide variety of Ancient Roman individuals that shaped world history with their swords, philosophy, or mentally unhinged demeanor. The course will chronologically catalogue some of Rome's most influential (and insane) leaders. It will be a humorous and exciting journey that will display numerous studs and lunatics... and a few boring philosophers. The course will teach students: A) to be really awesome B) a bit of fun and interesting history C) how not to act when in control of the entire Mediterranean world.