11 - 20 of 49 results for: all courses

A hands-on interactive and fun exploration of great ideas from computer graphics. Motivated by graphics concepts, mathematical foundations and computer algorithms, students will explore an eccentric selection of "great ideas" through short weekly programming projects. Project topics will be selected from a diverse array of computer graphics concepts and historical elements.

This seminar concerns the design and analysis of imaginary (or constructed) worlds for narratives and media such as films, comics, and literary texts. The seminar's primary goal is to help participants understand the creation of better imaginary worlds - ultimately all our efforts should serve that higher purpose. Some of the things we will consider when taking on the analysis of a new world include: What are its primary features - spatial, cultural, biological, fantastic, cosmological? What is the world's ethos (the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize the world)? What are the precise strategies that are used by the artist to convey the world to us and us to the world? How are our characters connected to the world? And how are we - the viewer or reader or player - connected to the world? Note: This course must be taken for a letter grade to be eligible for WAYS credit.

(Formerly GEOLSCI 38N) This course examines the motivations and experiences of polar explorers under the harshest conditions on Earth, as well as the chronicles of their explorations and hardships, dating to the 1500s for the Arctic and the 1700s for the Antarctic. Materials include The Worst Journey in the World by Aspley Cherry-Garrard who in 1911 participated in a midwinter Antarctic sledging trip to recover emperor penguin eggs. Optional field trip into the high Sierra in March. Change of Department Name: Earth and Planetary Science (Formerly Geologic Sciences).

The seminar will provide an introduction and discussion of the impact of public policy on personal finance. Voters regularly rate the economy as one of the most important factors shaping their political views and most of those opinions are focused on their individual bottom lines. In this course we will discuss the rationale for different public policies and how they affect personal financial situations. We will explore personal finance issues such as taxes, loans, charity, insurance, and pensions. Using the context of (hypothetical) personal finance positions, we will discuss the public policy implications of various proposals and how they affect different groups of people, for example: the implications of differential tax rates for different types of income, the promotion of home ownership in the U.S., and policies to care for our aging population. While economic policy will be the focus of much of the course, we will also examine some of the implications of social policies on personal finance as well. There will be weekly readings and several short policy-related writing assignments.

What is going on in mathematics education in the United States? Why do so many people hate and fear math? What contributes to the high levels of innumeracy in the general population? Why do girls and women opt out of math when they get a chance? In this seminar we will consider seminal research on math learning in K-12 classrooms, including a focus on equity. We will spend time investigating cases of teaching and learning, through watching videos and visiting schools. This seminar is for those who are interested in education, and who would like to learn about ways to help students (and maybe yourselves?) learn and enjoy mathematics. If you have had bad math experiences and would like to understand them - and put them behind you - this seminar will be particularly good for you. The final project for this class will involve developing a case of one or more math learners, investigating their journeys in the world of math.

This course is designed to deepen knowledge related to including individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), including Down syndrome (DS), in college settings and to research model post-secondary programs. Students will conduct a project investigating one model post-secondary program at an institute of higher education. We will complete the quarter by authoring a white paper for Stanford leadership that outlines next steps for establishing a world-class post-secondary program that will enhance the lives of individuals with DS and IDD.

Preference to freshmen. The stories behind disruptive inventions such as the telegraph, telephone, wireless, television, transistor, and chip are as important as the inventions themselves, for they elucidate broadly applicable scientific principles. Focus is on studying consumer devices; projects include building batteries, energy conversion devices and semiconductors from pocket change. Students may propose topics and projects of interest to them. The trajectory of the course is determined in large part by the students themselves.

Energy myths and misconceptions to better equip participants to understand a pathway for global energy transformation. Key concepts developed and employed include energy [kinetic, potential, chemical, thermal, etc.], power, heat, renewables, efficiency, transmission, and life cycle analysis. Throughout this seminar groups of students are challenged with "energy myths" and their task is to deconstruct these myths and convince their classmates in oral presentations that they have indeed done so. Emphasis is on critical and analytical thinking, problem solving and presentation.

We will consider both the very short poems of these three master poets -- asking what precisely is the virtue and effect of these shortest linguistic art objects -- as well as their very long works or sequences, to think about scale and singularity or repetition in poetic utterance.