Like building things? Like Improv? During this hour you will work with your team to try to build the best solution to a problem that you will be given at the beginning of class.

Need to sharpen your warfighting or politicking skills? After taking Introduction to Diplomacy, War and Trade, come practice in the most underplayed hot-spot in the world: East Asia. Rich with natural resources, key strategic islands, and ambitious great-powers-to-be, peace in East Asia is getting hard to come by. Come and lead one of eight elements: Japan, China, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Russia, Vietnam, and the United States, controlling their diplomatic, military and economic actions in the great East Asian conflict of 2012. Accomplish your country’s goals by fighting on land, sea and air, or if you prefer, by using diplomacy, backstabbing, and market manipulation.

Do you remember the Berlin Wall? 16-bit video game consoles? The Challenger disaster? Madeleine Albright? The Iran-contra scandal? In this class we’ll explore how the short-term effects of events after 1960 have shaped the current state of the world. This will be a discussion-based class. Bring questions that you might have about recent history, and we'll do our best to answer them!

Need to sharpen your warfighting or politicking skills? After taking Introduction to Diplomacy, War and Trade, come practice in the most underplayed hot-spot in the world: East Asia. Rich with natural resources, key strategic islands, and ambitious great-powers-to-be, peace in East Asia is getting hard to come by. Come and lead one of eight elements: Japan, China, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Russia, Vietnam, and the United States, controlling their diplomatic, military and economic actions in the great East Asian conflict of 2012. Accomplish your country’s goals by fighting on land, sea and air, or if you prefer, by using diplomacy, backstabbing, and market manipulation. Most importantly, be ready to put the principles learned in the Introduction lecture on Saturday to work! See joint operations, logistics, espionage, diplomacy, and back-stabbing in action in our fast-paced, high-action war and diplomacy game, now in its fourth running! Note to people who did this last year: we have changed secret capabilities and objectives, and expanded the economic aspect of the game.

Running a world power is an ever-changing art. No longer are the days of lining up army against army until one side is beaten into submission. Countries now have a larger repertoire of ways to fight their enemies, ranging from war and blackmail to propaganda and economic manipulation. War itself has become a highly complex, information-hungry operation, relying on high technology, mind-boggling coordination, battlefield knowledge, and political strategy. How are these wars fought? Why do (and don’t) we fight them? How do countries attack and defend without resorting to military confrontation? This class will cover modern military technology and tactics, grand strategy, and political and negotiation frameworks. It can be taken as a stand-alone class or as preparation for Diplomacy, War and Trade Simulation.

Like building things? Like Improv? During this hour you will work with your team to try to build the best solution to a problem that you will be given at the beginning of class.

Like building things? Like Improv? During this hour you will work with your team to try to build the best solution to a problem that you will be given at the beginning of class.

Like building things? Like Improv? During this hour you will work with your team to try to build the best solution to a problem that you will be given at the beginning of class.

Going into space is a very complicated task. Understanding the underlying principles of this task, however, is remarkably easy. I will walk you through the derivation of a few basic rocket and orbital mechanics equations. Then we will examine a variety of launch and orbit problems. I will come prepared with a couple of problems. The rest will be questions that you have! From missile defense systems to missions to mars, ask whatever space-related questions you want! We'll try to solve them!

War is an ever-changing art. No longer are the days of lining up with muskets--modern warfare is a highly complex, information-hungry operation, relying on high technology, mind-boggling coordination, battlefield knowledge, and political strategy. How are these wars fought? Why do we even fight them? The class will cover the following: modern military equipment, ground tactics, air and sea power, logistics, strategic operations, grand strategy, diplomacy, and other elements of modern geopolitics. In addition, we will illustrate these principles through discussion of the current geopolitical situation in East Asia. The last half-hour of the lecture will introduce the East Asia war game (to be played the next day for those signed up), both going over the rules and the actors involved. Those not playing can feel free to leave the lecture at this point. You are encouraged to come with questions about anything military or strategic. This can be taken as a stand-alone class or as preparation for the war game.

Need to sharpen your warfighting skills? After taking Modern War and Geopolitics, come practice in the most underplayed hot-spot in the world: East Asia. Rich with natural resources, key strategic islands, and ambitious great-powers-to-be, peace in East Asia is getting hard to come by. Come and lead one of eight elements: Japan, China, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Russia, Vietnam, and the Untied States, controlling their diplomatic and military procedures in a great East Asian conflict of 2012. Fight on land, sea, and air to accomplish the goals of your country, and prevent the success of your rivals. Most importantly, be ready to put the principles learned in the Fundamentals lecture on Saturday to work! See joint operations, logistics, espionage, diplomacy, and back-stabbing in action in our fast-paced, high-action wargame, now in it's third running! Note to people who did this last year: we have changed secret capabilities and objectives.

Need to sharpen your warfighting skills? After taking the Fundamentals of Modern Warfare (last Splash) or Political Strategy for War Games (Spark), come practice in the most underplayed hot-spot in the world: East Asia. Rich with natural resources, key strategic islands, and ambitious great-powers-to-be, peace in East Asia is getting hard to come by. Come and lead one of eight elements: Japan, China, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Russia, Vietnam, and the Untied States, controlling their diplomatic and military procedures in a great East Asian conflict of 2010. Fight on land, sea, and air to accomplish the goals of your country, and prevent the success of your rivals. Most importantly, be ready to put the principles learned in Fundamentals/Strategy to work! See joint operations, logistics and backstabbing in action in our fast-paced, high-action wargame. The simulation will be followed by a discussion of the strategies and tactics used and what did and didn't work. Note: This simulation is similar, but not identical, to the one used in Fundamentals of Modern Warfare last Splash. The rules have been updated and and countries' secret goals and bonuses have been changed, and we have improved the behind-the-scenes part to keep things running smoothly. This class will start at 4 pm, take a dinner break from 7 to 8, and then resume from 8 until 10.

War games with more than two sides present some interesting strategic problems. Who should you ally with? Who should you backstab? When? When should you wage open war, when should you make peace, and when should you quietly fight a war while pretending to make peace? Which wars are worth fighting? Which are the right weapons to use? We will explore some of the key ideas that will help answer these questions. You can take this class as a stand-alone class or as an introduction to the large-scale strategic concepts that you will apply in Modern Warfare Simulation. The concepts covered in this class are largely different from those covered in the lecture component of Fundamentals of Modern Warfare (taught last Splash). Students who took the Fundamentals of Modern Warfare lecture last Splash and want to take Modern Warfare Simulation are encouraged (but not required) to take Political Strategy of War Games.

Need to sharpen your warfighting skills? After taking the Fundamentals of Modern Warfare, come practice in the most underplayed hot-spot ...