Spark is run by undergraduate and graduate students at MIT. And beyond MIT, there are other similar educational programs at universities and high schools nationwide. How does it all happen, and what are some of the things behind the scenes that you don't usually get to see? Come learn about all of the intricacies that go into running a massive program like Spark and find out how you can do it too! We'll cover what goes into organizing Spark at MIT, as well as resources and next steps if you want to run something like Spark at your own school. Presented by former Spark directors :)

You may have heard of neural networks. But where did the idea come from? Why are they called "neural" networks? We tackle the neuroscience inspiration of neural networks, and we dive more into modeling brains. 🧠 💻!!

What do all of these have in common: -lesbian anime -Star Wars -medieval Europe -Islamic golden age literature -fairy tales If you guessed that they've all contributed to the concept of knighthood in media, you're right! Come to our class to learn more :D

Do you like theater? Now's your chance to learn more about it, from members of MIT's theater groups! This class will lay out everything that goes into a theatrical production, both in terms of acting and production work behind the scenes.

Do you like bears? Come to this class to learn cool facts about bears!

Come learn Albanian traditional dance with us!

Want to watch some cool chemistry and eat some cool liquid? Come join us for a delicious treat!!! Lactose-free options are available

Calling all language enthusiasts! Are you interested in what sounds like the newest self-help theory but is actually a weirdly specific, language-agnostic way to describe how we pronounce words? Join this class to learn about one way to describe sound patterns in language familiar and unfamiliar to us: Optimality Theory.

Cardboard! Tape! All sorts of building materials! Revisit your childhood and come build the fort of your dreams. Come armed with creavity; we'll provide the (foam) weapons.

Have you ever wondered how languages work? How do we put together sounds into words or words into sentences? Come and learn the basics of linguistics!

Computers are now integrated into every part of our lives. But what are the fundamental capabilities and limitations of computers? What are different models of computation we can come up with, and how do they relate to each other? How can we show that some problems are undecidable by computers? Take this class to find out! Highly recommended for students interested in math and theoretical computer science. Topics covered include: -Language and Automata Theory (Finite automata, push-down automata, context free languages, pumping lemmas) -Computability Theory (Turing machines, Church–Turing thesis, decidability, halting problem, reducibility, recursion theorem)

We will teach you how to count! Wait, you say you already know how to count? Well, we'll teach you how to count things you didn't know how to count!

Come play the online game Geoguessr with us! You'll be shown a random location on Google Street View and have to try identifying it using roadsigns, vegetation clues or just intuition. We'll be giving you tips and teaching you strategies along the way. If you're already familiar with the game, we'll be playing some fun variants too!

Have you always thought Magic Eye pictures were super cool and want to learn more about them? Do your eyes hurt so much from trying to view Magic Eye pictures that you want to finally know what all the fuss behind them is? Do you want to learn how to view (and create your own!) 3D illusions from 2D images using the pOwEr of your eyes alone? Then this is the class for you!!