Be Weird Al for a day! At the beginning of this class, we'll choose a major song from the last few years, and then spend the next two hours parodying it to turn it into something new, wonderful, and hilarious. In the process, we'll learn about how lyrics work, including rhyming, meter, and scansion. Anyone with an interest in lyrics or pop music should show up!

From learning how to find a therapist to the side effects of medication to what to tell (or not to tell) your boss and friends, this class will be the ultimate survival guide for anyone who has or knows someone with a mental illness. This is an important topic for people of all ages because one third of the population has some form of a mental illness. *Side note: I am not a doctor and only doctors can diagnose patients with an illness or prescribe medication. Students should refrain from talking about personal experiences for privacy purposes.

Be Weird Al for a day! At the beginning of this class, we'll choose a major song from the last few years, and then spend the next two hours parodying it to turn it into something new, wonderful, and hilarious. In the process, we'll learn about how lyrics work, including rhyming, meter, and scansion. Anyone with an interest in lyrics or pop music should show up!

The Black Plague. AIDS. Ebola. Throughout history, plagues, outbreaks, and pandemics have had an incalculable effect on society, oftentimes defining eras and changing the way of life for people around them. This joint History / Biology course will look at both the molecular mechanisms responsible for disease as well as what effects they've had on human civilization, and will span from Medieval to Modern times, ending on a discussion of modern pandemics, with a focus on Ebola, how it spreads, and how doctors are working to isolate and treat it.

Be Weird Al for a day! At the beginning of this class, we'll choose a major song from the last few years, and then spend the next two hours parodying it to turn it into something new, wonderful, and hilarious. In the process, we'll learn about how lyrics work, including rhyming, meter, and scansion. Anyone with an interest in lyrics should show up and join in, and depending on how far we get we may even be able to record us singing it and put it up on YouTube!

What makes people sick? Learn what bacteria and viruses are, as well as more obscure pathogens like prions. We'll even go over what autoimmunity is and other non-pathogenic causes of disease. This is a great course for anyone interested in Biology or Medicine, and will introduce you to many concepts that you can learn about later in your scientific career.

All of our cells are controlled by our genes, which carry information between generations and allow for life to occur. But what actually is a gene, and what else is in the "Genome", which is the sum of all the genetic information we carry? This class is for anyone interested in genetics and biology, and will address popular and controversial issues in modern medicine, like sequencing and changing our genomes to combat disease.

This class will begin with very brief descriptions of a number of disorders listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 (often called the bible of psychiatry, it’s a huge book that is used to classify mental illness based on symptoms). It will cover everything from common mood disorders (ex. generalized anxiety disorder) to uncommon disorders (ex. pica- eating innutritious materials such as dirt, plaster, lead). Then, use your new knowledge (and old knowledge) to argue over the legitimacy and usefulness of the DSM classification system to our understanding and treatment of mental illness.

The Black Plague. Tuberculosis. AIDS. Throughout history, plagues, outbreaks, and pandemics have had an incalculable effect on society, oftentimes defining eras and changing the way of life for people around them. This joint History / Biology course will look at both the molecular mechanisms responsible for disease as well as what effects they've had on human civilization, and will span from Medieval to Modern times, ending on a discussion of modern pandemics like HIV/AIDS and potential pandemics of the future, like Bird Flu, SARS, and MERS.

Who makes the news? Learn about both the technical and journalistic challenges in creating a local, regular news show. What components go into a broadcast? What types of cameras and studio equipment are used to make them? And how do you write a news show to be objective - can you?