Queer New York: Exploring the History of the LGBTQ+ Community in New York State
Humanities and Social Sciences
9-12th graders | Session A | 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
What was it like to be queer in New York in the 1970s and 80s? Queer New York will make use of Rochester’s extensive collection of archives, books, magazines, oral history interviews, digital media, and more in hopes of answering this question. The first week of the course will introduce students to key topics relating to gender, sexuality, and the history of the LGBTQ+ community in New York State (with a special emphasis on the city of Rochester); the second week will give students a chance to explore the University’s Libraries and build research skills through a guided exploration of a course-related topic of their choosing.
Instructor: Claire Becker, PhD candidate, Department of History
Ethics in the Modern World
9-12th graders | Session A | 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
What matters in life? What values should guide how we live? Pleasure, friendship, happiness, achievement, knowledge, justice, or something else? And how are these values reflected in popular culture—in movies, TV, social media, music, and even in the food we eat? This course investigates how philosophical reflection and argumentation can inform, and change, how we live. Should we reject the values of the culture we live in? Or embrace them? The aim of this class is to help students develop their own thoughtful answers.
Instructor: Zachary Barber, professor, Department of Philosophy
Dreaming New Realities: Interactive Storytelling with Extended Reality (XR)
9-12th graders | Session A | 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Bring your ideas to life with XR (the umbrella term for augmented and virtual reality)! Students will start with XR basics, including their history and application. They will use design thinking, storytelling, world building, and low-fidelity prototyping to brainstorm and design a VR mini-game or digital story. They will then learn the basics of 3D tools such as Blender and Unity through hands-on workshops to develop their own unique project. Students will also engage in critical discussion of XR, including topics on privacy, accessibility, and empathy. All learning levels welcome. No experience necessary. Just bring your creativity and big ideas!
Instructor: Emily Sherwood, PhD, Meaghan Moody, and Liam O’Leary and Digital Scholarship Staff, Studio X.
Introduction to Visual and Media Studies
9-12th graders | Session A | 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
This course will introduce students to the fields of visual and media studies. We will examine a variety of media including painting, photography, film, television, video, and social media. We will define and compare these media to one another, asking how each has impacted ways of visually perceiving, understanding, and relating to the world across the 20th and early 21st century. Example of questions we will address are: why do photographs look and feel more real to us than paintings? What does it mean for television to present us news updates in real time? Is social media good or bad, and how has it shaped contemporary society? Students will practice critically applying course readings to the study of visual objects, through writing prompts as well as group discussions. The course will include a fieldtrip to the George Eastman Museum.
Instructor: Bridget Fleming, instructor, Department of Art and Art History-Visual and Cultural Studies
Dark Places: An Introduction to the Haunted House Film
9-12th graders | Session A | 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
This course will introduce students to the dark passageways, locked rooms, and creepy basements that comprise the haunted house film. Through in-class screenings, discussions, and lectures, students will learn the fundamentals in film analysis and the horror genre. We will begin with an overview of the basics of close reading in film, identifying key elements of cinematography, editing, and mise-en-sćene. We will then shift focus to a discussion of horror, devoting particular attention to the tropes and themes that characterize the haunted house subgenre. Our ultimate aim is to discuss how the visual elements of film inform our experience of the dark places of the haunted house.
Instructor: Jacob Carter, instructor, Department of Art and Art History-Visual and Cultural Studies
Hard Knock Life: Orphans in the 19th Century United States
9-12th graders | Session B | 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Were children dangerous in the 1800s? If you are interested in the answer, join us to explore history in a different way. Students will have an immersive and hands-on experience, as we engage with historical artifacts like asylum record books, indenture contracts, letters, postcards, and film. This course will use movie adaptations of nineteenth-century novels to encourage student discussion regarding popular representation of orphans and asylums.
The aim of this course is for students to not only find answers to larger historical questions, but to gain research skills that continue to spark curiosity and creativity. Experience a hands-on approach to history where curiosity guides students rather than textbooks.
Instructor: Rhianna Gordon, PhD student, Department of History
Mysteries of the Human Mind
9-12th graders | Session B | 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Have you ever wondered how humans have the propensity to behave in ways that are astonishing, confusing, violent, or outside of the norm? How are humans capable of performing egregious acts toward others? Is déjà vu real? How do humans sense when someone they’re close to is in danger? If you’ve ever wondered about these things, then this might be the right class for you. Contemporary psychology includes the study of yet-unsolved mysteries of the mind and human behavior. Some of these mysteries include historic examples of mass hysteria – such as whole towns that took to dancing in the streets for days until they passed out or died. Other human mysteries include the experience of phantom limbs, déjà vu, and ‘twin-tuition.’ Despite the research efforts in fields of study including neuroscience, forensic psychology, and developmental, abnormal, and social psychology, researchers and society as a whole still grapples with understanding those things we categorize as ‘deviance’ from normal. The human mind is, and perhaps always will be, a mystery in many ways.
We will use a combination of discussion, in-class social experiments, games, videos, guest speakers, and direct teaching. Your curiosity has no limit in this class – discussion and questions are welcomed. We’ll start the day with ‘Fun Facts’ you Googled about a topic from the previous day (that’s your only homework!). Be open to surprises from your instructor that may include a social experiment used on you and your classmates.
Instructor: Jennifer Wick, PhD, Warner School of Education
Language and Advertising
9-12th graders | Session B | 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
This course examines how advertisers use language to sell products and how it affects our perception of the products and ourselves. This course will appeal to those who are curious about the central role language plays in the art of persuasion. The course touches upon the structure of language only insofar as it is relevant for understanding advertising as a form of social action. The acquired linguistic tools will help us to understand how commercial messages achieve their effect in business, culture, or even grass roots movements.
Instructor: Solveiga Armoskaite, professor, Writing, Speaking, and Argument