Session 2 (all modules have reached capacity)
Session 2
Sunday, July 14 - Friday, July 19*
Instructor: John Blake
This summer, discover your inner Frank Lloyd Wright, your budding Frank Gehry, or your emerging I.M. Pei. The Beginning Design: Architecture + Interior Design course is a unique opportunity to peek into the lives of architects and designers. You will work in the design studios, be taught by Miami professors, and build from your own imagination. With a curriculum geared toward improving designs for creating competitive architecture and interior design portfolios, you will identify and examine several design topics. In multiple phases through a series of rigorous investigations and discoveries, you will practice fundamental design principles. The overriding emphasis will be placed on the "process" of design. Where might it start? How does it evolve? Learn to develop your own ideas and use them to drive the creation of space and form. At the end of the session, you will have an exhibition of works you've created as well as documentation and analysis to enhance your college admission application.
Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Quinn
How much of our brains do we really use? Are we really “right-brained” or “left-brained”?
Misconceptions about the structure and function of the human brain are all too common. Once these myths are widely disseminated, it is often difficult to separate scientific fact from fiction. This module will examine some of these myths, and provide you with the science and investigative tools to effectively debunk them. You will have the opportunity to examine real brains, observe direct brain manipulation techniques, and interact with researchers in their laboratories. As part of a team, you will select a cluster of related myths to evaluate, present the scientific evidence to dispel them, and create games to educate others about these misconceptions.
Instructor: Dr. Michelle Cosmah
Leaders are an integral part of the growth of their community and can take on various roles, challenge policies, and demand equality. Summer Scholars will have the opportunity to learn about innovative campaigns for social change, engage with successful leaders in the local community, and apply new skills to a social action project. This module will allow Summer Scholars to examine their own leadership qualities, challenge them to reflect on their own practices, extend their thinking to include various philosophies, and prepare them to promote social change.
Program Director: Dr. Steven Conn
Who gets to be a citizen and who gets to decide? What are the rights of citizenship and what are its responsibilities? Is citizenship universal or is it culturally specific? Most of all, what kind of citizen do you intend to be? By engaging with key texts from the ancient world, the Enlightenment, and the modern period, participants in the Student Citizens module will meet daily with Miami faculty for intensive, discussion-based seminars and work with Miami university student-tutors on reading and writing assignments related to these topics.
*NOTE: This module is hosted over both weeks from July 14-26. Grant funding from the Teagle Foundation may be available to admitted scholars.
Instructor: Jim Leonard
It's science. Not fiction. This summer, delve headfirst into the realms of engineering and computing by designing and building a computer-controlled robot. First, you'll learn how they communicate. Through the wires and steel runs a rich programming language that reads light sensors and controls drive motors. Next, you and your team will apply those concepts to the design of your own robotic vehicle. Your team will assemble it, program it, and test it. Then, your robot will face off in performing its task against the other teams' creations. The winner will be crowned. The universe might be saved by building a computer-controlled robot.
Instructor: David Eyman
The secret to success in life and business can be found in the entrepreneurial mindset. The entrepreneurship track of the Summer Scholars Program exposes students to the fun and excitement of bringing ideas to life. You will participate in interactive, hands-on projects where you will be exposed to what it takes to build companies, teams, and insight. Whatever your interests — building a small start-up company, creating a major corporation, driving meaningful social change, or working in creative fields — we will build ideas, form teams, and create the structure that builds success.
Instructor: ETBD Faculty
Want to play a game? How about we MAKE a game? In this introduction to game design, you will learn current and professional skills and techniques to create game systems and implement your creations in playable form. No previous art or computer experience is necessary. This introduction makes use of basic techniques that will teach you how to be creative using game design methodologies that are introduced in a way that is easy to understand. You will learn by doing, taking a game from idea to playable. If you are curious about the art of video games, then level up your skills, creativity, and talent with this introduction!
Instructor: Dr. Amy Roberts
Students will engage in activities to explore how they can make a difference in the world through various helping professions (e.g., social work, family life education, marriage and family therapy, child life specialists, and other closely related fields). Students can look forward to learning about on-campus programs to support student wellness, hearing from guest speakers working in each profession/area, role-plays, demonstrations, and creating a vision board to illustrate future goals. This session will also include the opportunity for students to earn a Certificate in Mental Health First Aid for the purpose of increasing knowledge and reducing the stigma surrounding mental health. At the completion of the module, students will identify which helping professions are of interest and set goals for their individual pathways to the professions.
Instructor: Robbyn Abbitt
Come fly with us! This summer, take flight with Miami University’s fleet of research drones. You’ll have the chance to fly FAA registered drones for field data collection, learn how to process the images and data collected to build 3D models and geo-aware imagery, and create online maps of your work. You’ll continue your outdoor adventures with GPS data collection and LiDAR investigation within Miami University’s Natural Areas and Butler County’s MetroParks.
Instructor: Dr. Randal Claytor
This module will focus on how exercise is beneficial for health. Exercise is used in a therapeutic way by many health and fitness professionals around the world. You will learn how those professionals evaluate health and then decide what therapeutic treatments they will administer to improve client health. We will cover how health is defined, risk factors of health, what measures health professionals use to quantify/assess health, and steps they can take to improve their physical health. These areas will largely include cardiorespiratory health and muscular health. Many of these assessments measure the same thing, particularly cardiorespiratory health, and students will learn about advantages and disadvantages of each test. Lab activities will include Blood Lipid Profile (Glucose, TC, LDL, HDL), body composition (height, weight, body fat, body water), electrocardiogram of the heart, functional movement screening, resistance exercise assessment, and graded exercise testing.
Instructor: Dr. John Forren
Should the U.S. Constitution be interpreted to protect flag burning? Should religious minorities be exempted from laws that burden spiritual practices? When (if ever) may government officials discriminate without violating the Constitution’s guarantee of "equal protection of the law"? Is the death penalty a violation of fundamental human rights — or a proper response by society to the problem of violent crime?
Using selected court opinions and other primary sources, you will explore the array of legal, philosophical, and political ideas that have informed American debates on these and other controversial issues throughout history. Through the use of various active-learning activities — including legislative simulations, debates, educational games, guided discussions, and mock trials — you will also learn about and practice the civic skills of dialogue, deliberation, persuasion, and accommodation that generations of Americans have used to resolve differences and solve problems in their communities.
*NOTE: This module is hosted over both weeks from July 14-26. Grant funding from the Menard Family Center for Democracy may be available to admitted scholars.
Instructor: Dr. Jeb Card
We'll discover the subtle clues and sensational treasures of ancient peoples from the earliest depths of prehistory to the great empires of Egypt and the Inca. We will learn how humans colonized the world, adapted to changing environments, transformed the landscape, and built new technologies and social orders to face daunting challenges. In the process we’ll analyze real artifacts, participate in the 3-D scanning and printing of artifacts, try our hand at how archaeologists excavate a site, decipher ancient hieroglyphs, figure out how old ancient Egyptian tombs are, and explore the role of archaeology today.
Instructors: Dr. Amy Sullivan, Dr. Steve Sullivan
Nature is a fundamental part of every major. The raw materials for everything you own were either grown on or dug from the Earth. Your culture, neighborhood, family history, and even worldview have been influenced by nature. Your ancestors were naturalists. Yet, the skills of a naturalist are declining, even within the biological sciences. Students of any experience level or background are invited to join the Hefner Museum of Natural History team to get muddy, cut things up, smell the roses (and remove the invasive ones), and learn through firsthand experience the basic principles and theories of nature that make you who you are. This course is a literal walk in the park (among other things). It will be a good overview for the aspiring biologist but equally, it is designed to be useful and exciting for the non-biology student who has often wondered about nature but never had a guide.
Instructors: Dr. Becky Crews
This summer, you have the opportunity to engage with faculty who teach coursework as part of the First Year Integrated Core in the Farmer School of Business. Learn about key workplace skills such as: collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creative thinking, computational thinking and coding, and ethical thinking. You will work with faculty and in groups to apply these skills to an interdisciplinary, final project. Get ready to engage in an immersive learning experience and start unpacking your business briefcase!
* Some specific Session 2 modules will run for two weeks between July 14 - 26.