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Summer 2005 is finally here and that means you're one step closer to going to college. Why not start early? Get Ahead offers an opportunity to meet locally with other high school students in a collegiate classroom setting to discuss various technological "improvements" in art and communication -- film, AI, computer programming, online writing and literature. You will create weblogs, online film reviews, and perhaps your very own version of Google. This summer do something different, something exciting and challenging! Learn the writing and analytical skills that you will help you get ahead. DestinationFairbanks Community Center40 Fairbank Road Sudbury, MA 01776 Registration
begins June 14. |
Session I: July 7 - August 2 Session II: August 4 - August 30
Contact Us For More Information
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AcademicsWeblogging the New World (link to syllabus)This class is going to make the virtual world a richer place! You will learn how to detail, decorate, and describe the real world with language that is all your own. Once posted to your weblog, it will communicate to someone exactly what you are seeing, thinking, and feeling. Weblogging, however, raises some interesting questions. What does it mean to share such private things with the world? Can we really produce a virtual identity that captures who we are? Do we tell stories differently if we know the world is watching (reading)? How is weblogging different from what other authors do? We are going to figure these and other things out in this class. You will keep a paper journal that only you will read and a virtual journal that everyone in the class (and whoever else stumbles upon it) will read. On your own, you will make weekly, secret entries into your private journals about things that happen to you over the summer. Online, you will create a web journal with two personas: one identity will resemble you and write in a conversational voice that narrates stories and events; another identity will use an essayistic voice to think through how storytelling changes when it is broadcasted to to the world. This class is going to be cool. 
Exploring the Googleplex Google was created by two computer science students from Stanford who creatively applied linear algebra to become billionaires. We will explore the problems and technologies of information retrieval by computer and examine how linear algebra set Google apart from other search engines in the late 1990's. How do documents end up on a computer? How do computers know where documents are and search for them? Why, exactly, is Google's PageRank better than the rankings that Yahoo, Altavista, or Lycos produce? We will also explore Google's other search technologies: Google News, Google Maps, and Google Scholar. We will critically examine the question: will Google ever replace the library as a source of information? We will be reviewing the linear algebra concepts used in PageRank to understand how it works. The math in this class isn't too hard, most of you already know how to do it, but be prepared...this class is going to make simple math do things you didn't know it could. This class is going to make math fun!
Film is My Hero You will watch three really cool movies in this class: "Star Wars: Episode IV," "The Matrix," and "The Lord of the Rings." Together we will look at and talk about similar ideas and scenes in the films. For example, in each film an unsuspecting character that is somewhat frail and timid at the beginning of the story learns how to conquer the world by the end of the story. Each film also has ending scenes where two crazy and horrible things unravel at the same time. Coincidence? Probably not. This formula works, but why does it work? What exactly is the formula? Is it that we all want to see the underdogs win? Is it more complicated than this? Do we like these films for other reasons? Why are these films so cool? Clearly, there is much to discuss and this class will do it. Using some pretty fancy words that actually express some pretty simple concepts--contrast, parallelism, symbolism, simultaneity, leit-motif, allusion, and various others from online sources such as Giannetti's Understanding Movies --we will get to the bottom of what makes these films so compelling and heroic. In this class you will write short reviews of the films individually and one review comparing two films. The class will take a field trip to see the new Star Wars film (you may choose to see it on your own), and then you will write a review of the new film. We will post the new reviews on a website and submit them to local online film review sites and zines. This class is also going to be really cool. |
Teachers |
| Classes will be taught by two experienced instructors who currently work at Brandeis University. Both Carlos and Anthony have tutored high school and middle school students in the Metrowest area with ClubZ! over the years and are dedicated to bringing rigorous and exciting classes to Sudbury this summer. Anthony is a Ph.D. candidate in the Computer Science Department at Brandeis University. He works under Professor Jordan Pollack in the DEMO lab. There he studies coevolutionary algorithms, developing mathematical approaches to understanding why they work or fail. Carlos is also a Ph.D. candidate at Brandeis; he works in the English and American Literature Department under Professor John Burt. Carlos has taught various writing classes at Brandeis for the last four years and has also taught at Purdue University. This summer Carlos will also teach writing at Boston University's Upward Bound program. For more information about your teachers, please see their individual websites. |
ExamplesWeblogging the New WorldLike usual college classes, a typical class will be part lecture (setting up an idea) and part class discussion (working out an idea). For example, a class may consider the following quotation by Viggo Mortensen and answer the following questions: Therefore, I don't consciously refer to anything in this book, directly or indirectly, do not seek in the slightest way to prepare you for the selections made by others for The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2004. I do not even recommend that you read any of this book, especially not a single additional word of mine beyond this one. Put the book down, if you like. Give it away, dump it, cut it into little pieces and eat it, burn it-apply any anarchic means or action you can invest to dispose of it, to put it out of your thoughts. Or, read on. (Mortensen xxv-xxvi). What is the difference between irony and sarcasm?Most classes will be supplemented by online materials. For example, this class will use the Bedford Dictionary of Literary and Critical Terms to define irony, sarcasm, and a slew of other concepts it will canvass. This class will master an engaging tone and style and use them to make mad weblogs.
Exploring the Googleplex If you ever wondered what math was good for, this class is for you. You'll see that the math behind Google's success is taught in 11th grade! We'll review arithmetic concepts used in PageRank, Google's open secret, and you'll learn how linear algebra, the math you are learning right now or that you will learn very soon, allowed Google to become the prominent search engine it is today. Google's PageRank uses linear algebra to decide the order that search results are displayed after a query is entered. PageRank is, essentially, the principle eigenvector of the web's connectivity matrix. Whaaah? What's that mean? It's really not that hard, and this class will show you. In this class we will break these concepts down to show how Google uses PageRank to search:
Film is My Hero
As the class description details, this class will view "Star Wars: Episode IV," "The Matrix," and "The Lord of the Rings" and discuss similarities in the way that the film's heroes are depicted. The class will use film terminology (from online sources and class handouts) to ask questions about specific imagery in the films and how it relates to the film's larger picture. For example What is the difference between symbolism and historical allusion? The name Nebuchadnezzar means "may Nabu protect the boundary." Symbolically, this is apt for a ship that roams on the surface of the earth protecting the interior city of Zion. Nebuchadnezzar, like Zion, is a biblical name that calls our attention to the film's inherent story of a martyr-savior. Historically, Nebuchadnezzar was a famous king who allegedly rebuilt the city of Babylon. This reference to the past, historical allusion, works in the film to connect the famous king's exploit to that of the film's humans who are struggling to rebuild earth.Ultimately, this class will make you mini-film experts. An added bonus: you get to watch and talk about some pretty cool movies! |
GearWeblogging the New World
Exploring the Googleplex
Film is My Hero
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to Barnes and Noble,
Borders, The Paper Store, or AMC Theaters!
