Sycamore Summer Scholars

Subject

Course

Course/Seminar Title

Fee

Description

Capacity

Additional items to pack for seminar

G H

199

Introduction to Law

$425 

An important condition for a robust democracy is the rule of law, meaning that everyone is subjected to the same laws and that those laws are equally applied. In “Introduction to the Law,” we will further explore the law, how it is applied, and how it affects our daily lives. Students will review famous cases in the United States, draft their own case briefs, and finally, participate in a mock trial held in the beautiful Magna Carta room in the Scott College of Business. (Yes, Mom and Dad, you can come and watch!) Please note: This seminar is not just reserved for those who are interested in one day being a lawyer, but anyone who is broadly interested in democracy, politics, and the law.

20

notebook, writing utensils, laptop or tablet (if no laptop, we will provide), three business causal/formal clothes

G H

199

AI Safety Awareness

$425 

This seminar explores AI safety, human-AI conflicts, and the future of automation. Students will learn how AI systems make decisions, where conflicts arise between AI and human judgment, and how to ensure AI safety. Topics include cybersecurity threats, self-driving car failures, and automation in workplaces. The course features debates, case studies, and a hands-on AI project where students design their own AI safety framework.

20

notebook and writing utensils

G H

199

Forensic Facial Reconstruction

$425

The Forensic Facial Reconstruction seminar introduces students to the field of Forensic Science through a hands on, intensive project in which they produce their own facial reconstruction.  Students learn cranial and facial anatomy, forensic individuation methods, and the technical methods to complete a facial reconstruction. 

14

G H

199

The Rise of Gen Z: From Boomers to Zoomers

$425

Generations are cyclical – they come and go, and the movement is circular with each one shaping the world for the next. All generations - Silents, Millennials, Zoomers, Gen X, and Boomers - are defined by the prevailing cultural moments, global events, and technological advances in which they are immersed as they come of age. In this seminar, we will look at how generations come to be: What is the nature of groups of people, and what are the pivotal elements that form the attitudes, preferences, and characteristics of groups who share a common stretch of years? What are these defining generational characteristics, and are our perceptions of different generations even accurate? Are these defining generational attitudes, lifestyles, technology, and world events more powerful than other demographic factors that bind groups (socio-economic status, education, race, gender, ethnicity, culture)? And if the times and conditions shaping our lives are so relevant, yet so different across generations, why do some of us sometimes feel like “old souls”? One goal of the seminar will be to explore how we can live, work, govern, and otherwise inhabit the world together to make it a better place through a better understanding of ourselves and others.

18

G H

199

Making History: Adventures in Archives, Museums, and Films

$425

History is who we are.  But how do we make meaningful sense of the past, and how do we share important stories with the world?  Students will find out by exploring Terre Haute’s wicked past as America’s “Sin City,” the life and legacy of union leader and Socialist Presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs, and the harrowing experiences and inspirational outreach of Holocaust survivor Eva Kor.  In addition to digging into these topics through primary sources, documentary films, recent scholarship, exhibitions, and interviews with authors, filmmakers, and museum directors, seminar participants will also get hands-on archival experience by collaboratively researching real historical sources at the ISU Library’s Special Collections.  Family and friends visiting the class on Saturday morning will be treated to the discoveries we make about these fascinating artifacts, many of them over 700 years old!

15

Walking shoes

G H

199

Data and Society

$425

Data and Society is a seminar focusing on using big data to describe today's society. The seminar takes students on a journey to uncovers patterns and trend in our society by diving into big data, basic data analytics, and data visualization. Taking a hands-on approach, seminar walks students through the process of observing, collecting, and understanding big data about several aspects of our society, such as education, sports, health, technology, and sports.

Data analysis and visualization play a critical role in decision-making, news production, scientific research, and many other disciplines. Hands-on practices with data visualization tools such as PowerBi and Google Sheets will provide students with a strong start in data storytelling. Towards the end of the seminar, students will create a dashboard with interactive data stories to explain insights they gather from a set of data on a topic of their interest and make a presentation on their work.

18

notebook and writing utensils

G H

199

Drug, Pharmaceuticals and Medicinals

$425

What is a drug? Many of us have a vague understanding of this but not much more. How do drugs work? Where do they come from? What are the benefits and risks of drugs to people and society? How are drugs developed and marketed? What are the differences between legal and illegal drugs? These questions and more will be answered during this Indiana State University Sycamore Summer Scholars course. In the morning seminar, we will discuss natural and man-made drugs, their chemistry, and how they work in people. We will learn about a wide range of drugs, including pain killers, antibiotics, cancer chemotherapy and anti-allergy drugs. We will learn about prescription and over-the-counter drugs.  As preparation for the above, a foundation of chemical principles will be provided through discussions and presentations focusing on analytical techniques. In the afternoon laboratory, we will conduct experiments that isolate or synthesize a number of compounds discussed in the seminar, as well as analyze their composition. (IMPORTANT: Students must have completed a high school chemistry course)

15

Closed toed shoes, calculator, laptop (if no laptop, we will provide), smartphone

G H

199

Disease, Disaster, and the Undead: The Apocalypses in Literature and Popular Culture

$425

This seminar examines the enduring popularity of the apocalypse narrative in literature and popular culture through the study of short stories, poetry, film, and television. Why are we so fascinated with "the end of the world"? What do these stories have in common, and what can they tell us about the human experience? Students will practice in-depth textual analysis, think critically about how narratives and storytelling shape culture and are shaped by it, and ultimately create an adaptation of one the texts we study during the seminar.

20

notebook, writing utensils, and art supplies for final project (some materials will be provided)

G H

199

Seminar in Elementary Education

$425

This seminar uses high impact practices to provide participants with active learning, professional experiences, community engagement, and experiential learning. Students will explore the art and science of planning and implementing appropriate instruction for young children. After collaborating with peers and professionals to explore innovative learning activities for elementary students, participants will actually engage in teaching local elementary students in a summer program.

15

laptop (if no laptop, we will provide), teacher casual clothes (avoid low cut clothing ,clothing which exposes the mid-drift, and very short shorts/dresses/skirt), walking shoes, umbrella, sunscreen

G H

199

Genomic Sciences from Molecules to Organisms

$425

This course will introduce you to skills that can lead to careers utilizing genomics/genetics/microbiology/molecular biology. These things are essential parts of a biology career. Therefore, the purpose of this course is multifold:
1. To learn how to work safely in a laboratory environment.
2. To help you develop scientific skills.
3. To gain skill and confidence in working in the laboratory.
4. To help introduce you to different types of research that utilize genomics/genetics/microbiology/molecular biology.

>

16

Laptop (if no laptop, we will provide), older clothes for lab, closed toed shoes

G H

199

Kinesiology in Action: Enhancing Human Performance Through Science

$425

Join us for an engaging and interactive seminar designed to introduce you to the fascinating field of kinesiology—the study of human movement. This seminar will explore the fundamental principles of biomechanics, exercise physiology, motor control, and the role of physical activity in health and performance. Whether you’re a student considering a career in kinesiology, an athlete seeking to enhance your performance, or simply curious about how the human body works, this session will provide a comprehensive overview of the science behind movement. Through expert-led discussions and real-world applications, you'll discover how kinesiology impacts everything from athletic performance to rehabilitation and everyday activities. Come ready to learn, move, and be inspired!

25

athletic clothes, tennis shoes, water bottle, notebook, writing utensils, laptop (if no laptop, we will provide)

G H

199

The You You Are: Philosophy and Severance

$425

Severance is a television show on Apple+ TV that has succeeded in doing the seemingly impossible for a multigenerational general audience: make philosophical ideas thrilling and mysterious. As the critical and popular record shows, viewers are left with episode cliffhangers that are not about locating a perpetrator in a dark Nordic village; instead, we are left wondering what a character such as Kier Eagen (named after the philosopher Kierkegaard), for example, understands as emotion and reason, or what Helly F (named after the philosopher Hegel) understands as slavery and freedom. Since Severance already provokes fundamental conversations— Who am I? What is a human being? What is the self?—this Sycamore Summer Scholars course, by pairing each episode with short selections (2-3 pages) from relevant philosophers, uses that episode to introduce students to those philosophers. After watching an episode of the show (45 minutes), we will read its corresponding selection (2-3 pages) together.
Course Readings
The course will include brief selections from the following:
Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem
Albert Camus, Myth of Sisyphus
René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish
Friedrich Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit
Immanuel Kant, “What is Enlightenment?”
Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling
John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding
Plato, Phaedo
Plato, The Republic
Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness
Simone Weil, “Iliad, or the Poem of Force”
A description of each episode of Severance can be found here: https://severance-tv.fandom.com/wiki/Episode_Guide

25

notebook, writing utensils, and highlighter

G H

199

Poetic Citizenship

$425

How would you write your America? In this literary and creative seminar, students will encounter poets whose work explores their uniquely American experiences, examining the rich and multifaceted dynamics of what it means to be and become “American.” Through reading & discussion of contemporary poetry, reflective journaling, creative writing, and workshopping, students will learn about the elements of the poetic genre as they craft an original poem about their own relationship to their American identity. The week will culminate in a live reading of student poetry written during the seminar for friends and family.

10

laptop (if no laptop, we will provide), notebook, writing utensils, highlighter, sunscreen, and appropriate outdoor clothing

G H

199

The "Overview Effect": Bringing Astronauts'Experience of Awe Down to Earth

>

$425

The “overview effect” is a concept coined by the philosopher Frank White in 1987 to describe the experience many astronauts feel as they look back at planet Earth from space. Astronauts who have been to orbit often describe how seeing our home world from this entirely new perspective fundamentally alters their relationship to Earth, its living systems, and our own species. The experience begins with a profound sense of awe and wonder at the raw beauty of our living world—the only planet in the entire universe where we know that life exists. The “overview effect” then leads to an ever-deeper appreciation of the fundamental interconnectedness of all life on Earth, the extraordinary fragility of our living world, a recognition that humanity is a part of this living system and not separate from it, and finally a powerful sense of responsibility that prompts a corresponding need to care for our environment.

This interdisciplinary seminar brings together the arts and the sciences in a unique and powerful way by introducing students to the concept of the ““overview effect”,” employing classroom-based individual and group activities to facilitate students’ holistic understanding of the idea and then taking students out of the classroom and into both Nature and the local human community to prompt creative responses to the worlds around us. The students will then organize, as a culminating project, their own demonstration of how they have been individually and collectively affected by the effort to bring the “overview effect” down to earth. Students will be guided in the practice of closely reading both literary and scientific texts published by a wide variety of poets, fiction writers, filmmakers, photographers, journalists, and scientists. The seminar will give students the opportunity to practice writing about their creative and evidence-based readings and then sharing their work with the class daily in reflection review sessions. The culminating student-organized project will be a public showcase of their creative and thoughtful responses to course content and course questions.

This seminar will study the “overview effect” but most importantly we will explore ways of bringing this sense of awe and wonder, connection and curiosity, down to earth for our use here and now. We will examine poetry, fiction, journalism, photography, film, science writing, and published scientific research to better understand the “overview effect” and our contemporary world defined by anthropogenic (human-caused) climate and ecological crises. We will be guided by the work of writers, artists, scientists, and thinkers such as Emily Dickinson, John Clare, Marianne Moore, Dylan Thomas, W. H. Auden, Elizabeth Bishop, Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney, Michael Longley, and Amanda Gorman (all poets), Margaret Atwood, Richard Powers, and Samantha Harvey (novelists), David Attenborough and Joel Sartore (filmmakers and photographers), Carl Sagan, Neil de Grasse Tyson, E. O. Wilson, Suzanne Simard, Peter Wohlleben, Lars Chittka, Michael Mann, and Katherine Hayhoe (scientists), and Bill McKibben, Elizabeth Kolbert, and David Wallace Wells (science communicators and journalists). Above all, students be presented with opportunities in and out of the classroom (including at the ISU Community Garden and the local not-for-profit reTHink, which focuses on community-wide sustainability education) to reconnect with the living world around us and to celebrate that world through students’ own creative expression. The seminar will conclude with a student-organized multi-media showcase where students will present their own creative work, be it poetry, storytelling, art, photography, film, or music.

15

laptop (if no laptop, we will provide), notebook, writing utensils, work clothes and shoes that can get dirty

G H

199

Music and the Marvel Cinematic Universe

$425

This course will explore the compositional and sound strategies used by composers for films of the Marvel Cinematic University to enhance viewers’ experiences and how the music compliments and communicates aspects of the stories being told.

20

tablet or laptop (if no laptop, we will provide)

G H

199

Fine Arts

$425

Students will be introduced to a short class lecture and a lot of hands on experience covering sculpture, drawing, print making, painting, mural, and collage. We will use a variety of media, materials. and sizes. This course will introduce and prepare students for the challenge of college class.

20

sketch book, old magazines, favorite pencils, brushes, and tools

UC

110

Introduction to Collegiate Thinking, Acting, Communication, and Writing

$425

This course aims to prepare the incoming students for how they can become college students, not just in name, but in the ways of higher levels of thinking.

The main objectives are going to focus on the way the students communicate and act with their professors, peers, and all the different types of people they will interact with as they become college students from freshman to senior year.

The last main objective will be writing based. The students will write a small analysis of a song to try and find a deeper meaning. This will be to show a higher level of thinking, and then they will interact with their peers to review their work and communicate what they tried to do with their writing.

20

notebook and writing utensils

UC

110

Fundamentals of Aviation

$525

Are you the adventurous type that likes to be challenged? Would you like to work in a dynamic environment. There is something for you in the exciting field of aviation. This course will touch on those opportunities and what it takes to qualify you to work in the aviation industry. This will not just be a “sit in a seat and listen to someone talk to you experience”. You will be immersed in hands-on activities such as piloting an aircraft, flying a drone, go on an aviation field trip and compete against classmates in fun assignments. If you are looking to enjoy this summer experience and learn at the same time, then buckle your seat belt and prepare for takeoff…your about to enter the exciting world of aviation. The intent of the course is to enjoy the learning experience by living it instead of just hearing about it. The course instructor is a pilot has logged over 1,500 flight hours and multiple Federal Aviation Administration certificates/ratings. He has over 35 years of experience in aviation The last 23 years he has been a professor within Indiana State University's Aviation Department.

10

closed toed walking shoes and summer attire

UC

110

Empowering Change: An Introduction to Social Work

$425

This engaging course provides an introduction to the essential knowledge, skills, and career opportunities in the field of Social Work. Students will examine professional ethics, boundaries, and the profession’s impact on both individual and community mental health. Through interactive activities, engaging discussions, and local agency field trips, participants will gain insights into this dynamic and growing field, making it an ideal experience for aspiring mental health practitioners committed to fostering well-being.

30

walking shoes

UC

110

Applied Engineering PACK-A-PALOOZA

$425

Experience engineering in action. This seminar is all about hands-on design and problem-solving—no lectures, no homework, just real-world application. Students will create a product concept, develop a 3D model, and bring it to life with 3D printing. Once printed, they will design and prototype packaging for their product while exploring industrial applications like manufacturing equipment and distribution testing. Expect to design, build, and package in an interactive, project-based environment.

12

Required: closed toe shoes (no Crocs, sandals, or open-tow footwear in labs), shirts with sleeves (short or long sleeves are find, no sleeveless shirts) Optional: personal protective eyewear, gloves, and hearing protection (all safety gear will be provided, but students may bring their own), laptop or tablet

UC

110

Video Game and Live Streaming

$425

This seminar will be a one-week workshop dedicated to giving students a practical learning experience in gaming, event planning, marketing, and live streaming. In this class, students will learn about the ins and outs of gaming and implement gaming events. Each day, students will learn a new function of the esports process. The workshop will begin with an introduction to the Esports Lab and live streaming equipment and culminate in a gaming tournament and live stream broadcast. The class would complete the final project as a group

Throughout the course, students will learn gaming techniques, broadcasting, marketing/social media, and event planning as well as the history of gaming and esports.

25

UC

110

Get a Grip on Learning: Master the Art of Learning Anything

$425

Get a Grip on Learning: Master the Art of Learning Anything is a research-based seminar designed to help students learn smarter, not harder. Based on the principles from Make It Stick, this interactive workshop explores proven strategies like retrieval practice, spaced repetition, and overcoming the illusion of knowing. Through hands-on activities, real-world applications, and engaging discussions, students will develop the skills to retain information longer, study efficiently, and boost academic success. Whether students are tackling tough coursework or preparing for exams, this seminar will equip you with the tools to learn anything and make it stick!

30

UC

110

The Science of Elite Sports Performance

$425

Explore the science behind elite sports performance! In this hands-on seminar, you'll dive into biomechanics, physiology, and cutting-edge technology that help athletes reach their peak. Through interactive activities, you'll analyze movement, uncover performance-enhancing strategies, and discover how innovations in sports give competitors an edge. Perfect for students passionate about sports, science, and human performance.

30

Athletic clothing and sneakers

UC

110

Fundamentals of Success in Music Study

$425

Participants in this seminar should have an interest in collegiate music study. They will be introduced to the fundamental core components of the various music curricula, as well as the scholarship and performance opportunities that exist in the Indiana State University School of Music. Daily activities will include lessons in the basics of music theory, music skills (such as sight-singing, key and key signature recognition, chord construction, etc.) and group performance through singing.

20