O Critics, Where ART Thou? Finding Greatness in Paragraphs, Pages, and Plasma Screens
Taught by Ben Batzer
Have you ever wondered how we determine an artistic work’s merit? What does it mean to say a movie is a classic or a book is canonical? Why is it that we read Homer, Shakespeare, and Twain in class? Is it possible to look at art objectively? In answering questions like these, this class will help you think like English teachers, movie critics, poets, playwrights, and filmmakers. Although you’ll learn a range of approaches that professionals use to analyze, critique, and evaluate literature and film, you’ll also leave better prepared to analyze other art forms: photography, painting, and song, just to name a few. This class requires no prior knowledge, but it asks that you bring an open mind, an eagerness to participate in lively discussion, and the courage to see the world around you in new ways.
School of Thought: Redesigning Education & Exploring Giftedness
Taught by Jenny Blank
Are you ready to dive into the world of education and discover what makes gifted programs tick? In this class, we’ll uncover how schools work (and sometimes don’t), explore the mysteries of giftedness, and tackle big questions like, “How can we make education fair for everyone?” From school funding battles to your own unique strengths, quirks, and traits, we’ll tackle big questions about fairness and the future of learning. This course will challenge you to think deeply, dream big, and reimagine education like never before. Don’t miss your chance to make an impact while uncovering your own gifted superpowers!
Beasts, Feasts, Birdsong, and the Chase
Taught by Elise Broaddus
What can medieval animals teach us about becoming human? Quite a bit! Whether medieval authors depicted dragons, unicorns, talking birds, armored horses, or farmyard chickens, they engaged issues of sympathy, empathy, use, abuse, ethical consumption, transformation, and hybridity.
This major explores the many varied uses of animals in the Middle Ages. We’ll open with Chaucer’s Squire’s Tale, which will several of the course concepts: a spectacular feast that hosts diplomatic and cultural exchanges, “wonders of the East,” chivalry and a magical brass horse, and a talking and singing bird. We will encounter genres of medieval texts that rarely make their way to the classroom: from hunting manuals, which used animals – their proper training and treatment, the relative “nobility” of various predator and prey animals – to articulate aristocratic hierarchies to cookery books that describe elaborate entremets – peacocks and swans roasted then redressed in their own feathers, pastry castles, boars’ heads transformed into fire-breathing dragons. We will create our own contemporary versions of medieval texts, by exploring local fauna and collaborate on a bestiary, putting into practice the medieval genre’s eclectic approach to natural history, using allegory, symbolism, and etymology to entertain, educate, and moralize.
Lightning Bugs . . . or Lightning? Write Words for the Natural World!
Taught by Tina Casagrand
Does being outdoors get your brain buzzing? Let’s go there. Let’s learn the names of plants. Let’s see how ecosystems work together. Do you want to find words to define yourself and your place in the world? Let’s read. Let’s talk to each other. Let’s write together. Blending ecology with good writing, we’ll dive into classic and contemporary essays, literary environmental journalism, poetry, art and editing. We might even make a book out of it. Pack for extremes such as hiking, gardening, light cave exploration, and the bravest of all adventures: sharing your experiences on the page. Firefly jars not required, but definitely never discouraged.
To Infinity and Beyond
Taught by Frank Corley
This will be a challenging math class exploring infinity from many different aspects. Challenging, but we’ll work as a group and leave no one behind, as we construct and discover concepts which are quite abstract. We will consider philosophical, geometric, literary, analytic, and set-theoretic concepts of infinite objects. We’ll have to create new ideas for ourselves, but when we do, we will expand our mathematical understanding from our previous experience into realms you’ve probably never considered before. What happens when a process is repeated over and over again, changing only a single parameter each time? Does infinity come in different levels, or is it one size fits all? Is infinity a number or is it something else? How can we prove a statement about all the numbers without proving it individually for every number? Can infinity be arrived at or can we even get close to it? Will these questions never end? Take the course and find out.
Think Like a Programmer
Taught by Kristofferson Culmer
Description coming soon!
Show Me Missouri: Exploring Who We Are Through Civil Discourse
Taught by Stephanie Hasty
In this course, we will confront fundamental questions: Who are we? Why are we here? How can we shape the world for the better? Through an exploration of diverse voices and experiences, we will engage in civil discourse, critically examining texts to uncover stories and perspectives often left out. With guest speakers and discussions, we will explore topics such as culture, historical movements, and place to understand how these issues shape our roles in creating the future. By analyzing literature, media, and community narratives from the 1960s to the present, you will reflect on who you are and share these discoveries with others. Ultimately, the course will challenge you to think critically about the world around you, reflect on what you’ve learned, and find ways to apply this knowledge to your communities, empowering you to take meaningful action.
Not-So-Trivial Pursuits
Taught by Jordan Henson
Do you love trivia nights? Do you play along at home while watching Jeopardy? Have you ever wondered how folks like Ken Jennings, Amy Schneider, or James Holzhauer know so many things? Then this is the major for you! This multidisciplinary major will examine all aspects of trivia, including its many different formats and cultural relevancies, how writers make sure their questions are engaging and accurate, and the methods that trivia aficionados use to make sure that they are competitive at the highest levels. Scholars who take this class will leave with both research and study skills, and will collaborate with their peers to design trivia experiences for the rest of the Academy to enjoy. All experience levels are welcome! Whether you are the captain of your scholar bowl team or simply curious about the world of trivia, this is the major for you.
The Story of a Life
Taught by Chris Holmes
Remember when writing was fun? More stories, fewer essays. More creativity, less analysis. Return to those days (or visit them for the first time) as we explore the crafts of biography and memoir, and why we write, read, and need them. Part psychology, part originality, part wordsmithing wizardry, this course is a gift of time to discover what you’re capable of as a writer. Take observation skills to new levels as you learn about fellow scholars — so much that you could write a book about them. Then we’ll write that book, weaving together in-depth interviews and images to publish portraits of each other that are honest, enlightening and occasionally life-changing. Put your life in someone else’s hands, take theirs in yours, and fall back in love with writing.
Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way: Shakespeare Today
Taught by Mike Kersulov
What’s the big deal with Shakespeare? The language can be confusing. He’s been dead for years. But for some reason he is still important in today’s world. This course will look at how Shakespeare still impacts our lives and entertainment through film, television, and even comic books. Have you read all the different types of Shakespearean plays? Do you like romance, murder, mystery, shipwrecks, and fantasy? They are all there calling out to us. Romeo, Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Iago, and Bottom. We will meet them all, act the parts, and find how they work themselves into our lives. But we won’t stop there. This course also delves into elements of theatre (ie. design, costume, lights) and acting for all levels. So come join us as we lose ourselves in the magic of drama and theater, we will find a way to become more acquainted with Shakespeare and his works and determine how each and every one of us has a little bit of Shakespeare inside.
How to Build a City
Taught by RJ Koscielniak
Have you ever wondered what goes into building, planning, and shaping a city? Have you ever looked at a map of St. Louis, Boston, DC, or San Francisco and thought, “How did it get that way?” What would you include in the perfect city? Well, you’d probably have plenty of unique local restaurants, shops, and bookstores in the neighborhoods. Maybe you could meet with friends in a thriving downtown dominated by skyscrapers, national retailers, and major employers. On Saturday afternoon, you could take the subway from one of the major universities to see the local baseball team compete for a World Series. Don’t forget to spend time at the public parks or the art museums! You’d need a political system that represents residents and their interests. It all sounds great! Now for the bad news: imagining the perfect city is far easier than building one. Urbanization is an imperfect, messy process and American cities are constantly changing (and not always for the better). Every metropolis is shaped by conflicts and disagreements over landscape, resources, environment, institutions, and identity.
In this major, we’ll build a 400-year old American city in three weeks. We’ll start in the early 18th century and then design, plan, construct, develop, destroy, and transform our way to 2100. We’ll begin with the original inhabitants of the land and move across centuries of change, spending each day learning, creating, and developing our way through decades of growth and decline. We’ll imagine great disasters in the 1840s, industrialization in the 1870s, housing and infrastructure modernization in the 1900s, mass immigration and migration in the 1920s, and suburbanization in the 1950s. We’ll forecast events and changes that influence population, climate, infrastructure, and politics. Scholars will demolish neighborhoods for revitalization projects, devise new industries and employers, and implement grand solutions to tough problems. We’ll debate, decide, and build as we make sense of the past, ponder the present, and plan a city that we hope is built to last.
Chemistry and Energy: Creating Global Solutions
Taught by Megan Lilien
Energy is everywhere, manifesting in various forms all around us, from the depths of the earth to the skies above and everywhere in between. This hands-on course integrates chemistry with multiple scientific disciplines, including biology, physics, and engineering to comprehensively explore the fascinating world of energy. From photosynthesis to fossil fuels and nuclear energy, scholars will build a foundation of knowledge and develop models of energy through experiments, field trips, and debates. Scholars will apply this knowledge to solve global energy problems, one of the most important questions of the 21st century. If you’re passionate about science and eager to contribute to shaping a sustainable future, this class is designed for you!
Reel Wars: World Wars, Film, and Memory
Taught by Michael Limmer
Wars have been fought on the battlefield, but also on the big screen. Film is intimately connected to how wars have been interpreted and remembered. From propaganda to anti-war films, we will examine how cinema has reflected, shaped, and reimagined experiences and understandings of war. While our primary focus will be on World War II, we will also explore war and film from 19th-century European imperial conflicts in Africa to the 21st-century Russo-Ukrainian War. From battlefield blockbusters to haunting documentaries, we will consider the role of nationalism in film and its impact on collective memory. Lastly, we will intersect our analysis of film with other forms of media, from television shows to video games to podcasts, to consider how war has been reinterpreted in other mediums. Together, we will ask: How has Hollywood turned war and violence into spectacle? How have films continued to shape public memory of the conflict? Why do some stories get told while others are forgotten? Through screenings, discussions, and critical analysis, we will uncover the power of cinema in shaping how we see and remember the past. Lights, camera, action!
Engineering Fun: The Math of Tabletop Game Design
Taught by Matthew Matheney
Are board and card games just a fun pastime, or is there more lurking beneath the surface? In this course, we will explore game theory, combinatorics, probability, graph theory, algorithms, statistics, and the engineering design process…all by playing and analyzing some of the greatest modern board games! Then you will put your knowledge to the test by creating a board game – and refining it – using everything you have learned. In the end, you will walk away from this course with a game of your own creation that you can play with friends and family.
“Whaaaaaaaat, that’s not music!”
Taught by Austin McWilliams
Or is it? This major aims to explore just what music is. We’ll start at the physical origins of sound (prepare yourself for a healthy dose of math) and dig through music theory and compositional techniques of the great classical composers’ until we hit the twentieth century and musical chaos erupts. Then WE will become the musicians as we dare to perform and analyze some of the great experimental works of the last century. Finally, we’ll create and perform our own Contemporary musical works using digital audio editing software, found sounds, traditional instruments, and whatever else we’ve come to know as music. Having the ability to read music is recommended in order to enjoy this course. Bring your instrument(s) with you to MSA!
Sounds of Science
Taught by Sabrina Michael
What does science sound like? There are symphonies all around us—some we can hear and others that require special tools to uncover. Most acoustic signals on Earth are transmitted through substrate-borne vibrations, many of which remain undocumented. In this biology-focused course, scholars learn how to eavesdrop on hidden conversations in the natural world, from animals to plants. Scholars design and build their own tools to detect and record vibrations, some of which may not have been documented before, then analyze and interpret the signals they uncover. Much of our time is spent outside, observing, listening, and discovering the world of bioacoustics.
The Ethics of Belief
Taught by Jacob Nofal
How should we form our beliefs, and can moral or practical considerations ever override purely epistemic ones? This course examines the intersection of morality and belief by exploring how beliefs are formed and how ethical considerations may shape that process. We will ask whether it is wrong to believe something simply because it feels true or because we want it to be true; whether beliefs are voluntary and whether individuals can be praised or blamed for the beliefs they hold; and when it is reasonable to stop searching for evidence, including whether it can ever be appropriate to disregard evidence that might harm our relationships or undermine our own well-being. The course also considers when we have obligations to listen to experts or rely on testimony, whether we have duties to educate ourselves about injustice, whether misremembering can constitute a moral failure, and the limits of scientific paternalism in distributing information to the public. By the end of the course, you will be prepared to evaluate and form thoughtful beliefs about… the ethics of belief!
Fictional Worlds and Wonders
Taught by Caitlin Palmer
Do you have an idea for a story you’ve always wanted to write? Or do you already have 50 pages? Either way, we will explore fictional world-building in this course. We will study theory of how setting, dialogue, characters, and plot, work to create a sense of reality. We will read and discuss short stories and novel excerpts that do the same, by authors such as Jeff VanderMeer, Emily St. John Mandel, Ursula LeGuin, and others. We will use techniques and prompts to write our own scenes and short fictions, and, for the brave, get to workshop them for peer feedback. This course will focus on genres of fantasy and the future, as well as “slipstream” – a world that seems just like ours, until suddenly it’s not. We will come away with an understanding of narrative and the psyche, new worlds to explore, and tools for exploring the one we live in.
Scientific Illustration
Taught by Sam Rayburn
From Copernicus to CRSIPR, scientists have used art as a tool to communicate novel ideas to other scientists and the public alike. In Scientific Illustration, we use art as a language for discovery. No artistic experience is required, but your curiosity and a willingness to think deeply to solve visual challenges is a must. Through hands-on practice, you’ll develop observation techniques and train yourself to see like a scientist and communicate like an artist. In the end, you’ll see that Scientific Illustration is not just about drawing what you see; it’s about training yourself how to see in the first place.
It’s the End of the World (As We Know It): An Exploration of -ISMs
Taught by Brian Stuhlman
What is art? Where is art? Why is art? If you look closely enough, you can find it, or make it, out of everything and anything, and for any reason–or for no reason. Art intertwines with the life and time of its creation, showing how people think and feel, and how they act, react, and interact with the world around them. Art can inspire people to respond and to express thoughts, emotions and philosophies in all kinds of ways. In this major, we will take a look at the past ~125 years (or so), and examine the instants, the people, the thoughts, and ideas that created some of the most influential -ISM movements of the modern age. We will become artists, performers, writers, and curators as we engage our imaginative spirits and learn from one another and from the big names (Picasso… Einstein… Marx… Seuss… Kermit… and many more). Our goal is not to focus on the end of things, but rather the new beginnings as we explore how our cultural attitudes have changed in the last century-and-a-half. Maybe then we’ll figure out where we were, where we are, where we might be going… and what part art plays in it all.
Making Waves: The art of narrative audio storytelling
Taught by Kelsey Tolchin-Kupferer
There are a lot of podcasts out there — millions, in fact. But most of them are, frankly, not that good. So what actually makes an audio story worth listening to? In this major, you’ll explore the art and craft of telling true stories using sound. We’ll listen to and analyze dozens of audio stories from podcasts, public radio, audio documentaries, sound artists and more. Then, you’ll give it a try. You’ll learn how to use professional recording equipment and audio editing software. You’ll learn how to find stories, conduct interviews, write for broadcast, record your voice, and mix it all together into a polished narrative podcast. This major is an audio playground — it’s a place to play, experiment, explore sound as a medium, and develop your taste as a storyteller and creator. This major is a great fit for scholars interested in journalism, documentary, film, writing, music, and more. No previous experience necessary. By the end of the academy, you’ll have produced a short podcast episode for publication and submission to the NPR Student Podcast Challenge.