Summer Academies 2024

The Experimental Physics Research Academy focuses on current physics, specifically mechanics, electromagnetism, quantum dynamics, and astrophysics. Through lectures, activities, projects, and discussions with their instructors, students move past memorized equations to gain an understanding of cause and effect, and ultimately an appreciation of physics on a higher level. Students receive a guided tour of physics, starting with kinematics and building through electricity and nuclear physics to modern physics and quantum mechanics. Additional class time is devoted to the philosophy of science; experimental design; choosing education paths; and the ethics of science.

The American Sign Language (ASL) and Deaf Culture Academy introduces ASL and an overview of topics integral to experiences of American Deaf community members. The academy features ASL instruction in an immersive environment where students learn basic conversation and narrative skills. The course also features a weekly seminar to discuss experiences and perspectives of Deaf community members as demonstrated through online publications (vlogs), lectures, and a panel of Deaf community professionals in related fields. ASL instruction is conducted entirely in ASL, with no spoken English, and some written English to facilitate instruction. Upon completion of the academy, students come away with the following ASL skills: -Sharing personal information including hometown, language background(s), and interests or hobbies -Discussing and describing locations within a building, giving directions within a building using perspective shift and directional vocabulary, and explaining how one gets from location to location via transportation -Expressing wants and needs and the ability to ask and tell where to obtain those wants and needs -Asking and telling about marital status, whether they have children or siblings, and the chronological ranking of children and siblings -Using number skills, including how to express collective group numbers, age, and time

In this program, we examine the intersection of biology, computer science, and statistics with special emphasis on the biological aspects. Advances in next-generation sequencing technologies have led to the production of large amounts of sequencing data and a growing need to develop researchers to analyze it. There are many bioinformatics tools available for students to learn, enabling them to participate in authentic research. This course introduces these tools through hands-on training. The course focuses on using analytical methods to understand the features, functions, and evolution of genomics. Additionally, we include a hands-on training module to learn Python coding and developing/applying the Python pipeline for high throughput data analysis. Learning Outcomes: -Able to diagram/explain the various types of genome sequencing technologies and explain their strengths and weaknesses -Gain facility with important general databases, focusing on those housed at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) -Gain facility with the prokaryotic database at the Joint Genomic Institute (JGI) -Able to use web tools such as BLAST, MUSCLE, and MEGA to examine DNA and protein sequences and to explain in general terms how they work -Able to annotate genes in terms of both structure and function -Able to compare gene/protein sequences and draw inferences about evolutionary history -Gain familiarity with Python coding and applications -Gain facility in reading and interpreting primary literature

The Global Culture and Media Academy seeks to offer students a foundation for understanding the intricate and complex relationship between language, culture, communicative practices, and the role we play as individuals in the globalized world of today. The course will focus on key ideas to provide a basis for nuanced practices, reflections, and strategies that are associated with 21st-century skills and essential behaviors of a global citizen. The Global Culture and Media Academy is fully residential with no commuter or online options. Learning Objectives: -Explain how stereotypes influence a country’s products or marketing strategies -Share interpretations of a piece of art or music with someone else while respecting theirs -Respond to a social media post in a culturally appropriate manner -Explain how globalized products impact society and individual lifestyles -Collaborate on an online project to explain misconceptions underlying stereotypes

Penn Chemistry is a leading center for molecular research and instruction, whose researchers are at the frontier of modern chemistry, tackling important societal challenges. The Chemistry Research Academy provides students with the foundational knowledge to understand cutting-edge research while providing opportunities to hear and learn directly from several research professors and students. Specific topics included in the Academy are derived from departmental research goals. The Chemistry Research Academy builds on the foundational topics typically learned in a first-year chemistry course. Students build on fundamental chemistry topics such as: - Atomic Structure and Periodicity -Bonding Models -Chemistry Reaction Dynamics To learn: -Properties of Nanomaterials -Chemistry of Coordination Complexes -Applications of Chemistry within the field and in Biology, Physics, Engineering, and Medicine -Analytical Techniques, such as Spectrophotometry, chromatography, and polarimetry By engaging in: -Searching and curating information from the chemical literature -Designing and refining science experiments -Discourse within lab groups regarding the relevance and meaning of collected data -Small-group discussion and large-group Q&A with research professors and students -Developing a research project proposal

Students in this course prepare to be leaders in the 21st century by learning to be adaptive, creative, critical thinkers who can tackle the challenges of today and those of an unknown future. Futures literacy is a competency students develop to strategize, plan, and lead through change. As they become future literate, students can invent, design, and shape the world, including the communities around them. Students learn to build resilient processes, policies, and systems that will last the test of time. They also learn to imagine present and future practices to help adapt when faced with uncertainty. Questions Addressed: -How do future leaders build equitable, just, and sustainable practices that honor all forms of life on this planet? -Who do we often overlook when mapping our visions for the future, and why? -What motivates our academic work, and how might we incorporate that into our plans for future change? -Where can we turn for research on problems that matter most to us and to the communities we hope to serve? -When do we incorporate ethics in our practice, and how?

The summer Coding Academy is a 3-week residential introduction to front-end web development. Students learn Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and JavaScript (JS) and discover how to put these tools together to produce useful and attractive web pages that run on any web-enabled desktop or mobile device. Students also learn how to use GitHub to build code collaboratively. Instructor-led demos and explanations followed by hands-on in-class student exercises reinforce key concepts for long-term retention. The Coding Academy provides a strong foundation for students wishing to pursue a career in a technical field and empowers those in other fields (arts, history, literature, language, etc.) to bring new tools and thinking to their chosen discipline. Topics Include Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) Inserting Text Inserting Links Inserting Graphics Providing for User Input Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Cascading Style sheets (CSS) CSS Syntax The Box Model Display Properties CSS Animation Page Layout with Flexbox and Grid Media Queries Javascript (JS) Document Object Model Events Variable Types Program Flow Control SVG Animation JavaScript Objects Classes Constructors Canvas Animation

The Biomedical Research Academy introduces the experimental basis of cellular, molecular, and genetic aspects of biology, focusing on relevance to diseases. Fusing daily lectures, faculty research talks, laboratory experiments, and small group investigations into current research topics, students gain insight into the core of biomedical research. Students perform molecular biology experiments in the same labs that are used for undergraduate courses. Using techniques such as PCR, gel electrophoresis, restriction analysis, bacterial transformation, and ELISA, students determine their own blood type, investigate gene expression in bacteria, and analyze a mock disease outbreak.

The Social Justice Research Academy brings students from around the world together for three weeks to dive deep into the past, present, and future of social justice. Designed to encourage discussion and critical thinking about the political, historical, and cultural context of inequality and resistance, the program welcomes students with a variety of academic interests across the social sciences, humanities, and arts. Topics vary from year to year but include a selection of significant historical struggles (the American Revolution, slavery and abolition, suffrage, labor, civil rights) as well as those that define our recent past and present (climate change, immigration and refugee/asylum policy, LGBTQ rights, #BlackLivesMatter, disability studies, faith and social justice, interfaith leadership, intersectionality, affordable housing, prison reform, #MeToo, food deserts, social distancing as a privilege, access to health care, textbooks and curricular biases, anti-racism, anti-Semitism, music and civil rights, international human rights, race and popular culture). As they explore the characteristics of effective community leadership and successful movement-building, students develop leadership skills as well as research and analytical skills. The Social Justice Research Academy is fully residential with no commuter or online options.

The Neuroscience Research Academy explores the biological foundations of the brain, progressing from the cellular foundations of the neuron to an understanding of the sensory systems, and culminating with higher-order cognitive functions such as memory, emotion, and morality. Taught by members of Penn’s Biological Basis of Behavior program, the Neuroscience Academy introduces students to this cutting-edge field in both research and medicine, which has provided important insights into understanding the mind in both health and disease.