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Have you been wondering what transportation of the future will look like? Are you apprehensive about giving control of a vehicle to technology? How can autonomous (driverless) and connected (smart) vehicles be beneficial to all? What could your involvement be? We’ll explore these and other questions about what researchers, technology companies, and transportation agencies are doing to prepare for the advent of new ways to travel.
Format: 30% Lecture, 70% Interactive discussion
Discover the equipment, materials, and process of fine woodworking by making one of the most iconic and functional forms in furniture: the Shaker side table. Work from rough lumber to finished product, with each step thoroughly demonstrated: preparation, milling, jointing, sanding, and finishing. Also learn about shop safety, best practices, great tools, tricks of the trade, and why Shaker design is so enduring. We’ll delve deeply into craftsmanship and prepare you to potentially continue making furniture. Leave the course with a finished product that will last a lifetime. Open to all skill levels, this three-week workshop takes place in the SDSU wood shop. Please bring a notebook and tape measure; all other materials will be provided. Register early; space is limited.
Format: 70% Lecture, 10% Interactive discussion, 20% Hands-on activity
June 10 - June 26
Explore the unique format of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights: the narrators, the importance of atmosphere and setting, and how skillfully the timeframe is depicted. Also learn relevant details of Brontë’s life, based on Karen Kenyon’s book, The Brontë Family: Passionate Literary Geniuses. We’ll also include new speculation about Brontë’s inspiration for the novel, and the similarity of some characters to actual people in her life.
Format: 20% Lecture, 80% Interactive discussion
In southern Africa, on the Zambezi River at the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World — Victoria Falls. In this interactive lecture, learn all about the wonders of this great continent and how to vacation like kings and queens — from Cape Town to Cairo, Asmara to Dakar, Mbabane to Tunis, Maputo to Timbuktu, and Nairobi to Monrovia — without spending a fortune.
Format: 50% Lecture, 20% Interactive discussion, 10% Hands-on activity, 20% Demonstration
July 9 - July 9
Raise your awareness of the rapidly shifting ground that’s changing our societies and ways of life from the outside. Learn how we’re changing, the benefits and costs of this process, who the agents and actors are, how we’re responding to this change, and where we’re heading.
Format: 60% Lecture, 40% Interactive discussion
Modern medicine has nearly doubled the human lifespan. Despite successes, the public is rightly concerned when medical guidelines change. You are now told to take more vitamin D, less calcium, and to avoid large doses of vitamin E — very different from the advice years ago. There are many reasons for these changes. Some medical studies prove to be fraudulent; some are chance observations that fail to reproduce. Learn how to evaluate the latest claims and improve the chance that medical decisions based on uncertain data will work.
Format: 60% Lecture, 30% Interactive discussion, 10% Demonstration
Think you know American History? Think again. If human occupation of the Americas is measured as one hour, native peoples have thrived here for more than 57 minutes; Europeans less than three minutes. We’ll go back several thousands of years and delve into true American history, then explore the effects of European colonization. See how much of our “American” fabric is interlaced with native words, foods, and ecological understanding; assess the Indian policies of Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Nixon, and other presidents; and see how native people have pursued cultural persistence and survival.
Format: 85% Lecture, 15% Interactive