The first transistor, created at Bell Laboratories in 1947, was about 4 centimeters in size. Today, millions of transistors fit on a single computer processor chip—about the size of a postage stamp. Innovations like these are hallmarks of the exciting and challenging field of electrical engineering. This course explores foundational concepts, starting with electromagnetism. You’ll map the electric field lines generated by an electric charge and investigate current, voltage, resistance, energy, and magnetism.

Develop strategies for solving a wide variety of word problems using resources from Ken Johnson and Ted Herr’s Problem Solving Strategies: Crossing the River with Dogs and Other Mathematical Adventures. Explore diagrams, systematic lists, elimination, working backwards, matrix logic, and unit analysis as you strengthen your ability to use these strategies to solve a wide variety of complex problems.

What are the key indicators of an economy’s performance? How do governments craft policies that promote economic growth? What does it mean for a country to have a trade deficit? Analyzing economies at an aggregate level, macroeconomics explores questions such as these, providing a bird’s-eye view of economic activity. This course surveys fundamental concepts in macroeconomics, including money, banking, inflation, employment, national income, economic growth, financial markets, and the role of public policy.

Learn to master the core elements of fiction writing, such as plot, theme, dialogue, and character development by reading and analyzing short works of fiction and writing your own. Assignments are modeled after those taught in undergraduate fiction courses such as the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, and in John Gardner's books The Art of Fiction and On Becoming a Novelist. You’ll learn the techniques of seasoned fiction writers and use them to tap into your own imagination to create several pieces of short fiction.

The saying goes, “You are what you eat,” and in this chemistry class, you’ll learn how true that adage really is. With your classmates, you’ll explore the ways fats, proteins, and carbohydrates fuel our bodies and make energy for everything from taking a breath to reading a book to running a marathon. Through lab experiments and class discussions, you’ll examine the composition of familiar foods, consider the chemical reactions necessary to make them, and explore the role foods play in health and disease.

We all face ethical choices. How do we know what is “good” or “bad,” or “right” or “wrong”? Are there standards of ethics by which we can judge people or their actions? In this course, you'll reflect on common intuitions we have about how humans ought to live our lives. You'll learn to apply analytical reasoning to our intuitions while investigating the debate between moral relativism—which denies ethical distinctions such as right or wrong—and moral realism, which upholds them.

This course will transport you to fantastical worlds where monsters and magic cause all sorts of mayhem. We’ll follow teen protagonists’ journeys through magical lands inspired by diverse, real-world cultures. As these protagonists battle cruel and violent forces, they forge meaningful relationships and uncover secrets that lead them down a path of self-discovery. A variety of creative and essay assignments will enrich your understanding of genre, theme, character development, and figurative language.

Imaginative writing is a powerful tool. As authors, our written pieces can make someone laugh, change their mind, or even help them better understand the world. How can you do this in just a page, a paragraph, or even a single line? In this course we’ll examine the tools and strategies that popular authors use to connect with their audiences, paying special attention to effective short pieces that demonstrate how authors judiciously use a limited amount of space.

Fictional worlds often stick with us even longer than the stories that are set within them. They can be havens or nightmares, futuristic glimpses of what our world could be, or looking-glass critiques of reality. But how are these worlds created? Learn about the process of worldbuilding, discussing its techniques and best practices through the lenses of literature, creative writing, game design, history, and anthropology.

This immersive and collaborative course will introduce you to great essayists including Annie Dillard, Charles Simic, and Richard Rodriguez, and help you find your own distinctive narrative voice. You and your classmates will read, analyze, and discuss works of creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, and then experiment with tone and mood, imagery, prose, and a variety of structures and narrative devices while learning how to effectively use figurative language to create your own moving and engaging personal stories.