BC Splash Fall 2021
Course Catalog

Love watching musical theater and hoping to sing on stage someday? Join our vocal class for a 50-mins singing practice, and let’s enjoy the beauty and joy of musical theater together!

Everybody's favorite game of suave detectives and criminal masterminds. We'll learn about some of the conventions of historical, the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, and modern mystery-writing. We'll also learn about the "10 Commandments of Detective Fiction" and why nobody follows them.

Love watching musical theater and hoping to sing on stage someday? Join our vocal class for a 50-mins singing practice, and let’s enjoy the beauty and joy of musical theater together!

Love Bollywood movies? Ever wonder where those fabulous tunes come from? Come find out!

This course will examine 21st century meme culture.


Prerequisites
Must have a sense of humor

Want to learn more about how to prepare for law school while in high school and in college? Join this interactive class with tips on how to best prepare yourself for a career in law and test your knowledge of basic legal terms and law school information through fun games!

The college admissions process is not easy. Between filling in your application, writing your first resume, and editing all those essays, preparing for an interview seems like the least of your worries. But a good interview showing, especially during these times, can have a huge impact on your application, especially if it's with an actual college admissions officer. In this class you'll learn what to expect in a college interview and using a little bit of psychology how to walk out of those interviews confident that you did well.


Prerequisites
Just a general idea of what achievements you'd want to share in an interview setting!

Are you struggling with your college applications? Can't seem to find the perfect message to impress those admissions officers? Look no further. Come for a session of reflection and writing! Listen to some helpful tips as well!

Are you obsessed with Little Women as much as I am? Whether you just watched the 2019 film and fell in love with Timotheé Chalamet, read the book since you were a child, or have never heard of Little Women, this class is for you. Come find out which sister you are and engage in fun discussion!

Do you like to argue? Do you like to win when you argue? This course is perfect for just this pursuit. In this class, you will learn how to go beyond simply telling someone in an argument that they are wrong, you will learn several ways to point out flaws in your opponent's logic. There are few things more satisfying than declaring in an argument, "Not only are you wrong, but here is the error in your reasoning..."
After the course, students can expect to leave feeling more confident in their ability to reason, to have an understanding of the basic syllogism, And to be able to point out exactly where an argument starts to become fallacious.

We will look at some of the most famous battles in world history and consider what factors lead to victory or defeat, and how these factors trend across time. With this information, we will eventually determine how you can win a war!


Prerequisites
NA

If you've ever wondered what exactly mindfulness is and wanted to learn about its benefits, this class is for you!

Was Thanos Right? What are the ethics of Team Cap vs Team Iron Man, and what can they tell us about Plato? What if the multiverse were real? These are some of questions we'll tackle together in this crash course into philosophy through the lens of some of the cinemas biggest heroes.

Have you ever wondered where J.R.R. Tolkien got the inspiration for Lord of the Rings? Or what Game of Thrones is really based on? Join us in our exploration of early medieval literature! We'll travel back in time to the 8th century AD in order to engage with characters whose mystique has captured readers' imaginations for ages. Get ready to meet Beowulf, Sir Gawain, and Merlin as you never have before!

Long after its supposed disappearance, Feudalism retains a ghost-like touch on culture and society. Tales of knights and princesses, from Disney to Star Wars, captivate our minds, while we still refer respectfully to strangers as "sir" and "ma'am", "lord" and "lady." This raises the question: what was Feudalism? How did it actually work? When did Feudalism actually die? Is it truly gone?

Numbers don't exist.. or do they?
This course pushes students to challenge the commonly accepted norms of thought and to instead critically think to develop ideas of their own. As silly as this question may seem, by using philosophy as a guiding tool, the class will decipher whether or not numbers exist.

Today's political climate has become more polarized than ever. From the January 6th Insurrection to the historical $3 trillion Infrastructure bill proposed by the Biden Administration, it seems like the overlap between Left and Right is ever decreasing. In such a divided climate, many wonder where the middle ground has gone, and what factors have contributed to the harsh division between Liberal and Conservative. Examination of genetics and psychology offers us one of many answers to this complex question, which we will unpack in this class.

This course will explore the basics of logic so you can understand how even the wildest arguments work!

Struggling to feel comfortable in your own skin? Feeling anxious about day to day things? Overall struggling to carpe diem and enjoy life? Don't worry, in this class you'll learn tips and tricks to help you love being yourself and enjoy living your best life.

Was Thanos Right? What are the ethics of Team Cap vs Team Iron Man, and what can they tell us about Plato? What if the multiverse were real? These are some of questions we'll tackle together in this crash course into philosophy through the lens of some of the cinemas biggest heroes.

This course will look at philosophical questions posed by Plato's Allegory of the Cave debate whether knowledge is actually worth pursuing.

Are you interested in what a day in the life of an EMT looks like? Awesome! In this class, you'll get an inside look into the operations of Boston College EMS, BC's student-run volunteer ambulance service. You'll get to see the Boston College EMS office, the vehicle we respond to emergencies in, and see the lights and sirens too! We'll also talk about how you can become an EMT, what the certification process looks like, where you can work, and what you do.

Have you ever heard the hashtags #StrawFree or #SaveTheTurtles? Have you ever wondered why exactly plastic straws, and other plastic products, pose a threat to the environment and organisms living in it? If so, this class is for you! We will explore the sources of plastic pollution, and the harmful effects of plastic on the health of the environment, organisms (including humans), and even economies. We will also explore several solutions to this issue, and answer the question "What can we, as students, do to help solve this issue?"

Have you wondered why some volcanoes erupt and some don't? For this class we will be exploring the science behind eruptions, while creating a volcano of our own.

Most US election use an election system called plurality, in which the candidate with the most first place votes wins. Yet there are infinitely many election systems. As systems like ranked choice voting are increasingly used, we must ask a fundamental question about our election system – what makes an election fair? This course will seek to answer that question with the assistance of mathematics.

When first learning to code, we tend to think about programs in terms of data and variables. This way of thinking often leads to unforeseen side effects, particularly in larger programs and projects. The functional paradigm is a style of programming which seeks to eliminate these side effects, as well as reason about programs mathematically.

Topics covered will include sets and types, functions, function composition, recursion, currying, and higher-order functions. A demonstration will be conducted in the OCaml programming language (no experience necessary).

A basic introduction to how statistics are used in Baseball to produce scouting reports and predict the level of success of individual players.


Prerequisites
N/A

Are you interested in science, medicine, or just want to learn how to help people in a medical emergency? Then this class is for you! This class will cover topics such as how to perform CPR and use an AED, how to stop bleeding, how to help someone who is choking, and much more! We will also go over how to call 911 and get a scene set up for medical professionals. Absolutely no prior knowledge is required and this class is geared towards people with no medical training. NOTE: How to Save a Life I and II are separate classes and you can take one or both (we hope you take both) but you absolutely do not have to take I to take II.


Prerequisites
None

Should parents be able to select or genetically edit an embryo to eliminate physical defects or diseases?

What about a mental illness?

How about for cosmetic purposes?

It might seem futuristic, but the technology to do these things is already here. Genetic engineering is a maturing technology that is used for agriculture, scientific research, and human health.

This class will give you a brief introduction to how genetic engineering and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) work, and why parents may choose to use them.

The majority of the class will be devoted to discussing the countervailing medical, ethical, and personal freedom issues involved in genetic selection of human beings.

Please be prepared to talk!


Prerequisites
None; although it would be useful if you've learned some genetics in your biology classes.

Crash course into the history of how Pluto was discovered, the New Horizons flyby, and how it lost its status of planet. Also, what do scientists mean when they call something a planet, anyway?

Are you interested in science, medicine, or just want to learn how to help people in a medical emergency? Then this class is for you! This class will cover topics such as how to help someone having an allergic reaction, how to control bleeding, how to recognize a stroke, and much more! We will also go over how to call 911 and get a scene set up for medical professionals. Absolutely no prior knowledge is required and this class is geared towards people with no medical training. NOTE: How to Save a Life I and II are separate classes and you can take one or both (we hope you take both) but you absolutely do not have to take I to take II.


Prerequisites
None

My senior thesis project in high school was to compare the eating habits of high school students when they were in virtual school to eating habits of in-person school.

You may have heard of base 10 (decimal) or base 2 (binary), but what happens if a base is an imaginary number? Is that even possible??? Be inspired by the story of two high school students' exploration of that question, and how playing around with math led to joy and fulfillment. The course content will mainly focus on how to do math in the epic new world of Imaginary Binary.

How do simple ingredients come together to form ice cream? (And the science behind the process)

Every year, billions of pounds of trash and debris enter the ocean. Where does this pollution come from? Where does it go? Can we transform this debris into reusable plastic products? Join "Ocean Pollution in the Pacific" to find out!

This course is for beginners that don't know sign language, and in particular is signs that are commonly used by members of the disabled community.


Prerequisites
N/a

We will explore what it means to have a mental illness in today's society and the questions that it raises. Topics with include defining and classifying mental illnesses, degrees of mental illness, and agency of the mentally ill.

Come build things, learn about incentives, and get creative! It'll be a fun class to learn about teamwork, why being young might be your greatest strength, and how to foster innovation. We will be doing hands-on activities that I would describe if it wouldn't ruin the whole point. So come check it out, I promise, you're not going to want to miss this! (Also, there may be prizes!)

Come check out some real surfboards! We'll talk about the history of surfing, how to surf, and some cool things - big wave science and surfboard science and whatever you want to hear about!

"Dear John,”
Have you considered that “the last great american dynasty,” “The Man,” and many other Taylor Swift songs share philosophical maxims on regional identity, gender relations, and wealth distribution, just to name a few? Let’s have fun breaking down the lyrics and context of some highlights of her fantastic career to consider what we can learn about social justice and advocacy within the complex realm of celebrity culture. Opinionated Swifties and opinionated non-Swifties welcome.

Other topics mentioned within the course: One Direction, BTR, and global celebrity mania; women in country music


Prerequisites
Some familiarity with discography of Taylor Swift

This is an interactive course where we will look at the the basic functions of the stock market and explore the role of investing in the real world. We will identify the big players in the industry and discuss thought provoking current events.

Want to learn tips, tricks, advice and the characteristics needed to become an effective student leader? Then, this is the class for you! I will talk about my experience in student government and how I have increased my leadership skills through those experiences.