2023
2D Animation with Photoshop and After Effects
This course will cover the basic functions of Adobe Photoshop and After Effects with special consideration of their animation capabilities. Students will learn to manipulate images and video in 2D and 3D space. These techniques, with this software, are common in broadcast and internet advertising, TV show and movie credits, corporate video, and short form entertainment.
Body Quest: An Exploration in Anatomy and Physiology
In this aptly named study of anatomy and physiology, students spend much of the time dissecting a fetal pig and comparing it to humans. Students also spend some time comparing the anatomy of other vertebrates by dissecting a variety of specimens. In the past students have visited a necropsy lab, an autopsy lab, the University’s cadaver lab, a physical therapy facility, and a museum about medicine at the time of the Civil War to see how far knowledge has come.
Dirt-under-the-fingernails Mathematics
When studying a mathematical subject for the first time, it’s certainly necessary to solve a certain number of routine problems in order to hone technical skill. However, there comes a time when a student of mathematics must transcend the familiar, and face difficult problems by relying on a mix of cleverness, experience, and raw nerve. We will consider such problems from a variety of mathematical fields. We’re going to encounter problems that we may not be able to solve, and a few that nobody has yet been able to solve. But we’re not going to be afraid to try.
Electron Control: Understanding and Constructing the Fundamental Digital Circuitry of Computing
Although the conceptual ingredients for the modern computer date back to the 1830s, the hardware to enable its operation at useful speed and interface had to await inventions of physics: the transistor (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1956) and the integrated circuit (Nobel Prize in Physics, 2000). We will use these components to build from scratch on a connection board the fundamental circuitry of computing, including circuits that make decisions, add, count, store and move information, and make LEDs (Nobel Prize in Physics, 2014) light up in revealing patterns.
Eyes on the Skies: Meteorology of Atmospheric Phenomena
In this class, we explore atmospheric dynamics, climate change, weather systems, and severe weather. Sky watchers know the view above our heads is filled with extraordinary things: rainbows and double rainbows, ice crystal halos, aurorae, and clouds of astounding variety. We’ll examine how meteorologists use remote sensing tools and data products to track weather systems, we’ll follow the weather locally and around the world and gain an understanding of what drives atmospheric processes, and we’ll learn how to watch the skies for atmospheric phenomena. We’ll also discuss climate change and climate resilience. We embark on several field trips and will be doing hands-on inquiry. Ideally, this class will start off a life-long habit of sky watching for the wonders above and knowing what they mean and where, when, and how to spot them.
Life, Death, and Everything in Between
“With great power comes great responsibility” Although the adage was popularized in the Spiderman-Marvel comics, it also represents the importance of ethical reflection in health care. The healing professions often hold the power of life, death, and destiny in their hands. This interactive, case-based course explores the ethical issues and questions at the forefront of contemporary biomedicine. We will examine questions such as: When does life begin and end, and why aren’t the answers to these questions obvious? Can a physician ever harm a patient by saving their life? What are the ethical limits, if any, on human enhancement and genetic manipulation? How should researchers balance the risks of research with its potential benefits? This course will help students think critically about the place of health sciences and health professionals in contemporary society, and give students the tools they need to develop informed opinions on contemporary issues such as reproductive health, gender and sexuality, and mental wellness.
Medical Microbiology: Exploring the Unseen World
Students will be introduced to the world of bacteria and viruses with a particular focus on the roles they play in human health and disease. Hands-on experiences will include mastering basic microbial laboratory techniques, an introduction to clinical microbiology, and outdoor bioprospecting adventures capturing new bacterial and viral species to combat antibiotic resistance.
Tales from the Genome: What Will Your Future Bring?
In Tales From the Genome principles of genetics and biotechnology are explored, including Central Dogma, DNA structure and replication, mutation, recombinant DNA technology, and the molecular basis of disease. DNA extraction, multiple applications of PCR and DNA electrophoresis, bacterial transformation, and identification of genetically modified organisms are a few of the ways students will earn valuable experience in hands-on lab applications of DNA technology. Students will also have the opportunity to examine and discuss practical and ethical challenges surrounding DNA technology, treatment of genetic disease, and what the future might hold in our genetic future.
The Dark Night Sky: Serious Questions for Real Astronomers
What precisely is a comet? Are we really in danger of colliding with a comet or an asteroid? Have such events happened in the earth’s past? These questions will provide a starting point for an investigation of current understanding of the age, size, and nature of the universe. Students will keep a nightly journal of a variety of naked-eye observations of the night sky, will use the Internet as a source of information, will use telescopes to observe astronomical phenomena, and will analyze a variety of astronomical data in the laboratory.
The Science of Strength
“Faster, higher, stronger” is the motto of the Olympics. What makes elite athletes unique? Explore the science and underlying training techniques behind elite human performance. We will explore the physiology of the human body as it pertains to exercise. The program will utilize various lab techniques to measure performance variables and explain the underlying principles that govern human movement. This course will address muscle physiology, biomechanics, sports nutrition and supplementation, as well as the various lab and field testing techniques (VO2max, air plethysmography, Wingate, and Lactate Threshold) that exercise physiologists and strength coaches use to get the most out of athletes. Material pertains to individuals interested in allied health fields, such as medicine, therapy, orthopedics, and cardiology.
Water, Water, Everywhere, Nor Any Drop to Drink
Voted by past students as one of the best Summer Residential Governor’s School experiences and particularly relevant in light of recent droughts in Virginia, this course provides a comprehensive field-and laboratory-based study of water resources. Basic hydrology, including water movement and stream and lake dynamics, as well as sources of pollution, laboratory techniques for water quality analysis, and water treatment techniques form the core for this course. Course content also includes analysis of land use as it affects water supply, water quality and watershed management decisions.