Civic Purpose & Legacy
Monday – Thursday, 9:00 am – 10:30 am | Instructor: Rebeca Barge, Center for Multicultural Student Services

Do legacies end? Should you have a purpose bigger than you? Students in this class will explore the value of legacy before closely analyzing and debating a specific case of civic legacy in Loudon County, Virginia. Students will review primary documents that guide the work of a Loudon County non-profit organization, considering questions about the benefactor’s intent, societal changes, and even difficult truths about their lives coming to light.

MONDAY

Option 1: Essentials of IT Project Management

11:00 am – 12:30 pm | Instructor: Amy Connolly, Computer Information Systems & Business Analytics

Without project managers, many projects fail. Only 1 in 4 high school students report learning about project management, but 9 in 10 of those who learn about project management say they highly value it. In this session, we will practice the essential skills of gathering project requirements, breaking up large tasks into feasible activities, organizing tasks into a logical schedule, and communicating and interacting with team members.

 Option 2: Philosophy, Ethics, and AI

11:00 am – 12:30 pm | Instructor: Pia Antolic-Piper, Philosophy & Religion

Since the launch of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for public use in 2020 and with ChatGPT going viral in 2022, AI has become an important part of our everyday lives. In this course, we will explore some of the main philosophical and ethical debates concerning the development and use of AI: Topics include the issue of our moral responsibility in consuming AI, whether deepfakes are morally permissible, whether people who lose their jobs to AI should be compensated, or how society should manage AI given that we do not fully know what AI might to for or to society in the future.

Option 1: Generation Translation

3:30 pm – 5:00 pm | Instructor: Sarah MacDonald, School of Professional and Continuing Education

We hear a lot online and in the media about Gen Z and Millennials and Boomers, but what does it all really mean? What actually is a generation, what makes them different and what do they actually have in common, and why do we spend so much time and energy trying to explain everyone's behavior through this lens?

Option 2: Family Stories of Trouble

3:30 pm – 5:00 pm | Instructor: Carlos Alemán, School of Communication Studies

You'll be introduced to the study of communication, family storytelling, and stories of getting into trouble as important rituals for communicating identity and negotiating boundaries of family relationships. In this 90-minute learning activity and conversation, we will focus on stories told within families about trouble or embarrassing situations to explore how they communicate family values of culture, identity, and role behavior.

TUESDAY

Option 1: Neuroscience

3:30 pm – 5:00 pm | Instructor: George Vidal, Biology

Billions of neurons make up the human brain, and trillions of connections are made among them. What do we currently know about the brain, and what don't we know? What can neuroscience discover about the brain and the mind?

Option 2: Poetry Workshop

3:30 pm – 5:00 pm | Instructor: Lauren Alleyne, Furious Flower Poetry Center

In this workshop we will consider the ways poems engage the world through language and how writing poems helps us to engage the world as sensory, emotional and thinking (human) beings. We will read and discuss poems to see how contemporary poets are engaging the world. We will generate first drafts of poems using the tools we identified in our readings. And finally, we will share our work in the spirit of community, connection, and celebration.

WEDNESDAY

Option 1: Religion and Politics: Interpreting the First Amendment

11:00 am – 12:30 pm | Instructor: Marty Cohen, Political Science

They say religion and politics are two things you don’t discuss in polite company. Well, I teach a whole class on them. Today we will explore the two subjects through a combination of lecture, group discussion, and group presentations. We will look at the history of freedom of religion jurisprudence, focusing on several landmark cases in the process.

Option 2: What the heck is philosophy? And who cares?

11:00 am – 12:30 pm | Instructor: Mark Piper, Philosophy & Religion

Only about 5% of high school students study philosophy in school, yet just about everyone has heard about philosophy. Most know that it has something to do with deep thinking, and that famous philosophers include Socrates, Descartes, Hannah Arendt, and Augustine. But that's about as far as their knowledge goes. But what is philosophy really, and what can it offer? Why is so little known about it? And why do so many Americans seem to have a low opinion of it? In this interactive lecture, students will be introduced to the basics of philosophy and will have a chance to try it out--including an examination of their own philosophical beliefs!

Option 1: Thinking Critically about Education and Society

3:30 pm – 5:00 pm | Instructor: Diana Meza, Educational Foundations and Exceptionalities

This interactive 90-minute session invites high school students to explore the purpose of education and how schools shape society. Through discussion and activities, students will practice critical thinking by examining different perspectives on what education shouldaccomplish and reflecting on their own experiences as learners.

Option 2: Liberty vs. Identity: Competing Visions of the Post-Cold War World

3:30 pm – 5:00 pm | Instructor: John Hulsey, Political Science

We'll learn some big ideas about how to understand global politics in the 21st Century, and we'll discuss some of the big ideas and evaluate for ourselves which ideas do the most to explain the most important events of the last 30 years.

THURSDAY

Option 1: What is Human Security? How Do We Know It When We See It?

11:00 am – 12:30 pm | Instructor: Kerry Crawford, Political Science

In this session, we'll talk about what we think security is, how we know it when we see or feel it, and what security looks like for people and groups around the world. We'll also talk about what helps or harms security in various contexts, and how the way countries have traditionally thought about security often leaves individuals and communities unsafe.

Option 2: Fundamentals of Local and Regional Economic Development

11:00 am – 12:30 pm | Instructor: Nicholas Swartz, School of Professional and Continuing Education

This session will introduce students to the key concepts and strategies used to stimulate economic growth and improve the quality of life in communities. Through real-world examples and dynamic discussions, participants will gain insights into urban planning, policy-making, and the role of government and private sectors in fostering economic development.

Option 1: Global Citizenship through Self, Others, and the Larger World

3:30 pm – 5:00 pm | Instructor: Félix Wang, Honors College 

This session explores the concept of global citizenship by examining interactions with the self, others, and the larger world. Students will have the opportunity to identify how our worldviews are shaped by beliefs and values that are influenced by our environment. Students will participate in activities and dialogues on the construct of global identity and citizenship.

Option 2: Well-Being and Resilience in College

3:30 pm – 5:00 pm | Instructor: Vesna Hart, Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services

 This interactive workshop invites you to explore the foundations of personal wellbeing and resilience through meaningful reflection. Together with your peers, you will consider how the transition from home to college introduces new ways of meeting essential human needs, gaining insight into the adjustments and challenges that often accompany the start of college life. Through guided activities, you will also chart your own Hero’s Journey as a lens for recognizing moments of challenge, growth, and transformation. Designed to cultivate deep personal insight, this session helps you prepare for—and practice—approaches that will support wellbeing throughout your college experience and beyond.