Splash Fall 2022
Course Catalog

Ever had a desired interest in fashion? Come and join to learn about the basics of fashion, how it can build your confidence, and even create a successful career for you in the future!

At the end of the course, you will have mixed your own personality to create an amazing mood board consisting of your aesthetic and creativity using magazines.

This class is intended to grow your interest in fashion and have some fun with your own creativity!

Ever look around and wonder how the buildings, roads, bridges, water systems, or cities in general came to be? Interested in civil engineering or curious as to what it even is? Come join us to learn the basics of one of humanity's oldest engineering disciplines! Afterwards, we will be doing an activity to put your newfound civil engineering skills to work.

Learn a little bit about majoring in bioengineering as we give a presentation about the overview of the field. This will include information about different concentrations, extracurriculars, career paths, and internships/research.

This course is for students to learn about what the major of mechanical engineering is like in college. Besides some well known subjects such as robotics and aerospace, mechanical engineering actually contains more, such as control, heat transfer, material, manufacturing, energy, and so on.

Have you ever had questions about how the objects around you are made? Do you know what processes are involved in manufacturing a car, LEGO, IKEA furnitures, and so on? Can we 3D print a car? Come to learn about different manufacturing processes. We will have an emphasis on 3D printing at the second half of the course!

Ever wondered what all those little gauges, dials, and screens in an airplane cockpit are for? This class will break it all down, showing you how the instruments work and how pilots read them! We will discuss the most common flight instruments which are found on all planes, from small Cessnas to jumbo jets.

CAD, or Computer Aided Design, is used in many different science and engineering fields to create models that aid in the design process. We will be exploring together how Autodesk's CAD can be used.

This class is an introduction to using technology to interact with the brain. We’ll cover some key neurotechnology devices, along with the neurobiological concepts behind them. The class will also touch on the philosophy of the mind and some ethical considerations.

Ever picked up a book and wondered what the publishing process looked like? Berkeley Fiction Review is a student-run literary journal that publishes a collection of short stories and artwork annually. Our class will give a general overview of the publishing and media industry. Learn about the various roles and skills needed to make a team at a publishing house. Then, learn what it’s like to edit and design a book!

This is an introduction to leftist political and economic theories. We will do an overview of socioeconomic class distinctions and historicize our current society. We will conclude the course by talking about education systems as they are now, including the benefits and issues within them. We want to create an open and collaborative space for students to learn about different leftist theories in an inclusive environment. Look forward to class discussions!

Explore writing for yourself! Writing and journaling can help expand your creative passions while also giving personal insights into new truths. If you love writing and want to start creating a journal or personal account, this is the course for you. We will cover creative writing, a few prompts, and maybe even some poetry.


Prerequisites
n/a

How does your computer compress files? How does your phone send texts without errors? And what, fundamentally, is the mathematical notion of "information"? In this course we will discuss some of the basic features of classical information theory, focusing on Shannon information and its relation to compression and communication over noisy channels.


Prerequisites
Basic probability, and some mathematical maturity

Data science, a combination of statistics and computer science, is a rapidly expanding field and applicable to almost any subject. Learn how you can use numbers to figure out facts about the world, make predictions, and visualize trends. We aim to make this course accessible to all skill levels, regardless of past experience.

Based on UC Berkeley's fastest growing introductory class with over 2000 students and taught by current course staff. (Please bring a laptop!)

Ever wanted to learn how to create secret messages and break them? This course will go over basic ciphers and techniques needed to defeat them.


Prerequisites
None

Suppose we give three people black and white hats by tossing a fair coin; then we ask individually what their hat color is. They can either guess it or pass. Now, how can you maximize your chances that one person gets the correct answer if we need to make sure that noone is wrong? One caveat: noone hears the other peoples' answer. What if we had 7 people? 255?

How about the following: 10 people are lined up tallest the shortest on a line, and we ask from back to front what their hat color is; how can you ensure that at most one person gets their hat color incorrectly? What if we had 100 people? 1000?

Maybe this puzzle? We have n people, and m possible colors for hats, and m < n; how can you make sure that at least one person guesses their hat color correctly?

There are loads more puzzles (Alice and Bob are sending a suitcase to each other with padlocks; 100 prisoners in a room opening 50 boxes to find their number; the classic blue eyes-green eyes puzzle; the checkerboard puzzle; the last card trick of the game of SET), and each of these relies on various interesting branches of mathematics and computer science! (Abstract algebra, combinatorics, algorithms, information theory, probability, logic, random graph theory etc.) While we cannot hope to explore all of these puzzles to a sufficient depth (and the associated mathematical fields) in an hour, we can do a few of these to get a taste of some of the puzzles!


Prerequisites
Basic probability would be helpful (By basic, I expect you can understand and answer the following two questions: a) What is the probability that a fair coin lands heads? b) I toss the fair coin four times, it landed heads on all four times; what is the probability that it is going to land heads again?) Most important prerequisite is enjoying doing maths! If you are getting excited about the course description, I think you have already satisfied this!

Do you like programming or coding and want to solve biological problems?
Do you know how technology is accelerating innovation in biology? Got a love for the life sciences and want to learn how to use math and computer science to accelerate discovery?

Combine your love for tech and biology by joining our class, where we'll cover different applications of computer science to tackle modern problems in biology! In this 2-hour course, we'll cover examples of tools with potential for use for anything from human health to sustainability, and then give you a chance to try working with these tools yourself.


Prerequisites
only a love for biology or computer science or anything in between!

The field of computer science is immense; you can go from designing apps using Figma to discovering new algorithms to writing an AI to recognize faces, and much more. With so many different options, it can be quite overwhelming for a newcomer.

In this 1 hour class we will go over the different career paths you can take if you decide to get a computer science degree as well as some helpful topic specific starting points.

Towards the end of the class I will share some advice and open up for any questions about college or CS.

Today, the Internet is used for almost every part of our lives: communication, shopping, banking, and so much more. Unfortunately, Internet attackers are out there, so we want to send sensitive information securely. How can we do this?

In this class, we will cover the basics of public-key cryptography. We will learn what constitutes a secure communication system and how one might create such a system. Along the way, we will uncover some beautiful mathematics involving prime numbers.


Prerequisites
High school algebra

Science keeps the scientists awake because of its unreasonable effectiveness. Machine learning is driving a lot of scientific explorations, helping science progress faster than it ever has before. We explore the fascinating world that is open to cutting edge inventions and discoveries. Will you be on board?


Prerequisites
Interest in learning, pre calculus

How would you distinguish a cat from a dog? You might try to check the shape of the ears or detect whether the image contains wiskers. But how would you even go about finding an ear or a wisker?

What if instead we could ask the computer to learn to distinguish between a cat or dog? Sounds impossible, no? Well, actually, neural networks can help us do exactly that! (We just need loads of data)

In this class we will code up a neural network and train it to distinguish images of cats and dogs. We will also talk about some of the shortcomings and dangers of using a neural network as well as some other machine learning techniques to be aware of.


Prerequisites
Knowledge of programming basics

Disclaimer: This class is going to be interactive!

How do markets work? Say I was trying to sell you a jar of biscuits for 25 dollars, but you didn't know how many biscuits were in there, would you buy it? What if there were 1000 people willing to buy it for 24? What if the only other person selling a jar of biscuits was selling it for 1000 dollars? In this interactive class, we will think about how markets work by playing a game called "tighten or trade". In particular, we will try to make markets on random trivia that we can estimate.

Learn how to play Hackenbush, a simple game that leads to interesting mathematics. After getting some practice playing, we'll see how the game inspires the surreal numbers, a system of numbers that allows us to to play with infinity in an unusual way.

Markets have failed quite a few times in out society, ranging from the mortgage crisis, or when oil went negative, or the relatively recent Luna crash. In this class, we will go over what happened in these various instances where markets did not accurately reflect the demand for the various assets.


Prerequisites
It might help to take my other course: "How do markets work?", so we should schedule the other one to the morning, and this one in the afternoon?

We live in the information age - a period saturated with data that can be difficult to untangle. How can we use this abundance of data to understand our world? What are the best practices for presenting data so it can be easily understood and interpreted? Students in this course will learn the basics of data visualization and get hands-on experience creating their own graphs using the open source R programming language. If possible, students should bring a laptop with R and RStudio (both free and open source) to the class.

Archaeology? What is it? This class will introduce you to the archaeological inaccuracies and falsified depictions in popular video games and films. Along with some background context and innovative discussion, we will tackle how archaeological stereotypes are perceived! We will talk about games such as Tomb Raider, Pokémon, Animal Crossing, and more! Also, films like Indiana Jones and Night at the Museum will be explored.

Ever been interested in knowing what public health really is and how it truly impacts our daily lives? In this course, we aim to give those answers and more, diving into a brief history of modern public health practices, the harsh landscape of global health, and the tough decisions that our current health infrastructures force us to make.

Are you interested in Public Health? Statistics? The media? Social behavior? Medicine? Community impact? Hearing crazy historical facts? Seeing some ridiculous graphics?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions (or even none of them), you should seriously consider taking this class! In this session, we will touch on how vaccines work, the history of the Anti-Vax movement in America, and how vaccine hesitancy has manifested in the time of COVID. We will explore values of personal liberty, government distrust, and social isolation, and we will flesh out how vaccine hesitancy impacts everyone -- from the most privileged to the most disadvantaged.

This course will give a brief overview of the fundamental definitions, formulas, and rules of financial accounting, drawing from two classes offered at Haas, UGBA 10 (lower division: Principles of Business) and UGBA 102A (upper division: Intro to Financial Accounting). The focus will be balance sheets and income statements, though cash flow statements and statement of retained earnings will be briefly covered. There will be practice problems and real-world examples to keep you accountable for the accounting knowledge you've acquired--pun intended!

Like The Bee Movie? Any interest in economics? Want to find out their connection? This is the perfect course for you to take a look at some basic economic concepts in the context of The Bee Movie. This is not a comprehensive intro to econ course, but is instead a fun way to dip your toes into economics.

A comprehensive history of whiteness, specifically American whiteness, and context to today's supremacist and far-right movements.

Yeah, the skeleton....pretty cool. Ever wondered about just how weird and interesting your bones are? This class will introduce you to the bones in your body and how careers in science-related fields study them. Using research studies, archaeological context, and popular TV shows like Bones, we will discuss how different fields approach them.

**Forewarning: Images of skeletal remains will be shown. NO graphic content will be shown.

On-demand organ transplants expedited drug development, and skin grafts for burn victims are just the surface of what you can achieve with the developing field of bioprinting. Bioprinting is the combination of 3D printing technology with materials that incorporate living cells, and quite honestly the coolest combo you may or may not never heard of. Join us to learn what it takes to bio-print a viable organ, and how you can leave your mark on the next biggest thing in medicine!

Stars live for millions of years, but it only takes a fraction of a moment as their lives end in a spectacular stellar fireworks display known as a supernova. This course will investigate these 'cosmic crime scenes' and how astronomers are able to piece together the mystery of a star's life before its demise.

Curious about and interested in discussing the social and ethical implications of new genetic technologies?

Consider Genetics + Ethics! This class explores this question in relation to some of the many topics within the intersection of genetics and bioethics, such as eugenics, consumer privacy, crime and law enforcement, medicine, agriculture, and many more. Students will have a chance to learn about some new genetic technologies and to consider how these technologies might impact their own lives. No prior knowledge of genetics or biology necessary!

We will dive into the basics of Stem Cells and what they are and how they work before moving into a brief history of the research and development that has aided in our understanding of stem cells. The class will conclude with examples of current applications of stem cell technologies, specifically in the field of regenerative medicine.


Prerequisites
Basic Biology Knowledge (recommended but not required)

The central dogma of molecular biology dictates the flow of genetic information throughout the vast majority of biological organisms, from tiny prokaryotes like bacteria to higher order humans like you and I. Join us on a molecular journey through the central dogma supplemented with hands-on lab experiments involving extracting DNA and analyzing protein function. No prior biology or chemistry knowledge is assumed. This course is taught by the course staff of MCB198: A Primer on Molecular Biology DeCal.


Prerequisites
An interest in science in general, biology, biochemistry, or chemistry; no prior knowledge is assumed!

Have you ever wanted to learn about quantum mechanics, field theory, relativity, and string theory? In this class, I will go over the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics and relativity and how they play a role in cutting-edge theoretical physics at UC Berkeley and around the world.


Prerequisites
Knowing what a function is, and calculus! At least knowing how to take derivatives would be appreciated.

Life on this planet began with single-celled organisms. How did they shape the world as we know it? This course will explore microbial contributions to the past, present, and future of humanity. We will discuss the origins of microbiology, and explore the ways that microbes have influenced the atmosphere, food, agriculture, and most recently, gene editing.

Have you ever wondered why the Black Plague was so deadly? In this class, we will examine the way bacteria and viruses hijack our cells and cause disease. We will begin with a foundation in microbiology, which will help us understand pathogens and the discoveries that have helped us fight them. We will also explore current issues in medical microbiology, such as antibiotic resistance, E. coli outbreaks, and what we can learn from COVID-19.

What is Chemical Engineering? Chemical Engineering is responsible for the production of almost anything you can think of, from jet fuel to textiles to "impossible" meats! In this course we will cover:

(1) What goes into Chemical Engineering?

(2) Career paths for Chemical Engineers.

(3) Introductory principles of process design.

(4) An example of applying these principles to a real life process!


Prerequisites
Algebra, Chemistry is useful, but not necessary

Students will learn about the different fundamental forces that work together to create flight. They will experiment with the effects of these forces of flight using the Engineering Design Process when creating their own rocket launchers, then seeing them at work as we launch bottle rockets high into the air!

This is an introduction to the field of orthopedic medicine and sciences, with a broad overview of topics such as biomechanics, bone physiology, neuroscience and the skeletal system, and more. We also offer the chance to learn more about the orthopedic pre-medical track from the perspective of current undergraduates at Berkeley.

Legend holds that, in the 1950s, three men were found dead at a campsite. There were no wounds. And no weapons. The killer? A poisonous California newt which had fallen into their coffee pot. In this 2-hour course we will teach you about some of the powerful poisons and terrifying toxins found in animals, and you will get the chance to see preserved museum specimens of toxic toads, poison frogs, venomous snakes, newts, monarch butterflies, and many more! Our research group is part of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and studies animal toxins. Museums are important places for research, and UC Berkeley has multiple natural history museums containing millions of specimens from all parts of the world. This course will also introduce you to natural history museums and the ways that biologists utilize these institutions.

ACTION!

What does it mean to bring an extinct dinosaur back to life? How does Dr. Grey decide between saving two patients? We will examine bioethical issues in movie and TV portrayals: everything from Jurassic Park to Grey's Anatomy!

Bioethics is all about the ethics of biological innovations and procedures. Although the issues presented in film can seem far-fetched and fictional, many ethical implications are relevant to the real world!

CUT!

Medicine is evolving and the role that any individual can play in revolutionizing the field is limitless. With machine learning detection of tumor cells, robotic surgeries, application of physics in proton therapy, and traditional biology research, this course is a glimpse into the vast medical technology space. Beyond practicing clinicians, the world needs software and hardware engineers, entrepreneurs, and physicists. We will dive into the current trend in med-tech and how you can contribute as an engineer by developing tools, a scientist by leveraging unorthodox concepts, and a business leader by building companies and generating funds. Med-tech is anyone’s game: this class will show you how and why you should play.

Amid headlines of designer babies and the movie GATTACA, it can be hard to understand what gene editing is and the capabilities of current technologies. Join us as we explore how gene editing ACTUALLY works and how new technologies such as CRISPR will revolutionize human health and beyond.


Prerequisites
We will assume no background experience, though it is definitley helpful.

This class will teach students about basic nutrition that can help with their nutrition goals and needs. This course aims to provide students with basic nutrition education and the role that food choices play in leading a healthy lifestyle.

Human population genetics is a subfield of biology that studies the forces that generate genetic differences within and between human populations. This course will give a general overview of the field and its applications.

What happened right after the beginning of it all?
How did atoms as we know them like H and He condense out of the primordial soup?
What is the role of dark matter in all this?
We'll touch on all these questions (and more!) - helping you to get a feel for how to think quantitatively about our cosmic origins!


Prerequisites
Algebra is required. Some physics or calculus would help people get more out of it, but are not required.

Overview of select divisions of forensic science, including: toxicology, anthropology, pathology, and comparative forensics (trace evidence). No graphic images will be shown.

When it comes to the UC applications, they can become too much too fast. We will try to break down the application section by section, including he PIQs. Writing the PIQ's can seem like a big hassle, and often students end up overwhelmed. Come join us as we try to navigate the process and dive deeper into what the student actually needs to put in this section to show originality.

In this course, you will get trained up with the skills and knowledge of first aid. You will learn how to properly perform CPR, carry an injured person, assess a situation and treat a person with, for example, hypothermia. On top of that, you will go through mock scenarios, demonstrating your first aid training at the end.

College can be scary on its own, and that little voice in our heads that makes us doubt ourselves at times does not make it any easier. In this course we'll talk about what it's like to navigate college in a healthy way that helps turn the volume of that little voice down. We will help answer any questions you may have about higher education and provide helpful tips from someone who has real life experience.

Did you know that the #1 fear in America is public speaking? More people are scared to speak in front of an audience than death, heights, and even...spiders! In this course, you will learn about the different types of competitive speech offered at the high school level, memorization and fluency tips and exercises, and the components that make up an effective speech. Most importantly, you will overcome your fear of public speaking by writing and delivering your own speech! There will be a mock speech tournament (similar to actual high school tournaments) in the last 30 minutes of the course, and there will be gift card prizes!


Prerequisites
No experience needed--this course is designed to teach beginners the basics.

Resumes and Linked-In are great resources to have up to date and on hand when applying for professional opportunities. In this workshop, we will go over the dos and don'ts of building these sources. Along with receiving templates and tips, students will have the opportunity to prepare for their future profession.

What is the purpose of undergrad? How do we maximize our time there? What should I do? How do I balance everything?

As someone who's taken a gap year, designed my own major, and is now taking extra time to graduate, I've thought a lot about making the most out of college. In this class, we'll discuss what we value, how we can reach our goals and seek out opportunities in a creative manner. I would love to facilitate a lively discussion and hear all of your thoughts/opinions too!