Summer 2024 Applications for Tufts Pre-College Programs are now open!
Pre-College TCE Summer Courses
Tufts College Experience
Available Courses - Summer 2024
Please note: Course Meeting Times/Modality and Availability are subject to change.
For a live Course Listing, please visit the link here.
Pre-College Hallmark Courses
More information on the Summer 2024 Pre-College Hallmark Courses can be found here.
Biology
Plants and Humanity
Asynchronous
An eco-humanistic appreciation of the more-than-human world of plants: their architecture, services, and diversity. Balance and unity of plant development and sharing among leaf, stem, and root. Function and forests whose connectedness eclipses competition. Earth’s flourishing diversity beset with ecological challenges of our time, still providing medicinal, poisonous, and nutritional sources from seaweeds and mushrooms to mangos and durians
Cells & Organisms with Lab
9:20AM - 12:30PM MW
An introductory course primarily for prospective biology majors. General biological principles and widely used methods related to current advances in cell and molecular biology, genetics, immunology, plant and biomedical sciences.
Chemistry
General Chemistry II with Lab
9:30AM - 11:15AM PM M,T,W,Th
Chemical kinetics and thermodynamics, physical and chemical equilibria, aqueous equilibria (acid-base, precipitation, and complex formation), electrochemistry, introduction to organic chemistry (families of organic compounds, basic stereochemistry, and nomenclature). Additional topics may include environmental, nuclear, coordination chemistry; chemistry of selected elements; and introduction to biological chemistry.
Chinese
Intermediate Chinese II
6:00PM - 8:00PM M,T,W,Th
Continuation of CHNS 0003 (Intermediate Chinese I). Emphasis on basic vocabulary and structures, conversation, reading, and writing. Supplemented by laboratory drills. Prerequisite: CHNS 0003 or equivalent. Students may not earn credit for CHNS 4 if CHNS 03/4 has already been taken.
Classics
Paradoxes and Dilemmas
6:00PM - 9:30PM T,Th
(Cross-listed as PHIL 40) Introduction to fundamental themes in logic, epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics. Paradoxes and dilemmas are frequently associated with moments of crisis and groundbreaking developments in the history of philosophy, as they lead to questions about basic presuppositions. Analysis of famous cases in the history of Western thought from Antiquity to the present including Meno’s paradox (knowledge), Zeno’s paradoxes (space, time, motion, and the infinite), the Euthyphro dilemma (justification), the liar paradox (truth), the Heap (vagueness), the Ship of Theseus (identity), Antigone (moral conflict), the voting paradox (choice), and the prisoner’s dilemma (action).
Classical Mythology
Asynchronous
Exploration of the world of Greco-Roman mythology and its intersections with art, ideology, and ritual. Examination of the stories of the gods and heroes as cognitive tools for interrogating the essential questions of being human: justice and morality, fate and identity, humor and heroism, suffering and triumph, and the meaning of life. Focus on how ancient myth has remained a powerful source of inspiration for millennia, informing the art and narratives of the Renaissance to the present.
War & Diplomacy Ancient World
Asynchronous
Introduction to the complex and intersecting practices of warfare and diplomacy in the ancient world from the organizations of states in the Near East to the fall of Constantinople: c.3200 BCE to 1453 CE. Exploration of the role of social ideology and religion in shaping how the Egyptians, Assyrians, Hittites, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and others negotiated formal and informal interstate contact and exchange. There are no prerequisites.
Community Health
Special Topics
Asynchronous
Special Topics In Community Health. Introduction to selected contemporary problems in community health.
Economics
Principles Economics
Asynchronous
An introduction to the fundamentals of microeconomic and macroeconomic analysis. Topics covered in microeconomics include (1) how markets determine composition and pricing of outputs and inputs, and (2) the behavior of individual consumers and businesses in response to market forces. Topics covered in macroeconomics include (1) the determinants of economic growth, and (2) the effects of fiscal and monetary policy on unemployment, inflation, and capacity utilization.
Principles Financial Accounting
4:30PM - 6:45PM T,W,Th
Principles of finance from the perspective of the corporation. Topics include an overview of capital and money markets, short- and long-term sources of finance, issues in selecting equity vs. debt, capital budgeting, costs vs. risks of various instruments, and appropriate uses of particular types of finance. Prerequisites: EC 0005, or EC 0003, or consent.
Education
Education of the Exceptional Child
9:00AM - 12:30PM T,TH
An introduction to the fundamentals of microeconomic and macroeconomic analysis. Topics covered in microeconomics include (1) how markets determine composition and pricing of outputs and inputs, and (2) the behavior of individual consumers and businesses in response to market forces. Topics covered in macroeconomics include (1) the determinants of economic growth, and (2) the effects of fiscal and monetary policy on unemployment, inflation, and capacity utilization.
German Special Topics
Special Topics: Kafka & the Absurd
Asynchronous
For Franz Kafka, the human condition is entirely absurd. The whole of the human race was the product of one of “God’s bad days.” This absurdity—the lack of any stable meaning that underpins or helps to make sense of our lives—is not, however, innocent. Rather, Kafka continually represents the weaponization of absurdity in the exertion of power in the family, in personal relationships, and in bureaucratic apparatuses, institutions, and processes. We will explore this intersection of absurdity and power relations in the works of Franz Kafka as well as in works by authors influenced by Kafka.
History
European Since 1815
6:00PM - 8:30 PM M,W
The forces that shaped and characterized the history of Eastern and Western Europe from the Congress of Vienna into the contemporary era. Topics include nationalism, ethnic consciousness, the Industrial Revolution, political ideologies, the development of nation-states, Great Power diplomacy, the impact of the "Eastern Question," the disruptions of the First and Second World Wars, and the current conditions of the European states.
Special Topics - The True Believer
Please see department website for detailed information.
History of Art & Architecture
Contemp Art Since 1960
6:00 - 9:30 PM T,Th
(Cross-listed as FAH 0155) Major art movements in Europe and America from the 1960s through the early 2000s. Discussions of the major works of avant-garde art and its criticism, from Abstract Expressionism through the postmodern practices of conceptual art, feminist art, performance art, and site-specific installation art. Analysis of works of art in terms of formal issues, the art-critical debates in which they were produced, and their importance for current art production. (May be taken at 100 level with consent; see below.)
Renaissance Venice
6:00PM - 9:30PM T, Th
This class will analyze the development of Venetian art in the fifteenth and sixteenth century through the lens of artists' mobility, cross-culturality and global connections. We will focus on the evolution of devotional images, the discovery of landscape in painting and its philosophical implications, portraiture, the role of printing, and the artistic exchange with Germany, Flanders and the Ottoman Empire.
Renaissance Venice
Asynchronous
This class will analyze the development of Venetian art in the fifteenth and sixteenth century through the lens of artists' mobility, cross-culturality and global connections. We will focus on the evolution of devotional images, the discovery of landscape in painting and its philosophical implications, portraiture, the role of printing, and the artistic exchange with Germany, Flanders and the Ottoman Empire.
Math
Intro to Special Topics
TBD or 11:30AM 12:45PM M, T, W, Th
Please see department website for detailed information.
Introductory Statistics
TBD
Descriptive data analysis, sampling and experimentation, basic probability rules, binomial and normal distributions, estimation, regression analysis, one and two sample hypothesis tests for means and proportions. The course may also include contingency table analysis, and nonparametric estimation. Applications from a wide range of disciplines.
Mathematics of Social Choice
9:00AM - 12:30PM T, Th
Introduction to mathematical methods for dealing with questions arising from social decision making. Topics vary but usually include ranking, determining the strength of, and choosing participants in multi-candidate and two-candidate elections, and apportioning votes and rewards to candidates.
Calculus I
11:30PM - 1:30PM M, T, W, Th
Differential and integral calculus: limits and continuity, the derivative and techniques of differentiation, extremal problems, related rates, the definite integral, Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, derivatives and integrals of trigonometric functions, logarithmic and exponential functions.
Calculus III
9:00AM - 11:30AM M, T, W, Th
Vectors in two and three dimensions, applications of the derivative of vector-valued functions of a single variable. Functions of several variables, continuity, partial derivatives, the gradient, directional derivatives. Multiple integrals and their applications. Line integrals, Green's theorem, divergence theorem, Stokes theorem.
Linear Algebra
11:30AM - 1:30PM M, T, W, Th
Introduction to the theory of vector spaces and linear transformations over the real or complex numbers, including linear independence, dimension, matrix multiplication, similarity and change of basis, inner products, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, and some applications.
Mathematical Modeling And Computation
TBD
A survey of major techniques in the use of mathematics to model physical, biological, economic, and other systems; topics may include derivative-based optimization and sensitivity analysis, linear programming, graph algorithms, probabilistic modeling, Monte-Carlo methods, difference equations, and statistical data fitting. This course includes an introduction to computing using a high-level programming language, and studies the transformation of mathematical objects into computational algorithms.
Real Analysis I
TBD
An introduction to analysis. Metric spaces (with Euclidean spaces as the primary example), compactness, connectedness, continuity and uniform continuity, uniform convergence, the space of continuous functions on a compact set, contraction mapping lemma with applications.
Philosophy
Philosophy and Film
6:00PM-9:30PM M,W
Introduction to the study of film as a philosophical medium. Centers on film's capacity to bring out the ethical dimensions of the problem of distinguishing reality from illusion. A classic or contemporary film paired with a philosophical text each week.
Introduction to Philosophy
9:00 AM - 12:30 PM T,Th
The major types of philosophical thought and the central problems of philosophy are presented through study of some classic texts of the great philosophers.
Aesthetics
1:30 - 5:00 PM M,W
A survey of some fundamental problems in the philosophy of art: the nature of aesthetic judgment; the task of criticism, formalism, and formalist criticism; the idea of antiart; the concept of quality in a work of art; modernist vs. traditional art. The course will include writings in contemporary philosophy and criticism as well as works by philosophers such as Hume, Kant, Nietzsche, and Heidegger.
Introduction to Ethics
Asynchronous
An introduction to moral judgment--and the reasoning it is based on--by a detailed study of current issues such as abortion, vegetarianism, and responsibility for war crimes, and the application to such problems of ethical theories, such as egoism, utilitarianism, and the doctrine of rights.
Existentialism
6:00PM - 9:30PM T, Th
What is the meaning of life? Why is there anything at all? What should we do? Questions like these are the focus of the existentialist tradition. This course is a study of that tradition, focusing on Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, as well as several contemporary writers. We will explore accounts of why the universe exists, why each of us human beings exists, what the meaning of life is, how we can live our lives meaningfully, how we should feel about death, and what we should do with our lives, distinguishing an existentialist’s approach to these questions from other approaches. In addition to works of philosophy, our readings will be drawn from plays, novels and nonfiction works outside philosophy.
Intro to Soc & Pol Philosophy
Asynchronous
Please see department website for detailed information.
Music
Origins of Electronic Music: 1890-1980
Asynchronous
The history and technology of electronic music starting from its beginnings in the age of Edison and Bell, to the dawn of the digital era. Topics include composers' search for new sounds; technological developments enabling the electronic creation and manipulation of sounds; inventors of new instruments and compositional techniques; and development of schools of electronic music in various cultures in North America, Europe, and Asia. Emphasis on listening to and analyzing important works, viewing and reading interviews with composers and inventors, and hands-on sound manipulation using modern simulations of historical electronic-music tools.
Nutrition
Human Nutrition
Asynchronous
To provide an understanding of basic nutrition science to non-science majors and students with a limited scientific background. Students will become familiar with: the principles of diet planning, government standards, and food labeling; the biological functions and food sources of each nutrient; energy balance, weight management, and physical activity; the role of nutrition in chronic disease development; nutrition throughout the life cycle; food safety issues; and current nutrition-related controversies.
Physics
Wanders in Space: Exploration and Discovery (AST)
6:00PM - 9:30PM T,Th
Space-age exploration of the planets and their moons; human landings on the moon; robot landings on Venus and Mars; liquid hydrogen and helium rain; planetary rings; asteroids and comets; thermonuclear reactions in the Sun; solar oscillations; the million-degree solar corona; the solar wind; solar effects; the greenhouse effect; ozone depletion and global warming.
Introductory Physics I with Lab
9:30 - 10:20 AM T,Th or 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM M,T,W,Th
Principles and concepts of classical mechanics; heat; fluids; thermodynamics. Lectures, recitations, laboratories. Algebra, non-calculus based.
3:30 - 6:00 PM M,W
Laboratory associated with Introduction to Physics I.
3:30 - 6:00 PM T, or 8:00 AM - 10:30 AM W, or 7:00 - 9:30 PM W, or 3:30 - 6:00 PM Th
Laboratory associated with Introduction to Physics II and General Physics II.
Introductory Physics II with Lab
11:30 AM - 1:15 PM M,T,W,Th or 2:30 - 3:20 PM T,Th
Continuation of PHY 001. Principles and concepts of electricity and magnetism, properties of waves, light, sound, atomic physics, nuclear and particle physics. Lectures, recitations, laboratories. Algebra, non-calculus based.
General Physics II With Lab
11:30 AM - 1:30 PM M,T,W,Th or 2:30 - 3:20 PM T,Th
Continuation of PHY 0011. Principles of electricity and magnetism, waves, sound, and light. Lectures, recitations, laboratories. Calculus based.
Psychology
Introduction to Psychology
6:00PM - 9:30PM M,W
Systematic survey of the field of psychology, covering important general principles in the topics of psychological development, sensory processes, perception, motivation, emotion, learning, thinking, intelligence, aptitudes, social problems, and personality.
Psychopathology
Asynchronous
An introduction to the scientific study of major psychological and behavioral syndromes – including psychotic, mood, anxiety, personality, and substance use disorders – with an emphasis on assessment, symptoms, prevalence, possible causes, and treatment approaches.
Social Psychology
Asynchronous
(Cross-listed as CVS 35) How situations and the people around us influence our thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Aggression, attitudes, attraction, attribution, conformity, group processes, helping behavior, non-verbal behavior, self-knowledge, social cognition, social influence, and stereotypes and prejudice. Applications of social psychological concepts to topics such as health, intergroup relations, and law.
Perception
9:00AM - 12:30PM M,W
Processes that transform physical energy (e.g., light, sound, heat) into psychological experiences (e.g., seeing objects, hearing music, feeling warmth). Emphasis on visual perception; topics such as speech perception and active touch will also be covered. Special issues include development of perceptual abilities, perception in animals, pathologies of perception, and perception's role in art.
Romance Studies
Elementary French II
8:15AM - 9:30AM M,T,TH
A continuation of French 001. Advances the study of basic grammar structures, fosters the development of vocabulary, and broadens the range of situations in which the student can understand and impart information. Multimedia materials provide the cultural context for linguistic activities. Online lab work is required. Conducted in French. Recommendations: French 001 or consent.
Elementary Spanish II
6:00PM - 7:30 PM M,W,Th
Continuation of Spanish 001. The course advances and completes the study of basic grammar and vocabulary. It provides the linguistic skills and cultural information needed in a broad range of situations met when studying, working, or traveling in a Spanish-speaking country. Course conducted in Spanish. Each week, this course has two required synchronous Zoom sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:00-6:00 PM.
Intermediate Spanish II
6:00 - 7:15 PM M,W,Th
Develops Spanish language proficiency sufficient for conversations on practical and cultural topics and current events. Class discussions, compositions, and journaling to increase vocabulary and awareness of Spanish-speaking cultures. Continuing grammar review. Conducted in Spanish. Prerequisite: Spanish 0003 or consent
Medieval Studies
Medieval & Early Modern Spanish Literature
9:30AM - 10:15AM M, T, W, Th
Examination of works of Spanish literature written between the 11th and 17th centuries. Texts studied span the Middle Ages, an era of intense cultural exchange between the Christians, Muslims, and Jews, through the Renaissance and Baroque period, also known as the Spanish Golden Age. Masterpieces of poetry, theater, and prose will be discussed within the historical context of early modern Spain in its pursuit of imperial power.
Sociology
Special Topics: Sociology of Emotions
9:00AM - 12:30PM T,Th
Please see department website for detailed information.
Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies
Costume Technology
6:00PM - 9:30PM M,W
An exploration of materials, equipment, and methods of costume construction. Topics include period pattern research and development, construction techniques, fabric treatments, mask making, and costume prop design. Lab fee.