Splash Biography

Why do people even go to school? What is the purpose of education? In this class, we will explore a series of short, thought-provoking passages about the meaning and purpose of education, and reflect on how we might respond to them. We’ll discuss our own experiences as students—moments when we’ve felt most inspired or learned the most, as well as the challenges and struggles that come with learning. Finally, we will each create our own creative vision—our own dream—of what education, at its best, could be. With art, writing, and creativity, we will each begin to imagine what the spirit of education could mean to us.

Have you ever wished you could step inside your favorite book? In this class, we’ll explore how to create art inspired by literature, translating scenes, characters and themes into creative visual expression. All are welcome! No prior drawing experience required.

What is hope? How can we hold onto hope when the world seems to be falling apart—and should we? How have poets thought and written about hope across centuries? This class will explore poetry as a medium for thinking about hope. We will read, contemplate, and discuss poems by authors including Langston Hughes, Jane Hirshfield, Muriel Rukeyser, Wang Ping, and Pablo Neruda in conversation with one another. Then, we will write our own poems to reflect on how we each engage with hope.

This class will explore cycloids, a super cool type of curve created by a point on the edge of a rolling circle. We'll learn about mathematical properties of cycloids and the equations that describe them. We’ll also look at how cycloids are relevant in engineering and physics, and create some cycloids of our own.

What is hope? How can we hold onto hope when the world seems to be falling apart—and should we? How have poets thought and written about hope across centuries? This class will explore poetry as a medium for thinking about hope. We will read, contemplate, and discuss poems by authors including Langston Hughes, Jane Hirshfield, Muriel Rukeyser, Wang Ping, Pablo Neruda, and Sarah Kay in conversation with one another. Then, we will write our own poems to reflect on how we each engage with hope.

In this class, we will examine how various disciplines—art, poetry, philosophy, psychology, and science—approach the concept of the unknown. First, we will analyze and enjoy creative works on the themes of uncertainty, exploration, and unknowability by authors and artists including Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Antonio Machado, Vincent Van Gogh, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Caspar David Friedrich. Next, we will discuss philosophers and psychologists’ insights on human engagement with the unknown across time, looking at excerpts from Plato’s dialogues, Descartes’ Meditations, and several modern psychological studies. Finally, we turn to science, tracing the evolution of the scientific method and learning about developments in quantum mechanics to illuminate the ways in which humanity grapples with the mysteries of the cosmos and the subatomic realm.

This class will explore the interconnectedness of artistic expression and mathematical reasoning through the world of trees. First, we will study poems about trees by Rilke, Robert Frost, Mary Oliver, and Padma Venkatraman, focusing on themes of growth, resilience, wonder, and the connection between humanity and the natural world. Next, we'll examine how trees have sparked human innovation over time, with a focus on tree diagrams used to organize knowledge and data. We will explore mathematical applications of tree diagrams in probability and combinatorics. Finally, we will appreciate and draw inspiration from famous artworks inspired by trees, and create some art of our own.