‘Summer’ Articles at Brandeis Summer School Blog

Staying Sane During Quarantine

June 28, 2020 / BrandeisGPS / Comments Off

These past weeks have proved to be trying times for the global community. The transition to an online world has left many scrambling for a sense of normalcy. Many find themselves worried about the safety of their loved ones, especially if they are in the high-risk category. Others are trying to maintain their regular study and work schedule during a pandemic. So, how do we keep our sanity during this unprecedented global lockdown?

Brandeis University student and GPS blog writer, Angela Self, compiled a list of some helpful tips to stay sane during quarantine:

1. Stick to a routine

Being stuck inside can make the days blend together and amplify negative emotions. Creating a sense of structure during these uncertain times can help to soothe nerves. Take some time out of your day to figure out all of the activities that were important to you before the global pandemic. Did you go to the gym everyday? Try to workout at home (there are plenty of free workouts on youtube). Create a detailed schedule and stick to it. Be sure to include when to wake up, shower, work, exercise, and most importantly, when you can relax. Hopefully this will help to create some semblance of normalcy.

2. Limit your news intake

It is important to keep up-to-date with information regarding the Coronavirus, especially when it concerns regulations or guidelines for public interactions in your area. But obsessing over the latest Coronavirus news can be unhealthy and detrimental to your mental health. Consider limiting your news intake to just one or two times a day. Also, remember to check the reliability of your news source. One of the best sources of information about the Coronavirus is the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Another great resource for mental health coping strategies during these unprecedented times is NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness), which we encourage everyone to read.

3.Stay physically active

WHO, otherwise known as the World Health Organization, strongly recommends that everyone finds a way to stay physically active during self-quarantine. It’s important to our health and well-being to avoid remaining sedentary. Try taking a few breaks during your day to go on short walks, even if it’s just around your house. And get outside if you can! Just remember that if you plan on exercising outside, to do so by abiding by the CDC guidelines.

Brandeis Summer School students walking up the stairs to an academic building on campus.

Still Undecided on your Major/Minor?

May 16, 2019 / BrandeisGPS / Comments Off

Do you want to explore your major or minor options but haven’t had the time? Brandeis Summer School provides students with a general overview of many different fields of study by offering several introductory courses over the summer.

Perhaps you want to consider philosophical questions such as: What can we know about the world external to our senses? What can we know about the thoughts and feelings of others? What is the relationship between our minds and our brains? What makes an action right or wrong? The PHIL 1A: Introduction to Philosophy course aims to motivate these questions and introduce students to the methods of contemporary analytic philosophy.

Maybe you want to study the basics of neuroscience from a biological perspective: How does the brain talk to the body? How is visual information transformed from the eye to the brain? How does learning and memory work? The NPSY 11B: Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience course considers cells, circuits of neurons, and regions of the brain, but does not require prior specific biological knowledge.

Or maybe you wonder about “Globalization” and how it touches our lives more each and every day. The IGS 10A: Introduction to International and Global Studies class introduces the historical origins of globalization, then addresses the challenges of globalization to national and international governance, economic success, individual and group identities, cultural diversity, and the environment.

Perhaps you want to join the journey through the bio-cultural transformations of humanity, which highlights the emergence of bipedal locomotion, the increased levels of encephalization, changes in subsistence practices, the control of fire, the appearance of language, and the anthropogenic impacts of the global dispersal of modern humans, in ANTH 5A – Human Origins.

Whatever your interest, the Summer School offers courses from a wide variety of academic disciplines including: Anthropology, Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Contemporary Art, Economics, English, Fine Arts, Health Care Policy, History, International and Global Studies, Literature, Mathematics, Neuroscience, Philosophy, Physics, Psychology, Religious Studies, Screenplay Writing, Sociology, and Theater Arts.

Explore all of our summer course offerings and register today!

If you have questions you can always email us at summerschool@brandeis.edu.

We look forward to learning with you this summer!

Student reviewing course materials on his laptop with a background illustrating the stock market rising.

Thinking about a Economics major or minor? Start your study with ECON 10a this summer!

May 1, 2019 / Editor / Comments Off

ECON 10A: Introduction to Microeconomics is intended for all possible economics majors, minors, and for all other students who plan to take Econ 20 (Introduction to Macroeconomics) later in their academic career. This is the first economics course that economics students should take at Brandeis, and anyone contemplating a major or minor should start with this course.

The course will give you an idea of the range of behaviors that economists investigate, introduce you to the basic tools that we use to analyze economic behavior, and apply these tools to public policy issues. Perhaps most important, this course will introduce you to the “economic way of thinking,” an approach to decision making that applies to personal decisions, to the decisions of businesses, labor unions and other organizations, and to the larger choices that society faces.

This course satisfies the School of Social Science (SS) distribution requirement and the Quantitative Reasoning (QR) component of the General University Requirements. It is also the first course for any student considering a concentration or minor in Economics.

This course has two “broad” goals. First, it is hoped that everyone will come out of this course a more educated citizen, being able to use basic economic principles to critically evaluate the arguments for and against public policy proposals (various tax proposals, immigration reform). Second, this course should give students the theoretical tools necessary for success in subsequent economics courses.

Learn more about registration for the Brandeis Summer School here.

Which Hogwarts’ house do you belong to?

April 30, 2019 / BrandeisGPS / Comments Off

Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff? Discover your house loyalty this summer with William Flesch in his Young Adult Literature class (ENG 21A).

You will explore the purest form of story-telling and ponder what it means to be a person (human or otherwise). Since this is a summer class, the reading list is flexible and at the beginning of the course students and the instructor will brainstorm a set of readings together.

Book options may include:

Rowling: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Cooper: The Hunger Games
Stevenson: Kidnapped
Pullman: The Golden Compass
Lewis: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
Valente: Space Opera
Lowry: The Giver

Interested in skipping straight to the heart of the narrative? Explore how very short fiction works in William Flesch’s Modern American Short Story class (ENG 180A).

You will be able to propose your preferred reading list and select which short stories you want to explore and examine further this summer. Past picks included writers as different as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Flannery O’Connor, Richard Wright, and Harry Turtledove.

William Flesch is a Professor of English at Brandeis and works on the “nature of literary experience, from Homer through present day movies, and on what an accurate description of literary experience can offer evolutionary psychologists and cognitive theorists.” He has been cited by Newsweek as one of America’s “Great College Professors”: https://www.newsweek.com/four-great-college-professors-78703

Space for this summer is filling up quickly so reserve your spot today!

If you have any questions e-mail us at: summerschool@brandeis.edu.

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Summer Activities

July 10, 2018 / murph / Comments Off

Brandeis Summer School gladly offers a variety of activities throughout the summer. These events are free to students and are offered throughout the summer sessions.

We do our best to offer these programs on various days, at various times, and to cater to various interests. We design these activities to provide students with an opportunity to interact with their peers as well as the community around them. We realize our summer courses are academically challenging, and these activities are scheduled to help give students a study break.

Earlier this summer, we took a group of students out to Six Flags. Later this season, we’ll head to the beach. We offer regular trips to local grocery stores, host trivia nights, welcome ice cream trucks to Brandeis, and get students off campus and into the city.

If you’re on campus for the summer and interested in participating – whether it be on a kayaking trip or games on the field – email the Brandeis Summer School at summersc@brandeis.edu to learn more.

Tag: summer (page 1 of 3)