2009 Course Overview

explore ~ experience ~ expand

The courses listed below were offered in the summer of 2009.

• THE d.SCHOOL EXPERIENCE: Adventures in Design Thinking
  Sunday, September 13 - Friday, September 18, 2009
  No fee

  This week-long hands-on project-based workshop prepares students to lead innovation and design thinking in teams at Stanford and in careers beyond. Workshop activities introduce the methods of design thinking that go into the d.school courses on topics such as Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability, Software Design Experiences, and Creating Infectious Action. [More information]

• GLOBALIZATION, DEVELOPMENT AND AIDS IN AFRICAN HISTORY
  Sunday, September 13 (evening) - Friday, September 18, 2009
  No Fee.
  

  This class explores the challenges of defining and implementing “development” in modern African history. We pay particular attention to how the history of globalization and HIV/AIDS has impacted Africa and has shaped the politics and practices of development. We take seriously the legacy of the slave trade, European colonialism, the Cold War, and failed states. A central part outcome will be to think critically about the context and performance of development projects from microfinance to big construction projects. [More Information]

• GREEN TECHNOLOGIES FOR CLIMATE STABILIZATION AND ENERGY SECURITY
  Sunday, September 13 (evening) - Friday, September 18, 2009
  No fee
  

  This course will combine lectures, field trips and hands-on experimentation to explore the potential for green technologies to help address two of the most critical energy and environmental problems of our time: global warming and energy security. While our focus is on technology, we will also deal with economic, business and policy considerations. [More information]

• INSIDE PANDORA'S BOX: A Non-Specialist Look at Five Medical Advances with Spectacular Potential but Enormous Ethical Complexity
  Monday, September 14 - Friday, September 18, 2009 (mornings only)
  No fee
  

  A class for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from diverse disciplines, with a special invitation to those outside the life sciences, to learn about and discuss the ethical implications behind five of the most exciting but ethically complex breakthroughs in modern medicine. The class will meet for five consecutive mornings, starting each day with an in-depth but non-technical explanation of that day’s subject followed by a discussion on the ethical implications of the advance. Topics will be selected by a vote of participants from a list that the participants will assemble. Possible topics include: stem cells and regenerative medicine, genome-based medicine, ancestry determination, the rise of autoimmune diseases, genetically engineered animals as human organ donors, pandemic flu, the AIDS pandemic, etc. [More Information]

• I-RITE/I-SPEAK: Learn to Communicate Your Research Effectively, Clearly, and Succinctly
  Tuesday, September 8 - Friday, September 11, 2009
  No fee
  

  This program assists graduate and postdoctoral students in developing streamlined, highly understandable, and compelling written and oral accounts of their research for non-specialized audiences. Topics include interpersonal and public speaking, adapting to various communication contexts, and using metaphors and analogies for clarity and effective description. Through this time-efficient and focused approach, participants will learn how to prepare for successful job talks, grant proposals, and informal conversations with professional and personal contacts. [More Information]

• SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Launch Your Business
  Sunday, June 21 — Friday, July 17
  Cost — $600 for Stanford students, plus an application fee of $40
  

  Discover what it takes to develop an idea into a successful venture through an intensive four-week business management program for graduate students in non-business fields. [More Information]

  The application period for the Summer Institute for Entrepreneurship is now closed. Please look back in the autumn for next year's announcement.

• UNITED STATES AND CHINA: Past, Present and Future
  Monday, September 14 - Friday, September 18, 2009
  No fee
  

  This workshop will bring graduate students from across the University to consider, in broad and even speculative terms, the history and possible future of relations between the United States and China. Faculty from a variety of disciplines will discuss the inter-action in terms of history, culture, economics, politics, security, and society. Are the two possible enemies, rivals, or friends? How might the relationship affect economies, societies, and cultures? In what ways might historical trends and cultural patterns affect the relationship? In what ways might the relationship shape regional or even global conditions? [More Information]