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2008 Catalog

Courses

The courses at CTY-Princeton focus on global issues in the twenty-first century. As they examine topics ranging from war to pandemics to data security, students wrestle with many of the major socio-political challenges of our time. For instance, Human Nature and Technology explores various facets of human nature in relation to our reliance on technology in our every day lives, while Epidemiology  deals with AIDS and other infectious diseases within the context of public health. Although these courses may contain more graphic and controversial content (e.g., R-rated films, vivid accounts of political violence) than found in some school settings, all materials are course relevant, approached from an academic standpoint, and taught with sensitivity to the age of the students and with appropriate guidance and support from instructors. When selecting courses, students should consider their comfort levels with the course's content major themes.

All courses are open to math/science and writing/humanities qualifiers. Please note the prerequisites and remember that you must attach documentation in order to be placed in the course.

Advanced Cryptology
In today’s environment, data transmission and data security play an increasingly critical role in the global marketplace and national security. This course focuses on code making and code breaking, as well as the mathematical basis of cryptology.

Beginning with historic ciphers such as the Caesar Shift or the Hill Cipher, students explore the use of modular arithmetic and linear algebra in encyrpting and decrypting techniques. They next analyze additional encryption schemes such as affine and permutation ciphers, the Vigenére cipher, as well as more advanced block and stream ciphers. While learning to identify the strengths and vulnerabilities of these systems, students write their own codes and practice cracking them using statistical and other methods.

Sample texts: Materials compiled by the instructor.

Prerequisite: CTY’s Cryptology course or at least a “B” in Algebra II.

Epidemiology, Re-emerging Infectious Diseases, and Pandemics
Since 2004, there have been over 200 confirmed cases of avian flu in ten countries. In 2003 over 1,185,000 persons in the United States were living with HIV, and in 2005 over 350 million people contracted malaria. Despite almost daily scientific breakthroughs, infectious diseases remain one of the leading causes of death worldwide. How are these statistics compiled, and how are they used to combat these diseases? For instance, how can the World Health Organization (WHO) reach its goal of halving the number of malaria cases by 2010?

Students in this course investigate the science and politics of disease. From examining the role that epidemiologists play in unlocking the points of origin of pandemics to dissecting the behavior of policymakers as they address AIDS or avian flu, students gain insight into the cause and spread of global diseases, the role of scientists in identifying, controlling, and/or preventing diseases, and the political and ethical implications therein. Moreover, students build a foundation in cell, bacterial, and viral biology as they explore topics including evolutionary biology and pathogenic resistance to drugs

While this is a science-based course, it also explores the interplay between society and disease by examining the roles of the arts and the media in highlighting not only issues of global health but also issues of human rights and the stigma associated with infectious diseases. Combining the societal lens with an understanding of the tools scientists use—from statistical analysis to computer modeling to biomedical research—students leave the course with a more complete understanding of how epidemiologists combat diseases in the present and prepare for diseases in the future.

Sample texts: Mountains Beyond Mountains, Kidder; The Coming Plague, Garrett; The Medical Detectives, Roueché.

Prerequisite: CTY’s Fast-Paced High School Biology or at least a “B” in first-year high school biology.

Global Politics: Human Rights and Justice
This course examines the roles and responsibilities of nations and international organizations (governmental and non-governmental) in the areas of human rights and justice. Focusing on recent cases ranging from Rwanda to Yugoslavia to China to Iraq, students examine such issues as how much independence individual nations should have in defining human rights standards, when a nation’s economic stability should outweigh other global responsibilities, and how nations can heal themselves in the aftermath of atrocities.            

Students address these and other questions as they are introduced to various statistics on global inequalities and to key theories of justice and their applications in international decision making. By examining case studies, they learn the importance of analyzing world events from a number of different perspectives. In addition, students explore issues such as culture, religion, and technology alongside traditional topics such as history, government, and economics. By addressing the interplay of these variables, students think critically about the complex forces that shape our world. In doing so, they gain a greater understanding of the tangled decisions nations make when balancing sovereign interests and international human rights.

Sample text: Mobilization of Shame: A Worldview of Human Rights, Drinan.

Human Nature and Technology
Answers to the question of human nature, of who and what we are, abound in the history of philosophy and extend into all areas of philosophical inquiry. The question of technology, although a relatively recent intellectual concern, has also pervaded the realm of philosophy, occupying philosophers of mind, ethicists, metaphysicians, and thinkers in a variety of other disciplines. The fact that technology can aid human beings in their quest for the good life or be catastrophically destructive, combined with its apparent potential to alter fundamental aspects of our human nature, has led to philosophic reactions ranging from whole-hearted endorsement of technology to wholesale rejection of the picture of humanity as the “technological species.” 

This philosophy course explores the question of human nature in light of the extraordinary technological advancements of the contemporary era, including new sources of communication (e.g., the Internet), developments in biotechnology (e.g., the mapping of the human genome), developments in artificial intelligence and cybernetics, and modern devices of warfare (e.g., nuclear weapons), among others. Students consider how the human ability to transform our environment by means of culture and technology affects our individual and collective self-understanding, as well as our reflections on the meaning and value of human life.

Although this is a philosophy course, it is interdisciplinary in scope, and students may be exposed to readings from a wide range of disciplines, including literature, history, and biology. As they explore the relationship between human nature and technology, students critique primary philosophical works, participate in discussions and debates, and write analytical essays.

Sample Texts: Philosophy of Technology: The Technological Condition: An Anthology, Scharff; Natural-Born Cyborgs: Minds, Technologies, and the Future of Human Intelligence, Clarke; On the Internet, Dreyfus.

Politics and Film
As early masterworks like Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin (Russia, 1925) and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (Germany, 1927) illustrate, film has always been a key medium for exploring and confronting urgent political and social concerns around the world. By dramatizing important, controversial events and situations, directors place viewers into narrative contexts that allow them to experience people and circumstances that might otherwise remain somewhat remote.

This course examines films from different cultures and traditions that deal with some of the most pressing international political issues of our time. From David O. Russell’s deconstruction of American military intervention in the Persian Gulf War in Three Kings (United States, 1999) to Fernando Meirelles’ poignant portrait of abject poverty and the devastation of AIDS in northern Kenya in The Constant Gardener (United Kingdom, 2005), students analyze crucial works of world cinema within the complex historical and political contexts which give rise to such films. Beginning with a classic of political filmmaking such as Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers (Algeria, 1967), students learn the language of contemporary film criticism and focus on critical issues such as poverty and violence, the just use of force, imperialism, and oppression based upon race, ethnicity, class, and gender. Students also consider how directors approach political issues from different perspectives and narrative techniques.

Students study four to six complete films in depth, and write and revise four formal critical essays. Through intense discussion and analytical writing, students grapple with some of the most prescient issues that our world faces today and gain the foundational skills necessary to successfully engage the ever-increasing complex global society in which we all live.

Sample texts: My Battle of Algiers: A Memoir, Morgan; We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rawanda, Gourevitch; A Short Guide to Writing About Film, Corrigan.

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