Special Area: The Modern Metropolis

Explore the history of the modern city - and look toward the sustainable cities of the future. 

Case studies include Dubai, New York City, and Shanghai.

You'll investigate the impact of cities on society and on individual lives - and you'll also look at the cities that people once imagined but never came to be, complete with flying cars.

Science: Biotechnology

Genetic engineering, the extension of the human lifespan, stem cell therapies, the implantation of computers in our heads: the future is full of possibilities both exciting and troubling.

Explore the science behind these developments, past and possible - and debate their ethics. 

If you could clone yourself, would you?

History: When Everything Changes

Technology and social transformation: from the printing press to the microwave. You have probably seen Facebook change the world (and how you interact with your friends) in your own lifetime. Your parents were born in an area without cell phones; now you can surf the Internet in the palm of your hand.

In the history area, you will look at examples of many other technologies throughout history, some famous, some less famous - and how they changed the world in which we live.

Literature: Changing Worlds, Changing Lives

Explore six stories by authors such as Isaac Asimov, Robert Charles Wilson, and Ray Bradbury. In one, a world experiences its first nightfall in two thousand years. In another, the heart-wrenching "Flowers for Algernon", an experiment turns an idiot into a genius - and then into an idiot all over again.

Read nine poems about the rise of the city - and the arrival of our modern world. 

Watch a film, Forrest Gump, about a simple man who was there at one moment after another when the world transformed all around him - and had no idea what was going on. 

The Arts: A World in Flux

Explore artworks about three kinds of transformation in the world: political, technological, and metropolitan. Works range from The Death of Marat to xkcd.

Listen to selected works from musical theater and film - from Rent and Fiddler on the Roof to South Park and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog.  

Economics: The New Economy

What forces drive supply and demand? What causes unemployment? 

Explore the impact of globalization and the Internet on modern businesses and economies.

Only the senior division studies economics. 

Special Area: The Psychology of War

Explore the roots of human violence and the consequences of war for soldiers and civilians.

Why is it so easy to disagree, and so hard to compromise?

History: When the World Breaks

Explore the reasons that entire countries, religions, and cultures have broken apart. Why are there two Koreas? What caused Islam to split in half? 

Look at case studies from across thousands of years, from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms in China to the Spanish Civil War.

Science: Great Conflicts in Science

Explore scientific disagreements from ancient times to the modern world? Is the world flat? Is light a wave or a particle? Where did the moon come from? 

Learn about the scientific method and the idea of scientific revolution. 

Then, research some of today's cutting-edge conflicts, including the possibility of time travel. 

Literature: Divided Worlds, Divided Loyalties

Explore The Lions of Al-Rassan, a fantasy novel set in medieval Spain. 

Learn six poems related to a divided world, including Emily Dickinson's "Faith is a Fine Invention".

Watch a film, The Motorcycle Diaries, about the adventures of a young Che Guevara in South America. 

Fine Arts: The Art and Music of A World Divided

Explore artworks about the divisions between people and countries. 

Listen to music related to separation and conflict.

Then, research some of the world's most famous war monuments and national anthems. 

Economics: The Economics of Wealth and Poverty

What forces drive supply and demand? What causes unemployment? 

Explore why some countries and people are rich, and others poor. 

Only the senior and university divisions study economics.