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The Program
Think of the most wondrous questions that you have about the universe: its creation, its attributes, where it's heading and how you can study it. Then use your time, along with the knowledge of our professors, program associates and consultants, to search for answers. This is the foundation of the Science, Discovery & the Universe program.
Science, Discovery & the Universe gives you the time and the guidance to research your queries and curiosities. Each semester, our faculty engages our community in the most up-to-date findings of multiple aspects of the universe--from the formation of solar systems and galaxies to the intricacies of measurement instrumentation, to NASA spacecraft missions, to the philosophies of science and its communication.
We introduce our students to research techniques used by astronomers, computer scientists, physicists, geologists, astro-physicists, engineers and other involved in the study of the cosmos. Our weekly freshman colloquia explore varied and rich topics: colonization of Mars, adaptive optics, the accelerating universe, time elements of quarks and the politics and business of communicating and implementing scientific findings.
The program goes beyond the classroom to see science, research, and service made "real." In the second year of the program, students have opportunities to work on many different projects, from internships to primary research to service projects. In the past, interns have worked at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, experimented with ferroelectric memory research on campus and served as teaching assistants in campus-wide science classes. Students who chose primary research worked in laboratories with senior researchers, conducted surveys on the psychological effects of UFO's, studied the feasibility of commercial space development and examined the effects of the media's science reporting. And past service projects have included: teaching science to at-risk middle school girls, working at the campus observatory with high school students and serving as docents at the Explore-It-All Science Center.
In many different ways, Science, Discovery & the Universe connects students to the greater realities around us.