Horizon Seminar Courses
Horizon Academic offers two distinct kinds of research experiences: Horizon Labs, which is a one-on-one research mentorship program, and Horizon Seminar. Horizon Seminar allows high school students to complete a college-level research project under the guidance of a professor or lecturer with decades of teaching experience in their field. Students develop individualized research topics and attend small group classes, with an average class size of 4 and a maximum of 6 students. Our Senior Instructors lead 14 classes throughout the trimester, and our Teaching Assistants (who tend to be masters or PhD students in these fields) offer an additional 6 sessions for review, discussion, and feedback. Although Horizon Seminar classes meet in small groups of 4-6 students, all students complete their own individual research project and are not expected to agree upon a research topic with other students.
(Unavailable Fall 2023)
How do ecosystems collapse? How can we engineer solutions to environmental catastrophe? Dr. Truncer’s course explores how human society can react to environmental systems collapse. Students may examine and research a variety of sustainability issues with regard to agricultural production, urbanization, infrastructure, resource use, and modern day engineering innovations. Dr. Truncer has previously taught this course at Harvard University and Stanford University.
How does our psychology influence the decisions we make every day and, ultimately, economic outcomes? We explore the rules-of-thumb that our brains constantly employ to makes choices, and how they can backfire, leading to biases in our decisions. You will be a participant in live experiments and learn how social scientists use them to study behavior. Professor Gallo has previously taught at Harvard and Oxford, and he currently teaches behavioral economics at Cambridge.
(Only Available Spring and Summer Terms)
The course will explain and illustrate research methods in psychology using current research on human emotions, emotion regulation, and emotional disorders. Students will become familiar with research methods and experimental designs in these areas. Students will also design a study on a current topic of their choice in one of these areas.
(The Seminar track of this course is only available in the spring and summer terms, turn to the Labs track for a year-round option)
What are the causes of war and peace? How does the international system affect the behavior of states, and how does this affect people on the ground? We explore the theories, patterns, and frameworks of international relations. We critically examine controversies surrounding current phenomena such as world governance, state failure, international injustice, and great power competition. Professor Rezvani had previously taught this course at Dartmouth, Harvard, and Oxford.
(Only Available Summer Terms)
Knot Theory is the mathematical branch of topology with many applications, including analyzing DNA structures. In this theoretical math course, we study knot theory with an eye for one of the most foundational uses of all: understanding causality and the relationship between events. We will analyze models of knots and links in 2+1-dimensional spacetimes and apply computable link invariants to study what invariants can plausibly enable us to detect causality between two points or events.
(Only Available in Summer Terms)
Internet attacks are increasingly sophisticated and complex, and they can have huge impact on our everyday lives. Do you really know how the Internet works? Are you sure that your personal data is well protected? In this class, we will first build our background knowledge on how computers communicate with one another through the internet. Then, we'll use machine learning approaches to detect compromised machines through network traffic, denial of service attacks, and hijacking attacks.
(Only available in Summer terms)
Public social media platforms have become very popular avenues for many people to get news to share their thoughts, feelings, and worldviews. In turn, social media data feeds can provide invaluable insights and strong signals of emerging problems. For example, leveraging powerful machine learning tools and social media feeds, we can detect when a social media account is involved with spreading misinformation, fake news, and hate speech, or in engaging in cyberbullying or malicious “trolling.” Additionally, we can predict when a user might have indications of mental health decline such as depression.
(Only Available in Summer Terms)
Computational neuroscience is divided into three subspecialties: neural coding, biophysics of neurons, and neural networks. This course explores how the brain processes information from the cellular level and the network level with the aim of explaining what nervous systems do and how they function. Students will be familiarized with the basic techniques of modeling biophysics, excitable membranes, small and large-scale network systems, neuroengineering methods and technologies for studying therapeutic solutions to brain diseases or damage to the CNS.
(Only Available in Summer Terms)
This course aims to convey theoretical and practical knowledge on the pathophysiology, clinical features, epidemiological aspects, treatment regimens, and neurobiological substrates of neurodegenerative diseases and explore the molecular, cellular and network pathways that are connected to the neurology and neuroscience of such diseases. While “neurodegenerative disease” is an umbrella term for a wide range of conditions that influence neurons in the central and peripheral nervous system, the focus will be on Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Traumatic Brain Injury.
The availability of computer power and massive data has propelled the growth of data science as a discipline and its application to numerous fields. In this course, we study machine learning techniques, the mathematics behind those techniques, and the computer language Python, to implement those techniques on real data. As a course project, the student will have the option of analyzing a real data set or exploring mathematical aspects of machine learning. The topics of the possible course projects are listed below.
(Only Available in Summer Terms)
This course explores algorithms, data structures, and the Python programming language. In the course, students will better understand the mechanics of how real-world computer programs work and how to develop their own programs in Python. We focus on efficient algorithm design, something which allows smaller and less complex devices like wearables to do tasks that once required powerful processors and which has brought down the cost of life-saving research like genomic sequencing from billions to only hundreds of dollars.
Horizon Labs Courses
Horizon Labs offers high school students the opportunity to work one-on-one with leading researchers and lecturers from some of the world's best known universities to develop highly specialized and unique research projects in interdisciplinary topics in the sciences and humanities. Horizon Labs allows students to get individualized mentorship from instructors who are on the front lines of PhD-level research, often who are in the process of completing their own PhD or postdoctoral research. These instructors are intimately acquainted with the latest studies, the most relevant data sets, and the most interesting perspectives being introduced in their respective fields. Through 20 hours of one-on-one mentorship with their instructors, Horizon Labs students can get access to useful and unique data sets, develop customized reading lists to enrich their writing, get individualized feedback about their paper drafts, and hear advice on publication opportunities from experts in their fields.
Machine learning and predictive analytics can be used in a stunning number of ways. From predicting the price of a stock you buy, to estimating the chances that your flight will be delayed, to estimating how well your favorite sports team might do next game, to even guessing the outcomes of a Supreme Court case, machine learning can help us predict the world around us. This course examines interesting and unlikely applications of machine learning that advance social goals, improve economic efficiency, or better understand the world around us.
What is a ‘mind’? How do our minds hook onto the world? Are artificial intelligences genuine minds? Could trees be conscious? How can we scientifically study the mind, which is something we seem to know only through introspection? How do minds come to know the physical world? This course uses philosophy and cognitive science to investigate the nature of mind, consciousness and cognition. Students can focus on interpreting scientific experiments or on more philosophical issues. This is an adapted version of a course that Dr. Craig taught at Oxford University.
The decisions we make are always affected by the decisions of others. This course will study the different circumstances in which humans interact on a pair, community, and national scale. We will cover a wide range of topics, starting with popular models in game theory such as the Prisoners Dilemma and different versions of auctions. We will then progress to understanding how information and preferences can spread through different networks, focusing on how these networks are formed and taking examples from social influence and epidemic spreading. Finally, we explore decision making in the context of politics.
How did life begin? What is the basis for human life and how are scientists learning to manipulate our genetic code? How can CRISPR allow use to control genetic expressions and human development? How is CRISPR being used in cutting edge diagnostic approaches and treatments? How can we theorize and understand the medical and social risks of CRISPR? This course allows students to interpret, understand, and perhaps build on leading scientific research on CRISPR and Gene Editing.
Horizon Academic is thrilled to offer a full range of 72 subtopics in psychology, spanning key questions in clinical, social, developmental, and cognitive psychology. Our psychology program started out with a narrower focus on data science and pathology, but our psychology offerings have continued to grow as more instructors of diverse psychology backgrounds have joined our team. We invite you to have a closer look at the many diverse psychology sub-topics we offer.
Never before has there been so much available data about various diseases and possible genetic associations with them. At the same time, new machine learning tools and data science techniques are enabling researchers to identify patterns and linkages between genes and disease. In this course, we first begin by reviewing key concepts in data analysis and machine learning. From there, students may explore connections between genetics and cardiovascular disease, autism, heart disease, allergies or autoimmune diseases.
Fluid dynamics governs the water you drink, the air you breathe, and the blood running through you — even the plasma that makes up the stars. The intricacies of fluid motion are easily seen by watching phenomena such as the flame or smoke of a candle, the clouds moving overhead, or the ocean waves breaking against the shoreline — all fluids without a repeated pattern. The motion is constantly changing, sensitive to perturbations, and therefore difficult to predict. Fluid dynamics provides us the tools to better understand these complicated motions — through analytic, experimental, and computational study.
What are proteins? How do enzymes speed up chemistry? What do the proteins in photosynthesis and the electron transport chain actually do to capture energy? What role do they play in the emerging antibiotic resistant bacteria which are increasing mortality in hospitals and how do they influence viral infection? Is there anything proteins can teach us about physics? In this course we will discuss these questions and more based on our own research and multiple biophysics courses we have taken from world leaders in these topics at Stanford.
How do organizations make good decisions, and why do they sometimes make bad ones? In what ways can team dynamics be improved? How can businesses foster creativity and innovation, and why are they important? This course examines the intersection of business and management studies, behavioral sciences, and psychology. Organizations, such as schools, startups, non-profits, corporations, and governments, are complex social systems that influence, and are influenced by, individual and group behavior.
How was slavery classified in the Greco-Roman world? What alternative forms of bondage existed alongside it? What were the conditions of the slave systems during this time? How might we imagine the lives of those under bondage? To what extent were slaves able to express their autonomy? How was love expressed among people in the Greco-Roman world? Are there any compelling cases in other eras that merit further comparisons? In this course, we work to gather an accurate picture of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, not only from the perspective of political leaders and social elites, but from the perspective of the laborers, artisans, soldiers, and slaves who made up the majority of these societies.
How is it that you can smell a shampoo fragrance hours after cleaning your hair? What is the purpose of the long list of ingredients in your favorite snack? How can you control the release of new therapeutic drugs in human bodies? This class begins with key concepts on formulation chemistry (emulsion preparation, system stability, encapsulation techniques, characterization methods) before studying concrete applications in filtration, food, paints & coatings, cosmetics or pharmaceutical industries. Projects may consist of applications of machine learning to predict chemical reactions or material properties, or extensive literature reviews on a specific scientific challenge at the intersection of formulation chemistry and Material Science.
In recent decades, views on what constitutes a “mental illness” and what constitutes humane treatments have evolved with social norms. Psychopathology has also become increasingly amenable to the discussion of “public issues” that fall outside of an individual’s private life. This course takes a sociological lens to the study of psychotherapy, grounding itself in the emergence of a modern “therapeutic society.” We focus on the practice of psychotherapy itself and the topics that individuals bring to psychotherapy, as well as how those topics are discussed in society. In so doing, we consider both the role of “the medical expert”—the therapist—and the role of “the patient”—the individual attending therapy.
We investigate the concepts central to the writing and understanding of history. These include, on the one hand, theoretical concepts like objectivity, historical fact, causality, agency, determinism, and morality; on the other, more empirical concepts like nation, empire, revolution, global, race, culture, and identity. Reading selected writings by distinguished historians, we will analyze how these concepts shape the way historical events and processes are interpreted.
What justifies the authority of the state? What are the basic liberties that a just society should secure? How should societies reckon with implicit bias, historical injustices, and structures of racism, classism, and sexism? Can meritocracy exist alongside entrenched privilege? We examine these questions and more in Mr. Cabezas's course, based on his section of the Contemporary Civilization (CC) course at Columbia University.
Horizon Academic offers a wide range of 57 sub-topics in neuroscience, ranging from social neuroscience, neurobiology, and more than a dozen topics about neurodegeneration disorders. Originally created in collaboration with two of our instructors working at the Department of Physiology Anatomy & Genetics at Oxford, our neuroscience offerings have continued to grow in recognition of our students' diverse interests in this exciting field.
What are the causes of war and peace? How does the international system affect the behavior of states, and how does this affect people on the ground? We explore the theories, patterns, and frameworks of international relations. We critically examine controversies surrounding current phenomena such as world governance, state failure, international injustice, and great power competition.
