Upper School Intersession 2025

Poison frogs are a fantastic model organism that you can use to study a variety of biological wonders -- including (but not limited to) aposematism, toxicity, parental behavior, and juvenile aggression. In Dr. Lauren O'Connell's lab, we study these problems from multiple angles. Today, I will discuss how you can study juvenile aggression through a molecular lens: studying the aspects of poison frog (epi)genetics that deal with sensing and responding to the social environment. A basic understanding of biology is recommended (do you know the central dogma: DNA > RNA > Protein? If not, I'll give a refresher at the start of class, but it would be good to brush up on the material before attending; I'll provide a link)

What do self-driving cars, Alexa, iPhone's face recognition technology, and ChatGPT have in common? They are driven by modern advances in artificial intelligence. Whether you’re interested in law, healthcare, art, or economics, AI is poised to transform every discipline and industry in the future. AI is already all around us today, and by the end of the program, students will understand the underlying concepts and motivations behind technology such as computer vision, natural language processing, and neural networks.
 
In this course, we will explore the foundations of machine learning and explore different applications of machine learning models. In the first half of the course, students learn AI’s core technologies including applications, foundational concepts, and programming tools through live lectures and coding labs. Students will not only learn about different types of machine learning models but also apply those models to real data sets. In the second half of the course, students will complete an instructor-led group project applying AI to the discipline of their choice (e.g., music, healthcare, astrophysics, finance, etc.), utilizing the programming skills they developed in the first half.

Please read more here!

Course Structure

Machine Learning Talks
Learn about machine learning algorithms and techniques in a uniquely interactive, engaging format, before you apply that knowledge in live coding labs.

Hands-On Python Coding
Develop valuable skills in Python, machine learning, and artificial intelligence in our hands-on coding labs, using cutting-edge research to solve real-world problems like breast cancer diagnosis, building self-driving cars, and more.

Project-Based Learning
In our AI for Social Good project, students will be able to apply their newly acquired talents in a collaborative, challenging environment, applying AI to a domain they’re passionate about (e.g., music, healthcare, astrophysics, finance, etc.). Students can use these projects in their résumés and college applications.

Have you ever wondered why we have two eyes? In this course, we'll cover some of the basics of sensation and perception including some of the benefits and drawbacks that humans experience in having double sensory organs. There will be lots of interactive demonstrations as well as a fun experiment/activity! This is the place for you if you're interested in science, biology, psychology, and how humans sense and perceive the world! No prior knowledge necessary.

Have you ever wondered why we have two eyes? In this course, we'll cover some of the basics of sensation and perception including some of the benefits and drawbacks that humans experience in having double sensory organs. There will be lots of interactive demonstrations as well as a fun experiment/activity! This is the place for you if you're interested in science, biology, psychology, and how humans sense and perceive the world! No prior knowledge necessary.

If you are interested in healthcare and/or dermatology, this is the workshop for you! The Interactive Technology for Skin: Community Outreach, Research, and Education (iTS-CORE) workshop is an exciting, hands-on experience where you’ll come visit the Stanford campus to get an inside look into healthcare and dermatology. This is a unique opportunity to explore your curiosity through different stations that cover everything from career journeys to cool skin science. Here’s what’s in store:

1. Healthcare Career Panel: Meet medical students, nurses, and physicians who will share their journeys in healthcare — hear about the multiple paths or career changes to medicine/healthcare and how everyone has a unique and inspiring story!

2. Skin Health Basics: Discover the science of your skin! You’ll learn how melanin plays a role in skin health, what causes acne (and how to manage it), and why sun protection is important for everyone.

3. Hands-On Dermatology: Step into a dermatologist's shoes by practicing with the tools they use everyday – look at your skin with a dermatoscope, practice punch biopsies, and dive into our augmented/virtual reality dermatology game to learn about skin cancer and smart sun habits.
4. Optional Lab Tour: Pending time, we will take a tour of an active Stanford lab working on bacteriophages.

There is no prerequisite skills or knowledge needed to participate in this experience.

This session is OFF CAMPUS and hosted at Stanford. Transportation will be provided by Nueva.

Neuroscience is a relatively young field in biomedical research, but it has revolutionized our understanding of how humans and other organisms perceive and interact with the world. Additionally, neuroscience research has elucidated some of the mysteries of brain disease that have long since eluded the medical field. In this intersession course, students will take a survey of the world of neuroscience, with a focus on how the brain perceives and interacts with its environment.

The session will be divided into two parts: 1) a lecture-based survey of neuroscience that tracks the anatomy and physiology of how the brain processes visual stimuli and then plans and executes movements. The session will use the simple example of hitting a baseball to highlight the complex visual and motor computations that that the brain performs in less than a few tenths of a second. 2) The second half of the lesson will be a practical experiment where students will measure their own visual-motor reaction times and to use that data to estimate the speed at which information is processed in their brains and whether we can experimentally modulate information processing.

This lab will teach you the basics of surgery and how to suture a wound. Get the opportunity to learn valuable medical skills related to surgical professions. This class will also guide you through the steps nurses, doctors, and surgeons follow to clean, disinfect and anesthetize wounds prior to surgery and suturing.

How does the brain influence the way that we perceive the world? My research seeks to understand this question! Come by for a crash course on some basic neuroscience and fun experiments to get a taste of what it means to be a human with a brain and sensing organs.

No previous skills required! If you're interested in psychology, biology or human feeling/sensing/experience, this is definitely the place for you. I might ask for some participants in some experiments, if you’re willing!

This lab will teach you the basics of surgery and how to suture a wound. Get the opportunity to learn valuable medical skills related to surgical professions. This class will also guide you through the steps nurses, doctors, and surgeons follow to clean, disinfect and anesthetize wounds prior to surgery and suturing.

How does the brain influence the way that we perceive the world? My research seeks to understand this question! Come by for a crash course on some basic neuroscience and fun experiments to get a taste of what it means to be a human with a brain and sensing organs.

No previous skills required! If you're interested in psychology, biology or human feeling/sensing/experience, this is definitely the place for you. I might ask for some participants in some experiments, if you’re willing!

Join a discussion of the genomic technologies and collaboration platforms facilitating the discovery of 100s of new diseases each and what it's like to be among the first patients to be recognized to have a new disease.

This workshop is truly a one-of-a-kind medical experience that will teach each participant the basics of inserting and starting an IV, administering injections, collecting venous blood samples, and much more!

Whether you are interested in nursing and dermatology or anesthesia and surgery as possible career paths, this lab will allow you to practice and perfect the skills these professions use every day!

You will learn firsthand how healthcare professionals deliver life-saving medicine in hospitals and clinics using IVs and injections.

This workshop is truly a one-of-a-kind medical experience that will teach each participant the basics of inserting and starting an IV, administering injections, collecting venous blood samples, and much more!

Whether you are interested in nursing and dermatology or anesthesia and surgery as possible career paths, this lab will allow you to practice and perfect the skills these professions use every day!

You will learn firsthand how healthcare professionals deliver life-saving medicine in hospitals and clinics using IVs and injections.

What is gender affirming care? What are hormones and how do they work? How do doctors customize medical care for transgender and nonbinary patients to achieve their individual gender transition goals and optimize safe health outcomes?

This session will introduce hormonal pathways of the endocrine system, hormone medications commonly prescribed for gender affirming care and their effects on the human body. We will discuss how gender affirming hormone therapy induces physical and emotional changes that help transgender and gender diverse people feel more aligned with their identities. We will review current guidelines and best practices regarding informed consent, medical monitoring, and the importance of multidisciplinary health care.

No prerequisite skills or knowledge are required. We will review definitions and terminology at the beginning of the session to ensure we are using consistent, inclusive and respectful language.

In this session, the first 15-20 minutes will focus on explaining the journey from high school to college, including how I discovered my passion for healthcare, the classes that sparked my interest, and the ways I explored those interests further. I’ll then discuss the college application process and the path of a pre-dental student, covering topics like relevant coursework, shadowing experiences, and preparing for and taking the DAT.

I’ll also outline a traditional timeline for high school students interested in pursuing a healthcare career. Afterward, we’ll engage in a manual dexterity project, a skill valuable not only for future dentists but also for surgeons, nurses, physical therapists, physician assistants, and more. No prerequisites are required for this session.

Why were grown men once absolutely terrified to ride trains? What would compel well-to-do women to swear off all physical activity and eat nothing but heavy cream soups? Why were doctors so worried about wristwatches? How did Coca-Cola – with traces of cocaine – become America’s favorite headache remedy?

In a word: anxiety. 

In this session, we’ll explore the history of modern America through its wild, amusing, and sometimes disturbing responses to big changes that included the rise of cities, new technologies, lightning-fast transportation, access to drugs, and shifting gender roles and identities. To do this we'll examine medical literature, fairytales, Victorian fiction, and a bit of 19th century pseudoscience.

For students interested in history, medical mysteries, gender studies, source analysis, and storytelling.

We now know that sex and gender are an interrelated spectrum. These are reflected in the way archaeologists view skeletons, and helps to problematise our view of sex and gender concepts and roles in ancient societies. This session will teach methods used to perform scientific sex assessments and the ways we use that and other archaeological indicators to suggest gender. From there, we will discuss and problematise the ways that sex and gender have been discussed in archaeology, and how that has impacted the public understanding of ancient societies.

Key questions: Were women always confined to domestic spaces? Were men always hunters? Is there archaeological evidence for trans, non-binary, and other gender identities across the ancient world? How have researchers misidentified sex and gender of archaeological individuals, and how does this change our understanding of their identities and societies?

Part of a series: “Ethical issues in archaeology." Students are invited to attend one or more sessions in this series by Stacy.
In this session, we will be viewing images of ancient human remains.

Join us for a hands-on exploration of forensic science. In this lab, you will learn the ins and outs of crime scene investigation, collecting and analyzing physical evidence, examining wound patterns, and psychological profiling. This class will give you the opportunity to practice and perfect the most important techniques coroners, pathologists, forensic technicians and forensic psychologists use in the lab and field to solve crimes.

Join us for a hands-on exploration of forensic science. In this lab, you will learn the ins and outs of crime scene investigation, collecting and analyzing physical evidence, examining wound patterns, and psychological profiling. This class will give you the opportunity to practice and perfect the most important techniques coroners, pathologists, forensic technicians and forensic psychologists use in the lab and field to solve crimes.

Calling premeds (or prospective premeds)! Join this interactive workshop on navigating the premed journey, and explore critical topics such as course selection, extracurricular planning, study strategies, and application tips for college and beyond. Led by an experienced mentor who has just finished applying to and gaining admission to medical school, this course empowers future medical professionals to confidently navigate each stage of their premed path with a clear roadmap, preparing them to stand out as competitive, compassionate candidates.

We now know that sex and gender are an interrelated spectrum. These are reflected in the way archaeologists view skeletons, and helps to problematise our view of sex and gender concepts and roles in ancient societies. This session will teach methods used to perform scientific sex assessments and the ways we use that and other archaeological indicators to suggest gender. From there, we will discuss and problematise the ways that sex and gender have been discussed in archaeology, and how that has impacted the public understanding of ancient societies.

Key questions: Were women always confined to domestic spaces? Were men always hunters? Is there archaeological evidence for trans, non-binary, and other gender identities across the ancient world? How have researchers misidentified sex and gender of archaeological individuals, and how does this change our understanding of their identities and societies?

Part of a series: “Ethical issues in archaeology." Students are invited to attend one or more sessions in this series by Stacy.

In this session, we will be viewing images of ancient human remains.

It takes an average of $1.3 billion and more than 10 years to bring a new medicine to the point of applying for FDA approval. After pursuing this long and often tortuous path, the prospects are risky, and the FDA faces a binary choice: Grant marketing authorization, or reject the application?

What does the drug development process entail, and why is it so long, expensive, and complex? What is FDA's role in protecting American consumers and the public? How are the concepts of "benefit" and "risk" used to provide a framework for these decisions?

In this interactive session, you will learn the basics of the drug development process, including the role of the FDA in deciding whether to allow access to new drugs. Students will work in groups to evaluate whether a new drug should be "approved", and, if so, under what conditions.

Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) can impact up to 5% of the population, but they can often be dismissed as bad habits. However, BFRBs are actual disorders and much harder to treat due to changes in brain anatomy and external stressors. These disorders, in which a person uncontrollably fidgets with his or her body, can be both physically and emotionally damaging. In this activity, the physiology, development, and consequences of BFRBs are discussed as well as ways to cope and support yourself and loved ones.