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Immersion

Summer Immersion Programs for Pre-College Students

Immerse yourself in one of your passions and take advantage of the rich educational resources offered by the University through our summer Immersion programs for high school students. In these undergraduate-level courses, you will get personalized attention from faculty, researchers, and other professionals who will lead you through workshop discussions, research projects, and other hands-on activities.

The biggest advantage of this program is its caliber in teaching. The depth and style of teaching was perfect, keeping a perfect balance of serious work and an exciting atmosphere. Despite having to read tons and writing an essay, I was still eager to jump out of bed and dash into class

Lawrence X., Western Academy of Beijing, Beijing, China -

Whether you’re looking for creative writing workshops, preview courses in STEM fields, or to explore theories of economic policy, philosophy, and free expression., the University of Chicago’s summer Immersion courses offer you the opportunity to explore a topic of interest in-depth.

The Immersion Program is a residential program. Students are expected to live in residence and must attend class in-person. There is no hybrid or remote option for Immersion courses.

2024	Session I	Session II
Course Dates	June 17 – July 5	July 10 – July 26
Move in	Sat., June 15	Mon., July 8
Move out	Sat., July 6	Sat., July 27

Eligibility: Current high school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, who are at least 14 years old.

To search for courses based on your grade level and academic interest, check out the course finder.

Each summer course is the equivalent of a full, quarter-long (9 week) course.

Courses are three weeks long. Students will be class from 9am – 3pm CST with a lunch break Monday through Friday. Read each course listing carefully.

Once you choose the course(s) for which you would like to apply, make a note of the department code and course number (ex. ANTH 21501).

See individual course descriptions for prerequisites, if any.

Courses in Program

Biology and Its Modern Applications

This course aims at developing the basic concepts that form the crux of life from both structural and functional perspectives. It will cover cellular functioning and organization and the transformation of energy. In addition, concepts of evolution and natural selection will be investigated. The course also introduces the student to the continuity of life from genetic and molecular perspectives. The course will extrapolate to demonstrate how cells communicate through cell signaling and how defects in such communication often lead to diseases.

Session(s)

Session II

Biotechnology for the 21st Century (Session 1)

This course is designed to provide a stimulating introduction to the world of biotechnology. Starting with an overview of the basic concepts of molecular biology and genetics that serve as a foundation for biotechnology, the course will segue into the various applied fields of biotechnology. Lectures and some of the corresponding hands-on experiments will include microbial biotechnology, agricultural biotechnology, biofuels, cloning, bioremediation, medical biotechnology, DNA fingerprinting, and forensics.

Session(s)

Session I

Biotechnology for the 21st Century (Session 2)

This course is designed to provide a stimulating introduction to the world of biotechnology. Starting with an overview of the basic concepts of molecular biology and genetics that serve as a foundation for biotechnology, the course will segue into the various applied fields of biotechnology. Lectures and some of the corresponding hands-on experiments will include microbial biotechnology, agricultural biotechnology, biofuels, cloning, bioremediation, medical biotechnology, DNA fingerprinting, and forensics.

Session(s)

Session II

Cinema, Media and Society: A Global Survey

This course will introduce you to what the academic study of film and media looks like at the undergraduate level. It will expose you to a wide range of industries, cinemas, and formats (including documentaries and other non-fiction forms, the commercial cinemas of Hollywood and Bollywood, experimental art films, and East Asian animation), and how to discuss these forms in relation to one another.

Session(s)

Session I

Collegiate Writing: What is Truth (Session 1)

Today more than ever we are confronted with the urgent question of what is true. From stories about supposedly stolen elections to conspiracy theories about vaccines and 5G, how we decide what counts as the truth is constantly up for debate – and the debates have potentially serious consequences.

Session(s)

Session I

Collegiate Writing: What is Truth (Session 2)

Today more than ever we are confronted with the urgent question of what is true. From stories about supposedly stolen elections to conspiracy theories about vaccines and 5G, how we decide what counts as the truth is constantly up for debate – and the debates have potentially serious consequences. With politically polarized information in the news and new technologies like generative AI to circulate falsehoods on social media, it has never been more important to examine how we know what is true and to consider how we can argue and debate about our beliefs responsibly and effectively.

Session(s)

Session II

Contagion: Infectious Agents & Diseases (Session 1)

COVID, Zika, Ebola, HIV, SARS…in our increasingly globalized and mobile world, infectious diseases can emerge and spread faster than ever before, making epidemics, even pandemics, a real possibility. That, together with increasing antibiotic resistance, makes understanding where these threats come from and how we can control their spread one of the most urgent issues of our time.

Session(s)

Session I

Contagion: Infectious Agents & Diseases (Session 2)

COVID, Zika, Ebola, HIV, SARS…in our increasingly globalized and mobile world, infectious diseases can emerge and spread faster than ever before, making epidemics, even pandemics, a real possibility. That, together with increasing antibiotic resistance, makes understanding where these threats come from and how we can control their spread one of the most urgent issues of our time.

Session(s)

Session II

Creative Writing

"What is education?" asks the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard: "I suppose that education was the curriculum one had to run through in order to catch up with oneself." When we speak of "finding your voice" or "writing your story" or "mining your material," we speak of things you already possess but that take work to realize. Creative Writing is that work.

Session(s)

Session I

Developmental Psychology: Theories and Techniques

In just a few short years, infants go from helpless beings who cannot even hold their heads up to walking, talking, thinking people who are able to understand complex games, infer intentions in others, and even engage in reflexive thought (i.e., thinking about thinking). In this class, we will explore this transition by studying major theories of developmental psychology, examining how the mind (and correspondingly, the brain) changes from infancy through adolescence.

Session(s)

Session I

Economics from an Experimental Perspective

A growing field in which the University of Chicago has been a leader, experimental economics uses experimental methods – observing everyday interactions and decisions made by people either in the lab or in the field – to explore economic questions ranging from how markets and other exchange systems work to what motivates people to make decisions about matters such as conserving environmental resources or donating to charitable causes.

Session(s)

Session II

Explorations in Neuroscience: Neurons, Behavior, and Beyond

How does the brain work, and how do changes in brain structure and function give rise to neurological conditions and deficits? Developing a deeper understanding of the brain has been deemed one of the 21st century’s Grand Challenges, and this course will draw on different research methodologies to begin unraveling one of life’s greatest mysteries.

Session(s)

Session II

Freedom of Expression and the Politics of Social Media

Social media presents a variety of current case studies in which to examine the tensions between freedom expression, private industry, and government regulation. The tensions exhibit in elections, politics, schools, employment, and our personal lives as we and social media companies learn to navigate this new landscape. This course explores the complexities of these issues from a basis in the theory, principles, and practices of free expression and their very tangible manifestations in personal, professional, and civic contexts.

Session(s)

Session II

Fundamentals of Psychology: Theory & Research

This course introduces basic concepts and research in the study of human behavior. A breadth of topics will be included such as: sensation and perception, emotions, memory, development, and psychological disorders. Lectures, readings (both textbook and academic journal articles), discussions, and field trips will combine to give you an overview of the scientific study of psychology across areas of inquiry. Several topics throughout the course will also include hands-on psychological research lab demonstrations.

Session(s)

Session II

Gravitation to Levitation: Physics from Supernova to Superconductor (Session 1)

This course introduces students to the foundational concepts of fundamental interactions and its varied applications, such as gravity, electromagnetism, light, particle physics, and quantum mechanics. Students will see how the laws of physics are universal and how the principles of physics can help us understand a range of phenomena from black holes to biology, superconductors to supernovas.

Session(s)

Session I

Gravitation to Levitation: Physics from Supernova to Superconductor (Session 2)

This course introduces students to the foundational concepts of fundamental interactions and its varied applications, such as gravity, electromagnetism, light, particle physics, and quantum mechanics. Students will see how the laws of physics are universal and how the principles of physics can help us understand a range of phenomena from black holes to biology, superconductors to supernovas.

Session(s)

Session II

Introduction to Creative Coding

This course is an introduction to programming, using exercises in graphic design and digital art to motivate and employ basic tools of computation (such as variables, conditional logic, and procedural abstraction). We will write code in JavaScript and related languages and we will work with a variety of digital media, including vector graphics, raster images, animations, and web applications.

Session(s)

Session I

Introduction to Legal Reasoning and Institutions

This course will introduce students to the basic principles of legal reasoning -- how to think like a lawyer -- and provide students with an overview of the legal system. Students will use rule-based and analytical reasoning to engage with hypotheticals mirroring the laws, guidelines, and standards one encounters daily, from mobile phone subscription plans to school dress codes.

Session(s)

Session I

Introduction to Proof-based Discrete Mathematics

This course will introduce you to higher-level mathematical argumentation and proof, an understanding of which is crucial to making the transition from high school to undergraduate math coursework. What we take as given early on in the study of mathematics actually has reasoning behind it, and this course will show you how to begin to uncover and articulate that reasoning for yourself.

Session(s)

Session II

Introduction to the Philosophy of Love

Love is one of the most important, profound things in life; and yet, it is notoriously hard to articulate just what love is. In this course, we will inquire about the nature of love, addressing some of the central questions that have occupied philosophers of love. Why do we love what we love? Who can love, and who can be loved? What does love demand of us, and how can we love well? What is the relationship between love and morality? And what is love?

Session(s)

Session II

Life in the Universe & The Laws of Physics

This course treats our current understanding of the role that the laws of physics play in the development, existence, persistence, and prevalence of life in the universe. Starting with the big bang theory, we will explore how the laws of physics guided the evolution of the universe through the processes most likely to have produced life on earth as it exists today.

Session(s)

Session I

Mathematical and Computational Research in Biological Sciences

Using computation to model and study biological systems is one of the leading edges of current scientific research. In this hands-on exploration of the latest techniques, students will learn how macromolecules, such as DNA, RNA, and proteins, perform their functions and how to visualize and quantify their behavior.

Session(s)

Session I

Pathways in Data Science

Learn how to glean insights and meaning from complex sets of data in this overview of a field with growing importance in business, government, and scientific research. Students will learn to use the transformational tools of data science and machine learning and see how researchers are applying them in various scientific and social science fields. Students will study how data is collected and stored and then how it is explored, visualized, and communicated.

Session(s)

Session II

Pathways in Economics

This program introduces students to the approaches to economic research and experimentation that make UChicago a world leader in the field. Full-time lecturers in the Department of Economics teach classes on topics in macroeconomics, microeconomics, game theory, and field experiments, drawing on research that applies the tools and insights of the field in new and exciting ways.

Session(s)

Session I

Pathways in Molecular Engineering

The emerging field of Molecular Engineering brings together concepts from chemical and mechanical engineering, materials science, physics, and nanotechnology to innovate across a wide range of areas, such as energy storage and harvesting, water purification, and manufacturing electronic, biomedical, and mechanical devices. Molecular engineers may build new materials or objects from the molecule up, or even create new molecules that do not exist in nature.

Session(s)

Session II

Pathways in World Politics

International relations explores the consequences of the world having multiple, interacting national governments, rather than a single world government. International relations offers conceptual tools for understanding the causes of and possible solutions to many of the challenges facing the world today, including global pandemics, wars, nuclear proliferation, economic crises, and climate change.

Session(s)

Session II

Physics of Stars: An Introduction

Understanding how stars work - what makes them shine - is one of the great accomplishments of 20th-century science. The theory of stellar structure allows us to investigate the interiors of stars, even though what we observe is radiation from their outer atmospheres. This theory also helps us determine how old stars are, how they create heavier nuclei from lighter nuclei in their centers, and how they evolve from birth to death, ending as a white dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole.

Session(s)

Session II

Quantitative Evaluation for Public Policy (Session 1)

How do we know whether a policy delivers its promised results or falls short? If it delivers, how do we know whether it was by chance or a true result that would replicate in a similar setting? If it is a true result, will it scale if implemented more broadly?

Session(s)

Session I

Quantitative Evaluation for Public Policy (Session 2)

How do we know whether a policy delivers its promised results or falls short? If it delivers, how do we know whether it was by chance or a true result that would replicate in a similar setting? If it is a true result, will it scale if implemented more broadly?

Session(s)

Session II

Religion and Unbelief

What does “spiritual but not religious” mean and in what ways does it overlap (or not) with commitments to religion and secularism? In this course, we unpack the categories of “religion,” “spirituality,” “atheism,” and “secularism” to better understand how they shape allegiances and dividing lines in contemporary social and political life. In the first half of the course, we will critically examine classical and contemporary approaches to these categories.

Session(s)

Session I

The Age of Capital: Freedom and Crisis

What is capitalism? Has the development of capitalism marked an advance or crisis for humankind and the earth? When did capitalism emerge and is it still a relevant concept? The objective of this course is to introduce students to the idea and critique of capitalism. The course examines the historical rise, concepts, categories, and crisis of what is referred to as the age of capital or capitalism. It starts with Adam Smith and the case he details for a modern form of political economy based on commerce, international trade, and manufactures.

Session(s)

Session II

The Politics and Economics of Capitalism

It is impossible to graduate from college without repeatedly encountering the term "capitalism." But what is it, actually? Is it primarily a political or an economic system? What is the difference and why does it matter? Why are economics and politics taught in different departments at modern universities and why is a major in economics so popular? This course will equip students with the basic conceptual tools to think about these questions.

Session(s)

Session I

The World of Greek Philosophy

This course will serve as an introduction to ancient Greek philosophy and literature of the pre-Classical, Classical, and Hellenistic Greek world, and their conceptions that at once influence and differ from our own. In addition to discussing traditional Greek understandings of virtue, honor, and happiness, we will consider how intellectual life was believed to help people find meaning, purpose, and self-fulfillment and shape their ethics.

Session(s)

Session II