Short Summer Courses for Adults in BC area, Canada

Quest University Canada Summer Scholars:
Located in Squamish, BC (one hour from Vancouver), Quest University Canada is Canada's first independent, not-for-profit, nonsectarian university of the liberal arts and sciences. Join us for our "Renew Your Quest" summer program for adults from July 7th-12th, 2013. You'll get to experience the intellectual electricity of a Quest seminar, and enjoy the spectacular natural setting of our campus, staying in our condos and eating both on campus and at local stops of interest. We will offer academic courses from 9am to noon each day. In the afternoons and evenings you will be free to explore our beautiful local area or participate in guided hikes, excursions, and optional activities including lectures and discussions of educational philosophy and pedagogy

Renew Your Quest - An Intellectual Summer Retreat for Adults July 7th - 12th, 2013

Course Options:

Infinity, Certainty and Knowledge:
There is no mathematical prerequisite for this course.
Perhaps nowhere has the idea of absolute truth been deemed more achievable than the revered academic stronghold of mathematics, the subject that Plato called "the highest form of pure thought." The promise of mathematics to answer all mysteries of the universe, however, is called into serious question when one begins to examine certain hard-to-notice subtleties of the subject. Indeed, in the past two centuries, the keen eyes of several mathematicians, philosophers and scientists have discovered a host of irresolvable paradoxes and conundrums in mathematics, lurking in the cracks of ideas such as infinity, language, and the very nature of logic itself. Together we will explore these ideas and their philosophical implications, and attempt to understand the nature of certainty and knowledge and how they live for us in the modern age.

Political Language, Media, and Political Thinking
Combining classic texts in political theory, media and communication studies, and linguistics, this course will help us come to grips with the variety of ways politicians, pundits, and experts direct public opinion in Canada and the United States. We will do so through engaged discussion, short multimedia presentations, participatory classroom activities, and collaborative facilitation. What role has media played in politics and how has this changed? How do politicians employ and deploy words to achieve their objectives? How do North Americans think about politics? These are the central questions in this course. We will examine whether or not "the medium is the message" and how messages are conveyed in modern political discourse.

The Dynamic Geology of the Sea to Sky Corridor
LIMIT: 14 students. No geologic background is required, just a willingness for adventure.
Embedded in rock outcroppings and magnificent mountain vistas along the Sea to Sky Corridor is a remarkably complex and dynamic geologic story. The goal of this course is to write a script for that tale by investigating the major geologic events that shaped the landscape. We will collect our evidence during a series of field excursions to answers questions such as: Why do the lava flows on the way to Whistler take unique columnar shapes? How can the Stawamus Chief tell us the Quest campus was under ice during the last glaciation? Garibaldi volcano: imminent danger or sleeping beauty? What will it really take for Squamish to flood?

How to clone genes, manipulate DNA, and map gene expression:
Note that this course assumes no prior knowledge of cell, genes, or molecules.
In this laboratory course, students will learn the basic biology of DNA and how it relates to the functioning of organisms. The goals of the course are to have students become functioning experimental molecular biologists, and to acquire the knowledge necessary to understand the fascinating field of molecular biology as it applies to genomics project, antibiotic resistance, evolution, and genomic medicine. We will conduct a variety of experiments, including isolating our own DNA, mapping gene expression in rodent brains, and gene cloning and manipulation in bacteria.