You choose the topic, we improvise a 5-minute lesson on it! Bring your wackiest topic suggestions, and watch us embarrass ourselves as we teach you about them on the spur of the moment.

"In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes" -- Andy Warhol, 1968 50 years later, we definitely see that Warhol was right with the heavy proliferation of short-lived Vine, TikTok and Instagram stars. But what is the actual lived experience of going viral? How does it compare with our understanding of traditional celebrity culture? In this class, we're going to be discussing "fame ephemera" -- people who gain explosive meme appeal and are then quickly forgotten. We'll go over current debates in celebrity studies, use a case study from Jeopardy to analyze how fame works, and close with a discussion on celebrity culture in our own lives.

Science is the most successful system for discovering and organizing knowledge that humanity has ever invented. But who gets to decide what counts as scientific facts, really? In this class, we will explore science not as just another subject you have to learn in school, but as a living, breathing social practice of interpretation. We aim to lift up the mysterious shroud that the public perceives and help you see science as the social practice it is: ever-so-fascinating, sometimes messy, but always intimately human. We will also expose how pseudoscience and anti-science weaponizes routine debates among scientists to cast doubt on the entire scientific enterprise. In the end, we hope you will gain a deeper appreciation of how new science is generated and use this framework to evaluate scientific claims. The class is divided into two halves. In the first hour, the co-instructors will introduce key concepts and present case studies in a lecture-like format. In the second hour, we will have a roundtable discussion on the topics presented.

Memes. Video games. Snapchat. You probably think that all of these are just things that you enjoy in your free time. But what if I told you that all of these - and more! - are objects of serious academic study? Come learn more about comparative media studies and learn how to really analyze your favorite medium. Learn how to do a close reading of a text and understand what "media" even really means. The course will culminate in each person giving a final presentation or paper about a media object of your choosing - anything from classical music to pro wrestling!

"Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas — only I don't exactly know what they are!" Alice's Adventures in Wonderland have certainly filled many people's heads with ideas - references show up to it in Japanese video games, The Matrix, and even biological theories! But just what are these ideas? And how closely do they tie with Lewis Carroll's source material? In this class, we'll be doing an in-depth exploration of Wonderland - reading Carroll's original writings, investigating how Alice's portrayal has changed over time and discussing what these changes mean for the nature of childhood, history of mathematics, drug culture and more!

Enjoy Tetris but can't seem to clear your lines fast enough? Come learn some new strategies and strengthen your spatial reasoning abilities! After going over several strategies, test your skills against other Splash students in the TETRIS TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS! If you would like to practice beforehand, we will be playing 1 v 1 games on Tetris Friends' Arena mode. Come SQUARE OFF and win fabulous prizes!

"Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas — only I don't exactly know what they are!" Alice's Adventures in Wonderland have certainly filled many people's heads with ideas - references show up to it in Japanese video games, The Matrix, and even biological theories! But just what are these ideas? In this class, we'll be investigating how Alice's portrayal has changed over time and discuss what these changes mean for the nature of childhood, history of mathematics, drug culture and more!

Think about how you go to school everyday. You're probably pretty familiar with it. But could you explain how to get to your school to an alien? Are there any details that people have pointed out to you that you've never seen before? Come explore the MIT / Cambridge area with us as we learn how to be more observant of your surroundings. Find wonder in the mundane by looking around with us, writing your own exploration reports, and reading famous poets and authors' take on truly experiencing one's environment.

Must smash puny blocks!!! Come show off your might and mettle against other Splash students in fierce games of Tetris! If you would like to practice beforehand, we will be playing 1 v 1 games on Tetris Friends' Arena mode. Come SQUARE OFF and win fabulous prizes!

What is a puzzle to you? A crossword puzzle? Sudoku? A brain teaser? Logic puzzle? For us, puzzles include these things and more. It's simply anything which can be solved somehow for a single answer. How about a simple list of words written in different colors: http://www.mathcamp.org/2009/hunt/acolorfullist.html is a puzzle, and it has an answer. In this class, we'll dissect puzzles, going through many kinds of puzzles and some common techniques for solving them. Then we'll let you get some hands-on experience, trying some real puzzles from past puzzle hunts.

"Heads Pass the Ocean, Extend, Circulate..." What could these terms possibly mean? Come learn the basics of modern Western Square Dancing from members of MIT's very own Tech Squares! Solve puzzles with your body as we give a whirlwind introduction to square dancing!

“I am not sure that I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people that I have met, all the women that I have loved; all the cities I have visited.” - Jorge Luis Borges We'll read some short stories, plays, and poetry from various modernist authors like T. S. Eliot, James Joyce, Ralph Ellison, and Tom Stoppard. We'll also explore some literary theory and some of the historical, scientific, and philosophical influences on the modernist movement.

Yogurt mint cake! Apple oyster Peach-Sauce-Sandwich! What could these random collections of food possibly mean? Come learn Foodtongue, a constructed language where all of the words are food in an immersive learning environment. Beginners and polyglots welcome!

Enjoy Tetris but can't seem to clear your lines fast enough? Come learn some new strategies and strengthen your spatial reasoning abilities! This class is not required for participation in the Tetris tournament. If you know what a T-spin is, this class is not for you.

What does visualizing lines in 4D space, ridiculously hard counting problems, and making people think you have ESP have in common? They all have to do with the game SET! SET is an awesome card game of visual perception and pattern matching with even more awesome math behind it! Come to this class prepared to have fun playing SET and to work with others to figure out some of the awesome combinatorics and geometry involved in the game.

Must smash puny blocks!!! Come show off your might and mettle against other Splash students in fierce games of Tetris! We will be playing 1 v 1 games on Tetris Friends' Arena mode. TetrisFriends account and laptop not required, but would be helpful.

Come play the awesomest game in existence! SET is a game of visual perception and pattern matching. Come to learn how to play and challenge yourself against others!