afternoon Session

What do you think of when you hear the word algorithm? You might think of mathematical examples you learned in school, like the algorithm for performing long division or the algorithm for multiplying binomials (“FOIL”). Increasingly, our everyday lives are impacted by algorithms - algorithms drive your search results and social media feeds, impact how much you pay for health insurance or whether you can get a loan, can be used to rank job performance, or even determine who you match with on a dating app. While it is tempting to think of algorithms as purely mathematical and therefore bias-free, the reality is much more complicated. Join MA Seniors in Calculus for a session designed to investigate specific examples of real-world algorithms that can perpetuate human bias and exacerbate inequities in our democracy. We hope you walk away with new understanding of the models that impact our lives and some ways we can influence the role big data plays in shaping our world.

Does the way we teach about target and non-target groups at MA make students feel like the gap between groups is so large any dialogue across difference is unthinkable? The Dialogue Across Difference program seeks to explore this question by encouraging cross-difference interactions between MA students, culminating in a peer-to-peer Oral History Interview. In 2021, four pairs of student volunteers (from the Young Brothers of Color affinity group and the Mens lacrosse team) met once a month for one semester. In the meetings they learn about each other and about formal Oral History Interview skills.The program culminated in a peer-to-peer “Life History” Oral History interview. This presentation will discuss the program, explore the transcripts from the peer-to-peer oral history interviews, and brainstorm ways the program can move forward at MA.

Would you pay money to get your favorite pet cloned? Or your favorite human?? (We're cloning Walt Disney, he's been on ice this whole time) Join the Freedom, Choice, and Obligation Class to discuss the ethics of genetically copying. We'll dive into the history of the scientific process, consider the future of cloning, and discuss how we, as a society, should ethically approach the use of this innovation.

This session features business women Kara Goldin (CEO of Hint) and Natalie Mccullough (President of Guild Education). Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions after each panelist gives a brief introduction explaining their background, how they got into the business profession.

In this hands-on workshop Director of Kiva US, Eli Cherner (MA '06) will share how Kiva US democratizes access to capital using technology and social underwriting, a process of lending based on a person's character and not their credit score. After learning about how Kiva uses social underwriting to reach financially excluded small businesses across the country, participants will have the opportunity to underwrite their own loans and lend real money to a small business of their choosing. Explore the ways organizations are leveraging technology and innovation for social impact and change.

Ever heard of Bitcoin? In this session, we will be exploring the basics of Cryptocurrencies and covering everything you'll want to know about them. We will also be diving into how Cryptocurrencies affect the current state of Democracy in the world and what the future might bring.

Have you ever wondered about the intersection between democracy and science? The evolving role of science in today’s innovative democracy? Come learn about disparities in diabetes technology access, the MARC program, science ethics, and… growing potatoes on Mars. Questions about MA’s MARC program are welcome, as are all science lovers.

Join the MA garden club to talk about food insecurity in the Bay Area and how MA’s garden supports local organizations involved in tackling this challenge. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about MA’s gardening for food security initiative, clean the garden, and harvest produce to help serve local people in need.

Is it constitutional for a cheerleader who curses out her cheer team on Snapchat to be kicked off the team? Was it constitutional for then-President Trump to be banned from Twitter for inflammatory rhetoric? You'll have the opportunity to discuss these questions, and more, during this workshop, which will focus on the rise of social media and its implications for the First Amendment. Participants will have the opportunity to review the tenets of the First Amendment, one of the most fundamental rights protected in the U.S. Constitution, and discuss its relevance to the various forms of speech made on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat (among others).

Relativity and cosmology: an in-depth exploitation of Einstein main principles of relativity as well as a clear explanation of how we perceive space-time in the modern day. The lessen is designed so that people of all mathematical and physical backgrounds can participate and understand.

The Webb Telescope, or JWST for short, is a recently launched infrared space telescope that will help find the galaxies which were formed in the earliest moments of the universe, and maybe even answer if there is other life in these distant galaxies. The infrared wavelength will reveal scientific details never seen before. This session will explore the technologies and possibilities of the JWST, and will feature Steve Bryson, a NASA scientist who worked on the Kepler mission in 2009. After summarizing some objectives of the JWST mission there will be a Q/A for any lingering questions you have about the JWST or space telescopes in general.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to live under Chinese surveillance? Do you want to know more about how this formidable government keeps an ironclad grip on its citizens? American media portrayal of China often describes it as an authoritarian surveillance state of brainwashed communists, and the latest advances in technology only add to that Orwellian image. But to what extent is that true and how does it affect the average Chinese person? Come ready to learn and discuss the ethical quagmire that is modern surveillance in China.

The challenges to find affordable housing in the Bay Area and to address the increasing rise of unhoused individuals in our communities demand innovative, long-term solutions. Housing rights activists, home developers, homeowners and homeless advocacy groups all have their own perspectives and interests, each with a different definition of "democracy" and "innovation" and too often in conflict with one another. This panel discussion brings together activists and community organization leaders--Anna Hurtado of Homeward Bound of Marin, Ethan Strull (MA'18) of Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative (MEHC) & Elizabeth Hall of Marin Organizing Committee--to share their experiences in confronting the Bay Area housing crisis and explore how you can get involved to effect change in your community.

Join Berna Idriz from the Greenbelt Alliance for this interactive Advocacy training. This session will make the environmental case for housing and connect the dots between infill housing and future climate risks, exploring why housing matters to fight climate change. Participants will learn about the Resilience Playbook and how to use this resource to participate in local policy.

The founder and current CEO of Straus Family Creamery, Albert Straus, will come to Marin Academy with some videos and a presentation on becoming the first organic creamery in the US. Mr. Straus will discuss the challenges the creamery faced in its mission towards sustainability. He will also discuss the current changes the company is making to become fully carbon-neutral and limit their environmental effect. After the presentation there will be time for a Q&A

Join the Bay Area Youth Climate Summit, a youth-led climate justice organization, for an interactive workshop on young people and our unique voice in government. Learn about how we create change and mobilize Bay Area high schoolers through workshops, Climate Action Plans, and political advocacy. We’ll also discuss the unique roles youth have played throughout history to create legislative change, and you’ll have a chance to share your voice with elected officials through phone banking during the session. We'll end with a game of trivia (where you can win prizes)!

Though democracy is borne in on everyone’s mind as something which ought to be defended and cherished, it is perhaps owing to the value which we have for it that we little know what it is. If democracy is a word used so frequently and with little mind paid to elucidating what it really means, what makes democracy a distinction worth using?