Syracuse University Classroom Preview Program
The Syracuse University Classroom Preview Program offers virtual sample courses taught by our professors. You'll join a live 60-minute Zoom session, dive into real topics and get a taste of the Orange experience. As a bonus, students who attend two classes and complete a short survey after each one will receive a Syracuse University digital badge to showcase their academic curiosity. This digital badge icon is yours to keep and comes with real benefits:
- Add it to your college application materials or list "Syracuse Classroom Preview Program Participant" as evidence of your academic engagement.
- Reference the program in college or scholarship interviews to show your initiative and love of learning.
- Share your badge on your social media to highlight your achievement.
- Build familiarity with Syracuse University.
View School of Architecture sample classes
View College of Engineering and Computer Science sample classes
View School of Information Science sample classes
View David B. Falk College of Sport sample classes
View S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication sample classes
View Whitman School of Management sample classes
School of Architecture
Virtual Portfolio Workshop
Curious how to compile a portfolio for admission to the Syracuse University B.Arch. program? Join us for a portfolio development workshop with the School of Architecture. We will provide insight on developing your portfolio in a manner that best showcases your creativity, curiosity, and spatial ability.
October 22, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Virtual Portfolio Workshop
Curious how to compile a portfolio for admission to the Syracuse University B.Arch. program? Join us for a portfolio development workshop with the School of Architecture. We will provide insight on developing your portfolio in a manner that best showcases your creativity, curiosity, and spatial ability.
October 27, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
College of Arts and Sciences and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Choke Points and Resource Wars: America and the World in the mid-21st Century (Virtual)
Join this class to meet Professor Osamah Khalil—a Maxwell professor, historian of U.S. foreign relations, and expert on the modern Middle East. You'll begin to understand how global shifts and rifts will define the mid-21st century and shape the future of the United States and the world. No prior knowledge of class topics is necessary. Come as you are, and be ready to learn!
October 19, 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
How To Manage Your Screen Time, and Why You Should Care in the First Place (Virtual)
Screen time is a popular topic of conversation in many rooms. But what to psychologists, therapists, and other experts think about screen time? During this class, Professor Matt Mulvaney will share those insights with you. You'll look at data and develop a more informed opinion about screen time and its impact on your life.
October 21, 8 p.m. - 9 p.m.
What if "Being a Good Person" Is Just Luck? (Virtual)
In this philosophy class, you'll discuss a moral and legal puzzle that starts with the question: Can you be guilty for actions that are outside of your control? It may seem that the obvious answer is “no,” but Professor Erica Shumener will introduce examples from both everyday life and legal contexts that suggest, at least in some cases, whether you are guilty or innocent may just be a matter of luck.
October 22, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Approaches to the Study of Organized Crime (Virtual)
In this session, we’ll explore organized crime and its subtypes—drug cartels, mafia groups, street gangs—and consider an important question: What makes crime organized? We'll become social scientists as we tackle another complex problem: How can we study and measure organized crime and its effects on society?
October 27, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
The Realities of Interstellar Travel (Virtual)
In this sample class, you'll meet Professor Eric Coughlin from the Department of Physics. Professor Coughlin will take you through thought experiments about special relativity and relativistic time dilation, showing you the science behind the time travel depicted in your favorite sci-fi stories.
October 28, 8 p.m. - 9 p.m.
How To Tell Stories With Maps (Virtual)
In this sample class, Professor Meghan Kelly will show you some of her favorite maps, ask to see yours, and help you develop a storytelling toolkit that you can use for projects in the future - hopefully, here at Syracuse!
October 29, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
College of Engineering and Computer Science
What is Statics?
Statics is a branch of engineering mechanics that allows us to model how forces are carried through machines, structures, tools, medical devices, and even the human body. Join this class to learn more.
October 21, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Fakes at Scale: AI, Phishing, and Synthetic Media
Phishing used to be easy to spot: a strange sender address, broken English, a link that didn't quite match. That is no longer true. A language model can write a personalized, plausible message to ten thousand people for almost nothing, and a few seconds of recorded audio is enough to clone a voice. This class covers how these systems work, in enough depth to see why the old advice about spotting fakes has stopped being useful, and then turns to what the security community is doing in response.The professor will be Dr. Kristopher Micinski, Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, who teaches Syracuse's course on AI and cybersecurity.
October 28, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
School of Information Studies
Working with AI-coworkers and Preparing for Tomorrow's Jobs
In this interactive session, School of Information Studies (iSchool) Professor Steve Sawyer will guide you through emerging trends in the workplace as AI-enabled systems become more powerful, common, and deeply embedded in everyday work. Together, you will explore what is happening in today’s organizations, consider what new possibilities are on the horizon, and reflect on how to best prepare for a rapidly evolving world of work.
October 21, 8 p.m. - 9 p.m.
AI Doesn’t Happen Without Us: How Do We Stop Being Its Subjects and Become Stakeholders?
AI runs on our data and our work, which means we’re not just its subjects - we’re stakeholders, whether or not anyone invited us to the table. In this session with the School of Information Studies (iSchool), we’ll look at the systems that make AI possible and at the people already claiming a stake in them, including workers, artists, and local communities.
October 28, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
David B. Falk College of Sport
Changing the Game: A Discussion on Name, Image and Likeness (NIL)
Please join Dave Meluni, professor in the Sport Management program at Falk College, for a discussion on Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) in collegiate athletics. During this introduction to NIL we will take a look at how these historic changes have impacted today’s student athletes in areas such as the transfer portal, scholarships, branding opportunities and more!
October 19, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Esports: Transforming Media, Business, and Careers
This course explores the rapid growth of Esports and its impact on media and business. Students learn about the career opportunities within the industry, the increasing demand for skilled professionals, and the evolving role of Esports in the global marketplace.
October 19, 8 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Fueling Performance: Why Nutrition Science is a Game-Changer
This presentation explains how proper nutrition and energy intake are essential for adolescent athletes to meet the metabolic demands of training and competition. It highlights the risks of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S), including hormonal suppression and poor bone health.
October 26, 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.
The Signature Shoe Playbook
In The Signature Shoe Playbook, you’ll gain firsthand insight into how signature product lines are developed, launched, marketed, and sold—while also learning how to position yourself to land an opportunity in one of the most competitive and exciting industries in sports business.
October 27, 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Fueling to Win! Stronger… Leaner… Faster… with Food
How do eating habits and practices make or break sports performance and fitness goals? Sports nutrition recommendations are based on robust scientific discovery that must be balanced with the art (and science) of behavior change. Please join Jane Burrell M.S., RD, CDN, professor in the Nutrition and Food Studies programs for a discussion on how nutrition impacts fitness and athletic performance.
November 3, 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.
S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication
Sports Content for Social Platforms
In this preview session, students will get a taste of Sports Content for Social Platforms, a course that researches, analyzes and produces creative content for multi-platform sports distribution spanning social media, in-arena shows and other non-broadcast spaces. Get a firsthand look at how sports media professionals think, create and reach fans wherever they're watching.
October 21, 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
AI, Media and the Future of Storytelling
This sample session offers a preview of Newhouse's new AI and Emerging Media minor that equips students with practical experience in generative AI tools, emerging platforms and data-informed strategy all grounded in ethics, law and policy. Students will explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping storytelling, content creation and audience engagement across media, strategic communications and entertainment.
October 26, 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.
The Business of Music: Fundamentals of How the Music Business Works
Join the Newhouse School's Professor Michelle Santosuosso, professor in our Bandier Program for the Recording and Entertainment Industries for a virtual classroom experience for prospective students, called: The Business of Music: Fundamentals of How the Music Business Works. This interactive session will break down key industry trends and familiarize you with the business behind your favorite artists.
October 28, 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Whitman School of Management
The Power of Compounding: A Finance Sample Class with Professor Fatma Sonmez-Leopold
Compounding is often called the eighth wonder of the world because it allows small amounts of money, effort, or knowledge to grow exponentially over time. Discover the fundamentals of finance through the lens of Professor Sonmez-Leopold, an award-winning educator named one of Poets & Quants' "Best Undergraduate Business Professors." Sonmez-Leopold brings a passion for making complex financial concepts clear and applicable to everyday life.
October 19, 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
My Racecar Crash and the Entrepreneurial Mindset with Prof. Alexandra Kostakis
In this sample class, get a firsthand look at how an entrepreneurial mindset can shape your future and open doors to endless possibilities. Don’t miss this opportunity to explore the exciting world of entrepreneurship!
October 21, 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Introduction to the Creator Economy: What's Really Behind the Content You Scroll Past
This session will pull back the curtain on the 27-million-strong world of paid creators in the U.S. —a market valued at over $250 billion today and projected to nearly double by 2027—and explore the economic, social, and psychological forces that determine who succeeds in it. Beyond myths like "going viral equals success," you'll examine the real ecosystem of platforms, brand partnerships and monetization models, and the psychological mechanisms — credibility, authenticity, parasocial relationships—behind why creators become influential in the first place.
October 21, 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Financial Statement Basics - the REAL story with Prof. Maryann Monforte
In this sample class with Professor of Practice MaryAnn Monforte, you'll learn about accounting essentials and how they shape the world of business. Discover "the language of business" to gain a better understanding of how different accounting practices are utilized. Students are encouraged to have a cell phone available during the class to participate in a Kahoot!
October 28, 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
School of Education
Equity & Inequality in American Schools
Join us for an eye-opening virtual event that delves into the critical issues of equity and inequality in American schools. This event is designed specifically to give high school students a sample of the challenges and disparities that exist in the education system. Highly interactive and led by one of the School of Education's premier faculty members, Dr. George Theoharis.
October 20, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
AI in the Classroom: Rethinking Teaching and Learning
In this interactive 40-minute session, a Syracuse University professor puts you in the middle of that conversation. You'll look at examples of AI already showing up in classrooms today and dig into the questions teachers are wrestling with: Does AI help students learn, or just help them finish faster? Is there a real difference between using AI and depending on it?
October 22, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
"Why do I have to take research, anyway?"
In this interactive session, students will experience the research process firsthand while learning how questions become studies-and how results aren't always as straightforward as they seem. Students will explore the basic steps of the research process, practice thinking critically, and discover why knowing how to understand and question research matters in the helping professions.
October 29, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
College of Visual and Performing Arts
The Inside Scoop to VPA Portfolios
Unsure of what to add to your portfolio? Torn between a watercolor piece and a scratchboard piece? What the heck is a portfolio? All of these questions and more will be answered in this special peek behind the curtain featuring members of the College of Visual and Performing Arts community. Learn tips and tricks to strengthen your already existing portfolio or get some directions for a good place to just start.
October 20, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Cosplay and Comic Cons
He has adopted many identities: Grand Admiral Thrawn, Frog Man, Loki and Grunkle Stan...But tonight, join Professor Chris Wildrick from the School of Art as he takes you on a quest through the colorful world of cosplay and comic-cons!
October 21, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Finding Your Spotlight: Music, Drama, and Beyond
Join faculty from the Setnor School of Music and the Department of Drama to get an inside look at the audition process, get a recipe or two for what to to eat before the big day, and understand the importance of protecting your health to be your best self.
October 22, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Learn to Be a Creative Genius
Join Professors Rebecca Kelly and Marc Stress from the School of Design as they reveal how slogans and campaigns are made and teach you this top problem-solving method the top agencies use the crush obstacles and make new stuff. Students of all backgrounds and creative specialties are encouraged to attend. Come prepared with a shorthand list of your favorite ads, brands, and company mascots!
October 26, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Genre of Horror Cinema
On the night after Halloween, prepare to journey through the macabre with Professor Nancy Keefe Rhodes as we hope to...dissect...the resurgence in popularity of the horror genre. Run for your life towards this special evening chat and bond with other students who love the grim, gruesome, and ghastly.
November 1, 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.