Splash Biography

The federal government collects and spends trillions of dollars every year. Where does all that money come from? What is it spent on? And how are those decisions made? This course will provide a nonpartisan overview of the process (both in theory and reality) of creating the federal budget. The 2025 budget will be used as a deep dive to explore the national revenues, expenses, and debts. By the end, you will know why government shutdowns happen, what the debt ceiling is for, and who the most powerful congressmen in Washington are (and why you probably haven't heard of them).

This course will give an overview of the Amarna Period: a thirty year span at the end of the 18th Dynasty where Ancient Egyptian art, religion, and politics were rapidly transformed, only to be just as rapidly restored and all evidence erased. Inhabiting this period are some of the most dynamic personalities of ancient Egypt, including the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten, the beautiful and mysterious Nefertiti, and, of course, the famous Tutankhamun. Along the way we will learn more about how ancient history is uncovered and studied, and the tools historians use to make sense of the past.