During spring semester 2014, I enrolled in my first honors seminar, the Physics of Superheroes. The aim of this course was to investigate a wide range of observed physical and scientific properties, and how they would apply to fictional superheroes as seen in cartoons, comics, and movies. This class really piqued my interest, as I had previously taken an AP physics course in high school, and I was excited to see how that knowledge could be used in a less formula memorizing and a more hands-on atmosphere.

 

     A significant portion of the class focused on reviewing many topics of physics, such as kinematics, thermodynamics, and magnetism. This was done through a combination of lectures and hands-on experiments with things like static electricity, liquid nitrogen, and non-newtonian fluids. The rest of the class was spent looking at a variety of superheroes seen in popular culture, primarily through movie clips. Working both individually and in groups, some assignments required in-depth analyses of selected scenes of a specific hero or heroine, and finding a way to make measurements and work through calculations to apply the concepts reviewed recently in class.

 

     Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this class and would recommend it to anyone with any interest in science and/or superheroes. Since it was technically a physics course, there were plenty of facts and formulas that were covered throughout the semester, but there was still plenty of room for originality and creativity from each student. This was demonstrated in a final project in which students create their own superhero and villain, and a story involving the two. This was much more enthralling than a final exam, and resulted in so many unique creations that were quite amusing to behold. I thought it was great how this class turned over the whole idea of “when will I need this in the real world?” and took the real-world concepts and equations and allowed students to apply and practice them to more exciting scenarios. Having taken this class, I find myself thinking about the physics behinds different movies or TV shows, and wondering if the creators made it somewhat realistic or not.