Cracking the Code: High School Crypto-Camp (Day)

At this interdisciplinary camp we will break down cryptology into three courses of study. In one course participants will learn the history of cryptology from Julius Caesar to the NSA and debate the ethics of spying and encryption. In another course participants will learn elementary computer programming in Python to implement their code-writing and code-cracking skills. The remaining course will focus on the mathematical theory behind cryptography and cryptanalysis - the mathematics involved will include statistics, number theory, combinatorics, and matrix algebra. Each of these courses will involve a culminating project or challenge - these include an essay or short story, a computer program, and a series of puzzles and challenges.