ESP Biography

Will be held via Zoom. For advanced classical pianists, any standard classical repertoire acceptable. If you are interested in performing, please email ophirh10@stanford.edu with your repertoire choice. If you would like to sit in to listen, just sign up for the class here!

Take a dive into one of the most exciting subfields of computer science, the Theory of Computation! In this class, you'll be introduced to the tip of the iceberg of theory--that is, regular languages and their computational models. What's a regular language? What are its computational models? Come on over to class to find out!

The Russian classical tradition is widely known to be one of deep valor, ardor, and Romanticism--immediately, we think of the great Russian giants like Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, and Medtner. But were these composers' musical inclinations passed on by Russian composers of the 19th century? As it turns out, quite the contrary. 19th century Russian composers such as Mussorgsky and Balakirev preferred to stick to Russian folk themes in their music, while modern Russian composers adapted the Western influences of composers such as Chopin and Schumann. In this lecture, we will explore how two of 19th and 20th century Russia's most prominent music conservatories, the St. Petersburg and Moscow, disputed over a difference in musical approaches, and how Russian nationalism versus modern cosmopolitanism created two unique schools of musical thought within Russia during these years.

Imagine: you have $20 in your pocket and are at a candy shop. Chocolate eggs are $2 per piece and gummy worms are $3 per bag. You enjoy eating chocolate eggs exactly twice as much as you enjoy eating gummy worms. How can we model this information using mathematical functions? More importantly, how many chocolate eggs should you get, and how many bags of gummy worms should you get? In this lecture, we will explore the fundamentals of optimization in consumer theory and learn how advanced math skills can be used to solve basic optimization problems such as that described above. Take this class if you are interested in applying math to practical fields like economics and are ready for a challenge!

There is something intrinsically beautiful about sadness. Sadness, in a sense that isn’t synonymous with tragedy or despair, but with a mutual appreciation for the fact that we, as humans, are woven together by imperfection and an incessant yearning for greater meaning. This course aims to instill a profound appreciation for the complexity of human sadness through the works of classical and modern art and introspection. We will look closely at a broad range of works from the art of Van Gogh, Leyden, Munch, Legrenée and Picasso to the music of Shostakovich, Verdi, Schubert and modern artists such as Edith Piaf, Lana del Rey and Aurora. We will also examine the film adaptation of Chekov's The Seagull. Throughout the course, we will delve deeper into the minds of both the creators and the creations to better understand the root of their sadness and how they morphed this abstract emotion into masterpieces of tremendous emotive, aesthetic and intellectual value. Students who have enrolled in Appreciating Sadness: Literary Perspectives are encouraged to enroll in this course as well, although it is not a prerequisite in any way.