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Lazy days of summer? Not at Berkeley

By Yasmin Anwar

Summer at UC Berkeley is in full swing, with enrollment once again topping 16,000, including 900 students who are studying in such countries as Chile, Costa Rica, Spain, France, Ireland, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

The campus is midway through the third of its five summer sessions, which range in length from three to 10 weeks and end in mid-August. The number of visiting students, that is non-UC Berkeley students taking summer courses, has seen a 7 percent increase this year. Of the more than 4,700 visiting students, about 3,385 are from overseas and 1,380 are U.S. residents. More than 1,600 students are taking online courses.

Topical or intriguing courses offered on campus this year include “The Urban Experience,” “Youth Justice and Culture,” “Alternate Sexual Identities,” “ Sierra Nevada ecology,” “Race and American Humor, “The Beauty and Joy of Computing,” “Endangered Languages,” “ Gospel Chorus,” “Human Happiness,” “Stress and Coping,” “Virtual Communities,” and “Buddhist Psychology.”

UC Berkeley first offered summer study in 1900, with 37 courses and 433 students. Courses are taught by faculty, lecturers and graduate student instructors. UC Berkeley students typically make up 75 percent of summer scholars. The remaining 25 percent of summer students include visitors from other institutions and other adult learners.