UCLA Social Software examines the social impacts and possibilities of making with software. Led by software artists Lauren Lee McCarthy and Casey Reas, Social Software is housed with the Department of Design Media Arts at UCLA, one of the nation’s top design departments offering a comprehensive, multidisciplinary education in media creation, which fosters individual exploration and innovative thinking. Geared specifically for high school students, the Social Software Summer Institute is a two-week program with morning and afternoon classes introducing core ideas of computer programming for the visual arts. Students will select to participate in one of two track options, Art & AI or Art & Code. This institute explores questions such as: What is the potential of software within the visual arts? How has software affected the visual arts? As a designer or artist, why would I want (or need) to write software? What are the power relationships, inequities, and biases embedded within software and technology? The institute is taught by professionally trained instructors using the most current software and technology. The institute culminates in a final exhibition and the creation of portfolio-ready work that students may include in their college applications in related fields.