Title:Upper-Division Computational Physics at Syracuse and its Lasting Impact on Students

The value of incorporating computational physics into the undergraduate curriculum is now widely accepted, both because it facilitates student learning of core physical concepts and because computational skills are needed in graduate research and industry. However, computation doesn't just let us train the same sort of physicists more efficiently; students with computation as a core part of their training develop a richer, more insightful, more fundamentally grounded, and ultimately more fruitful perspective on physics as a discipline. In short, they become a different sort of physicist -- one with a clearer view of what physics shows us about the world and with more freedom to apply their knowledge to understand physical phenomena.

I will present case studies of students from Syracuse University who have studied computational physics as part of their upper-division and graduate training, and argue that their outlook on the physical world and approach to physics as a whole has benefited from this experience.