Taiwan

This course is for students who have taken Intermediate III of the Chinese Language Course for International Students or those who have taken Chinese for at least 700 hrs. By the end of the course students are capable of using written language to communicate effectively in formal writing and of understanding public announcements, news, and other broadcasts. In addition to the text lessons, this course also brings up topics each class that help students develop proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing. Through the course, students are able to use appropriate Chinese to carry on discussions, and read newspapers and magazines to further understand Taiwanese culture and language. Text: PRACTICAL AUDIO-VIDUAL CHINESE 1N, lessions 1-10. Assessment: midterm and final presentations, homework, quizzes, attendance and performance.

This course provides a broad exploration of life, qualities of life, the meaning of life, appreciation of life, respect for life, and preservation of life values. Topics include: what is life; life of origin and evolution; life from genes to see creatures; reproductive physiology; circulation, the immune system; neurophysiological aspects of life; animal behavior; Thoreau's Brave New World - evolution of genetic plant diversity; biological diversity and ecological conservation; genetic engineering and life application; cloning sheep and ethics; facing sickness and death; and the circle of life.

The course provides an introduction to transportation engineering, including the functions and design of various transportation facilities. Topics include logistics management, transportation issues, linear programming, rail transportation, rail operation and management, road transportation, pavement design, traffic flow characteristics and facilities, and the air transportation system.

This course introduces the topics and theories in the study of international political economy. It introduces the history of international political economics to show how the world's economy got to the contemporary stage. Course topics include: US-Iraq war and cross-strait relations; bias and politics; knowledge vs. wisdom; reflections to methodology and research methods; reflections on the level of scientific paradigms: fact-oriented vs. theory-oriented; the political economic analysis on organization and institution; bias and mobilization of bias; the formulation of international political economic order after WWII East-West confrontation and north-south conflicts; international monetary fund and international monetary system after WWII; GATT and international trade system after WWII; peaceful coexistence and economic development theory; north-south conflicts and dependency theory; oil crisis and dependent development; world system theory; the end of cold war, regionalism, and the clash of civilization; globalization and national development; Asia-Pacific political economy; and PRC economic reform and cross-strait relations. Assessment: discussion and attendance (20%), midterm (40%) and final (40%).

This course introduces students to tennis. It covers the basic skills of the sport, including forehand, backhand, serve, volley, overhead, and lob. Students also learn the standard rules and policies for tennis matches.

This is a physical education class instructing students in Qigong, a mindful moving meditation practice focused on healing aspects of cultivating one's "qi." This class meets once a week. Half of our time is dedicated to lecture and half is dedicated to practice. Attendance is mandatory. Basic Chinese understanding would be helpful as the class is conducted completely in Chinese.

This course teaches the usage of R for the analysis of ecological data. It introduces several different analysis options for biological or ecological data (focusing specifically on community-level data) using the free and open-source statistical, mapping, and graphing platform R. Broad topics covered will include: introduction to R language and basic functions / graphics; basic mapping options; diversity measurement; univariate, multivariate, parametric and non-parametric analysis and their basis; functional diversity; and ecological time series analysis. Students will require a laptop for sessions. Schedule is subject to changes according to student progress.

This course introduces the main themes, concepts, and perspectives of sociology. It defines sociology, and examines the theories and methods researchers use to answer sociological questions. It discusses the fundamental social processes and concepts (culture and socialization, social structures, and social inequalities); social institutions (family, education, gender and religion); and environment and social movements.

This course provides students with Japanese pronunciation and listening practice so they become familiar with Japanese tones and intonation rules. 

This course examines Chinese-language film to illustrate the cultural values of Chinese society. The course uses Chinese films from Taiwan and mainland China and teaches vocabulary and usage. After watching the film, students discuss related topics and compare with the differences in their own country. Group discussion is a large part of the course. Assessment: Attendance, participation, discussion, reports and final.