English

This course provides a general overview of how the relationship between thought, knowledge and feeling (judgment of the beautiful or the sublime) is considered in modern Western philosophy. By learning to distinguish not only between thought and knowledge but also between cognitive judgment and aesthetic judgment, students are expected to become capable of reflecting critically on their own presupposed knowledge and discovering the role of imagination.

Recent global and national emergencies, from austerity to COVID-19 and the current cost-of-living crisis, have presented significant challenges for young people, prompting a re-examination of key questions in the sociology of youth. This course enhances students' understanding of debates, concepts, and methodologies related to youth transitions and cultures, exploring their intersection with inequalities in the fields of leisure, culture, housing, employment at the intersections of class, gender, race, disability and sexuality. It also delves into methodological research, ethical considerations, and the role of policy in shaping young people's pathways and societal perceptions. 

The Egyptian legal system is considered according to its present structure and historical development including institutions, processes, laws, and the courts. There is special emphasis on developments in constitutional law and the role played by the constitution in the political context of present day Egypt. The course also offers an introduction to Islamic jurisprudence in the classical doctrine, in the pre-modern Egyptian legal system, and in contemporary Egypt.

This is an introductory course in English-language literature written by, about, or for gay men and lesbians in the twentieth century. It studies a variety of representations of homosexuality in a selection of novels, short stories, plays, and essays. The course also covers literature on other identities within the LGBTQ spectrum, such as bisexuality, asexuality, and transgender identities.

This course discusses what it means to read for the politics of a text and to read a text politically. We reflect on the different kinds of desire at play in the class: desire for social justice, for solidarity, for purpose in what we, as readers, activists and critics, do. In so doing, we learn to situate texts in terms of their contemporary commitments and in relation to our own. In the second half of the class, students discover literature in the context of, and in service to, a series of social movements and hone our skills in the archive to recreate these past moments of insurgency.

This course examines a selection of the major themes in economic history. Students read academic articles written by economists that use novel historical data, state-of-the-art micro econometric methods, and economic theory. The reading list covers a broad range of historical periods and geographic regions that provide unique settings to answer questions that are usually difficult to address in contemporary settings. The course begins with a discussion of the evolution of economic history and the main empirical methods used in applied microeconomics and their application in economic history. Then, students examine interrelated themes including the ultimate determinants of economic prosperity; culture and religion as drivers of social and economic change; the origins of gender inequality; the impact of ethnic animus and conflict in the long run; and the persistent effects of immigration and technology adoption on the economy.

This course explores social, cultural, economic, and structural factors influencing individual and population health risks and outcomes beyond predisposed biological factors and access to healthcare. It adopts a multidisciplinary approach to critically examine the complex emerging public health problems, their causes, and potential solutions. Students engage in contemporary technological, ethical, political, and cultural debates in health, healing, and well-being. Through the analysis of these factors and the development of strategies to address them, students gain the knowledge to promote health, and develop critical insights into health equity and strategies to address social factors for improved health for all, for a just society.

In this course, students read a range of literature by writers from the British Romantic period (c1776-1832) – an age of political, social, environmental, and aesthetic revolution. In a period marked by rapid industrialization at home, and overshadowed by the practices and legacies of slavery and empire internationally, writers such as Mary Wollstonecraft, William Blake, Lord Byron, Mary Prince, Jane Austen, Felicia Hemans, and P. B. Shelley were negotiating what it meant to live and write in a rapidly changing world.

This course begins from the recent developments in city making that have emerged with the aim of creating more convivial places through pluralistic, democratic practices. The course examines the historical, cultural, economic, political, environmental, and other influences that determine how places form and how planners sought to control their development.  This course explores the dynamic and contingent nature of place making practices and theories from four perspectives:

a) The specific activities associated with planning, place-making, and urban governance,

b) the different, often competing perspectives of people who plan, control, manage, and make our cities; 

c) the relationship between state agencies, place-makers & civil society; and,

d) plans, policies and projects as historical artifacts.

This course examines physical principles involved in biological systems at the microscopic and molecular scales. It covers diffusion, low Reynolds number dynamics, the physicist's view of biomolecular structure, models of molecular motors and membranes.