English

The course introduces East Asia and its political and economic foundation. The course is divided into two parts. First, the course introduces developmental state models and conceptualizes state transformation in East Asia. Second, the course discusses cases of state transformation in contemporary Asia. 

The course covers chromosome structure and organization, gene expression and RNA processing in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, genetic engineering, genetic stability and instability, transposable elements and DNA rearrangements, genetic analysis, mouse genetics, and transgenesis. The lectures are complemented by tutorials and by practical sessions that provide hands-on experience of genetical and molecular genetical manipulations.
 

The tissues that make up the human body display extraordinary characteristics; self-assembly, self-healing, adaptive, and sometimes actuatable. This course looks into the source of these characteristics and then considers what materials we, as engineers, can use to replace them. Students focus attention on the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems of the body and the biomaterials that have been developed for use as substitutes. They consider how the body reacts to the presence of man-made biomaterials and the impact of the need for biomaterial sterilization. Not all replacement materials are man-made; students think about tissue engineering as a way to grow new tissue. Finally, the course introduces the legal processes surrounding regulation of biomaterial use and considers the ethics of growing new body parts.

This course examines the sociological approaches to the systematic analysis of law, its operation, and its significance in society. It studies law as a major social phenomenon related to other aspects of society and explores its pervasive influence on human behavior and society. Topics include the sociology of law; the justification of law; major foundational works on law and society; the social basis of law, including folkways and mores, law and culture, legal pluralism, living law and book law, traditional or customary law and modern law, approaches to the study of law, and legal positivism; the consensus perspective or law as an integrative mechanism; the conflict perspective or law, power, and ideological control; law as an instrument of social change; the acceptance and legitimacy of law; the professional guardians of law; judges, courts, and disputes; and the enforcement and invocation of law.

The course addresses the conflicts between religion and state from a number of different perspectives. Historical and philosophical perspectives of the relations between the two will be presented. The particulars of the situation in Israel will be presented in light of Israeli history and in comparison to other states' arrangements. The course aims to give students a view of the variety of relations that have existed and do exist between religious bodies and states and to present the Israeli situation in these perspectives.

This course explores the intersection between food cultures and food politics, with an eye towards arguments and debates that have animated French culinary culture. How is food a portal for studying the changing dynamics of cities, global systems, and national identity? In what ways has food been employed to construct notions of community and belonging? Through discussions of interdisciplinary course readings, reporting and writing assignments, and excursions around the city of Paris, students consider how food structures identities, everyday practices, and political lives. Topics include food as a lens through which to study power and social relations in national, global, and local contexts; French culinary concepts, debates, and institutions as contested and dynamic ideas; everyday food practices in Paris; and food cultures and food politics in France and the United States.