English

There are more connections in a human brain than there are stars in the universe. This course focuses on the brain as an integrated system and looks at how its many connected networks achieve coordinated effects, linking the mind to the brain and the body. In exploring integration across the nervous system, this course examines topics such as the effects of neurotransmitters on emotions and behavior, the nature of sleep and wakeful states and transitions between them, and mechanisms underlying the control of body movement. The connections between social factors and brain function is also explored, as well as current ethical dilemmas in the field, such as the ethical consequences associated with recent technologies designed to alter our minds, or enhance brain function beyond normal healthy ranges.

This course examines the themes surrounding global organizational processes: how state systems work, where the desire for a global political order comes from, which institutions regulate global relations and what their strengths and weaknesses are. Are we on course for a global government, or will the rise of new centers of world power instead lead to greater fragmentation? The emphasis lies on the last hundred years, in particular on institutions such as the League of Nations, the United Nations, and other global governance organizations. Research is conducted into the motivations behind setting up these institutions, how the interests of various individual nations (or groups of nations) were represented, and which obstacles formed an impediment to decisive governance on global issues. Attention is devoted not only to political organizations, but also to economic and cultural institutions (IMF, the World Bank, ADB), to allow students to acquire a thorough understanding of the structure of the international order and the recent developments in an increasingly polycentric world.

This class introduces Korean contemporary films and relevant societal discourses. The course covers the role of film/moving images in contemporary society, the rhetoric of visual media in broader context, and lastly, Korean contemporary films in a more concrete realm. By writing critiques on each subject as well as sharing during class, students challenge their personal feelings and thoughts, broaden their knowledge, and deepen their insights on film media.

This course enables students to explore key concepts in the economics of work and pay, labor market theory, and the theory of personnel economics. Students develop an understanding of how these tools can be used to address theoretical, applied, and policy problems. Students also learn the nature and role of the labor market in the UK. Students master the core concepts of labor economics theory and the theory of personnel economics and then use those theories to analyze real-world labor market phenomena such as how pays are set, why there is wage inequality and unemployment. Students also evaluate the case for the use of the theory in designing reforms of the labor markets.