English

This course provides a background on the essentials of planet Earth's natural dynamics, and which processes are currently altered through human activity, by explaining how geological processes have shaped the Earth into its present state, and how current human activities are interfering with natural processes in Earth's ecosystems. Why the Earth's surface looks the way it does can largely be understood from Earth's internal structure dynamics. Aspects of the Geosphere that are discussed in class include the formation of planet Earth, the rock cycle, geological time, the inner Earth, plate tectonics, deformation, mountain building, and sedimentation and sedimentary basins. Emphasis is placed on the role of geological observations as evidence of processes that contributed to shaping the surface of the Earth. In addition, the course discusses the diversity of Earth's ecosystem and the importance of conserving biodiversity. The scientific aspects of global climate change are addressed, along with the way climate change is discussed and presented in the popular media.

Basic understanding of fundamental concepts and tools of general physics. Topics include Units, Physical Quantities, and Vectors, Motion Along a Straight Line, Motion in Two or Three Dimensions, Newton’s Law of Motion, Application of Newton’s Laws, Work and Kinetic Energy, Potential Energy and Energy, Conservation, Momentum, Impulse, and Collisions, Rotation of Rigid Bodies, Dynamics of Rotational Motion, Equilibrium and Elasticity, Fluid Mechanics, Gravitation, Periodic Motion, Mechanical Waves, and Sound and Hearing.

The course focuses on the application of techniques in the area of Operations Management. Covered topics include forecasting, material requirements planning, routing, and scheduling of assembly lines. Addressing these topics, several quantitative techniques (mostly heuristics and metaheuristics) that have shown to be successful in these areas are applied to examples and exercises. The course combines cases, exercises, and discussions, facilitated by your tutor and the students themselves. Prerequisites for this course are basic knowledge of the role and scope of operations management within business; advanced mathematical skills; ability to understand quantitative models and concepts and the application of such models and concepts; moderate level of understanding of simulation; moderate level of knowledge concerning linear programming.

This course is offered to non-science majors. This course explores the universe and its relationship to man from the viewpoint of ancient people to that of modern astronomers on space satellite. It emphasizes relevance of astronomy in natural sciences, engineering, humanism, and art.

This class presents a modern overview on the cosmos, as well as the multiple interrelations between humans and the universe. Topics include the basics of astronomy, planets and solar system, the sun, stars, galaxies, tools of astronomy (telescopes, satellites, etc.), spaceflight, life on earth, extreme objects (white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes), and cosmology.

This course evaluates social media use and investigates which strategies can be employed to influence communication and the ethical questions they raise. Students investigate the power of words, images, and stories. The course considers the impact of attention in social media and the role of influencers. The course discusses how language technology can help in automatically analyzing communication and get a better insight into people’s behavior and user groups. Techniques such as sentiment analysis, trend analysis, media analytics, and visualization of communication are discussed. The course focuses on how social media can be employed in our society, such as in small and large companies, in non-profit organizations, and within the government. Students learn to critically analyze existing social media strategies and to develop innovative communication strategies in one of these settings. Students also discuss the value of social media data in current algorithmic society and how data is employed to shape social behavior, generate economic value, impact political choices, and consider the privacy and ethical questions they raise.

This course introduces the main contemporary debates around human reproduction and discusses their potential impact on society, particularly as regards gender roles and family diversity. The course reflects on issues such as the possibility of diverse families and individuals to have children by using assisted reproductive technologies, the question of whether surrogate motherhood or social egg freezing are liberating or on the contrary oppressive for women, and the social implication of whether parents should be allowed to choose some attributes of their future offspring (such as eye color, height, or IQ) if able to do so. The course explores how current events such as the COVID-19 pandemic or the war in Ukraine have impacted the reproductive rights of various categories of individuals and the regulation of human reproduction in different countries, as well as at international level. The course builds on several disciplines, particularly law, gender studies, sociology, and bioethics. It discusses court cases (especially from the European Court of Human Rights), pieces of legislation, media articles and videos, and sociological and philosophical writings and other sources. Students work on topics related to human reproduction as policy makers, law makers, or gender and LGBT+ human rights specialists.