English

This course covers the theoretical foundations of the standard model of particle physics and its possible extensions. Among topics covered are the building blocks of the standard model, strong and electroweak interactions, CP violation, neutrino oscillations, and grand unification and supersymmetry.

This course provides an overview of important international conflicts of the present time, their causes, main agents, and recent developments. Students investigate a number of case studies,  identifying and learning in detail about different areas of international controversy, and study models of international cooperation. Students analyze a variety of current conflicts by diagnosing the conflict, providing an outlook for the medium-term future, and proposing solutions. Classroom content is supplemented and enhanced by debate meetings with experts and practitioners from different organizations and institutions. The course addresses the following and other questions: In which policy domains can one find contemporary / future international controversies? What are the ways in which these controversies are diffused and settled? What are existing obstacles to the resolution and settlement of international conflicts? What major multilateral forums exist? Is global governance a realistic and desirable goal? What could possible forms look like?

This course examines key concepts and debates in contemporary international business, covering a range of topics including a critical deconstruction of the term globalization; the national and supranational alignment and divergence of political, economic, and legal systems; the complexities and nuances of international trade, including import, export, and countertrade, It includes foreign direct investment patterns and strategies; international finance and accounting; organizational structures for international businesses; market entry; global production; and, global complications in human resource management.

This course explores materials used in tissue replacement including metallic, ceramic, and natural/synthetic polymeric materials. Implant applications and design considerations for these materials as well as the associated problems with long term survival are described so that the mechanical, chemical, and physiological interactions between in vivo host environment and the implanted biomaterial can be better understood. Integration of biomaterial structure and function are emphasized throughout the course. Advanced manufacturing and fabrication technologies to generate biomaterials with specialized structural and interfacial properties are introduced. Students obtain a detailed understanding of the composition and properties of the major classes of biomaterial used in medical devices. The required functionality for a range of synthetic implantable biomaterials and how this relates to material choice for specific applications are also covered. Associated failure modes are introduced through a series of real-life case studies. Sterilization techniques, regulatory aspects, and standards with relation to quality and safety are introduced. 

This course introduces students to Earth Science, the multi-disciplinary study of the past, present, and future of planet Earth and other planets in our solar system. The course is in 3 parts. The first part considers the origin of the solid Earth, its atmosphere and oceans and how these have evolved over the past 4,600 million years. The second part examines how surface processes and burial generate the sedimentary rocks that record Earth’s history. The final part reviews the history of life on Earth as recorded in the fossil record, and emphasizes the coupled evolution of the geosphere and biosphere.

By critically examining the influence of science and technology on the governance of human and non-human communities, this course equips students with theoretical tools to analyze nature politics and reflective skills about the role of science and technology in the world they live in. Topics include public and political problems such as examining the concerns about environmental degradation, extractivism, climate change, development infrastructure, and land distribution. Students examine the framework of (Western) scientific knowledge as objective and truth-revealing, and technological innovations as horizons for progress. “Rendering Nature Technical” explores: (i) how scientific and technological practices shape nature (its elements, dynamics, relationalities), (ii) how nature governance takes place in the interplay of science, technology, and society, (iii) the co-constitution of socio-cultural, political and economic contexts, and, science and technology, (iv) the effects of these dynamics on power, contestation and resistance in distributional conflicts. 

This course introduces mathematical tools to evaluate software products and algorithms, examining principal knowledge of data structures in order to represent real world problems with computational algorithms (with abstract data types).  

Topics include linear lists, queues, trees, arrays, and hash tables. The course also investigates the principles of software engineering and addresses how to best utilize the acquired principles in designing and realizing software problems through hands-on experience. 

This course introduces students to the political system of the People’s Republic of China and the politics of its ruling entity, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The course first provides a historical foundation for understanding CCP rule, covering major events in the 20th Century. It then examines the party’s relationship to the state and policymaking, China’s foreign relations and foreign policy, as well as the politics of Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong. The politics of Taiwan are covered. 

This course introduces students to theoretical approaches to studying international relations, including scholarly debates old and new. This course is an introduction to the positive, descriptive study of international relations. Why do states make war? What are the conditions for the growth of cross-border trade and finance? What is the impact of international organizations on relations between states? This course considers these questions by looking at differing theoretical approaches to international relations and a selection of topics in historical and contemporary politics.