English

This course presents a broad picture of political and cultural situation, including the Russo-Chinese contacts in the 17th-19th centuries. It covers the Kievan Rus, the period of division, culture of the period of Mongol dependency, culture of independent Moscow state; the beginning of secular culture in the 17th century; reforms of Peter I, Westernization of Russian culture in the 18th century; the golden age of aristocratic culture at the end of the 18th century; new trends and schools in Russian culture at the beginning of the 20th century.

This is a seminar course designed to cover the common law trial systems through providing the students opportunities of analyzing cases, in-class discussions, and/or mock trial practices, and facilitation for the students to learn the main legal theories of litigation and trial practices of the common law system.

Through taking this course, the students are expected to learn legal terminologies, enhance the ability of comprehending legal English, and understand the common law trial proceedings in a systematic way. The students will be trained to use English as a tool to understand the law and to be capable of analyzing and resolving legal problems.

The first portion of this course focuses on comprehending ideas presented by Thom Hartmann, the key author that has helped influence the discussion of key environmental and social issues of the latter 20th century and early 21st century (influencing such people as celebrity Leonardo DiCaprio and politician Bernie Sanders). 

In this process, we examine the harmful aspects of city-state culture, such as competition, domination, and excess, as well as positive tribal values such as being part of nature, cooperation, care, and sharing. Students explore knowledge and skills needed to enhance their understanding of the interconnectedness of all living things, promote environmental awareness, and create a more sustainable future. 

The second half of the semester involves practical “hands-on” discovery as students choose their own issue to research, to discover what the author may have missed and even how the world has or hasn’t changed since the author wrote his book. 

This seminar examines American cities over the past 150 years through major theoretical traditions and empirical themes. It explores housing markets, racial segregation, immigration, suburbanization, gentrification, policing, gender, finance, education, and urban politics. Throughout, it maintains a comparative lens, juxtaposing American patterns with European experiences. The course has two goals. First, to familiarize students with major theoretical frameworks in urban sociology, building a conceptual toolkit for analyzing cities. Second, to develop critical analytical skills through engagement with classic texts and contemporary research.

This course introduces key concepts and analytical tools for understanding science and technology as social enterprises. Students examine classical philosophical debates—such as the demarcation problem—and analyze how social systems, institutional norms, and cultural contexts shape the work of scientists and engineers.  

The course explores motivations and incentives that drive knowledge production, as well as the collaborative and competitive structures that organize research. Building on this foundation, the course asks practical questions about how to promote science and technology through effective governance, economic analysis, and policy design.  

A distinctive feature of this course is its applied project structure. Students take on two roles over the semester: first, acting as a funding agency by drafting Requests for Proposals (RFPs) on pressing science policy issues; second, acting as policy researchers by responding to a peer’s RFP with a complete policy study.  

This process mirrors real-world science policy cycles, from setting priorities to producing actionable recommendations, and will push students to think both strategically and analytically. By the end of the course, students will have a critical understanding of how science and technology are constructed, organized, and sustained, as well as hands-on experience in research design, policy analysis, and communication skills directly transferable to real-world science policy work. 

The course is designed to introduce students to the latest developments in behavioral finance and to broaden their understanding of modern finance. Behavioral finance introduces psychological insights and more realistic assumptions to guide and advance the theory of financial markets. We will examine how behavioral finance complements traditional paradigms and study trading behavior, asset price dynamics, and corporate financial decisions in a behavioral context.

This course covers the tools required to evaluate and carry out empirical data analyses and introduces students to various regression methods that empirical researchers (economists, social scientists, data scientists, etc.) use for estimating, testing, and forecasting causal relationships.  Frontier research papers with various economic data sets are covered, and the course discusses how machine learning and econometrics can be used together to improve causal inference.  

Topics include basic regression models, advanced topics in panel data, time series analysis, difference-in-differences models, and discrete choice models 

Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of linear algebra, probability, and statistics is expected. If you are not sure whether you meet the prerequisites, please consult with the instructor.  

This survey course examines innovation holistically, encouraging students to question the status quo and critically examine both the positive and negative impacts of innovation. 

Innovation is often hailed as the ultimate solution to many challenges, ranging from economic growth to technological advancement. However, this enthusiastic embrace of innovation frequently overlooks its significant negative effects on individuals, society, politics, and the environment. While innovation has propelled societies forward in many areas, it has also created new problems, often exacerbating inequalities and producing unforeseen consequences. 

Through lectures and debates on current case studies—such as climate change, the brain drain from poorer countries to developed nations, and the impact of artificial intelligence on individuals and society—students will explore the multifaceted nature of innovation and develop principles for a more inclusive and responsible approach. This course challenges students to think critically about who benefits from innovation and who may be disadvantaged, prompting consideration of ethical, social, and environmental dimensions alongside economic and technological ones. By engaging with diverse perspectives, students gain an appreciation for the complexity of innovation and the importance of a balanced approach. 

This course provides an intermediate level introduction to the application of modern time series methods that may be used to analyze economic data. The initial part of the course includes a review of techniques that can be used to identify the dynamic properties of time series data. Thereafter, a selection of the popular modelling frameworks is introduced (i.e. autoregressive integrated moving average models, distributed lag models, and vector autoregressive models). Extensions to these frameworks, which allow for aspects such as cointegration and error correction representations, are also covered, before attention is directed towards the application of model misspecification tests and forecasting exercises. Course entry requirements: ECO4006F, ECO4007F and ECO4016F.

This course covers information security and alternatives for protecting secret information from malicious digital attacks. The course examines various information protection devices and the principles, mechanisms, and implementations of computer security,  

Topics include Security concepts and principles, Software security – exploits and privilege escalation, User authentication, Operating systems security, Access control, Secure design and coding exercises, Cryptographic building blocks, Malicious software, GitCTF Competition, Web and browser security, Open source security and more.