English

This course introduces basic concepts in Financial Modeling and Business Analytics that are typically implemented in spreadsheet models and shows how data can be used to solve business problems. The course discusses methods that are used extensively in business organizations to solve large, structured problems. Such methods generate results that support decision-making at all levels of the organization over various time horizons. This course carries the Quantitative Reasoning flag, which are courses designed to equip students with skills that are necessary for understanding the types of quantitative arguments regularly encountered in professional life. Students should therefore expect a substantial portion of the grade to come from use of quantitative skills to analyze real-world problems. This course includes the use of Excel and R to estimate financial models and variables, such as NPV and IRR, WACC, FCF, assets Beta and return, efficient frontier, CAPM, SML, variance and covariance matrixes, and options pricing. Students use basic operations in R, scripts, data manipulation, and programming using R.

The course focuses on the new media technologies that have emerged and spread from the time of the Second World War and onwards. A clear emphasis is on digital media and network cultures, as well as the broad influence of television. Highlighted themes are the cultural understanding of technological development, convergence culture and intermedial relations. Different aspects of media and communication as moral panic, paper bureaucracy and tourism are also discussed. Finally, the arguments of some of the most influential late 20th century media theorists such as Raymond Williams and Marshall McLuhan are analyzed.

The extremes of human experience have been contemplated by Eastern and Western thinkers beyond traditional philosophic categories of logic, epistemology, ethics, and metaphysics in a movement we refer to as "existentialism". In this course, students explore Western existential philosophers such as Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, de Beauvoir, Sartre, and Heidegger, as well as existential aspects of Asian philosophies such as Buddhism, Daoism, and the Kyoto School writings of Nishitani Keiji. Students also read the works of existential literary figures, such as Dostoyevsky, Kafka, Camus, Oe, or Kawabata. 

This course examines Chinese film history and criticism via an examination of selected films directed by several of Greater China’s most skilled directors. 

This course examines the history of British radicalism, with a focus on two moments: the late 19th century around the work of William Morris, and the post-war years, up to the 1980s. It explores the intellectual, artistic, and material production both of Morris and his circle and of alternative cultures in the post-war period. The course first examines the evolutions of radicalism in post-war Britain through the development of alternative cultures and “new social movements,” while exploring intellectual debates within the British left. It pays close attention to artistic expression and cultural practices within radical cultures. The themes covered include the intellectual debates of the New Left in the late 1950s and early 1960s; the cultural politics of the underground in the 1960s; the challenges of feminism; the emergence of participatory forms of political action around “community politics” and “community arts” practices; the influence of Black and Asian political and cultural organizations on a post-colonial critique of Britain’s imperial legacies; the cultural and class politics of Punk and the question of its position in the British history of radicalism. The second part of the course focuses on the work of William Morris. NEWS FROM NOWHERE (1890), “a Utopian romance” as well as a book supporting anarchist ideology, details the radical reconstruction of society. It serves as a base for the exploration of late-Victorian aesthetics and politics, and highlights the contemporary scope and significance of William Morris’s revolutionary cultural legacy.

Penology involves the study of how the state punishes those who have been convicted of offences. The subject covers the interlocking issues of sentencing, prison, and non-custodial punishments. Students to an in-depth look at the penal system and evaluate why, when, and how it is legitimate for the state to punish its citizens. The course also takes a practical look at the administration of punishment, with a particular focus on prisons. Students examine the contemporary issues and problems concerning these institutions and evaluate possibilities for reform. Analysis of penal policy and how it is formed is also involved. Penology involves a broad multi-disciplinary approach which includes aspects of sociology, political theory, and philosophy as well as law and human rights. It is closely related to criminology. Students are not required to take the course in criminology, however, penology and criminology are natural partner-courses and students who study both will find that they inform one another.

In this course, students identify and discuss the importance of the Roman Republic on contemporary debates in political philosophy, and in particular to understand the contribution of Cicero to Western philosophy. The focus of this course is the last 100 years of the Roman Republic, and in particular the philosophical works of Cicero. Students examine Cicero's writings on a range of philosophical topics, friendship, moral duties, old age, and death. 

This course aims at providing knowledge about adjustment and personal growth to enable students to develop more effective coping skills and social behaviors. Topics include models of personality, life cycle, self-identity, love and attraction, sexual knowledge and fulfilment, marriage and family, life style and health, stress management, social skills training, assertiveness training and theories on competent personhood.

This course examines the philosophical thought of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. As a cornerstone of Chinese culture, Confucianism contributes to the establishment of the human moral way by articulating a conception of humans as moral subjects. Taoism stresses the pursuit of an ideal life by understanding the changes of the universe, while Buddhism applies the concept of karma to show how the ultimate cause of human suffering lies in ignorance. Other Chinese philosophical thought such as Mohism, Legalism, and the School of Yin and Yang may also be covered.

This course focuses on the processes associated with knowledge sharing and decisions for change by farmers. It explores the link between agricultural research, farm advisory services, and agricultural education as part of the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS). It examines agricultural extension and education approaches for working with farmers/farm households to support learning, the adoption of innovation and behavior change. This is critically important for farm productivity, profitability, and sustainability.