English

The lecture covers four major aspects of HCI: 1. Understanding users (user behavior, user research techniques such as interviews and usability testing) 2. Designing user interfaces (principles of interface design for usability, interaction paradigms) 3. Evaluating interfaces (usability testing methods, identifying usability problems, iterative design based on user feedback) 4. Integrating HCI into system development (integrating the above aspects into an iterative product development cycle). The exercise section of the course applies the above theory in practice. Learning outcomes include: Apply HCI principles to design user-friendly interfaces; conduct fundamental user research and analyze user needs; understand principles of iterative prototyping and evaluation of interactive systems; communicate HCI concepts effectively.

There are two thoughts at the center of this class, which are to be challenged and clarified in discussion. The first thought is that all desire is somehow or other aimed at the good. The second thought is that all action is somehow or other subject to normative evaluation. The class challenges and clarifies these thoughts by close reading of parts of Plato's Republic and of contemporary texts. From Plato's Republic, the class focuses on the role of technical expertise (techne) in guiding action; on theory of the tripartite soul; and on the theory of desire and its objects. Students read contemporary works, especially by Christine Korsgaard, that deals with related themes and also touches on Plato's Republic. Students also read works by Rachel Barney, which is focused on the Republic and helps to forge a connection between Plato's text and these contemporary debates.

This course examines works of Mediaeval and Tudor drama.

This course explores traditional crafts in Ireland from Aran knitting to weaving and lace-making and their associated processes, symbolism and significance. It examines the development of vernacular fashion, traditions associated with clothing, and the influence of traditional Irish craft and clothing internationally. Ideas of sustainability in terms of clothing and craft are also explored as well as their use in subsistence and within the vernacular economy.

This course provides students with fundamental knowledge of the German architectural tradition through a historical survey of key buildings and urban spaces. Political, cultural, historical and technological factors are closely studied as influences on the process of design and final built forms. Throughout the course, representative architectural examples in Berlin are also studied. Students explore how the city is a particularly rich site to observe how numerous competing political visions and social movements influenced German architecture and urban development.

This course covers the basic principles, legal structures, and processes of governance at the EU level. The course introduces the EU's history, its main institutions and legal frameworks, the policymaking process, and the political struggles that take place around a number of issues that are relevant to the life sciences domains. The first half of the course provides a general background to the EU, including its history, main institutions, decision-making procedures, and implementation pathways. The second half of the course discusses the development of a number of relevant policy domains, including the internal market, marine policy, environmental policy, agricultural policy, and food policy. At the end of the course, students are able to explain the functioning of the EU’s main institutions and policies, use and analyze official EU documents and legislation, and critically appraise an ongoing policy debate.

This introductory course explores the origins of universal civil rights in the USA with an emphasis on historical events, review of biography and legacy of significant activists and change makers from the USA and other countries. The course also presents cases to examine the relationship between the causes triggering civil rights development, and how these events can relate to impactful social events and movements in the last decade in different regions of the world. The course intends to provide a theoretical background, a historical review of events, and a social analysis of movements that students can study by using varied resources for data collection and examination of influential media resources or independent documentation of these processes.

‘Geographies of Youth in Changing Societies’ studies how young people (between 4-25 years old) experience and use various places in changing societies, based on the premise that their experiences differ from those of adults.  The course examines what happens at the intersections of age and life-course (e.g. children, youth, teenagers, young adults), and places (body, home, street, neighborhood, community, city, urban, rural, (trans)national, trans local, global). The course considers young people’s lives from various but interconnected perspectives. Transformations in the context of globalization, migration and societal change define young people’s lives across the world. However, growing up in an increasingly interconnected world affects young people in different and unequal ways depending on local relations and historical contexts. This course contributes to the field by teaching how geographers and spatial planners understand and examine youth-related themes, youth’s positions in various societies and places, and their subjectivities and orientations in a constantly changing world with new possibilities as well as risks. The course provides an in-depth understanding of processes and dynamics that shape young people’s lives on various spatial scales. The places where we are born, go to school to, play, hang out, exercise, study and work are an important part of young people's lives, their everyday experiences and their identities. But young people’s relationships with these places are subject to ongoing transformations due to changing priorities, needs and aspirations across their life course. The concepts of childhood and adolescence are, however, relatively recent phenomena in Geography. Rather, in much scientific work by geographers and spatial planners, young people are seen as ‘adults in becoming’, even though the perspectives of young people on the world are qualitatively different than those of adults. The course consists of lectures and tutorials. Guest lecturers from the various sections within the Human Geography and Spatial Planning department introduce different perspectives on young people’s geographies. The first part of the course is an overview lecture that recapitulates youth as a socio-spatial construct. The geographies of youth are explored through relevant themes, such as identities and belonging, inequalities, and youth & public space. The second part of the course investigates a youth-related topic by working on their own research group project.

This course expands on what constitutes real estate business in the modern society. The course provides knowledge and skills relevant to the multidimensional real estate business field, which includes asset management, property management, facility management, and real estate development. Focus is on different financing and management models, from the perspective of a business. A central theme is corporate governance, including corporate real estate management (CREM), and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The course also introduces futures studies and gives insight into managing and financing innovation in real estate.

This course explores the origins, contemporary manifestations, strategies, impacts, and responses to extremism in Europe and the Americas, with a focus on right-wing examples. It examines the political, social, and cultural dimensions of these movements. The course also distinguishes extremism from related phenomena such as populism and nationalism, explores the motivations and ideologies behind extremism, and assesses the consequences for democracy and social cohesion in these regions. The course begins with a brief introduction to the definitions and distinctions surrounding extremism. In Section II, the course takes a closer look at how extremism has developed in contemporary European and American contexts. Section III focuses on analyzing extremist ideologies and discourses, including propaganda and online strategies, through various case studies. Finally, Section IV reflects on the social and political impacts of extremism, as well as the responses from governments and civil society. The course is taught through lectures, cross-sectional analysis, group discussions, and the use of primary and secondary sources alongside case studies.