English

This course examines politics in transitioning and young democracies. Drawing upon research on “new” democracies in various regions of the world, this course focuses on democratic consolidation, political accountability and quality of governance, while discussing how well political institutions function in new democracies. The course also examines some of the common challenges to governance in new democracies. 

The course begins with an introduction to public speaking for students to develop confidence and overcome fear when speaking before a group. Focusing on informative speech and persuasive speech, the course follows a "learn by doing" approach and all members of the class have many opportunities to test and develop their presentation skills before the entire class.

This course politics of environmental and climate (in)justice. It looks at modern theories of justice versus environmental reality, individualized property regimes versus collective good, colonialism versus te Ao Māori, positivism versus mātauranga Māori, universalism versus localism, and seeks just ways forward. Case studies will be drawn from Aotearoa and global experiences of environmental and climate injustice. It looks at the foundations of liberal political thinking and draws from critical and decolonial theory and te ao Māori in our search for useful tools to fashion just decolonial environmental politics.

This course discusses global health and health systems reforms in the Asia-Pacific Region. Africa, and OECD countries. The course also examines the financing, policy evaluation, and providing aspect of healthcare services. Key topics include health policy synthesis and evaluation; public policies reform addressing low birth rates; progress toward universal health coverage assessment; planetary health; multi-country data analysis; equity in health and social exclusion, and innovations in health financing system. The course emphasizes hands-on learning through extensive use of Microsoft Excel and statistical software package R.

Course Prerequisites: The course assumes basic knowledge of statistics. However, for those without prior experience, the course provides support to build a strong foundation in data analysis, statistical concepts, and the use of the R software package.

This course provides students with the conceptual framework and skills for describing and analyzing Modern English. Students learn to parse simple and complex constructions in English. Topics include word classes, the structure of sentences and phrases, clause types, complex sentences and discourse styles. Students analyze variations in English through time, and evaluate influences on the structure of English in bilingual/multilingual situations such as Singapore.

This course covers essential analytical and conceptual tools for examining foreign policy processes. It equips students to identify and critically assess differences, similarities, changes, and continuities in the foreign policies of states worldwide. Through diverse historical case studies, the course highlights key theoretical debates while addressing the connect/disconnect between theoretical frameworks and practical decision-making in foreign policy. Along with a midterm and final exam, students participate in a team debate. 

This course focuses on advanced algorithms and architectures for deep learning with neural networks. The course provides an introduction to how deep learning techniques can be used to design important parts of advanced autonomous systems that exist in physical and cyber environments.

This course examines the ways in which Pacific peoples frame their contemporary world in the context of globalization. It also examines factors which shape contemporary Pacific life and popular culture as well as some of the challenges emanating from how Pacific peoples construct and make sense of their own and others’ historical, political, socio-cultural, economic and religious worlds.

This course examines the interconnectedness of environment and society. It highlights the importance of understanding how different views and attitudes influence people's interactions with the environment. Key themes include governance, management and development, which are addressed through issues such as conservation, climate change adaptation, disasters and resource use. 

This course examines the global condition of women and girls through a feminist lens, discussing this condition as political and sexual. It canvasses topics that exemplify global sexual politics and discusses the harmful results for women and girls. The course aims to cultivate theoretical insight and critical analysis skills that exercise knowledge and examples specifically from feminist scholarship. It aims to promote comprehension of feminist frameworks as well as contemporary problems affecting women and girls globally.