English

This course examines the thought, values and practices of Buddhism through the application of its fundamentals of philosophical theories and principles. In this course, the basic Buddhist teachings of dependent arising, the relationship of mind and body, human behaviors and their consequences, the human condition and its causes, the concept of happiness, etc. will be investigated on the basis of the earliest Buddhist literatures namely the Pali Nikayas and Chinese Agamas.

This course examines the principles of conventional (X-ray and Ultrasound) and modern (Computerized Tomography – CT; Magnetic Resonance Imaging – MRI; Nuclear Imaging and Optical Imaging) imaging techniques applied to biological systems and in medical diagnoses and the interpretations of these images.

This course provides an overview of the different aspects and stages involved in the engineering of software with a special focus on architectural properties of large systems. Assuming that course participants are acquainted with basic software development principles, this course provides knowledge on and experience with the wider aspects and stages in the lifecycle of a (large) software system. It introduces the general principles of software engineering, methods for addressing software engineering problems, common tools and techniques for solving software engineering problems, and methods, tools, and techniques for designing software systems and their architecture. Topics include: project management; requirements elicitation; architectural analysis, description, synthesis, prototyping & evaluation; software design and development; software implementation; quality assurance; maintenance and evolution; software business.

This course presents the history and the main characteristics of the Japanese legal system. The first part of the course presents the historical background of the Japanese legal system, focusing on the reception of Western law in the Meiji period, and on the consolidation of the legal system in the 20th century. The second part of the course presents several key aspects of current Japanese constitutional law, private law, criminal law and procedure. 

The course introduces students to 20th century Persian-language literary texts available in translation as a means of understanding the efforts of an ever-expanding Iranian intellectual class to address issues surrounding the rise of the modern nation-state in the Middle East generally and Iran in particular over this period via use of both the short story and the novel. The course can intersect with other departmental courses on modern Middle Eastern Studies, allowing students to explore their particular interests generally. But, it also intersects in particular with a course in modern Persian history which considers the political and socio-economic history of Iran since the 16th century.
 

This course focuses on the introduction of dynamic modeling and its application for policy analysis. The aim is to provide an understanding of the reasons for government policy intervention in the economy; analyze the benefits of possible government policies, and the response of economic agents to the government's actions. The course covers tax policy and inequality, social insurance programs, and public goods. Special emphasis is on current policy issues such as inequality and poverty, health care reform, income tax reform, and budget deficits. 

In this course, the issues of water quality and water and wastewater treatment systems are examined. Advanced physical and chemical technologies, as well as bioengineering processes for water and wastewater treatment are introduced and studied. Emphasis is on state of the art solutions to tackle global challenges regarding water and wastewater treatment systems operation and effectiveness.

Students will embark on an exploration of riverbanks, lake environments, coastal regions, and island communities, seeking to capture the myriad ways they access and inhabit these areas in the 21st century. In the growing wave of island and coastal studies, students will also consider how coastal societies offer important examples of behavioral and cultural evolution, with religious icons, cultural ideas, linguistic patterns, and stories told and retold, featuring connections to water. Students will learn how these regions serve as natural conduits for migration, fostering cultural exchanges, and the flourishing of innovation and social networks. These include the fishing First Nations and Inuit communities in northern Canada and Greenland, the societies living in the depths of the jungle along the Congo River, and even Hong Kong’s coasts and communities such as those in Mui Wo, Tai O, Lei Yue Mun, Aberdeen, and Sai Kung.

This course considers specific cognitive functions and properties of the human mind. The material covers perception, attentional processes, language and knowledge representation, memory mechanisms, problem-solving and expertise, and the relationships and links between processes. Studies from classical and modern cognitive psychology are provided throughout.

The course develops an understanding of visual perception and its functions. Focus is on the integration of findings from physiology, neuropsychology, anatomy, and experimental psychology. Topic areas include theories of human vision and their application to understanding our ability to perceive distinct visual properties, for example the shape, size, location, and identity of objects.