English

This course examines contemporary issues in developmental theory and research from the prenatal period to adulthood. Topics will include theories of development, biological, cognitive, language, social, emotional, and moral development, as well as attachment,
the development of the self, the family, and peer relationships.

This course analyzes the economic issues related to the process of European integration through a theoretical and a policy perspective. Through the study of economic integration theories and the main European Union (EU) policies, students are able to acquire a critical perspective of the basic issues leading to the development of the European Institutions and the different historical phases of the European Union, ultimately giving birth to the Economic and Monetary Union. The course is composed of three parts. The first part of the course is devoted to the study of the theory of economic integration, considering the market of goods (customs unions, free trade areas), of factors of production (common markets) and the coordination of economic policies (economic union). A link is made between the theoretical instruments and the actual evolution of the European integration process. The second part explores the main European policies (common objectives, instruments, and financial means), their evolution over time and the corresponding mechanisms of governance. The third part of the course is centered on the Economic and Monetary Union and its effects for the European economy. 

This course examines how animals interact with each other and with their environment. It covers the control, development, adaptive significance and evolution of behavior. 

This course introduces students to fundamentals of thermodynamics, including the laws of thermodynamics, entropy, thermodynamic relationships, chemical and phase equilibrium, etc. This course explores their application in renewable energy technologies. The course expands upon fundamental thermodynamics to provide a brief overview of renewable energy technologies as well as design considerations, energy efficiency, and global market potential. The course requires students to take prerequisites.

This course examines the approaches and policies adopted by Middle Eastern countries in the pursuit of economic and social development, and the theories developed by scholars to explain the region’s political economies and its problems with development. The course includes details on the historical trajectories of Middle Eastern economies and political systems, from the post-independence state-led period, through the impacts of the 1970s oil boom, attempts at economic liberalization, the impacts of globalization and technological change, and the aftermath of the post-2011 Arab uprisings. Using case studies from the Arab world as well as Israel and Iran, the course introduces key theories of political economy as they have been applied to the Middle East including: modernization theory, dependency theory, rentier state theory, liberalism and neoliberalism, and Islamic economic ideas. Economic development in the region has been tortuous and uneven, hobbled as much by non-economic factors as by economic ones. 

This course provides a detailed examination of the various conflicts that have beset Iraq since 1980, covering the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War; the 1990-91 Gulf War; the 2003 war; the post-2003 civil war, and the conflict with the so-called Islamic State (ISIS). The aim is to examine these conflicts holistically, considering not only their military and political dimensions – absolutely central as these are to an understanding of Iraq's modern history and politics – but also to look at the economic sources and impacts of the conflict, the social and religious dynamics, and the regional setting and implications of them. The course broadly follows a chronological line in looking at these conflicts, since to a large extent these conflicts stem from previous ones, but the discussion and analysis is also interspersed with theoretical discussions about conflict and with the examination of films, documentaries, and other audiovisual narratives about modern Iraq.

This course examines central concerns that have arisen in late modernist art, exploring the moves, intensifications and political implications of art in the post-1968 period: dematerialization of the art object, site-specificity, the artist in a commodity culture, activism, questions of identity, notions of looking and spectatorship, interactivity, new media, contemporary censorship and debates about the place of the aesthetic.

This course covers basic mechanical engineering knowledge and theory of mechanics of materials, and how they are used to solve practical engineering problems. Topics include introduction to statics, concept of stress and strain, analysis of stresses and deflections in a loaded beam, torsion of a circular bar as well as analysis of frames and machines. The course requires students to take prerequisites.

This is course provides a critical overview of over-arching themes and agendas in war, migration, and health. This includes building understanding of how war and migration affect population and critical assessment of how health systems in Europe respond to population movements. In doing so the course highlights issues of how health is conceptualized in theory and practice, the power relations and inequalities involved within and between key health populations, actors, and institutions, and the key health challenges before and after war. 

This course introduces students to the fundamental concepts of normal tissue development and how researchers have used this information to imitate nature in a lab setting, engineering cells and tissues that may be used to model diseases, treat disease, or develop drugs. Discussion topics include: societal challenges for tissue engineering, cell building blocks, normal tissue development and regeneration, adult stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, challenges in imitating nature, cell and tissue therapy, gene therapy, and drug development.