English

This course focuses upon Supernatural literature and film from the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Students study novels by authors such as Ira Levin, Shirley Jackson, Jay Anson, Paul Tremblay, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Koji Suzuki. Selected films from a variety of national contexts are also featured. Students are introduced to the work of key critics and theorists dealing with the supernatural as a literary and filmic form and are encouraged to consider the ways in which classic supernatural themes and tropes have been updated to reflect contemporary anxieties, social mores, and cultural preoccupations. Students reflect upon the ways in which supernatural literatures from a range of global cultures (the USA, Wales, Spain Japan and England) might differ in their approach to depicting the otherworldly and the uncanny. The ways in which past national and personal traumas (and sources of guilt) can be refracted through supernatural narratives is also considered, and issues pertaining to faith, identity, and modernity are discussed.

The course aims to develop "T-shaped" characters who can develop the depth of expertise in a single field (one's major as represented by the vertical bar of the T shape) while acquiring the ability to communicate and collaborate with others from different disciplines (the horizontal bar of the T) to address challenges. The ability to connect horizontally is "Design Thinking", which is the bridge between creativity and innovation, combining divergent and convergent modes of problem discovery and problem solving to integrate user-experience, technology tools, and business models to create values. 

In this course, aspects of quantity and quality of water are studied at the sub-catchment scale both in theory and in field and laboratory practices. Students learn to apply computational methods in hydrology and chemical & biological measuring techniques as applied in analyses of surface water systems and water quality. The course covers definitions, concepts, processes, flow equations, systems analysis, and (sub-)catchment modeling approaches, measuring methods, and quantification of elements. Specific topics are relationships between landscape morphology and water quality, hydrological cycle (precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, groundwater), the interaction of groundwater and surface water, (drainage theory, design discharge, dimensioning of drainage and discharge systems, rainfall-runoff relationships in catchments), characterization of water types and aquatic ecosystems by chemical and biological field measurements (nutrients, chloride, alkalinity, oxygen, light absorption, composition of macro-fauna), experimental analysis of eutrophication processes in the laboratory.

This seminar course familiarizes students with advanced topics related to the interplay between societies and education from a comparative and international perspective. After basic coursework in comparative education, this course encourages students to explore advanced topics which are central to theoretical debates in comparative education and may be relevant for their thesis research. Topics may be specific to the Asian region or have global relevance for societies and education systems around the world. 

Political economy describes the multifold interactions between the political and economic subsystem in a society and is studied by many different disciplines. This lecture series invites scholars and practitioners from economic history, economics, history, literature and sociology to present on different sectors and aspects of the American political economy. Topics range from labor to housing markets, from migration to the international dollar system and from social movements to racialized capitalism. The lecture provides students with a unique interdisciplinary introduction into current research into American political economy, from many JFKI scholars and beyond.

This course explores the intersection of environmental geography and Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) to address the grand challenges facing our world. The primary goal of this course is to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to design, implement, and advocate for NbS that effectively contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By understanding the intricate relationships between natural systems and human development, students are prepared to create innovative solutions that promote environmental sustainability, economic viability, and social equity – key concepts in environmental geography. 

This course examines multi-disciplinary perspectives to examine significant and complex issues of Northeast Asia in the past and present. It aims to help students understand how the historical legacy of Northeast Asia is reflected in today’s states and societies of these regions, and how political, economic, social, and cultural characteristics of Northeast Asia continue to evolve in a comprehensive way.

This course is meant for anyone interested in alternative forms of organizing in a constantly changing world. The course takes a political perspective on the phenomenon of organizing in order to make sense of both dominant bureaucratic organizations traditionally based on rationality, control and efficiency, and emerging alternative organizations that emphasize participation, democracy and autonomy. Applying a critical management approach, the course examines the contextual forces (e.g. globalization) and societal challenges (e.g. climate change) facing organizations today; the assumptions underlying current logics of organizing, taking the case of the sharing economy and questioning to what extent it can be considered an alternative are explored. Lastly, the course elaborates on the principles and practices associated with other forms of ‘alternative’ organizations and organizing, from social enterprises to cooperatives and social movements. In the second part of the course, students perform a small-scale field study with a subgroup, engaging with a so called ‘alternative’ organization/grassroots’ community/social movement to better explore their organizational functioning. This is a high intensity level 3 course. Active participation forms the backbone of this course.

This course examines dynamics and control of prokaryotic cellular processes in response to the biotic and abiotic environment including metabolic interactions and metabolic cooperation between microorganisms.