English

This course is an introduction to econometrics, that is, to the statistical methods used to give empirical content to economic relationships. This course has two goals. The first is to provide students with the tools to evaluate econometric analyses critically and logically. The second is to enable them to analyze datasets methodically and comprehensively using econometric methods. The course includes lectures and problem sets, part of which will be conducted using R, a free, open-source software environment for statistical computing and data analysis. Familiarity with R is not expected. Written midterm and final exam (90%), class asignment/group presentation (10%). Prerequisites: familiarity with calculus, introductory statistics and elementary matrix algebra.

The course traces a history of the fantasy genre's formation and crystallization, from its medieval beginnings to the present. It looks at the story-telling and world-building literary devices used by Geoffrey of Monmouth, who wrote his medieval bestseller about King Arthur in Oxford Castle, and the authors of Renaissance Romance fantasies. It also explores Margaret Cavendish’s The Blazing World, a forerunner of science fiction, and 18th-century Gothic fantasies which paved the way for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The course follows Oxford's own Lewis Carroll, Scottish fantasy author George Macdonald, and the pre-Raphaelite William Morris through to Tolkien and Lewis and beyond. It also considers recent critical approaches to the fantasy genre as well as discusses whether these pre-21st century texts lend themselves with ease to the modern media of cinema, TV serialization, or computer games, and which adjustments have been made or are still to be made to make them relevant to our own times.

This course explores the complex relationships between economic development, poverty, and the environment. Over five, inter-related themes, the course covers a range of critical natural resource and environmental issues in low-and middle-income countries, that is, issues at the interface of environment and development. Using concepts and analytical tools grounded in applied economics, primarily environmental and development economics, the course begins with an examination of the relationship between poverty and environmental change related to resource use, and the role of population growth in this relationship (theme I). It then moves to a discussion of the design and implementation of policies to effect change in conservation and/or development outcomes, in weak institutional settings (theme II). A key institution is that of property rights, with common property playing an important role in resource management and conservation (theme III). Some key conservation and poverty alleviation efforts attempt to address market failures associated with the demand for, and supply of, food and energy (theme IV). While food and energy are typically supplied in rural settings, changes in the extent and compositiion of demand are associated with rapid urbanization, trade, and sectoral shifts in the economy (theme V).

The course introduces and explores technologies relating to high performance computing, and it offers practical hands-on use of and experience with said technologies. Students learn how to develop fast, efficient applications on the very latest advanced processors, including many-core CPUs and GPUs. Students also have the opportunity to integrate content from other courses, for example implementing high performance parallel versions of algorithms previously encountered. Students are exposed to the underlying trends in computer hardware that are driving development towards massive parallelism in hardware and software. They employ widely used parallel programming languages and tools, such as OpenMP, MPI, OpenCL, debuggers and profilers, all in the context of a real supercomputer environment: the university’s Blue Crystal cluster.

This course introduces students to key topics and concepts in disaster management. No prior knowledge is assumed. The causes of disasters are explored and different approaches to addressing them are critically analyzed through lectures and seminars. Course content includes disaster vulnerability and resilience, as well as the disaster management cycle. Students gain a clear understanding of the different types of disasters, disaster risks, and how and why vulnerability to hazards varies across space and time, in both low- and high-income contexts.

This course covers basic and advanced techniques for manipulating and controlling laser light and laser pulses. This involves controlling intensity, frequency distribution, temporal profiles in order to design advanced optical systems for specialized tasks in industry as well as research. The course covers the following topics: Light propagation in anisotropic materials; Acusto-optical effects and modulators; electro-optical effects and modulators, non-linear interaction between light and matter; ultrafast optics, propagation of short laser pulses in dispersive non-linear media; and basic laser safety. Assumed prior knowledge: Basic Physics, Mathematics and Optics.

Public International Law governs the everyday life of the international society and supplies the fundamental framework for the conduct of the international political process. In this context, it deals mainly, but not exclusively, with the relations of sovereign states inter se and their relations with international organizations, individuals, transnational corporations, ‘peoples’, and other international actors. This course provides the students with an introduction to this field of law. The course provides students with a contemporary introduction to the subject of international law. Further this course provides students with an understanding of the nature and sources of international law; introduces students to the main subject areas of international law and keep them abreast of contemporary developments; introduces students to the principal areas of international conflict and the main actors on the international stage; fosters a critical appreciation of the role played by international law in world affairs; introduces students to the basic international legal research and IT skills using the Library and the Internet; and familiarizes students with the professional role and career choices of the international lawyer.

This course examines the nearshore coastal zone. It focuses on the development of hands-on practical skills and field experiences that will include student-driven exercises and projects. This will include a multi-day field trip to Moreton Bay Research Station, where students will engage in field data collection training from experts in water quality assessment, coastal processes, seagrass monitoring and coral reef surveys. 

The course examines the theory of financial decision-making by investors and examines the behavior of the capital markets in which these decisions are taken. The main topics covered are the theory of capital markets, portfolio theory, equity and bond markets, the capital asset pricing model, efficient markets, and derivative pricing. This course covers the same topics as FM214. Thus, both FM210 and FM214 are equivalent content-wise. However, compared to FM214, this course puts less emphasis on the underlying statistical theory and relies less on the use of mathematical methods. Nonetheless, the course is quantitative in nature, and familiarity with mathematical and statistical methods taught in first-year courses will be assumed.

This course considers the diverse literature produced during a transitional era stretching from the Restoration of the British monarchy in 1660 to the eve of American independence. It addresses a wide range of genres that flourished during this period, including poetry, novels, drama, travel writing and life writing.