English

This course examines the relationship between humans and animals in the Middle Ages. The recent "animal turn" in the Humanities and Social Sciences has prompted a re-evaluation of assumptions about the relationship between humans and their ever present animal neighbors. The course investigates key aspects of that relationship in the Medieval world, investigating and contrasting materials from a range of medieval societies, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and "pagan". How were animals and the natural world interpreted by medieval people? The course examines various types of medieval sources, visual as well as textual in this exploration of the interface between humans and animals.

People, alone and in groups, shape who we are, how we eat, heal, work, love, laugh, learn, and think, what we buy or believe, where we live, and how. Resistance, too, rarely happens in isolation; it requires coordination, collaboration, and communication. This course explores the interplay of individual lives and the social world. First, it develops conceptual dimensions—formal, relational, cultural, and institutional—for understanding collective processes. Second, it examines methodological approaches, from qualitative and ethnographic to quantitative and computational. Throughout, the course stays close to real social problems: the drivers of inequality and political activism, the dynamics of technological innovation and failure, and institutional change in financial markets and everyday work.

This course examines major figures of liberal political philosophy (Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill), and their defense of capitalism as a route to a more just and efficient society. It will look at whether it’s fair for the Australian government to force people to take jobs they don’t want while others inherit larger fortunes tax-free, whether employers have power over workers akin to authoritarian dictators, whether it should be illegal to sell human organs to save lives, and what role the assessment of capitalism should have in coming to terms with the history of colonialism in Australia and elsewhere. It'll also examine the role of markets in generating and distributing the coronavirus vaccine we desperately need, and what ought to be done to address the economic consequences of the pandemic.

This course begins with an introduction to Economic History as an interdisciplinary subject, and to the methods and sources economic historians use. It then explores key events of the past 500 years, including the Transatlantic slave-trade, colonialism, and the Industrial Revolution, examining their links to the phenomenon known as the 'Great Divergence', when levels of wealth in the Western world separated from everywhere else. It then considers the more recent phenomenon of 'Convergence', and investigate why certain countries, including Japan and China, managed to catch up with their European counterparts, whilst others fell further behind. In the final part of the course students reflect on the limits of 'Convergence', and assess whether inequality has become an immovable feature of global development. The course introduces frontline research and a variety of interdisciplinary approaches, with a particular focus on quantitative methods.

This course offers students an introduction to world cinema through a range of debates and concepts that problematize its delineation. It addresses the development of world cinema through key historical junctures within the 20th and 21st centuries: such as the crises of modernity and the cultural ruptures emerging as a result of a confluence of geo-historical and political developments. Students learn to read cinema in and of the world as both bound by national formations while simultaneously exceeding them, through an understanding of the dynamics of cultural flows across histories and political formations. 

This course explores how the United States has engaged with the world since 1776. After gaining independence from Britain, the United States looked westward, expanding its territory through indigenous dispossession and a pursuit of hemispheric dominance. By the end of the 19th century, the United States held overseas colonies. Soon thereafter, it became involved in one, and then a second, world war followed shortly by the Cold War and more recently the “forever wars.”  Students think broadly about who has been involved in shaping U.S. foreign relations with the world. They explore decisions made by diplomats and policymakers in Washington as well as the voices of a wide range of people who influenced and resisted U.S. power including missionaries, American Indians, businesspeople, women, workers, and immigrants. 

This course examines the social psychology of groups, bias, and prejudice. Students read original scientific articles spanning from classic pieces to recent, high-impact updates. Throughout, we learn about foundational psychological processes (e.g., attitudes) that, when applied to social groups, can result in discrimination and group-based hierarchies. We take both a micro approach, considering evidence for social biases in individual minds, as well as a macro approach, considering evidence for biases in collective systems.

This course provides a comprehensive overview of financial management within the global context. It examines the unique roles and challenges of the MNC, the structure of the international financial system, and the dynamics of cross-border investment. Building upon foundational knowledge in economics, finance, and quantitative methods, students will develop the analytical skills necessary to critically assess and solve complex financial problems through practical MNC and investment case studies.

This course offers a range of analytical tools to address controversies, broadly understood as any instance of disagreement around scientific, technological, medical, or environmental issues. Students are exposed to different methods that enable them to better understand how the actors involved in the controversies and their arguments evolve over time. By introducing historical, sociological, philosophical, and political science perspectives, students seek to overcome simplistic views of controversies as easily solvable debates between truth and falsehood. Students also present controversies as involving actors outside the scientific community and reflect on normative agendas for not only studying but also critically intervening in controversies. 

This course introduces molecular cell biology: the study of the interactions between molecules and systems in a cell. Students will learn how cells function individually and as part of a tissue or organism. Students will study the processes that determine how and when a cell communicates, grows, interacts with its neighbors, divides and dies, and how these processes go awry during cancer.