English

This course examines concepts as diverse as the origin of the Solar System through to the evolution of life. It will touch on the big geological processes that have shaped our planet, covering topics including plate tectonics, volcanology, earthquakes and climate change. 

This course teaches students to use finite element programs in a practical way to solve problems in linear elastic stress analysis. Upon completion of the course, students are able, in a later industrial setting, to undertake the analysis of real problems with a fair understanding of sensible modelling procedures. In support of this, the course is split into two stages: the theoretical study of the finite element method, with emphasis on understanding what goes on inside a typical, modern, commercial program; and practical experience in analysis using an industry-standard, interactive, finite element program. 

This course provides fundamental knowledge of dynamic atmospheric air quality in a changing world. The topics cover the effects of emission sources and pollutants, air quality assessment, atmospheric reactions of air pollutants, principles and implications of vertical mixing and transport of airborne pollutants, and air pollution control strategies and devices. This enables students to understand dynamic atmospheric processes and to identify air pollution issues associated with varied energy sources and economic development. Students also learn to assess air quality, quantify air pollutant levels, devise control strategies and recommend engineering solutions to enhance air quality.

This course introduces the history of American literature after 1865.

In 1900, American sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois wrote that “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.” Du Bois could hardly have anticipated how enduring that color line would be or how complex it would grow, both in the United States and across the world under American empire. As one example, Martin Luther King, Jr., pointed out in 1967 that while under segregation in the U.S. Black and white men could hardly sit on the same bus, the state was happy to sit them side-by-side in warplanes meant to kill Vietnamese people. Evidently, the color line is entwined with lines of class and nation -- who works, who rules -- in ways we must study closely if the twenty-first century is to look different from the twentieth.

This course examines how these lines have been drawn and redrawn in the post-Civil War era and across the “American century,” from Jim Crow to Banana Republics, from Black Power to what the Zapatistas call “the fourth world war.” Along the way, it studies study fiction, film, and poetry from some of the greatest minds in American culture and politics.

The course features works of authors such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Flannery O’Connor, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, Amiri Baraka, June Jordan, George Romero, Martin Luther King, Jr., Che Guevara, Pablo Neruda, Subcomandante Marcos, and Karen Tei Yamashita.

Students should expect to read 10-25 pages of material per week or more. 

This course focuses on mastering the concepts of creativity, learning, and innovation and how they are related. It introduces perspectives in different research traditions on learning and creative processes in individuals, groups, schools, organizations, and cultures. The course also covers design-based research methods used in studies of creativity, learning, and innovation in education, culture, and business sectors. There is a focus on practical group activities such as planning, leading, and evaluating creative processes.

This course examines sex, love, and attraction in humans and other animals from a broad-based perspective including comparative, psychobiological, cross-cultural, and evolutionary approaches. An emphasis of the course is placed on evolutionary concepts and how these could be used to interpret sex, love, and attraction. It covers topics such as relationships, sexual behavior, social monogamy, paternity, parenting, and menopause.

This course examines the fundamental ideas and important methods in causal inference. Combining statistical theory, scientific principles of research design, and hands-on experience with real data, this course will provide students with a solid basis for being good consumers and practitioners of empirical research in economics and other quantitative social sciences. The course will draw on applications from development, labor, and business economics with particular attention to policy evaluation. 

This course is an introductory-level survey of the major scholarly traditions and debates in the field of international relations (IR). This course explores a sample of prominent thoughts and theories on international conflict and cooperation. It will also cover thematic issues such as nuclear weapons, terrorism, humanitarian intervention, economic statecraft, trade politics, and power shifts.