English

Since the formation of the Earth 4.5 billion years ago, no era has witnessed so much environmental change as the past five hundred years, merely a moment in the history of our planet. Industrialization, capitalism, and the insatiable need for more and more "things" has unleashed uncontrollable destructive forces. This course focuses on a number of key developments to consider two related questions. First, how have humans altered the Earth's systems - climate, atmosphere, ecosystems, oceans, and landscape? Second, what are the implications of these changes for human society and the relationship between humans and the other species that inhabit this planet? The coverage begins in the late 15th century with the Columbian Exchange of diseases, crops, ideas, animals, and people between the Old World and the New World in 1492. It then investigates a number of critical issues relating to land use and the production of food, the exploitative relationships between humans and other species and the impact of industrial capitalism, urbanization and the use of fossil fuels as the main source of energy. The final section of the course focuses on the post-1945 world, exploring consumer capitalism, the development of the environmental movement in the 1960s and 1970s, and concludes with an assessment of the current climate crisis.

This course acquaints students with an improved understanding of the key disciplines of environmental economics pertaining to the study of the relationships between the economy and the environment. It equips students with the practical knowledge of environmental economic principles, environmental sciences and other related disciplines in managing the environment-economy relationships towards achieving a more resource-efficient and environmentally sustainable economy for the benefit of society. This takes the course to an extensive range of studies covering the connection between the economics of ecosystem services, ecosystem multifunctionality and environmental value which integrally linked to resource efficient economy and human welfare; the relationship between economic use of the natural system and environmental externality; market mechanism; environmental and resource conservation; cost-benefit analysis; valuation techniques and their limitations, among other subjects of interest.

This course introduces a set of analytic tools and conceptual frameworks through which to assess the origins and evolution of the institutions that constitute modern capitalism. It takes an interdisciplinary political economy approach that draws insights from economics, sociology, political science, history, geography, science and technology studies, and law. The course critically assesses the rise of what Karl Polanyi and Albert O. Hirschman have referred to as "market society," a powerful conceptual framework that views the development of modern capitalism not as an outcome of deterministic economic and technological forces, but rather as the result of contingent social and political processes. The material covers various theoretical perspectives that illustrate alternative conceptions of rationality, which in turn produce competing ways of seeing and making sense of the complexities of our social world. Ultimately, the course exposes a range of critical conceptual tools and frameworks through which to interrogate the current relationship between states and markets, and to consider the extent to which social actors can challenge its limits and imagine alternative possibilities.

Looking at art sociologically involves questioning conventional understandings of "art" and "the artist." Who has the authority to decide what counts as art, and what social conditions allow for the idea of the "artist" to emerge? The sociology of the arts also entails investigating cultural institutions. How do organizations (such as academies, conservatories, companies, galleries and festivals) become established, and how do they shape artistic innovation? To see the arts from a sociological perspective means examining the relation between the arts and society. How is artistic activity affected or redefined by macro social processes (such as globalization), and what role can the arts play in micro-level processes that foster social cohesion, identity formation, and active citizenship? Through an exploration of theoretical perspectives and empirical studies, this course considers the role of art in the social, and the role of the social in art.

The course focuses on Japan`s Environment and Energy Policies, especially its policies toward renewable energy. From a comparative perspective alongside other East Asian nations and Northern Europe (Norden), it analyzes Japan's role in global climate negotiations and its policies toward renewable energy in the context of its traditional reliance on fossil fuels and nuclear power.

By the end of the course, students should be well-versed in global environmental issues as well as Japan's policies for combating climate change and promoting a shift toward renewable energy. An understanding of the current state of Japan's transition toward using renewable energy for energy generation; the further electrification of transportation, and the shift toward a hydrogen economy, is also an expected outcome.

Topics include elementary properties of integers; functions and their behavior; an introduction to recursion; algorithms and complexity; graphs including Euler’s Theorem; shortest path algorithm and vertex coloring; trees - applications include problem solving and spanning trees; directed graphs including networks; dynamic programming; codes and cyphers - with Hamming codes and RSA.

This course explores the complex relationships underlying Chinese music, language and literature. It focuses on Chinese music from the perspective of popular music produced in the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. These four economies have developed different strands of popular music in Mandarin and various Chinese dialects, due to different linguistic and ideological environments. Students will learn how Chinese popular music draws upon the aesthetics of Chinese literature and traditional Chinese music, and how the music has hybridised influences from foreign musical genres, thus expressing different versions of “Chineseness”.

This course touches on themes in political ecology, environmental anthropology, the anthropology of food, and the anthropology of development through a detailed exploration of the world’s fisheries; from the fisherfolk that harvest them to the people around the globe that consume them. It critically examines the global fish "crisis" and prospects for global food security and supply; conservation v’s development discourse in resource management; scientific & traditional management of natural resources; certification/eco-labelling and the "green" consumer; commodity chains; ecology of small scale fishers groups; and poverty, development, and livelihoods. Each student on the course becomes a member of CARP-London (Cities Aquatic Resource Project – London) an initiative which both trains undergraduates in research and builds our understanding of the production, supply, and consumption of aquatic resources in our urban centers. 

This course introduces the art of Thai painting and drawing through an analysis of both scholarly texts and hands‐on sessions. The course provides visual journey through all the major periods of Thai classical art. Emphasis is also be placed on regional and folk styles of painting as well as with new forms of traditional art. The course focuses primarily on the Rama 3 style of Thai painting as developed in nineteenth century Bangkok and which has become the most common form of Thai classical art seen in the country today. Students enrolled in the class will be taught not only how to appreciate traditional Thai painting but also how to draw, create compositions, and critique art works.

This course is offered by the Faculty of Economics and is designed to help students improve their oral, presentational and academic writing skills in English. The topics to be considered in class will vary slightly depending on the students' interests and academic orientation. The actual work will consist of student presentations; reading and analyzing student essays and short academic papers, and class discussions. Specific advice will be given to each participant on how to approximate their writing and oral presentation to more natural patterns of speech.