English

This course analyzes the complexity of "wicked" problems - problems that are difficult or impossible to solve because of their complex and interconnected nature. The course epxlores a system of metrics to assess the appropriateness of transition design and social design interventions The second part of the course explores the transition design framework as it was proposed by scholars of at The School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University, one of many useful frameworks for understanding how positive socio-ecological change can be constructed. The course concludes with a discussion of concepts like cosmopolitan localism and inter-localisation that promise a positive way forward towards forming more empowered, resilient communities in an age of intensifying planetary crises.

This course provides an introduction to Maori knowledges and metaphysics through a study of topics such as voyaging, art and aesthetics, warfare, conflict and peace. It also looks at how approaches to Maori knowledges and their impacts are critiqued.

This course provides a broad-based introduction to the core themes and ideas of the anthropology of the Middle East, and by extension of the Anthropology of Islam. It begins by exploring the reasons behind the relatively late emergence of the Middle East as an area of study, before moving on to consider such topics as Orientalism, gender, rural versus urban anthropology, the role of religion (traditional and modern), and the forging of a regional subjectivity (as witnessed in the ongoing uprisings throughout the Middle East, the so-called “Arab Spring”). The course stands alone as a regional module, as well as offers an overview of the issues for continued study of the Middle East.

This course discusses advanced concepts in machine learning. Topics include: nonlinear classification and regression; Kernel methods; Ensemble methods; Gaussian Processes for classification and regression; unsupervised learning; graphical models; latent variable models; Bayesian non-parametrics; multi-task learning; transfer learning. 

The course provides students with a theoretically-grounded understanding of the role of the European Union as an international actor. Using theories of international relations, European integration and Foreign Policy Analysis, it analyzse and evaluate the EU’s evolving external identity and policy capabilities across a range of external relations, including membership conditionality, trade and development, international crime and terrorism, asylum and immigration, foreign, security and defense policy, and democracy and human rights promotion. The course then examines the nature of key bilateral relationships between the EU and selected countries (US, Russia, and China) and regions (former colonies, regional groups), explaining the extent to which they have been institutionalized and the challenges that define them. It will end by assessing what sort of international actor the EU ‘is’ and ‘wants to be’ – namely civilian, normative or military – and evaluating the likelihood of the EU emerging as a global superpower in the future.

This course traces the origins, development, socio-cultural significance, and critical appreciation of the form from its beginnings in the amusement arcades to the mobile games of the present day. Considering video games as uniquely interactive visual sources, the course employs a diverse range of methods, approaches, and critical contexts, from the circumstances of socioeconomic national production in Japan, Europe, and the US to global gaming cultures, the representation of history, the video game's relationship to cinema, and the theoretical ways in which we might understand the nature of human leisure and play.