English

This course introduces English literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The course familiarizes students with some of the social, cultural, and intellectual contexts which informed the emergence and development of literature in this period. The course's set texts reflect the broad generic range and preoccupations of the era, such as authority, gender, selfhood, and nation. Two or more plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, and a variety of poetic and/or prose texts will be studied. The course provides a foundation for further study of Renaissance literature, including Shakespeare.

Ancient Greek and Roman literature (covering a period from approximately 800 BCE to 500 CE) is in many ways the basis of our own culture and our own way of thinking; numerous literary texts produced in classical antiquity have been highly influential on the literature of later periods and remain so to this day. This course provides an overview of the literary history of the classical world and presents, in its main part, an introduction to the most important works of Greek and Roman literature. All texts are read in translation.

This course focuses on the practicalities of acquiring, processing, and curating archives as well as issues concerning access and research. It also introduces the different archival material available that is relevant to the study of Egyptology and its history. In addition to readings on the history of archives, their significance, and best practice, the course provides hands-on experience with the Selim Hassan archives from his excavation at Giza housed in the American University in Cairo’s Rare Books and Special Collections Library. Students catalogue the material (both photographic and textual), learn about conservation, and documentation (scanning and photography), and the upkeep and organization of digital archives. They then also work on the material (the extent depends on time permitting) to see what was published and what was not, and learn how to categorize the material for future use. In addition to the practical work, there are a series of assignments associated with archives. Thus, this course not only expose students to archival work and best practices, but also archival research and its role in publications. Field trips to Giza to visit the areas of Hassan’s excavations as well as to the archives of other archaeological institutes form part of the course, as well as guest lectures by archivists and scholars who use archives to further archaeological work.

The course examines selected topics in Chinese philosophy. The specific content of the course varies from semester to semester. Offerings with different subtitles can be taken for credit, up to a maximum of two times.

This course develops a familiarity with, and the ability to use the tools and concepts of corporate finance. This is accomplished via a combination of lecture, problem sets, and case discussion. The lectures provide a conceptual background for the subsequent analysis of an actual financial decision.  

Topics include Cost of capital and capital budgeting; Capital structure with payout policy; IPO's and LBO's; M&A and corporate control; Option application in corporate finance; Risk management.  

Students should have a background in basic corporate finance concepts as well as an understanding of the conceptual framework for the capital market. Throughout this course, some analytic tools are used that may rely on students' mathematical understanding. 

This course examines forest classification and the application of silvics in forest management, including world forest classification systems, the Biogeoclimactic Ecosystem Classification system, and ecosystem diagnosis in the field.

This course offers an overview of the main philosophical trends that emerged in the 20th century. It discusses the structure, chronology, evolution, key ideas, and interrelationships of current philosophical trends. Topics include: pragmatism; phenomenology, existentialism, and hermeneutics; critical theory and post-Marxist dialects; post-structuralism, deconstruction, and neo-Nietzschean thought.

Between 1688 and 1832, Britain emerged from a period of chronic instability to become a global power and the world’s first industrial nation. This course examines some of these transformations, exploring the political, social and economic changes of the period and considering the impact of change on the everyday lives of the men, women and children who lived through it. Most aspects of Britain’s evolution towards ‘modernity’ are contested by historians and a core aspect of the course covers the development of critical skills in relation to these debates. The course considers, for example, the appropriateness of the term ‘revolution’ with regards to industrial developments; the validity of the ‘moral economy’ with regards to popular protest, and the significance of the ‘bloody code’ as a tool of social discipline and control. The course also examines ideological developments in the period and their broader social and cultural significance, focusing on issues such as the growth of ‘politeness’ and new concepts of male and female behavior.

This course is broken up into five modules. Module one: Environmental Neuroscience; Defining "environment" and "natural environment;" how the brain perceives and responds to different environments, methodological and conceptual limitations of neuroscience in studying the human–environment relationship. Module two: The Impact of Environment on Humans; the concept of the exposome and cumulative environmental exposure, effects of environmental factors on brain function and neural processes, how environmental conditions shape brain structure over time, special populations: environmental effects on infants, older adults, and individuals undergoing neurorehabilitation, the consequences of pollution and climate change on physical and mental health,  psychophysiological responses to ecological crisis: eco-anxiety and related conditions. Module 3: The Human Impact on the Environment; psychosocial factors influencing pro-environmental behavior: social norms, diffusion of responsibility, stress, empathy, and perspective-taking, climate change and the limits of rational behavior: understanding cognitive and emotional barriers to action. Module 4: Environmental Sustainability and the Brain; neural correlates of sustainable behavior and reward processing, decision-making mechanisms in environmentally responsible choices, environmental activism: cognitive and emotional effects of engagement and advocacy. Module 5: Rethinking the Relationship: Environment as Subject, "plant blindness": cultural and perceptual neglect of plant life, plant cognition and behavior: emerging evidence of intelligent systems, bioethical and legal frameworks recognizing nature, ecosystems, and plants as subjects of rights. 

This course exposes students to concepts, theories and industry practice in real estate finance which is one of the largest and most important components of the financial system. It introduces valuation and appraisal methods used for real estate finance and investment decision making. It helps acquire the knowledge and develop the analytical skills of real estate finance, including the institutions and instruments used to finance residential and commercial real estate. It is of particular use to students who are interested in working the real estate development, brokerage, mortgage banking and investment banking industries. The main topics covered in the course are mortgage products, mortgage banking, secondary mortgage market and mortgage-backed securities (MBS), financial leverage and commercial real estate finance. Prerequisite: FINA2010 or HTMG3030.