English

This course first introduces the nature and concept of economic development as well as some stylized facts of development. It also introduces several important theories and models of economic development. The second part of the course focuses more on specific issues such as income distribution, population, human capital, development policy making, and international trade. For each subject, empirical analysis and case studies are provided to enhance the understanding of students. Basically, this course relies on lectures. However, students are encouraged to join discussions and debate for each subject. Also, students form several groups, and each group prepares for a presentation that is made in the end of the semester. When time is allowed, several special lectures are arranged with invited speakers. 

Prerequisites: Principles of Economics I and II

This course covers the history of war from as far back as the 13th century right up to the height of large-scale, industrialized warfare in World War Two and the global, colonial violence of the 20th century. It does not strive to provide what would end up inevitably being a superficial coverage of all wars in all regions of the world. Rather, different, select periods or conflicts are considered as illustrations to help us explore the central theme of escalation over time and the emergence globally of modern war and violence. This is the fall-only version of the course.

This course introduces students to theories and practices involved in the management of diversity and inclusion, and equips students with the knowledge and skills to build and sustain diverse and inclusive workplaces. In the first half of the course, students explore the sociological and psychological theories that underpin the notions of diversity and inclusion. The course focuses on key dimensions of inequality including race, age, disability, gender, and sex, and situates this discussion within the wider context of intersectionality. In the second half of the course, the course moves on to explore organizational policies, practices, leadership styles, behaviors, and cultures that serve to promote or, conversely, inhibit, diversity and inclusion. 

This course provides a systematic overview of the key topics of environmental ethics. It focuses on three protracted and heated debates at the interface of environmental ethics and ecological restoration. The first debate is about the value of ecological restoration (including ‘nature development’). The second debate is about the moral status of animals within ecological restoration projects. Here the course distinguishes between (complementary) two cases: the first one is about the (re)introduction of indigenous species that were once pushed out of their native environment; the other one is about the elimination or eradication of exotic and alien species that have invaded and degraded ecosystems. Both cases show that there is considerable tension between environmental ethics and animal welfare ethics. The third debate is about the role of human intervention in the Anthropocene. Old-school conservationists want to restore and protect pristine nature and call for an attitude of humility. Ecomodernists, on the other hand, see the Anthropocene not as an ecological disaster, but as an opportunity to increase human welfare and protect nature with the use of technology.

This course examines democratization. It includes the following topics: why did some countries succeed in democratization and others failed; among those that succeeded, how did democratization occur; crucial factors affecting democratic consolidation; for those that persist as hybrid regimes, what are their characteristics and what explains their endurance; and why do democracies fail and what accounts for the recent increase in autocratizations.

What makes planet Earth so remarkable? Our planet is shaped by many interacting environmental systems operating from atomic through to global scales. Understanding the science of these systems is central to developing an advanced knowledge of the physical environment. This course explores fundamental Earth surface systems (e.g. tectonics, atmosphere & oceans, landscape development, climate change), focusing on core concepts, processes, their significance within a broader environmental context and their relevance to the human species.

This course teaches the usage of R for the analysis of ecological data. It introduces several different analysis options for biological or ecological data (focusing specifically on community-level data) using the free and open-source statistical, mapping, and graphing platform R. Broad topics covered will include: introduction to R language and basic functions / graphics; basic mapping options; diversity measurement; univariate, multivariate, parametric and non-parametric analysis and their basis; functional diversity; and ecological time series analysis. Students will require a laptop for sessions. Schedule is subject to changes according to student progress.

This course examines the principles, mathematical models and applications of computer vision. Topics include: image processing techniques, feature extraction techniques, imaging models and camera calibration techniques, stereo vision, and motion analysis.