English

This course explores the dynamics of modern society by looking at the manifold styles and life in modern culture. It examines questions on what underlies styles, how choices in life are made, and how cultural spaces are closed and created. We live in a time with so many options available to us about how to craft ourselves, yet at times we must make choices under constraints not of our own making. Therefore, central to our endeavor is considering the interplay of structure and agency. The course asks questions such as, are we able to lead the kinds of lifestyles we want to, and why or why not? How do certain lifestyles become naturalized and universalized? Some of us layer various lifestyles that might, at closer inspection, be in tension with one another: how do we reconcile those? Identity formation and consumption in specific cultural contexts are major themes in this class. We will draw from interdisciplinary readings to explore the relationship between them, inquiring how facets of identity such as class, gender and sexuality, race, age, and nationality are shaped through what people buy and the spaces (actual and virtual) we inhabit. Ideas about authenticity and essentialism will be examined as we look at how modern lifestyles serve as a way to experience individuality and inclusion in a community. Through theoretical and ethnographic readings we will study other concepts such as globalization, commodity fetishism, ethical consumption, and modernity.

This is an introductory course in game theory, the framework for analyzing strategic interaction. Game theory is the basic technology for understanding most phenomena in microeconomics and some phenomena in macroeconomics, along with many processes in political science, law, evolutionary biology, and the science of animal behavior. This course studies the basic structure of the theory.

This course examines the theory and practice of phonology. It covers concerns of phonology; phonetic and phonological representations; phonemic analysis; phonological processes; underlying representations; feature theory; morphophonemics; interacting phonological rules; the syllable; and stress, tone and intonation.

Google, eBay and Amazon have one thing in common: their business is providing a platform that facilitates users’ interaction. The success and failure of these business models depend to a large degree on the number of people using the platform and the “network effects” between them. Understanding networked businesses, their unique management challenges and competitive dynamics is crucial for students interested in a career in any such industry. Platform businesses comprise a large and rapidly growing share of the world economy. Such businesses in the computer, consumer electronics, media and internet sector comprise the heart of the so-called “New Economy.” Network effects are at the core of a series of improbable success stories, such as the intense growth of the smartphone-based car service Uber, the enormous user numbers of the Chinese auctioning site Taobao, and the massive advertising revenue that Facebook realized in recent years. Platform businesses face distinctive management challenges, which differ from those found in traditional manufacturing and service industries. Familiar rules for marketing and strategy may not apply. Pricing strategies for example follow different rules and platform providers often price their products and services below cost – or even given them away for free. Traditional barriers to entry no longer hold. Many of the industries gravitate towards “winner-take-all” competition. They have room for only few large players outperforming all of their competitors, as the spectacular success stories of Facebook, Amazon, and Google show. The course introduces concepts and frameworks to analyze platform business models and provides a foundation for strategic decision making in them. Using the Harvard Business School case study method, students discuss real-life cases, their successes, failures and options for the future. After completing the course, students are able to systematically analyze different networked businesses and evaluate the economic, technological and public policy context for the development of such businesses.

This course covers Social Psychology and the scientific study of individuals and groups. Students explore the key approaches and methodologies in Social Psychology, evaluating different perspectives on studying individual differences. The course may draw from areas such as motivation, emotion, health and well-being, personality, and intergroup behavior.

This course provides a broad introduction to the major themes and trends in Korean and English-language historiography of Korean history from antiquity to the modern era. Students examine various issues, events, and individuals in Korea's political, social, economic and diplomatic history.