Korea University

This course introduces students to contemporary Chinese foreign policy. It examines how historical and geographical legacies, domestic institutions, political leadership, and societal forces shape China’s foreign policy decisions. The course also explores China’s relations with major countries and regions, including the United States, Russia, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula, as well as China’s growing role in global governance in areas such as the economy, technology, and the environment. By the end of the course, students will be able to critically analyze China’s foreign policy in a changing global context.  

This course examines the way political factors influence economic interactions between countries, with a particular emphasis on trade politics. This course provides an overview of current global economic relations and systematically analyzes how politics shape them: Why do countries cooperate economically in some situations but not in others? Why do some governments embrace and promote globalization while others oppose it? What are the social, political, and economic consequences of globalization? The course addresses these questions and others with a focus on the politics of trade. The course  approacha these topics by examining alternative theoretical approaches and evaluating these theories using contemporary and historical evidence. 

Topics include: Why Trade? Why protect trade? Backlash against Globalization, Trade Rules: From the GATT to the WTO, Dispute Settlement: The Cornerstone of the GATT/WTO, Trade and Conflicts, Economic Statecraft, The US-China Trade War, The New Political Economy of U.S. Trade. 

This course introduces fundamental theoretical concepts of developmental psychology as well as other aspects of development running parallel to the psychological development, including social, biological, and neurological concepts.   

Prerequisite: (Recommended) Introductory Psychology 

This course covers the academic study of elections and voting behavior and practical applications to the real political world.  

Elections are one of the important mechanisms in a democratic society, serving as a means of connecting citizens to political leadership. Voting is the principal activity that legitimizes the democratic process by individuals.  

This course focuses on two major areas: First, review of key theories about elections and voting behavior, including people’s actual vote choice in recent national-wide elections. Second, practice of election campaign strategy for the upcoming national-wide election for local governments (e.g., Mayor of Seoul) on June 3 based on theoretical and historical understanding of Korean voters’ political attitude and choice behaviors. 

By considering diverse theoretical perspectives on why people vote/don’t vote and why they vote the way they do, and by applying those theoretical views to the real politics, students learn both academic approaches and realistic approaches toward elections and voting behavior.  

This course uses Japanese anime, such as Fragrant Flowers Bloom Dignified to improve Japanese conversation skills and help students understand Japanese culture. 

The course cultivates intermediate and advanced grammar skills such as plain expressions, possible expressions, passive expressions, and ministry expressions, and helps to improve overall Japanese language skills such as conversation and listening skills through watching Japanese animation and scripts. It is designed to be used as a supplementary and confirmatory learning for students with intermediate or higher Japanese language skills. 

Although it is not required, it is recommended to take courses such as Japanese 1, Japanese 2, and Japanese RC1, which are basic Japanese language subjects. 

This course introduces major atmospheric phenomena and their related basic concepts of atmospheric dynamics, optics, chemistry, thermodynamics, and meteorology. 

Students examine atmospheric thermodynamics to describe changes in the state of water, atmospheric dynamics to describe the movement of air, photochemistry to determine the composition of the atmosphere, and the formation and radiation processes of aerosols and clouds. In addition, students acquire theoretical and experimental methods necessary to understand these complex processes and cultivate the ability to solve practical problems related to extreme weather. 

Prerequisites:  (Essential) Earth Environmental Science (1,2), Calculus (1,2). (Recommend) General Physics (1,2), General Chemistry (1,2) 

This course introduces fundamental principles of genetics including Mendelian and non-Mendelian inheritance, chromosome and genome structure, genetic variation, and basic concepts in population genetics. Genetics is the study of how biological traits are transmitted from parents to offspring through genes and how genetic variation shapes biological diversity within populations.  The course integrates classical genetics with modern genomic technologies, including next generation sequencing (NGS) and large-scale genomic data analysis. Students learn how genetic variation influences biological systems and human disease. 

Topics include The Human Genome Project and modern sequencing technologies, Mendelian genetics and inheritance patterns, Polygenic traits and genetic architecture, Recombination, linkage, and population genetics, From genetic variants to biological systems and disease. 

Prerequisites: General Biology