University of New South Wales

This course examines the importance of the mining industry in our lives. It explores how commodities are extracted from the ground and who are involved at various stages of the mining operation. The topics covered include geology, mining, mineral processing, safety, the impact of mining on the environment, and economics. It also covers employability in the mining industry, which employs people of various backgrounds (e.g. geologists, mining engineers, civil engineers, mechanical engineers, environmental engineers, process & chemical engineers, lawyers, finance, etc.)

This course examines some basic notions and techniques of number theory. It focuses on such topics as divisibility, prime numbers, the arithmetic of residues rings, additive properties of integers and their powers and Diophantine approximations. Some applications of number theory to cryptography will be discussed as well. Students taking this course will develop an appreciation of the basic problems of number theory and will learn the interplay between number-theoretic problems and other areas of mathematics.

This course examines the experimental method in economics and explains how it differs from methods used in other social sciences. The course analyzes widely cited articles to illustrate best practices in experimental design and implementation. It evaluates the advantages and limitations of experiments relative to other empirical social science approaches, including the analysis of administrative data. The course also demonstrates how experiments test the robustness of the homo economicus assumption of a rational, self-interested decision-maker that underlies many economic models.

This course is for aspiring change agents across all sectors, including business, not-for-profit, and government, and develops practical skills to lead complex systems to create better social outcomes. It explores the issues that policymakers, industry leaders, and social service providers grapple with every day, such as inequality, place-based disadvantage, mental health, homelessness, and human rights, and introduces models for systems change and social innovation.

This course examines the core vocabulary and approaches that are common in global development today. It covers strategies to stay up to date with the ever-shifting terrain of development practice, and develop the sensibilities to work effectively with a range of development partners. Students will gain critical insight into how to make development ‘inclusive’ for all people, regardless of gender, (dis)ability, sexuality, socio-economic background and so on.

This course examines ethical considerations and issues central to public health and healthcare. The course analyzes ethical theories and principles and applies them to healthcare and public health contexts. It examines the ethical challenges involved in balancing individual and community interests within healthcare systems that are costly, complex, and increasingly globalized.

This course focuses on the basics of nutrition and exercise for health and wellbeing, teaching the fundamentals of designing exercise and physical activity programs and using nutrition to enhance exercise and sports performance. It develops an understanding of how exercise and nutrition relate to health outcomes, including the role of diet in chronic disease and obesity. 

This course introduces epidemiological principles and methods, including basic tools for measuring illness and risk factors in the population, interpreting and assessing the quality of scientific health evidence by critiquing a range of study designs, and reporting on epidemiological research.