University of Hong Kong

The overall theme of this course is that genetics and evolution provide a useful perspective for understanding many important aspects of our lives, including our psychological makeup and how we relate to others. The course draws on multiple disciplines – genetics, evolution, mathematics, statistics and psychology – to address the following fundamental issues: how life is maintained from one generation to the next through genes, and how living organisms can adapt to the environment through changes in the genes; how human individual differences and groups in important domains such as personality, abilities and talents, and health are influenced by genetic and environmental differences; how the nature or humankind may have been shaped by our evolutionary past, and the implications this has on the future of our species. Required text: S. Pinker, THE BLANK SLATE: THE MODERN DENIAL OF HUMAN NATURE. Assessment: tutorial discussions, group presentation, blog contribution, in-class quizzes.

The United States, China, and Japan are the world's three leading economies. How they interact has decisively shaped the two Asian powers' developmental trajectories, regional international relations, and the world order. Since the United States became a Pacific power, China and Japan have alternatively been the top U.S. geo-strategic threat and industrial competitor. They have also been allies and partners with the United States in different time periods. After World War II, the United States secured its hegemony in Asia. But that international status quo is increasingly being challenged by the China's return as a central player in Asia. The course examines the patterns and issues in U.S.-China-Japan relations after the U.S. expansion as a Pacific power. Our focus is on the contemporary era since the 1970s. In particular we explore three story lines driving the trilateral relations: U.S. presence and strategy in Asia; the national development of China and Japan and their corresponding foreign policy adjustments; and the impact of China's rise.

This course covers the fundamental principles of neuroscience. Topics include history of neuroscience, neurons and glia, neuronal membrane at rest, action potential, synaptic transmission, neuroanatomy, the somatic sensory system, chemical senses: taste and smell, the auditory system, vision and the eye, vision and the brain, spinal control of movement, brain control of movement, chemical control of the brain and behavior, development in the nervous system, memory systems, learning and memory: molecular biology, emotion and attention.

This course examines the principles, design, administration, and implementation of database management systems. Emphasis is placed on relational database systems. Course topics include: entity-relationship model, relational model, relational algebra and calculus, database design and normalization, database query languages, indexing schemes, integrity, concurrency control, and query processing.

This course is an introduction to a variety of topical areas in the history, methodology, theory, and critiques of sociocultural anthropology. From hunter-gatherers to online gamers, the discipline aims to observe and understand a variety of cultures from around the world. Areas of current debate within sociocultural anthropology that we will explore include culture, representation, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, religion, nationalism and transnationalism, power and inequality, and the evolution of field methods. Anthropology strives “to make the strange familiar, and the familiar strange”.

This course develops conceptual and perceptual understanding of the basic materials and structures of music, including rhythm and meter, intervals and scales, modes and keys, as well as melody, harmony and contrapuntal practices. The course integrates ear training with the analysis of a wide array of musical examples.

Preference, utility and consumer choices; choices under uncertainty, introduction to game theory; theory of the firm; market structures; introduction to economics of information. Topics include consumer theory and the demand for goods, producer theory and the supply of goods.