National Taiwan University

This course explores core issues in philosophy. More specifically, it addresses the following questions:
(1) Can we have any knowledge of the external world?
(2) Can we have knowledge of other minds?
(3) What is knowledge? What are the sources of knowledge?
(4) Is mind/soul irreducible to brain events?
(5) Can there be a personal identity relationship between the current and the past “me(s)”?
(6) Do we have free will?
(7) Does God exist?
(8) Is a benevolent God incompatible with a world where evil happens?
(9) Does human life have any meaning?
(10) Is it rational to fear death?
(11) Why should I be moral?
(12) Is morality objective? Can our moral judgments be justified?
(13) What is the nature of causality?
(14) What is law of nature?
(15) How do scientists explain the observed phenomena? Does science aim to reveal the reality hidden behind the appearances? 

This course is designed to connect school students in remote areas with the international and local NTU students in Taiwan. Students demonstrate their commitment to the rural community through service and learning opportunities. Activities range from distance interactions through webcam and school visit located in Keelung City, Chaiyi, Nantou, Taitung, and Kaohsiung areas. By going to one of the 7 primary or secondary schools located at the countryside in Taiwan, students are given the opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of Taiwanese culture and share their own culture. At the same time, teachers and students in Taiwan will acknowledge their own community values and opportunities for exchange from a global and co-existing point of view. Students participate in volunteer activity via webcam, volunteer training with reflective learning and school visit and teaching. Assessment: presentation and final report. This course is graded p/np only.

The course aims to build students' organic chemistry experimental skills and knowledge. The course outlines is as follows: Experiment 1: Melting point determination Experiment 2: Recrystallization Experiment 3: Distillation Experiment 6: Extraction Experiment 8: Chromatography (1) Experiment ten: alkenes and alkanes Experiment 12: Preparation and properties of chloroalkane Experiment Thirteen: Properties and Reactions of Alcohols Experiment Fourteen: Preparation of Ethers Experiment 16: Preparation of cyclohexanone Experiment Eighteen: Diels-Adel Reaction Experiment 20: Preparation of Aspirin and Its Properties

This course involves intensive reading on American literary masterpieces. The course begins with an introduction to American literature from 1914 to 1945. Readings include works by such authors as Edwin Arlington Robinson, Wallace Stevens, Willa Cather, Ezra Pound, Katherine Anne Porter, William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Toni Morrison, Mazine Hong Kingston, and Alice Walker. 

Spreadsheets can be used for more than just creating tables and charts and summarizing data. Instead of just storing, summarizing, and formatting data, a financial model is used for analysis. Spreadsheets are now commonly used for creating complex mathematical models. This course explains how to build financial models in Excel by providing instructions, not templates. Students learn to develop value-added skills in spreadsheet modeling of financial applications. Course topics include: time value of money; financial ratio analysis; capital budgeting; sensitivity analysis; scenario analysis; statistics analysis and matrix operation; two-asset portfolio analysis; 3-asset portfolio analysis: matrix and VBA; optimal capital structure; dividends policy; interest rate models; bond pricing and risk management; option pricing: Black-Scholes model; option pricing: Binominal model; option trading strategy; and pivot tables . Excel functions and tools, such as Data Table, Goal seeker, Solver are used intensively. Programming a VBA macro is an important task in this course.

This new course in the Exploring Taiwan series introduces agriculture and food biotechnology. The course begins with Taiwanese traditional products and methods, such as salt production in salterns and its transformation; rice, a staple food; tea, and exotic fruit crops grown by cultivation technology. Then, the course introduces fermented foods and how microbial fermentation is utilized in food technology, and orients on food safety monitoring and the use of plants metabolites for pharmaceutical purposes. To gain insight on how to develop business ideas and products, the course features a guest speaker CEO from a renowned food company. Students also participate in a factory tour to experience modern plant operation and maintenance, as well as their research and development. 

This course provides insight into corporate financial management and capital markets. Emphasis is on the financial aspects of managerial decisions and topics covered include all areas of finance, including the valuation of real and financial assets, risk management and financial derivatives, the trade-off between risk and expected return, corporate financing and payout policy. Text: Richard A. Brealey, Stewart C. Myers and Alan J. Marcus, FUNDAMENTALS OF CORPORATE FINANCE; Case: Square, Inc., Financing a Unicorn. Assessment: case (10%), quiz (20%), final exam (35%), midterm (35%).

This course covers the basic theories of material science. Topics include atomic structure and interatomic bonding, structures of metals and ceramics, imperfections in solids, mechanical properties, deformation and strengthening mechanisms, failure, structures and properties of metals and alloys, applications and processing of metal and alloys, structures and properties of ceramics, and applications and processing of ceramics.

This course aims to understand the fundamentals of environmental physics, micrometeorology and relating disciplines so as to develop the ability to conduct a research on forest meteorology, forest hydrology, or related fields. This course also aims to develop critical thinking by providing the mathematical explanations of the theories. 

This course is divided into two parts—engineering development and social changes. Engineering development responds to the needs of human life, satisfies and promotes increasingly diverse lifestyles, and at the same time profoundly affects the beautiful society of human beings in our social lifestyles, psychological states, ethical issues, and environmental resources. Topics include automobiles and assistive devices, media development, sexual harassment and bullying, creativity and intellectual property rights, surface engineering and human interactions, stress adjustment, crime prevention, integrated circuit development, environmental change and water resources, laws of thermodynamics and ways to mature, information technology. All topics are discussed under the context of engineering development and social trends.