National Taiwan University

This course provides a systematic overview of the philosophical thinking of each philosopher, school of thought, or classic, presenting the inherent theoretical structure of each, and emphasizes the connections displayed in the mutual inheritance and criticism of each philosopher and school of thought. The class teaches philosophical issues through interpretation of the classical literature, and how to analyze and discuss these issues. The content of this course includes: Confucius and the Confucianists, Laozi and the Taoists, Micius and the Mohists, Gongsun Long and the Logicians, Han Fei and the Legalists, and Qin and Han Dynasty philosophy.

The course develops proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing that builds off already existing advanced proficiency in Chinese and further hones that proficiency through weekly discussion of student and instructor selected articles. Class groups present articles found in newspapers, magazines, or online each class. Assessment: attendance and participation, quizzes, assignments , exam.

This course considers key issues of new technology, constitutional rights, and economic issues in the 21st century, with a specific focus on how new technology and constitutional rights interact. Many examples come from the US context, but focus is global, not exclusively American. Some topics include New York Times v. Sullivan, freedom of the press; Wikileaks, privacy, and government classified information; copyright and "fair use" doctrine; Net neutrality; intellectual property law background; Napster, Grokster, and ABC v. Aereo; and the future and the past, technology versus traditional values. Readings include relevant US Supreme Court cases, international law treaties, and leading scholars' articles.

The first half focuses on Western plays and the second half focuses on Chinese plays. Guided readings through Western cultivates the ability to analyze and appreciate the power of plays as well as how to analyze the structure, language, characters, etc of the different plays. The section on Chinese/Taiwanese plays goes over an introduction of drama and screenplay readings. The introduction of dramas covers the history, characteristics, and admiration of Chinese plays, providing knowledge and ability to read and understand Chinese plays.

This course examines modern Middle Eastern history from the nineteenth century to the Arab Spring in 2010. The framework study of the region and its peoples is political history. Starting in the early nineteenth century, European states such as France and Britain invaded the region, ushering in a new era. In response to the European threat, Ottoman, Egyptian, and Iranian governments instituted drastic military, economic, and political reforms. Inevitably these reforms also led to social and cultural transformations. World War I disrupted these states and a variety of new states including Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and the Gulf emirates emerged from the cataclysm. We will study the efforts of these states, along with those of Egypt and Iran, to achieve independence and find a new political identity and structure for their communities. The end of World War II marked a drastic period of decolonization for Britain and France, and many Middle Eastern states now fully independent, developed military-authoritarian regimes. We will study the dynamics of these regimes, the socio-economic changes they enacted, and socio-religious groups that mobilized in protest. This course then moves toward the twenty-first century to understand the increasing wealth of the region, stagnation, and violence in the region up to the Arab Spring.

This course consists of two parts: 1) experimental design and 2) data analysis. The experimental design part of the course largely follows a textbook (Ruxton and Colegrave 2016). The main theme of the data analysis part is the method of maximum likelihood although other approaches are also discussed. Computer simulations will be used to understand the concepts of various statistical methods, but no prior experience in programming is required. Although the course title contains the word ecology, this is a general course on experimental design and data analysis. Students of any fields (social science, political science, physical science, biological science, business, engineering, etc.) can take the course. No knowledge of ecology is required. On the other hand, students are expected to have the basic knowledge of statistics (e.g., one semester of an introductory statistics course).

This course is an undergraduate level investments course. It is designed to provide a framework for understanding the modern investment theory and practice. The course covers financial markets, portfolio theory, asset pricing models, market efficiency and behavioral finance, bond and equity valuation, investment performance evaluation, financial derivatives, and other special topics. 

This course discusses the behavior of individuals in an organization. It explores an individual's personality, values, work emotions, decision-making, creativity, motivation, and leadership among groups or teams. 

This course is designed to introduce bioinformatics to students of biology background. This course will cover an introduction, signature developments and breakthroughs, current and future emphasis of the field of bioinformatics. Working concept, underlying algorithms, and introduction to mainstream bioinformatics tools will also be covered. Computer programming (Linux and Perl) at a beginners level will also introduced. This course will be lecture-based with some hands-on experience. There will be homework projects assigned throughout the course.  

This course introduces the principles of microeconomics. It serves as an introduction of economics to an audience that is not familiar with calculus. (Those who have taken calculus should consider taking microeconomics instead). There are various classroom experiments throughout the semester, and students are expected to participate actively in them. Topics: production possibility frontier and gains from trade; supply and demand; elasticity and intervening the market; markets and welfare; classical market failure; competitive markets; monopoly; monopolistic competition; oligopoly; factor market, wage differentials, and discrimination; asymmetric information, political economy, and behavioral economics. Text: Mankiw, PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS. Assessment: final exam, midterm exam, homework and quiz, classroom experiment participation.