National University of Singapore

This course introduces the basics of financial mathematics. Topics include basic mathematical theory of interest, term structure of interest rates, fixed income securities, risk aversion, basic utility theory, single-period portfolio optimization, basic option theory. Mathematical rigor is emphasized. 

This course explains human behavior through the lens of economists using economic reasoning to answer questions as diverse as the following: Why would your teacher cheat? Which factors cause crime rates to go down? Why do countries fail sometimes? The course uses texts that popularize economic concepts to illustrate how different social phenomena can be understood by applying the tools of economic analysis. However, the course also discusses possible limitations of the economic approach to social issues. This course reviews, challenges, and debates on firmly established ideas about the world, society, and ourselves.

This course presents a broad overview of international political economy (IPE). It introduces the main theoretical approaches, concepts and substantive issues in the IPE field. Students examine the relationship between power and wealth and the interplay of economics and politics in the world arena. After a critical evaluation of major theoretical perspectives on IPE, this course examines the politics in some core issue areas, such as economic interdependence, international division of labor, international trade, multinational corporations, regional cooperation, and North-South relations.

This is a historical survey of three thousand years of Chinese visual arts with emphasis on painting. The course covers the historical transformation of Chinese art from the classical towards the modern and contemporary, as well as key aesthetic and philosophical conceptions underpinning the production of visual arts in the Chinese culture. In addition, the course provides some comparative studies of Chinese and Western visual arts. There will also be a component introducing the special linkages between the history of Singapore art and the Chinese context.

This course overviews the cultural traditions of China. It provides a deeper understanding of Chinese life in the traditional era and examines the "Great tradition" and the "Small tradition" of Chinese society and their relevance to the present. Topics include early Chinese world view, Chinese religiosity, Chinese symbolism, Chinese names, Chinese festivals, and folk customs. The course provides a better appreciation of the linkage between Chinese traditions in the past and modern society.