Uppsala University

The course deals with economic transformation from a global perspective from prehistoric times to present times, but with an emphasis on the development from the European Middle Ages and onward, as well as the economic history of the Western world. The starting point is how the global economy of today is structured and how it works. The global economy is seen as a system, and its different parts from entire continents to local communities are discussed. Theories of which factors that influence economic transformation over time are presented. The economic history of the world is described with help from a number of factors as structuring tools. Concepts that have been used to characterize different periods and parts of the world become central to this description. The course also deals with important aspects of the economic system such as households, companies, and politics. The global economy is seen as a system with interconnected parts from the global to the local economy. Theories about economic transformation are presented. A key question for the course is why some countries are rich and others not.

This course provides students with an overview of the structure of Sweden's social and economic geography, the historical background and current trends. Topics covered include the distribution of population, the geography of production (manufacturing and services), urban system changes and the characteristics of Swedish cities, the specific problems of sparsely populated areas, and local and regional planning and policies. Special emphasis is put upon recent structural changes in the Swedish economy and its repercussions on the regional patterns of employment and production. The course should be of particular interest to students of human geography and other social sciences, notably political science and economic history.

Upon completing the course, students with foreign education backgrounds and native languages other than the Scandinavian languages and Finnish have acquired basic skills in the Swedish language and some knowledge about Swedish society. The course includes systematic reading and practicing of basic grammatical structures and principles of pronunciation, reading of textbooks as well as easy authentic texts, exercises in pronunciation, exercises in listening comprehension, and short exercises in oral and written communication. On completion of the reading and writing portion of the course, students: demonstrate knowledge of, and fairly safely and correctly are able to apply, basic grammatical structures in Swedish; are able to acquire understanding of Swedish fiction and are able to follow the fundamental features of complex texts that treat current phenomena and that express attitudes and opinions; are able to write clear and detailed text within their fields of interest, and write a thesis or report that communicates information or gives causes for or against a certain position. On completion of the listening comprehension and oral proficiency portion of the course, students are able to: comment clearly and in detail pertaining a large number of different subjects, and discuss advantages and disadvantages of different solutions; take active part in discussions about well-known subjects and explain and defend their opinions; show understanding of the greater part of news and current programs on radio and TV, and be able to acquire understanding of longer productions, e.g. lectures, where the subject is fairly known.

The course deals with various theoretical and practical perspectives on climate change in relation to ecopsychology (e.g. environmental melancholia), artistic forms of expression (e.g. climate art) and literary communication methods (e.g. ecocriticism, climate fiction). Through various theoretical understandings and knowledge in psychology, philosophy, ethics, art history, literature, and climate science, the discussion on how different ways of working in the area can contribute to an individual and societal climate transition is deepened. The various parts of the course bring together an experience-based, process-focused, and creative learning with a reflexive, debating and knowledge-oriented learning, where art and science meet in a transdisciplinary and critical dialogue. Through project work the student develops, initiates, and works with a practical in-depth study of one of the course areas.

Upon completing the course, students with foreign education backgrounds and native languages other than the Scandinavian languages and Finnish have acquired basic skills in the Swedish language and some knowledge about Swedish society. The course includes systematic reading and practicing of basic grammatical structures and principles of pronunciation, reading of textbooks, exercises in pronunciation, exercises in listening comprehension, and basic exercises in oral and written communication. The course covers introduction to Swedish university and study environments. After completing the reading and writing portion of the course, students are be able to demonstrate knowledge of the basics of Swedish language structure, have a basic vocabulary of everyday words and phrases, are able to read and comprehend simple texts, and are able to write short, simple texts about themselves and their everyday life. After completing the listening and oral portion of the course, students are able to: talk about themselves and their everyday life, verbally communicate at a very simple level in Swedish, passably understand when they are addressed concerning topics that concern themselves and their daily life, generally understand short conversations about familiar topics.

The course consists of an in-depth investigation of a topical area of scientific interest and activity within linguistics. A new and up-to-date theme is decided upon each time the course is run. Possible themes include the geometry of meaning, based on Gärdenfors' book by the same name; the phylogenetic analysis of language; grammaticalization; and color semantics. 

The course is given as an optional module within Linguistics C but may also be taken independently.

The course deepens knowledge in several functional languages (such as Haskell, Lisp, Erlang), including their properties and applications. Students carry out a small project in one of these languages.

The course focuses on minority groups in the United States and their relationship to the majority culture. The course deals with the debate about which factor, race or ethnicity, is more important in describing today's US society. Issues taken up include: the different minority groups, the relationship between minorities and the majority culture, affirmative action for minorities, and what it means to be an American in the early twenty-first century.