Seoul National University

This course for advanced undergraduate students covers components and biochemical processes of terrestrial ecosystems. Human activities have altered more than half of the ice-free terrestrial ecosystems. Students learn the components of Earth system including atmosphere, ocean, soil, and biota, and understand how these components influence the cycles of elements, water, and energy. Students are expected to discuss temporal and spatial changes of the components and consider the integrated effects of these changes on soil functions at diverse scales ranging from plots, regions, and the globe. 

Topics include History of ecosystem ecology, Water and energy balance, Plant photosynthesis: carbon input to terrestrial system, Plant and ecosystem carbon budgets, Terrestrial carbon losses, Terrestrial nutrient cycling, Temporal and spatial dynamics, Anthropocene. 

This is a studio art course in which students create aesthetic works using various metals and methods. Based on each student’s individual research in the field of metalcraft, this course allows students to explore and deepen personal topics, and to creatively apply them to thesis work and research. Through this process, students develop their abilities as independent metalcraft artists and educators.  

Students are expected to propose a topic and conduct research on that topic and work on creating an art piece that aligns with their theoretical, conceptual, and contextual research.   

This course introduces feminist perspectives into established aesthetics by illuminating the systematic elimination of sex, sexuality, and the body from conceptual frameworks such as beauty, the sublime, pleasure, and reason. At the same time, the course analyzes and critiques artwork and practices from feminist perspectives, examining art produced or performed by women. 

The main concepts of modern aesthetics, such as 'beauty', 'hobbies', 'art', and 'genius', were surprisingly not evenly distributed to everyone. In other words, they were ideological, sometimes very gendered. As a result, there were people who questioned these aesthetic concepts, and these questions provided a place for a new view of new art. In this lecture, starting from the question of the gender ideologies hidden by the basic concepts of aesthetics, we examine the novelty opened up by feminist aesthetics with a focus on contemporary art, and furthermore, we will glimpse the future imagined by feminists' posthuman-centered thinking. 

Topics include body and mind, subject and object, the debate of nude representation, beauty and the sublime, theory of genius and romanticism, gender in modern aesthetics, art as other, woman as other, modernism, rethinking body, abject body, queering body and performativity, anti-human, non-human, and posthuman, and more. 

This special topics, seminar-style course selects one or more topics related to West Asian civilization and language and consists of in-depth coverage, analysis, and discussion of issues related to the topic. The topic of this course may change each time it is offered. For example, the Spring 2025 semester topic was Islam and Inequality: A Historical Perspective, focusing on socioeconomic inequality.  

This course surveys various abnormal behaviors and mental disorders. The first part of the course introduces the major psychological theories (Psychodynamic Theory, Learning Theory, Cognitive-Behavioral Theory) as well as the biological and socio-cultural theories which explain the phenomena, causes, and treatment of abnormal behaviors and mental disorders.  

In the second part, various phenomena and classification systems of mental disorders are presented. The focus is on psychological causes of various types of mental disorders: disorders related to anxiety, mood, and personality, somatoform disorders, dissociative disorders, schizophrenia, sex-related disorders, eating disorders, sleep disorders, alcoholism, mental disorders in childhood or adolescence.  

In addition, the course covers the proper treatments for mental disorders as well as how to improve mental health in general. 

This course introduces theories and practices on technology startup to students majoring in technology management or engineering. The course provides students with the basic knowledge needed to start a technology-oriented business or prepare career path related to the technology start-up ecosystem in the future. Topics include entrepreneurship, business planning, financing, and other related topics such as laws, finance & accounting strategy, and intellectual property rights. 

In this course the possibilities of new forms of expression are explored and expanded on by using different materials and composite techniques, such as the heterogeneity of oil and water, composites of drawing and printing, and the incorporation of conventional images. 

This course provides a psychological perspective on how to live a good life. To this end, this course consists of three main themes: 1) happy life, 2) meaningful life, and 3) dignified life. A happy life consists of sub-themes such as the definition and measurement of happiness, the components of happiness, the consequences of happiness, the characteristics of a happy state and society, and the characteristics of a happy individual. A meaningful life consists of themes of meaning, source of meaning, goals and achievements, and self-control, and finally, a dignified life consists of sub-themes of virtuous living, human rationality and diversity, and healthy framing. 

This course explores users as humans who are changing/expanding in the AI era, exploring the limitations of recent AI services, and then designing user-centered AI services. Students learn methods to understand users, and then define user interfaces and their interaction. Prototyping techniques and evaluation methods are also provided. Service design is carried out at the level of expressing ideas, not at the level of actual driving. 

In particular, this class is conducted with a focus on practice rather than lecture-style delivery, and coaching for each process customized for each team is carried out through close interviews and discussions. In addition, the course benchmarks related services in depth from the perspective of actual business to identify limitations and opportunity points and carry out a process to turn them into deliverable results. There are no special technical/technical prerequisites required for this course, however, students must be proactive and enthusiastic about participating. 

This course surveys and introduces topics vital to understanding our planet.  

The Earth is composed of four major systems, such as geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere, which govern the surface processes and internal dynamics of the Earth. This course explores Earth processes of crustal evolution, environmental changes, and biotic successions since its formation as a planet.