Seoul National University

This course covers basic theories and contemporary issues of Human Rights Law across international, national, and transnational dimensions. Important themes and questions in the fields are explored by closely examining cases from various jurisdictions and critically engaging with global academic literature. Active class participation, including one class presentation, is expected. This is a discussion-based seminar course, but a few lecture sessions may be provided as necessary.  

Topics include ideas of human rights, transnational approaches to human rights, human rights and state sovereignty, universality and particularity, non-citizens' rights and democracy, rights of social minorities, equality and discrimination, human rights in the new contexts of human existence. 

This course focuses on the legal responses to climate change in three contexts: international, comparative, and national laws. It begins with causes and effects of global climate change and the methods available to control and adopt to it. It then investigates the emergence of climate change regime and various policy tools nations employ, including emission trading, carbon tax, litigation, securities disclosures, and voluntary action. Relations with other legal regimes (e.g., human rights, trade, and environmental justice will also be examined. 

Topics include Climate change and international law, Evolution of United Nations climate change regimes, Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement, Paris rulebook, Climate governance beyond the UN, Net zero, Green New Deal, Energy and climate change, corporate responsibility, climate liability, plastic pollution.  

This course explores the historical development of football in England and its broader social, political, and economic contexts to provide a deeper understanding of modern sport culture and industry. From its origins in public schools and working-class communities to the globalization of the Premier League, changes in club ownership, fan culture, and media dynamics, the course examines a wide range of topics including how football has changed and exerted influence within social contexts such as imperialism, class, popular culture, and media. By engaging with key moments and transformations in British football, students gain critical insights into the structures and issues that shape the contemporary sport culture and industry. 

This course introduces and investigates two interdisciplinary approaches that connect the arts and sciences. In the first part, we explore how scientific knowledge deepens our understanding and interpretation of the arts. Beginning with the formation of artistic conventions, we examine the fundamental cognitive mechanisms that shape perception and aesthetic appreciation. The second part of the course explores how the arts can serve as a lens for interpreting scientific concepts. By engaging with contemporary arts inspired by biotechnology, robotics, artificial intelligence, etc., students explore how the arts critique and complement scientific endeavors. The course provides students with a solid foundation for conducting further research at the intersection of arts and sciences, fostering a deeper engagement with interdisciplinary studies.

Topics include vision and its relation to artistic conventions, key factors about light and color, various artistic techniques (perspective, shading, etc.), perceiving motion in artwork, emotional responses to art, empirical methods and approaches in science, neuroscientific approaches, art through changes in science and technology, robotics and digital media in art, AI-generated art, and more. 

Today's climate and ecological issues require a great transformation in the perception of human life and the relationship of humans to nature as a whole. Ecological and environmental history is a perspective and method of history to respond to the great transformation.  

This course covers major research achievements and methods of ecological and environmental history from a global perspective and from a standpoint that history is no longer the history of humans, but the history of interactions between humans and other living things and materials. As a result, we expand our perception of history by considering the achievements and limitations of modern civilization. 

Topics include Environmental history – what is it, Imjin War, Colonial environment, Forestry/Heat, Imperial weather/Imperial Japan/Republican China, Korean War and environmental history, North Korea and environment, South Korea/post Korean War rebuilding, Park Chung-Hee era, Environment and Developmental dictatorship, legacy. 

The course provides an interdisciplinary overview of the developmental science of adolescence and emerging adulthood. The course highlights contemporary theories of adolescent development and emerging adulthood by drawing on neurobiological, psychological, and sociological perspectives of adolescence. The course also critically examines major developmental issues of adolescence, including peer influences, health risk behaviors, stress and mental health problems, learning and achievement, and the development of purpose and identity, and more. Across topics, students will have the opportunities to learn about important empirical and theoretical literatures, and explore novel insights for parenting, youth policy, and theory-driven educational interventions to address pressing developmental issues that characterize the transition from childhood to adolescence and emerging adulthood. 

This course is structured into two parts: Part 1 – Lecture and Seminar (1.5 hours) and Part 2 – Discussion and Team-Based Practicum (1.5 hours). In the lecture and seminar sessions, we examine key developmental issues characteristic of adolescence and emerging adulthood through critical analysis of textbook chapters alongside supplementary materials. Starting from Week 3, students engage in practical, inquiry-based learning activities such as team discussions, data analysis, research design, and the development of empirical research proposals, using topic-relevant scholarly papers and empirical datasets. 

Prerequisites: Introduction to Psychology, Statistics and Research Methods in Psychology or equivalent course. 

This graduate course examines how and why global development and international inequality can be shaped by the mega trends of science and technology innovations. Recent examples include the advent of artificial intelligence and smart cities utilizing big data. Understanding science and technology innovations affecting the fundamental modes of human life provides us with a radar for the uncertain direction of the future development of human society. This course examines the nature and causes of co-evolution between the innovations of science and technology and the socio-economic development and their consequences on global as well as national development. 

This class consists of ten sessions of lectures and five sessions of group presentation. After learning core materials of empirics and theories regarding the co-evolution of science, technology, and socio-economic development from the lecture sessions, students present a research project applying the learnings to the contemporary global or national development issues with specific policy suggestions. The scope of research projects is wide open from the traditional development agendas of urbanization or structural transformation to cutting-edge agendas of smart city design or socio-economic impacts from AI. Each presentation group is required to write a policy report which puts their presentation in a dialogue with ideas and topics from the course readings and lectures. 

This course examines the processes and skills necessary for starting and operating a new business. Students are introduced to various stages of entrepreneurship such as capturing business ideas, evaluating business ideas, establishing appropriate business models, and getting funded by venture capital firms. 

Students work primarily conducted in teams, with teams formed based on the diversity of students. For instance, students from different fields will form a team to create a creative business plan. 

The course also explores how entrepreneurs search for business ideas, evaluate them, and create and sustain long-term growth. Additionally, it covers how to implement competitive strategies aligned with this vision. To this end, the course encompasses all functional areas of business administration such as marketing, accounting, finance, and management. Case studies, guest lectures from external experts, and business plan assignments are incorporated to deepen the understanding of how a company modifies and develops its strategic position. 

Finally, this course is designed to help students learn better communication techniques. 

This course provides an intensive study of financial accounting theory, concepts, principles, and practices, with a focus on advanced topics in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The primary objective of this course is to develop students’ understanding of the conceptual framework of accounting standards and the measurement and reporting requirements necessary for the preparation of financial statements. Specifically, we take an in-depth look at the accounting information system, the key components of financial statements, and the asset side of the balance sheet.  

Students gain an understanding of the theoretical concepts, principles, and assumptions underlying external financial reporting, examine how to properly apply IFRS to the preparation of financial statement, and analyze economic events disclosed in financial statements.  

Prerequisite: Principles of Accounting (251.205) 

This course explores the development of mathematics in relation to trends and philosophies that have changed over time and that have affected the conceptualization of mathematics. Mathematics and culture frequently meet at the crossroads of evolution of human intelligence. Mathematics had a huge impact on the development of civilization; conversely, mathematics has been influenced by the development of civilization. Topics discussed in this course include axioms for geometry by Euclid, calculus by Newton and Leibniz, concepts of computation by Turing and von Neumann, art and mathematics, society and mathematics, science/technology and mathematics, and Oriental/European culture and mathematics.