PROJECTS-BIOMEDICAL INFORMATCS
Research in medical informatics under the direction of a faculty adviser.
- Department: Biomedical Informatics
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Instructor:
George M Hripcsak
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Instructor:
Olena Mamykina
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Instructor:
Yufeng Shen
h-index: 47 Info -
Instructor:
Karthik Natarajan
h-index: 17 Info -
Instructor:
Gamze Gursoy
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Instructor:
Sarah A Rossetti
Info - 1-12 points
PROJECTS-BIOMEDICAL INFORMATCS
Research in medical informatics under the direction of a faculty adviser.
- Department: Biomedical Informatics
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Instructor:
Soojin Park
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Instructor:
Tal Korem
h-index: 18 Info -
Instructor:
Shalmali Joshi
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Instructor:
Matthew McDermott
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Instructor:
Bianca Dumitrascu
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Instructor:
Tarjinder Singh
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Instructor:
Orson Xu
Info - 1-12 points
EARTH SCIENCE COLLOQUIUM
Current topics in the Earth sciences.
- Department: Earth and Environmental Sciences
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Instructor:
Kaleigh B Matthews
Info - 1 points
Professional development and leadership
Prof Dev for Doctoral: 1s
For first year doctoral students, emphasizing the skills needed for success in orienting them to Columbia and doctoral studies, including teaching and presentation skills (i.e., Microteaching, how to grade, hold office hours, conduct recitations, etc.); cultivating relationships with mentors, faculty, and colleagues; inclusivity; managing your budget; wellness; research and academic integrity and ethics.
- Department: Engineering
- 0 points
Professional development and leadership
Prof Dev for Doctoral: 2n
ENGI E6002 is designed for second year doctoral students, emphasizing the skills needed for continued success in the doctoral program, including presentation and communication skills; academic writing skills; academic conference preparation; resiliency and project management skills.
- Department: Engineering
- 0 points
A Practical Approach to Second Language
Second Language Teaching
This graduate seminar serves as a continuation of SPPO GR6001 (“Theory and Practice of Second Language Teaching”) and it is intended for in-service instructors of language, and language and content courses at the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures at Columbia University. It focuses on the application in the second language (SL) classroom of the pedagogical principles reviewed in the previous semester, with emphasis on methodological approaches and applied techniques.
Students will be directly mentored regarding the classroom treatment and presentation of grammatical, lexical, socio-cultural, and pragmatic aspects of the language in the SL classroom. From a communicative approach and beyond, they will also continue to engage with basic teaching techniques such as lesson planning, use of the target language, technology integration, task design, and the use of written and oral authentic materials. They will learn practically how to promote the development of students’ abilities for literacy and critical thinking. Finally, they will be carefully guided through the actual design and implementation of testing and assessment measures for the course they are teaching. In this seminar, we will also analyze real and potential case scenarios that will/may arise in the classroom and we will consider tactics to resolve problems that typically occur. Reflective teaching practices (teachers as learners of teaching, dynamics of classroom communication, the role of teachers’ beliefs about pedagogical practices) will be revisited and rethought.
- Department: Latin American and Iberian Cultures
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Instructor:
Francisca Aguilo Mora
CULPA: 5
Info
- 2 points
Professional development and leadership
Prof Dev for Doctoral: 3r
For third year doctoral students to facilitate career exploration including teaching, presentation and communication skills; public speaking and facilitation; CV and resume writing; and Getting Things Done.
- Department: Engineering
- 0 points
Professional development and leadership
Prof Dev for Doctoral: 4t
For fourth year doctoral students supporting job search and degree completion, including searching for job opportunities (Academia, Industry); interview preparation; creating an academic portfolio; conducting a job talk; negotiation and mediation skills.
- Department: Engineering
- 0 points
BIOMEDICAL DESIGN II
Second semester of project-based design experience for graduate students. Elements of design process, with focus on skills development, prototype development and testing, and business planning. Real-world training in biomedical design, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
- Department: Biomedical Engineering
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Instructor:
Megan Heenan
Info - 3 points
The Central Dogma: Mechanisms and Regula
THE CENTRAL DOGMA
- Department: Biological Sciences
- 3 points
MESAAS RESEARCH COLLOQUIUM
This course provides a structured setting for stand-alone M.A. students in their final year and Ph.D. students in their second and third years to develop their research trajectories in a way that complements normal coursework. The seminar meets approximately biweekly and focuses on topics such as research methodology; project design; literature review, including bibliographies and citation practices; grant writing. Required for MESAAS graduate students in their second and third year.
- Department: Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies
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Instructor:
Alison Vacca
Info - 2 points
HISTORY & THEORY OF THEATRE
- Department: Theatre Arts
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Instructor:
Margaret K Araneo
Info - 3 points
CROSS-GENRE SEMINAR
THE WRITER AS TEACHER
CROSS-GENRE SEMINAR
- Department: Writing
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Instructor:
Keri E Bertino
Info - 3 points
CROSS-GENRE SEMINAR
POETRY FOR PROSE WRITERS
CROSS-GENRE SEMINAR
- Department: Writing
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Instructor:
Monica Ferrell
Info - 3 points
CROSS-GENRE SEMINAR
THE COMMA SUTRA: GRAMMAR
CROSS-GENRE SEMINAR
- Department: Writing
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Instructor:
Barbara K Fischer
Info - 3 points
CROSS-GENRE SEMINAR
Editing and the Writer
CROSS-GENRE SEMINAR
- Department: Writing
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Instructor:
Brigid Hughes
Wikipedia Info - 3 points
CROSS-GENRE SEMINAR
CLASSROOM OF IMAGINATION
CROSS-GENRE SEMINAR
- Department: Writing
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Instructor:
Dorothea S Lasky
Wikipedia Info - 3 points
CROSS-GENRE SEMINAR
SHORT PROSE FORMS
CROSS-GENRE SEMINAR
- Department: Writing
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Instructor:
Alan Ziegler
CULPA: 5
Info
- 3 points
EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIP STRATEGIES FOR HUM
PARTNERSHIP FOR HCM SOLUT
- Department: Human Capital Management
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Instructor:
Melanie Rosenwasser
Info - 3 points
ASTROPHYSICS I
Prerequisites: a strong undergraduate background in E-M and classical mechanics. Qualified undergraduates may be admitted with the instructors permission. The basic physics of high energy astrophysical phenomena. Protostars, equations of stellar structure; radiative transfer theory; stellar nucleosynthesis; radiative emission processes; equations of state and cooling theory for neutron stars and white dwarfs, Oppenheimer-Volkoff equation; Chandrasekhar limit; shocks and fluids; accretion theory for both disks and hard surfaces; black hole orbits and light bending.
- Department: Physics
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Instructor:
Charles J Hailey
CULPA: 42 Wikipedia Info - 3 points
Cosmology, Black Holes, and Gravity
The course will include a brief introduction to General Relativity and black holes; the majority of the time will be spent on Cosmology. It will include an overview of gravitational waves.
- Department: Astronomy
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Instructor:
Maximiliano Isi Banales
Info - 3 points
OLD RUSSIAN LITERATURE
- Department: Slavic Languages
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Instructor:
Valentina Izmirlieva
CULPA: 14 Info - 4 points
Across the Strait of Gibraltar
To what extent has the Strait of Gibraltar—and by extension the broader Mediterraenean— connected the communities and nations that line its shores? Alternatively, is the channel better understood as a continental frontier, one that divides Europe and Africa? How has the medieval and early modern history of conquest, migration, and expulsion in the western Mediterranean shaped our understanding of the Mediterranean refugee crises of the past few decades? What is the relationship between the representation and management of these crises and the struggles of African immigrants—both Maghrebi and sub-Saharan—to assimilate into Spain and other Europe Union nations? In a parallel way, how might the contemporary crises, as experienced and documented by refugees, journalists, novelists, and filmmakers, prompt a critical reassessment of the history and representation of previous periods of migration and displacement across the Strait of Gibraltar?
Focusing on the Strait of Gibraltar, this class is an experiment in cultural history that foregrounds the Mediterranean’s present-day political and humanitarian crises. A mixture of history, drama, fiction, and legal texts comprise the majority of our primary-source readings. In addition, we will discuss a variety of material and visual culture, including monuments, antiquities, archeological sites, photographs, and films. Historical and critical readings will include essays and book- chapters culled from the field of Mediterranean studies, as well as more specialized scholarship on captivity, migration, displacement, and the interwoven cultural and political histories of Spain and Morocco.
- Department: Latin American and Iberian Cultures
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Instructor:
Seth R Kimmel
CULPA: 7
Info
- 4 points
Theatre Historiography: (Re)Imagining Th
This course approaches the study of theatre practices and theories using historiographic methods that challenge canonical narratives about performance that have long dominated theater history curricula. It raises important questions such as: What constitutes a theatre history? Who has historically been responsible for narrating theatre’s past? What sources have been used? What biases have been present in attempts to construct a global theatre history narrative? Why is understanding histories of theatre and performance relevant today? Unlike a traditional theatre history course that follows a chronological and geographically organized structure, this course encourages students to act as historiographers, proposing unique and innovative genealogies of the past.
The course is structured following a
constellation
approach that organizes plays, performances, and theories from various places and times around a theme. The initial part of the course will serve as an introduction, exploring key, often competing concepts in theatre scholarship, such as history vs. historiography; canonical vs. decolonial, anti-racist, anti-ableist methodologies; and text-based traditions vs. embodied practices. We will then immerse ourselves in the study of constellations, including “Embodied Practice”, “Materialities: architecture, spaces and objects”, “Spectatorship”, “Colonial Past-Presents.” Constellations incorporate canonical and non-canonical dramatic texts and theories. Critical approaches, plays and performances within a constellation don't explicitly converse; instead, they exist in tension, responding to our object-formation and revealing a self-reflective dimension. Constellations focus on both the cases themselves and our epistemic procedures for examining the past.
- Department: Theatre Arts
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Instructor:
Maria Jose Contreras
Info - 3 points
French Lecture Series
Graduate students attend and lead a series of lectures open to all members of the French department, including graduate students, faculty and undergraduate majors/concentrators. These lectures are planned in conjunction with graduate seminars occurring that year, and graduate students are expected to introduce the guest speakers and lead the discussion.
The lecture series exposes graduate students to new work in the field, including new methodologies and emerging areas of research and teaching, while enriching the cultural and intellectual life of the department. Students benefit from meeting important faculty in the field and from observing the different possible formats and styles of academic talks. By helping to prepare events, write speaker introductions and moderate Q&A sessions, they also develop important professional skills.
- Department: French
- 1-2 points
INTRO TO HUMAN RIGHTS
This course provides a wide-ranging survey of conceptual foundations and issues in contemporary human rights. The course examines the philosophical origins of human rights, their explication in the evolving series of international documents, questions of enforcement, and current debates. It also explores topics such as womens rights, development and human rights, the use of torture, humanitarian intervention, and the horrors of genocide. The broad range of subjects covered in the course is intended to assist students in honing their interests and making future course selections in the human rights field.
- Department: Institute for Study of Human Rights
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Instructor:
Glenn Mitoma
Info - 3 points
MEDIEVAL/RENAISSANCE PHILOLOGY
MEDIEVAL/RENAISSANCE PHILOLGY
- Department: Medieval and Renaissance Studies
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Instructor:
Susan Boynton
CULPA: 18 Info - 3 points
MEDIEVAL & RENAISSANCE PHILOLOGY
Medieval and Renaissance Philology for MA students.
- Department: Medieval and Renaissance Studies
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Instructor:
Susan Boynton
CULPA: 18 Info - 4 points
FOUNDATIONS OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Public health is a science-based discipline that depends on the analysis of empirical data to guide decision making. Public health decisions also involve value judgments and questions that cannot be answered solely, or primarily, with data. The goal of the Foundations Studio is to equip students with a set of conceptual frameworks and analytic tools for making those judgments and answering those questions. Comprising concentrations on history, ethics and human rights, this studio views public health practice and policy through a wide-angle lens and encourages students to think broadly about the social, political, cultural, legal, and economic drivers of public health outcomes. The studio is designed to help students grapple with challenging issues of justice, equity, individual rights and liberties, and collective action; and to develop a critical capacity for thinking broadly and deeply about public health issues.
- Department: Public Health
- 2 points
In/disciplines of the Quotidian: Spanish
In/disciplines of Quotidi
“In/disciplines of the Quotidian: Spanish Still Lives and the Politics of the Overlooked” is an interdisciplinary cultural studies course that investigates how the ordinary becomes a site of tension, meaning, and critique across Spanish artistic traditions. Taking as its point of departure two productive contradictions—the paradox of still life/
Naturaleza muerta
(simultaneously immobile and vital) and the
bodegón
as both a lively social space and an emptied, object-filled scene—the course examines how the materiality of objects and backgrounds administer absence, presence and attention, reshape cultural narratives but also structure the political.
The course is grounded in a theoretical framework that treats materiality as inherently political, asking how objects participate in the organization of social life and regimes of value. Drawing on Thomas Lemke’s notion of the “government of things,” it considers how power operates not only through subjects but through arrangements of objects, infrastructures, and environments that shape conduct and perception. At the same time, it stages a dialogue between new materialist approaches—which emphasize the agency and vitality of matter—and Marxist materialisms, with their focus on labor, commodity relations, and historical conditions. Rather than opposing these traditions, the course explores their productive dialogue, showing how attention to lively matter can coexist with a critical social and political analysis ultimately reframing the overlooked object as both an active force, tool and sediment of social relations.
We will focus on very different contexts and objects of study from a comparative diachronic perspective, starting with seventeenth and eighteenth-century Spanish still life painting (Sánchez Cotán, Zurbarán, Meléndez, Goya) where everyday objects—food, vessels, tools—appear suspended in time yet charged with latent energy. These compositions negotiate life and stillness, abundance and austerity, the quotidian and the mystical, while also reflecting class structures, domestic labor, and consumption. The
bodegón
emerges here as a conceptual hinge: a trace of human interaction or monastic solitude, but also a script of its outside, and a religious and political pedagogy.
The course then turns to avant-garde literature and film of the 1920s, where writers and film-makers fragme
- Department: Latin American and Iberian Cultures
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Instructor:
Alberto Medina
Info - 4 points
JOURNALISM AND SOCIETY
Seminar surveying the history and the social, political, and economic impact of media from the birth of the newspaper forward.
- Department: Journalism
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Instructor:
Andie Tucher
Info - 3 points
FUNDAMENTALS OF DIRECTING
Directing is the art of articulating and sharing vision. This course will explore how directors locate the deep “why” behind their work, both their oeuvre and their individual projects, and how that “why” translates into every element of production: design, casting, direction of the actors, and producing choices. We will study the articulation of vision through both the macro and micro lens: how directors develop the big vision behind a project and also how directors communicate vision in the moment to moment work of a rehearsal process. The first part of every class will be devoted to the macro: articulation of vision. We will study master directors and the way they translate intention into aesthetic choices and process. We will learn a process of excavating the deepest intentions of the author (be that the playwright, an auteur director, or a collective) and integrating those intentions thoughtfully into all other production choices. And we will practice articulating the vision behind a dream project. The second part of each class will be a practicum exploring the communication directors use when working with actors to craft scenes. Students will apply fundamental directing skills through a progression from silent scenes to neutral scenes and finally scenes of their own choosing.
- Department: Theatre Arts
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Instructor:
Katherine Wilkinson
Info - 3 points
CONTESTING THE PAST
This course provides a panoramic survey of the ways that competing interest groups call on knowledge or narratives of the past and methods of its study in debates over controversial public issues. It is designed to examine claims about the past through the lenses of alternative knowledge frameworks and ideas about reality, in the context of specific contemporary problems: e.g., nationalist narratives; the basis for human rights for indigenous peoples; ownership or destruction of the world's patrimony; strife over disputed lands; investigations into mass human exploitation, murder and genocide; communities’ engagement with their own history; the antiquity of humanity on the planet; and interstellar communications and paranormal phenomena. The information that we will draw from balances historical sources, contemporary literature (e.g., newspapers and other periodicals), archaeology, sociocultural anthropology, oral accounts, and videos (both academic and popular).
- Department: Anthropology
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Instructor:
Terence N D'Altroy
CULPA: 37 Info - 3 points
HLTH PROM/DISEASE PREVNT CLRKSHIP II
HPDP CLERKSHIPS II
- Department: Dental and Oral Surgery
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Instructor:
Folarin Odusola
h-index: 5 Info - 0 points
RESEARCH METHODS & APPLICATIONS
Qualitative Foundations
Successful public health studies, policies, and interventions rely on evidence to guide their design, development, implementation, and evaluation. Because public health is not a simple, reactive, “take the pill three times a day” solution, but a purposeful approach to preventing disease and promoting health, the tools of scientific inquiry to document, measure, evaluate, and understand all the consequences of health interventions are essential. Learning to identify, gather, and interpret evidence is therefore crucial for public health practitioners. The Research Methods & Applications studio provides an introduction to scientific inquiry and evidence and their relationships to public policy. Using an integrated approach spanning multiple disciplines, students will be provided with a basic introduction to quantitative and qualitative measurement and data collection, tenets of epidemiologic study design, statistical inference and data analysis techniques, and the tools of science. Views on the differences between scientific and other types of inquiry and knowledge, classical models of how science and evidence can inform policy and programs, and sources of tension at the science- policy interface will be explored and discussed. The methods introduced in this course will provide a toolkit with which to help measure and estimate the relationships between the smaller pieces that comprise the complex and dynamic web of systems in public health.
- Department: Public Health
- 0-4.5 points
STATISTICAL MECHANICS
Prerequisites: PHYS W4021-W4022-W4023, or their equivalents. Fundamentals of statistical mechanics; theory of ensembles; quantum statistics; imperfect gases; cooperative phenomena.
- Department: Physics
-
Instructor:
Alfred H Mueller
CULPA: 2 Wikipedia Info - 4.5 points
QUANTUM MECHANICS I
Prerequisites: PHYS W4021-W4022, or their equivalents. The fundamental principles of quantum mechanics; elementary examples; angular momentum and the rotation group; spin and identical particles; isospin; time-independent and time-dependent perturbation theory.
- Department: Physics
-
Instructor:
Norman H Christ
CULPA: 34 Wikipedia Info - 4.5 points
DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
This studio is concerned with
etiology
, or the “cause, set of causes, or manner of causation of disease or condition”. As such, we will explore the patterning (who/what) and determinants (why) of population health. The course will focus on determinants ranging from upstream features of the social and physical environment to downstream, proximal risk factors at the level of individual biology, as well as the interactions between them. While often we think about our health as a function of behaviors we can control and genetics we can’t, the reality is much more complex, involving dynamic interplay between biology and the environment over the life course. Where we live, what we are exposed to, and the social and economic positions we occupy are major influences on our health, becoming encoded in our biology and expressed in the diseases we develop (or avoid) and, ultimately, in our longevity. Identifying these factors and understanding their health consequences is central to public health.
In this studio, students become acquainted with a) the major environmental issues that we face, b) the social factors such as race/racism, socioeconomic status and gender that influence health, and c) the underlying biological basis of human disease. In addition, students will be presented with the approaches used to address the health consequences of these determinants.
- Department: Public Health
- 3 points
Historical Approaches in the Social Scie
Historical Aprchs Scl Scn
This course introduces students to historical approaches in sociology and political science (and some economics). In the first part, the course surveys the major theoretical approaches and methodological traditions. Examples of the former are classic comparativist work (e.g. Skocpol’s study of revolutions), historist approaches (such as Sewell’s), or the historical institutionalist tradition (Mahoney, Thelen, Wimmer, etc.). In terms of methodological approaches, we will discuss classical Millean small-N comparisons, Qualitative Comparative Analysis, process tracing, actor-centered modeling, quantitative, large-N works, and causal inference type of research designs. In the second part, major topics in macro-comparative social sciences are examined, from world systems and empire to the origins of democracy.
- Department: Sociology
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Instructor:
Andreas Wimmer
Wikipedia h-index: 41 Info - 4 points
INVENTING THE ANCIENTS
This course brings together the history of collecting and archaeology with biography. By examining the fascinating, entertaining, and often improbable lives of individuals who helped shape modern archaeology and the public museum, it explores the blurred boundaries between professionalism and amateurism, as well as between the fictive and the authentic. Students will read biographies of Hans Sloane, Giovanni Belzoni, Heinrich Schliemann, Luigi and Alessandro Palma di Cesnola, Constantine Simonides, among others, and will engage with themes such as biographical writing; collecting in the age of Enlightenment and empire; the museumization of the past; the reinvention of the ancient Mediterranean; the dream of the East; forgery and the illusion of authenticity; and archaeology, race, and nationalism.
- Department: Italian
-
Instructor:
Konstantia Zanou
Info - 3 points
CAPSTONE: Conflict Analysis Models
Conflict analysis is central to understanding the context and content of any conflict. It is also critical for the person doing the conflict analysis to have a good understanding of who they are as a conflict resolution practitioner, including the frames with which they view the conflict analysis. Our worldviews, assumptions, values, and beliefs shape how we frame and create meaning from conflicts that we choose to examine, and how we understand the dynamics of those conflicts. Therefore, to conduct an impartial analysis of any conflict, and add value for the stakeholders involved, self-awareness is crucial.
This course is the foundation for developing the necessary mindset for conflict analysis. We want you to be able to enter any situation and ask the question, “What is really going on here?” and to use that inquiry to uncover underlying needs, issues, and assumptions. In this course, in addition to increasing your self-awareness as a conflict resolution practitioner, you will explore and become familiar with diverse conflict analysis approaches and tools, beginning with creating a conflict map to identify the actors, dynamics, and structures that are creating, escalating, and perpetuating the conflict. You will work with a variety of conflict analysis tools to examine the stakeholder perspectives and will be asked to identify issues that surfaced as a result of this analysis. You will define goals for your inquiry that correspond to the conflict issues you have identified and coalesce thematically around a specific purpose of appropriate scope for your capstone study. You will utilize the Coordinated Management of Meaning and Case Study frameworks to engage in desk-based qualitative inquiry using secondary sources. You will put theory into practice by interpreting the secondary data through the lens of applicable theory. The data will be further analyzed using CMM models and conflict analysis tools as a means of surfacing several needs to be addressed in your intervention design (in the next capstone course).
This course is the first of three (3) required courses of the capstone sequence.
In 6050, students will complete conflict analysis for their capstone case study.
In 6250, students will design an intervention that addresses the needs identified in their earlier analysis. In 6350, students will consider sustainability, as well as monitoring and evaluation strategies for their proposed intervention.
- Department: Negotiation & Conflict Resolution
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Instructor:
Amy E Sereday
Info - 3 points
Methods and Problems: Theoretical Philos
Methds/Probs:Theoretical
This class covers classic readings in contemporary philosophy, selections from historical authors that bear on today’s debates, and influential recent contributions in a range of subfields such as metaphysics, philosophy of mind, epistemology, logic, philosophy of language, philosophy of science, philosophy of mathematics, and philosophy of cognitive science.
- Department: Philosophy
-
Instructor:
Melissa S Fusco
CULPA: 1 Info - 4 points
PARTICLE PHENOMENOLOGY
Prerequisites: PHYS G6037 or the equivalent. The elementary particles and their properties; interactions of charged particles and radiation with matter; accelerators, particle beams, detectors; conservation laws; symmetry principles; strong interactions, resonances, unitary symmetry; electromagnetic interactions; weak interactions; current topics.
- Department: Physics
-
Instructor:
Mark Ross-Lonergan
Info - 3 points
PSYCHOPHYSIOLGCL METH/ANALYSIS
- Department: Psychology
-
Instructor:
Niall Bolger
CULPA: 4 h-index: 55 Info - 4 points
Proseminar in Religion I
The Proseminar in Religion is designed to support PhD students within the department as they work on various aspects of professional development. Meeting three times per semester, the sessions will focus on both academic and non-academic career paths, coordinated by a member of the faculty and with guest speakers from both within and beyond the department. The emphasis will be on concrete outputs and skills training. The proseminar will require preparation and active participation from enrolled students, including background reading and writing assignments connected to the monthly topic. After each session focused on a piece of writing (fellowship applications; CVs and cover letters; publishing), students should come away from the proseminar with strong drafts of the relevant texts.
The proseminar is required for all ABD students in year 5 or 6 and can be taken sequentially or not. ABD students are encouraged to speak about the timing of enrollment with the DGS and their dissertation sponsor.
- Department: Religion
-
Instructor:
Matthew Engelke
CULPA: 3 Wikipedia h-index: 25 Info - 1 points
SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY: THE ORIGINS
Prerequisites: this course is intended for sociology Ph.D. and SMS students. No others without the instructors written permission. Foundational sources and issues in sociological theory: Adam Smith, Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Simmel, Mead, Mauss, others; division of labor, individualism, exchange, class and its vicissitudes, social control, ideas and interests, contending criteria of explanation and interpretation.
- Department: Sociology
-
Instructor:
Gil Eyal
CULPA: 15
h-index: 26
Info
- 3 points
Adaptation
This is a fast-paced writing, survey and workshop course that will empower writers to define the formal ideals of screenwriting by investigating film adaptations of novels and short stories. The course will culminate in the writing of a short pitch document. This course is at once a survey of the twentieth century American Film, a survey of the Twentieth Century American novel, and a course for writers. We will distill the craft of screenwriting by looking through the prism of adaption in order to understand which elements of the novel translate into film, and why. We will consider novels with the mercenary detachment of a screenwriter, scouring for scraps with value for a screenplay. As we compare the original text with the finished film, we will distill the essence of the screenplay form. What is plot, action, dialog, metaphor? How do we converge these goals? We will decipher, with the clinical eye of a detective, what the screenwriter took from the novel and what they left behind. And in doing this, we will reach an understanding of the formal tenets of an American film.
- Department: Film
-
Instructor:
Galt V Niederhoffer
Info - 3 points
ATOMIC PHYSICS
Recent progress in control of atoms with lasers has led to creating the coldest matter in the universe, constructing ultra precise time and frequency standards, and capability to test high energy theories with tabletop experiments. This course will cover the essentials of atomic physics including the resonance phenomenon, atoms in magnetic and electric fields, and light-matter interactions. These naturally lead to line shapes and laser spectroscopy, as well as to a variety of topics relevant to modern research such as cooling and trapping of atoms. It is recommended for anyone interested in pursuing research in the vibrant field of atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics, and is open to interested students with a one year background in quantum mechanics. Both graduate students and advanced undergraduates are welcome.
- Department: Physics
-
Instructor:
Zhenjie Yan
Info - 3 points
MAKING ETHNOG:METHOD & WRITING
This course begins with two central and related epistemological problems in conducting ethnographic research: first, the notion that objects of scientific research are ‘made’ through adopting a particular relational stance and asking certain kinds of questions. From framing a research problem and choosing a ‘research context’ story to tell, to the kinds of methods one selects to probe such a problem, the ‘how’ and ‘what’ – or means and content – are inextricably intertwined. A second epistemological problem concerns the artifice of reality, and the nebulous distinction between truth and fiction, no less than the question of where or with whom one locates such truth.
With these issues framing the course, we will work through some key themes and debates in anthropology from the perspective of methodology, ranging from subject/object liminality to incommensurability and radical alterity to the politics of representation. Students will design an ethnographic project of their choosing and conduct research throughout the term, applying different methodological approaches popular in anthropology and the social sciences more generally, such as participant observation, semi-structured interview, diary-keeping and note-taking.
- Department: Anthropology
-
Instructor:
Nicholas Glastonbury
Info - 3 points