The course will be divided into two sections. The first will focus on the international dimensions of security, and will situate the Gulf in the Middle East and the world. It will review the consequences of the three major wars fought there over the past three decades before addressing both hard and soft security issues (the latter including climate issues and food security), border disputes, the nuclear issue, and the role both Iran and the U.S. play in the Gulf. Part II will focus on domestic sources of instability, including national identity and the ruling bargain, the rise of the post-rentier state, sectarian conflict, the problem of migrant workers (who currently make up a majority of the population in the GCC states), and the repercussions of the Arab Spring, which has led to an ominous retreat from earlier signs of liberalization.
Prerequisites: (STAT GU4001) or Refer to course syllabus. This is the first course in a two-course sequence introducing students to the theory of stochastic processes. The fall term starts with a review of probability theory and then treats Poisson processes, renewal processes, discrete-time Markov chains and continuous-time Markov chains. The spring term emphasizes martingales and Brownian motion. Although the course does not assume knowledge of measure theory or measure-theoretic probability, the focus is on the mathematics. Proofs are emphasized. This course sequence is intended for our first-year doctoral students. Indeed, one of the two qualifying exams at the end of the first year covers the material taught in this course sequence. The course is intended to provide students background, so that they will be able to effectively conduct research.
This course analyzes the impact of domestic and regional conflicts in the Middle East on global security. Key concepts include: regime change, revolution, insurrection, conflict management, security sector reform, arms transfers, nuclear proliferation, and counterterrorism. These conceptual tools are used for comparative analysis of three sub-regional conflict zones (Syria/Lebanon, Iraq/Iran and Palestine/Israel), each of which has galvanized substantial global engagement.
Prerequisites: Basic calculus, linear algebra, probability, and programming. Basic statistics and machine learning strongly recommended. Bayesian approaches to machine learning. Topics include mixed-membership models, latent factor models, Bayesian nonparametric methods, probit classification, hidden Markov models, Gaussian mixture models, model learning with mean-field variational inference, scalable inference for Big Data. Applications include image processing, topic modeling, collaborative filtering and recommendation systems.
If you had to develop a public health intervention designed to protect basic human rights, connect your target population with upstream social determinants of health like education, housing, and income, and ensure that their existential drive to exist were acknowledged, a birth certificate just might be it. Invisible and mundane to most of the world, birth certificates – and death certificates, as well – document the stories how of humans come into and go out of this world. And, come and go they do. Vital records are the documents that catalog these experiences millions of times each year in the U.S., and vital statistics are the subset of the information on these records that public health students and professionals know and love. This course focuses on the history, policy, management, and protection of vital records and vital statistics in the United States and will open students’ eyes to the surprisingly fascinating world of vital events.
This course presents a systematic overview of basic level oncology advanced practice nursing utilizing various theoretical approaches. It incorporates the pathophysiology of cancer, prevention and detection, cancer treatment modalities, diagnosis, and socioeconomic, ethical, and legal issues related to cancer care. The course provides the framework for the synthesis, integration, and application of oncology nursing theory in clinical practice. Previously offered as Oncology Nursing Theory I - Fundamentals of Oncology Nursing.
Prerequisites: (IEOR E3658) or equivalent, or the instructors permission. Recommended: CSEE W4119 Analytical approach to the design of (data) communication networks. Necessary tools for performance analysis and design of network protocols and algorithms. Practical engineering applications in layered Internet protocols in Data link layer, Network layer, and Transport layer. Review of relevant aspects of stochastic processes, control, and optimization.
Prerequisites: (CSEE W4119) or (ELEN E6761) and ability to comprehend and track development of sophisticated models. Mathematical models, analyses of economic and networking interdependencies in the Internet. Topics include microeconomics of pricing and regulations in communications industry, game theory in revenue allocations, ISP settlements, network externalities, two-sided markets. Economic principles in networking and network design, decentralized vs. centralized resource allocation, “price of anarchy”, congestion control. Case studies of topical Internet issues. Societal and industry implications of Internet evolution.
Prerequisites: (CSEE W4119) or (ELEN E6761) and ability to comprehend and track development of sophisticated models. Mathematical models, analyses of economic and networking interdependencies in the Internet. Topics include microeconomics of pricing and regulations in communications industry, game theory in revenue allocations, ISP settlements, network externalities, two-sided markets. Economic principles in networking and network design, decentralized vs. centralized resource allocation, “price of anarchy”, congestion control. Case studies of topical Internet issues. Societal and industry implications of Internet evolution.
This course introduces the fundamental concepts and problems of international human rights law. What are the origins of modern human rights law? What is the substance of this law, who is obligated by it, and how is it enforced? The course will cover the major international human rights treaties and mechanisms and consider some of todays most significant human rights issues and controversies. While the topics are necessarily law-related, the course will assume no prior exposure to legal studies.
Through a review of major academic writings, lectures, and class discussion, Conceptual Foundations of International Politics examines many of the central concepts, theories, and analytical tools used in contemporary social science to understand and explain international affairs. The theoretical literature is drawn from different fields in the social sciences, including comparative politics, international relations, political sociology and economics; the lecturers include members of the Columbia faculty who are authorities in these fields (as well as, in many cases, experienced practitioners in their own right) alongside a number of outside guest speakers. The course is designed to enhance students' abilities to think critically and analytically about current problems and challenges in international politics. Conceptual Foundations is a semester-long course. The lecture/plenary session is held weekly, and the seminar-style sections also meet every week. Attending lectures and sections is obligatory, and students are required to do the assigned readings before their (IAIA U6804) section because the readings and lectures form the basis of the discussion sections.
Prerequisites: the instructors permission prior to registration. Issues and problems in theory of international politics; systems theories and the current international system; the domestic sources of foreign policy and theories of decision making; transnational forces, the balance of power, and alliances.
There are two purposes to this course: 1. to develop your ability to negotiate in a purposeful, principled and effective way; and 2. to teach you how to build consensus and broker wise agreements with others. Negotiation is a social skill, and like all social skills you have to practice it if you want to get better at it. To give you the chance to practice, we'll do a number of simulated negotiations in and out of class. We'll also use lectures, case studies, exercises, games, videos, and demonstrations to help you develop your understanding. As we advance in the course, our focus will shift from simple one-on-one negotiations to more complex ones involving many parties, agents, coalitions, and organizations.