What are the drivers of GDP and what differentiates growth rates between countries? What is the role of the market in shaping the economy and can the government address market failure to benefit more citizens? What are the unintended consequences of poorly designed government policies? How do current policies on trade and foreign investment impact globalization and economic development? How will economic sanctions, aid, and cyber be used as a policy tool? What are the geopolitics and geoeconomics of oil and is U.S. energy independence achievable or even desirable? Does economic development necessarily entail a negative impact on the natural environment? How will COVID-19 shape world geopolitics and geoeconomics?
This course provides students with an understanding of current macroeconomic debates and the reasoning behind significant global policy decisions. We focus on the contentious nature of each of the topics covered so as to ensure a comprehensive understanding of each issue. Participants are introduced to concepts such as growth theory, monetary and fiscal policy, trade policy, globalization, balance of payments, economic statecraft, development, international aid and sovereign debt, and climate change. Additionally, we will discuss the geopolitical and economic effects of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Case studies, readings, in-class discussions, debates, and student presentations provide an interactive and analytical but non-technical overview on macroeconomic concepts. The course includes asynchronous work, which students are expected to complete between class sessions.
Could it be that how things “really” or “truly” are is very different from how they appear to us? Can we know that we are living in the “real world” – rather than, say, a computer simulation á la
The Matrix
? Suppose we claim to know that we’re living in the real world. What could our justification, or evidence, for this belief be? And would it be of any ethical significance to us – would our lives be better or worse, and in what ways and why – if we actually
were
living in the Matrix?
This course engages questions such as: what is there, and what is its nature? How do we know what there is – to what extent does this knowledge owe to reason, and to what extent the senses? What things, and different kinds of things, do we know, and how far does our knowledge extend? What is truth? And do we seem to care so much about truth – to what extent, if any, should we value it? What are conspiracy theories? To what extent, if any, and why, are they epistemically problematic? Are there special experiences and ways of knowing which derive from race and sex/gender, and if so, what are these? And just what are race, sex, and gender?
This course has three aims: 1) to introduce students to key themes in philosophy – particularly in metaphysics and epistemology – and, in so doing, to show how an apparently abstruse discipline is of surprising relevance to our lives; 2) to provide students with essential tools for understanding the nature of logical reasoning and evaluating arguments; 3) to sharpen students’ abilities to express themselves clearly and cogently, in writing and especially in speaking. The course includes asynchronous work, which students are expected to complete between class sessions
This course is designed to introduce students to the study of the mind, brain, and human behavior. Participants are introduced to many of the broad areas of scientific research in psychology.
The course establishes a strong grounding in scientific principles and methodology and then applies these concepts to areas such as personality, learning, memory, prejudice, and psychopathology.
Students are encouraged to think about how empirical methods can be used to study the human condition, to recognize and appreciate experimental rigor, and ultimately to question common assumptions about human behavior found in ordinary discourse and the popular press.
Armed with an understanding of the scientific method and an introduction to important findings in psychology, participants conduct their own research. The course includes asynchronous work, which students are expected to complete between class sessions.