Session 2 Courses

This is an entry-level course in economics, covering fundamentals of microeconomics and aimed at students who choose it as an elective or plan to continue their studies in economics. This course helps students develop basic analytical skills in economics and microeconomics. It provides students with a basic understanding of the market system in advanced capitalist economies. It examines the logic of constrained choice with a focus on the economic behavior of individuals and organizations. After a theoretical analysis of the determinants and the interaction of supply and demand under competitive conditions, alternative market structures will be investigated, including monopolistic and oligopolistic forms. The course examines the conditions under which markets allocate resources efficiently and identifies causes of market failure and the appropriate government response. The introduction to the role of government includes its taxing and expenditure activities as well as regulatory policies.

The goal of the course is to introduce students to the origins of transatlantic cooperation, the creation of common European economic and political structures and the development of transatlantic economic and security policy. The course will also analyze multiple dichotomies of the EU-US relations. The transatlantic framework is being challenged as a result of rapidly shifting national and global political, economic and cultural forces. This definition lends itself to the analysis of the strained framework from several distinct theoretical perspectives, namely realism, liberalism and constructivism, each shedding its own light on the configuration of material and ideational factors driving the EU-US relations.

This advanced writing course consolidates students’ academic communication skills through the theme of business and work ethics. Students will engage with philosophical texts and case studies dealing with various aspects of business and/or work ethics -- distributive justice, social responsibility and environmentally conscious business practices among others -- in order to improve critical reading, argumentative writing, and oral presentation/debating skills. The course helps students understand that academic communication primarily involves entering a conversation with others and particular emphasis will be placed on responding to other people’s arguments as well as developing their own arguments based on those responses. Using the broad theme of business and work ethics as a medium for discussion, students will not only explore what it means to join an academic community and their role in that community as purveyors of knowledge but also work towards entering the job/internship market with polished application materials. (This writing-intensive course counts towards the Academic Writing requirements.)

This course examines how people, particularly young people, consume media technologies and their contents in contemporary media-saturated life. Employing essential readings on media consumption, fashion, and identity as the theoretical backbone, students will engage in active site-based research project throughout the course. By offering an opportunity to undertake a field study in Milan, the course seeks to develop in-depth theoretical knowledge of the intersections of media consumption, fashion, and identity, as well as to cultivate critical reflection of students’ own consumption of media technologies. (Additional fee: 250 SFR/290 USD for transportation and related activities in Milan).

In its most basic definition, sustainable development is described as “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” As countries around the world struggle to tackle the issues of climate disruption, water scarcity, resource exhaustion, population growth and socioeconomic conflicts, attention to methods of sustainable development is paramount, and financing those methods is increasingly important. In this context we posit the question: Is it possible for the current system of financial markets to facilitate the shift from an unsustainable world fueled by fossil hydrocarbons to a more desirable one powered by renewable energy? This course will examine how financial and capital markets operate on a transnational scale; and investigate the type of international governance over markets that would be needed to potentially produce fair and sustainable outcomes. The course will also examine the role individuals must perform as World Citizens motivated by a sense of responsibility towards the well-being of others beyond national boundaries.

The aim of the course is to introduce students to the multiple European realities and to provide the necessary tools for understanding how the EU can face these challenges in an ever-changing world. This interdisciplinary course will allow students to approach these major issues through the lenses of political science, economics, and history. By the end of the course, students will be able to identify the main competences of the European Union as well as the current challenges.

At its core, drawing is a problem-solving tool that fosters close observation and analytical thinking. Renaissance masters such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Brunelleschi and Michelangelo as well as countless modern designers, from the Bauhaus school to Ed Moses, use it as the language to create and explain their visions of the future. Today, drawing is at the core of modern design thinking methods. In this class, students of all skill levels will learn how to harness this powerful tool by exploring core drawing principles such as volume, space, value and color and rendering the world around them in a variety of mediums. In the process, student will also take away skills to enhance focus and memory. This course carries a supplemental fee:TBA.

In this course, students will explore both ideas and practice surrounding the crafting, making, doing, collecting, and promoting of stories and of authorial personas. What are the different facets of Switzerland's creative, story-based commerce, and how do they shape narrative products and their reception? Via case studies of translation, publishing, museum and foundation centers and practices, as well as of short texts and author-based promotion, the course will interrogate questions of form, (re)presentation and creation and their intersections with the commercial drive behind the circulation of stories in Swiss spaces. Students will engage with the materiality of stories from the point of view of publishers, sites of translation, libraries, museums and exhibitions, book stores, and book fairs across Switzerland. This course will conclude with a "hands-on" component and subsequent reflection, as students themselves undertake virtual and actual book-making and book promotion projects. (Additional fee: 150 SFR/175 USD for transportation and related activities).

This course examines the intersection of language and culture: how language shapes our perception of the world and vice versa. Students will reflect on their own experiences with language and view that experience in light of readings that engage themes such as technology, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic class, bi/multilingualism, dialect, and political power. Readings will include essays from major publications, ethnographic studies, memoirs, and literary texts.

This course examines the Made in Italy from a perspective of communication and media studies with an experiential learning component. It first surveys its historical development and the process in which a country of origin has evolved into a metabrand. It then explores the role communication and media plays in various Made in Italy industries such as fashion, food, design, and tourism. By analyzing the Made in Italy as a cultural phenomenon, the course seeks to develop a critical perspective toward the way a particular combination of creativity and industry lead to the global success of Made in Italy. This course includes field trips to Milan. (Additional fee: 250 chf for transportation and related activities in Milan)