Summer Session 1 Courses

Intro Computer Programming

This course offers an introduction to computer programming using some high level language. Students will learn how to formulate, represent, and solve problems using the computer. Emphasis will be on the features common to most of these languages. After introducing data structures, expressions, functions, control structures, input and output, the course will proceed to classes, events, user interface construction, documentation, and program testing. Both procedural and object-oriented programming paradigms will be discussed.

Italian in Action: Embodied Language Learning

This course is designed for students who have completed two semesters of Italian language study. Like Italian 200, this course focuses on the fundamental aspects of intermediate language learning, including oral and written communication. The pedagogical approach sets this course apart, with a focus on embodiment theory. The core idea of embodied learning theories is that the neural structures that human beings use to experience the world (at the level of movement and sensation) are the same they use to process language and to describe, through language, their interactions with the world. Within this framework, the language teaching and learning process will be constantly associated with sensory-motor and emotional experiences, tailored to students by immersing them in theatrical work/play sessions. Recommended for students who would like to try an alternative approach to traditional language pedagogy. (Students may only earn credit for either ITA 200 or ITA 200A)

Advanced Italian, Part I

For students who have completed at least two years of college-level language studies or the equivalent. This course offers cultural readings from a variety of sources, including some literary pieces, as well as magazine and newspaper articles reflecting the contemporary scene in the countries where the language is spoken. Vocabulary expansion and development of techniques of expression are accomplished through oral and written exercises.

Introduction to the United States Constitution and Legal System

The focus of this course is to introduce the students to the evolution of the United States political system with an accent on the reading of the US Constitution as a starting point for an in depth analysis of its legal system. There will be comparative examples drawn from the constitutional experience of the United Kingdom and Canada. The course will also examine the evolution of the American legal system in the context of American politics and international law. (Students may not earn credit for POL 201 and POL 208.)

Abnormal Psychology

A study of the major patterns of abnormal behavior and their description, diagnosis, interpretation, treatment, and prevention.

Corporate Financial Reporting & Governance in the Age of COVID-19

In recent decades, corporate financial reporting has evolved from an unadorned "accurate financial statements" obligation to a broader ESG (environmental, social responsibility, governance) mandate requiring firms to explain and justify their actions across many activities to multiple stake-holders beyond owners of equity shares. CEOs are regularly more visible than ever before, explaining strategic business choices and their impact on employees, customers, the environment, global trade, and public policy trade-offs in general. Just as large firms have been gradually adapting their behavior and structure to that transition, they are now confronted by a medical pandemic which throws all previous calculations aside. The course explores what firms are doing right now, and will have to do even more intensively in the near future, to sustain their financial existence, while responding to the contemporary public and political appetite for social stability assurances and economic security.

Management Science

In the first part of this computer-based course, students learn linear programming algorithms and how to apply them for resource allocation in production, investment selection, media selection, transportation planning, job assignments, financial planning, make or buy decision making and overtime planning contexts. In the second part of the course, students learn how to choose the best decision using expected monetary value (EMV), how to make optimum decision strategies under uncertainty by making decision trees, how to evaluate marketing research information, and how to apply project management (PERT) basic steps. Ultimately students are asked to conduct a month-long research and development project to define a real organizational decision strategy.

Introductory Italian, Part I

Designed for students with no prior knowledge of Italian. ITA 100 employs immersive experiential learning pedagogy, providing an introduction to the essentials of Italian grammar, vocabulary, and culture. The acquisition of aural/oral communication skills will be stressed and, as such, the predominant language of instruction will be Italian. By the end of the course students will achieve proficiency at the A1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Students are expected to acquire the basic knowledge of the written and spoken structures. Students are expected to read and comprehend short passages in Italian and to draft simple compositions / dialogues. Project-based assignments will be designed to foster practical communication skills and encourage efforts towards increased student integration in the local Italian-speaking community. Whenever possible, students will be encouraged to participate actively in local initiatives, festivals, events and to apply the skills they are mastering in class to their co-curricular learning on and off campus

Introduction to Political Science

Basic concepts of the discipline are discussed in this class with a focus on the evolution of the state and the role of the individual from historical, ideological, and comparative perspectives.

Comparative Politics

The development of the modern nation-state is analyzed from a variety of theoretical viewpoints. The approach and methods of major social theorists are examined in detail. (This writing-intensive course counts towards the Academic Writing requirements.) Formerly POL 400. Students who have previously earned credit for POL 400 cannot earn credit for POL 300.

Introduction to Business Systems

The course introduces the global business system in the context of the economic, political, social and technological environments, relating business to society as a whole. Topics covered include the international scope, function, and organization of firms, and other fundamental concepts of multinational business. The course also addresses functional areas such as the value chain, production, marketing, human resources, and accounting.

Introduction to Game Theory

This course is an elementary introduction to Game Theory. It focuses on how to ana-lyze situations and make rational decisions based on the information gathered. Students will analyze parlor games, gambling, and real-world situations. As mathematical basis for the analysis, Probability Theory and some Algebra are needed, but will be developed in detail

Introduction to Statistics

This computer-based course presents the main concepts in Statistics: the concept of random variables, frequency, and probability distributions, variance and standard deviation, kurtosis and skewness, probability rules, Bayes theorem, and posterior probabilities. Important statistical methods like Contingency analysis, ANOVA, Correlation analysis and Regression Analysis are introduced and their algorithms are fully explained. The most important probability distributions are introduced: Binomial, Poisson, and Normal distribution, as well as the Chebyshev theorem for non-known distributions. Inferential statistics, sampling distributions, and confidence intervals are covered to introduce statistical model building and single linear regression. Active learning and algorithmic learning are stressed. Emphasis is put both on algorithms –methods and assumptions for their applications. Excel is used while calculators with STAT buttons are not allowed. Ultimately students are required to make a month-long research project, select the theoretical concept they want to test, perform a literature review, find real data from Internet databases or make their surveys, apply methods they studied in the class, and compare theoretical results with their findings. Research is done and presented in groups, papers are Individual. Selected SPSS or Excel Data Analysis examples are also provided.

Masterpieces of Western Classical Music

Based on classical music milestones, from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, the course provides the students with the basic elements needed in order to learn active listening and to develop critical and comparative skills. It explains the various genres from symphonic music to opera, offering the students the tools to better understand the various idioms in Western music, and the historical and cultural context of their creation. The use of the "great works" will also create a cultural portfolio for students and introduce them to the debates related to the character and purposes of music, as well as to its chronological evolution.

Government and Politics of the Middle East

This course examines the political processes that shape conflict and consensus in Middle Eastern societies. From this perspective, main regional conflicts are analyzed. The confrontation between (1)Iran and the Arab World and (2)Israel and the region at large are surveyed in light of intra-Arab antagonisms and the historical great power rivalry for hegemony in the area. Special focus is directed toward an understanding of the politics of modernization and the clash between tradition and modernity. Recommended POL 100.

Drawing for Creative and Critical Thinkers

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.

Financial Accounting

This course is designed to provide students with a basic knowledge of financial accounting concepts, procedures, analysis, and internal reports as an essential part of the decision-making process. The focus is on the three basic steps of the accounting process: recording, classifying, and summarizing financial transactions. Emphasis is placed on the general accounting activities leading up to the preparation of financial statements.

Principles of Macroeconomics

This entry-level course in economics covers the fundamentals of macroeconomics and is aimed at students who choose it as an elective or plan to continue their studies in economics. Together with ECN 101, it provides the necessary prerequisites for any other upper-level course in economics. The course is a program requirement for the majors in International Banking and Finance, International Economics, International Relations, International Management, and Environmental Science. It is also a prerequisite for Economics as a combined major as well as a minor. This course introduces students to the study of economics as a field of knowledge within the social sciences. In the first part, focus will be on the definition, the explanation, and the significance of national income, business fluctuations, the price level, and aggregate employment. In the second part, special attention is devoted to the functioning of a payment system based on currency and bank money. Finally, students will discuss the instruments and the functioning of public policy aimed to stabilize prices and maintain high levels of output and employment within the current macroeconomic context. Current economic news will be regularly scrutinized.

Museums and Art Galleries: Theory, History and Practice

(This course is taken in conjunction with CLCS 310T, to be held in Zurich) This course looks at museum theory and practices at the beginning of the 21st Century, placing particular emphasis on art museums and galleries. Students will be encouraged to familiarize themselves with theoretical issues rooted in the historical development of national collections in the 19th century, as well as to consider a number of practical applications required of museum personnel in the present day. On the one hand, the course discusses a number of issues operative in the field of heritage and museum studies, such as authenticity, public(s) and reception, interpretation, historical discourse, memory, dark heritage. It will aim to present an archaeology of the museum realm informed and constructed by historical practice and discourses. Secondly, the course will aim to discuss a number of technical practical functions in the art museum and art gallery context, such as curating, conservation, law, marketing and design, public relations and research. Informed by theoretical and historical reflections, it will aim to explore the current technical operations active in the body-museum and the challenges that might lie ahead.

The Culture of Cities: From Roman Garrisons to Industrial Chic

(This is a travel course to be held in Zurich, and taken in conjunction with AHT 350.) Ever since its formation in the nineteenth century the metropolis has functioned as a multivalent metaphor for the experiences of "modern" life. Portrayed at once as a space of disruption and of stability, of danger and of creativity, the city has as found a place in the modernist and postmodernist imagination that reflects how a people's surroundings influence thought pattern and social practices. At the same time of course the needs of ever-evolving groups of inhabitants form the shape cities take. Taking Zurich as the case study, students will ask how overlapping and interacting slices of urban culture, ranging from the material (buildings, squares, streets and bridges), to the symbolic (narratives, myths and legends), and the performative (music, theater and film) shape our urban experience.

Art Market Studies: From Renaissance Commissions to Online Auctions

(Dates: 17 - 28 May 2021) This two-week intensive course studies the selling of art from early modernity to the contemporary age. Students learn about the commission market in the Renaissance where artists needed to closely respond to patrons' needs and specificiations in the creation of their works. After taking a look at the birth of the free art market in the 17th century and the rise of the auction market in the 18th century, the course will investigate the importance of the art dealer in the 19th century with a focus on the relationship of Vincent Van Gogh and his brother Theo, as documented in their exchange of letters. In the study of the contemporary art market particular emphasis is placed on how artists, dealers, galleries, and auction houses in this day and age determine pricing strategies and what impact these strategies have on artistic production and aesthetic values. The Summer 2021 course will specfically reflect on how the Corona crisis has been shaping the online art market and will read excerpts from Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson's work on the "improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats," (Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2020) to see if their theories provide insight into the current situation of the art market.