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.

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 both POL 201 and POL 208.)

Multicultural Psychology

This course is intended to introduce and familiarize students with the concept of multicultural psychology. The entire field of psychology from a perspective that is mindful of the diversity in today’s society will be considered. Students will explore the ways in which psychology is socially constructed and will pay particular attention to the following factors as they influence human development: oppression, language, acculturation, economic concerns, racism and prejudice, socio-political factors, child-rearing practices, religious practices, family structure and dynamics, and cultural values and attitudes.

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.

Managerial Finance

This course examines the principles and practices of fund management in organizations. Attention is given to managerial financial decisions in a global market setting concerning such questions as how to obtain an adequate supply of capital and credit, and how to evaluate alternative sources of funds and their costs. Topics include the management of assets and liabilities, working capital management, capital budgeting, equity versus debt financing, capital structure, and financial forecasting.

Intermediate Italian, Part I

This course is designed for students who have completed two semesters of Italian language study. The course provides a review and expansion of command 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 B1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Students will be expected to be proficient in the written and spoken usage of intermediate linguistic structures. Students will be expected to deal with most situations likely to arise in the areas where the language is spoken. They will be able to: a) produce simple connected texts on topics, which are familiar or of personal interest; b) describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions; and c) briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans. Whenever possible, the written assignments will be designed to foster practical communication skills and encourage efforts towards increased student integration in the local Italian-speaking community.

The Italian Short Story

This special topics course on the Italian short story is distinguished by a creative writing component that compliments a more traditional scholarly exploration. While analyzing the transformation of the Italian short story since the Middle Ages, students will use their creative writing as a means to travel, figuratively, into diverse Italian landscapes, from Sicily to Piedmont. Students will discover key questions in Italian cultural history such as the Italian search for a common linguistic identity or the struggle for political unification. Special attention will be paid to thematic as well as formal issues in the stories of writers such as Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli, Giovanni Verga, Luigi Pirandello, Matilde Serao, Alberto Moravia, Natalia Ginzburg, and Italo Calvino.

Introduction to Statistics

This computer-based course presents the basic concepts in statistics: random variables, random sampling, frequency distributions, central tendency measures, variance and standard deviation, kurtosis and skewness, probability rules, Bayes theorem and posterior probability. Important statistical methods like contingency analysis, ANOVA, and correlation analysis are introduced and their algorithms are explained. The most important probability distributions are introduced: Binomial, Poisson, and Normal distribution, as well as the Chebyshev theorem for non-symmetrical distributions. Inferential statistics, sampling distributions and confidence intervals are briefly covered in order to introduce statistical model building and single linear regression and trend analysis. Students learn how to promote the scientific method, how to identify questions, collect evidence, discover and apply tools to interpret the data, and communicate results. EXCEL is used to enhance algorithmic learning. Selected SPSS or STATA examples are also provided.

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.

Environment and Health

Modern human society generates a variety of waste products that pollute the air, water, soil, and ecosystems upon which humans rely. This course examines the science behind the creation of these waste products and their impacts on the environment and human health. It further examines approaches to managing and avoiding these negative impacts. These issues are examined in their regional and global contexts, with a particular focus on Switzerland and Europe. Recommended: One BIO/ENV/GEO course at the 100-level.

Advanced French, Part I

For students who have completed at least two years of college-level language studies or the equivalent. This course reinforces and expands on grammar, vocabulary, and culture learnt in previous years of French language study. It introduces students to different literary and cinematic genres reflecting the contemporary scene of the Francophone world. Development of techniques of expression are accomplished through oral and written exercises.

Classical Music in Film

The compared study of the interaction of classical music and film, makes the object of the present course. It explores and facilitates the understanding of masterpieces of western music and their use in cinema. The course follows the thread of music history periods from Medieval to Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern. An introduction to the musical language and its components (Melody, Rhythm, Harmony, Instrumentation, Styles) is essential for understanding the structures used as soundtrack in movies. Another aspect is represented by the specific techniques that film production uses in accompanying visual narrative with selected musical pieces, and the multiple effects this association generates. The various approaches regarding the role of classical music in film will be presented through works of directors such as Luis Bunuel, Luchino Visconti, Stanley Kubrick, Milos Forman and Ingmar Bergman among many others. A separate section is dedicated to the use and depiction of opera in productions signed by Francis Ford Coppola, Werner Herzog, John Schlesinger and Franco Zeffirelli. Film extracts will be viewed and discussed. The examples cover in a nonchronological order the various cinematographic schools.(American, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Eastern European and Russian). Analytical listening of selected pieces focuses on the aspects of diegetic and non-diegetic music, as well as on the historical synchronicity

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.

Politics and Films

Politics and mass media have always been closely interlinked. This course will explore the relationship between politics and mass media and introduce students to socio-political topics in the United States. It will specifically make use of film and related literature to study various dimensions of US politics and society, as they present themselves through the eyes of Hollywood. Key topics to be addressed include war, political electioneering, class behavior, racism, and social anomie.

Drawing for Creative 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.

Principles of Microeconomics

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.

Myths of Belonging: The Literature and Film of Aotearoa-New Zealand

Shaking earth, falling sky, stars out of kilter and infected planets, cobwebs on manuka, "once were warriors", vampires in the city, black milk and marks "on a white page": the literature and film of Aotearoa-New Zealand is often strange, estranged, dark, sometimes darkly funny. This course explores filmic and literary works by e.g. Katherine Mansfield, Patricia Grace, Witi Ihimaera, Alan Duff, Jane Campion and Taika Waititi, and the movements they have arisen from. Always aware of the politics of place, space and language, the works show authors and filmmakers seeking to narrate ways of belonging in and to the islands of their Pacific nation, while negotiating the perpetuating structures of their colonial past. Recommended: LC 100 or 110 or a 200-level LIT or CLCS class.