Summer Session 2

This course introduces students to the basic concepts and tools needed to make wise and informed personal financial decisions. The content of this course is presented from a practical point of view and with an emphasis on the consumer as the financial decision-maker. The primary objective of this course is to help students apply finance practices to their own lives. For example, students will learn how to plan and manage personal finances, how to obtain credit to purchase a home or a car, and how to invest personal financial resources in stocks, bonds, and real estate. Students will also learn how to interpret financial and economic news that have an impact on personal finances.

ITA 101 employs immersive experiential learning pedagogy, providing an introduction to the essentials of Italian grammar, vocabulary, and culture. This course is designed for students who have completed one semester of Italian language study. The course provides 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 A2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Students will be expected to be proficient in the written and spoken usage of basic linguistic structures. Students will be 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.

In this hands-on class, students will develop a personal a motif or aesthetic through which to create a series of three-dimensional forms and fashion garments. Drawing on the world around them, students will examine 2D design concepts, drawing essentials, and the use of sustainable materials as part of their process. (There will be an additional fee for studio supplies.)

This course introduces students to the technical, conceptual, and aesthetic skills involved in video production through the single camera mode of production. Still the most dominant mode of film and video production, the single camera mode places an emphasis on using the camera to fullest capacity of artistic expression. In addition to the multiple skills and concepts involved with the camera, the course also introduces students to the principles and technologies of lighting, audio recording and mixing, and non-linear digital video editing. Special focus is given to producing content for successful web distribution. This course will provide students with an intensive overview of the entire filmmaking process as they work with a production unit to produce a short narrative or documentary film for web distribution. Learning outcomes include understanding how a film is made from conception through distribution, and how to develop a story for maximum audio-visual impact. The course carries a fee for art supplies and equipment: CHF 25 (for students invoiced in CHF) or USD 25 (for students invoiced in USD)

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 chf for transportation and related activities in Milan)

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.

What is a disaster? How do disasters affect us? In this course, students will review the psychological effects of natural and human cause disasters. Using clinical research and case histories, students will examine the methodological issues involved in disaster research, and will learn about the normal and abnormal psychological reactions to a disaster. The class will also cover the research on the recovery process following disasters. Finally, the impact of disasters on women and children, as well as the differential impact of disasters based on race and class, will be topics for class discussion.

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 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.

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.

Since the Black Death in the fourteenth century, quarantines and limitations on social contact have played an important role in mitigating and ending the spread of contagious diseases. City states such as Venice and Milan and the Swiss cantons played pioneering roles in controlling epidemics. This course examines changing views of pandemics and public health policies throughout global history through the lens of the successes and failures of measures and policies designed to fight pandemics from antiquity to the current COVID-19 crisis.