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.

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.

In this course, students will combine critical approaches to science communication with their own creative vision to explore the world of environmental storytelling. Bringing together visual culture and communication studies, natural history and environmental science, and technical skills in narrative and visual storytelling, this course offers a bridge between theory and practice, equipping the twenty-first student to enter into the emerging intersection between environmental debates and digital screen content production. Students will immerse themselves in local heritage and natural science history sites including surrounding parks and museums, developing knowledge of surrounding environmental issues to be expressed and dramatized. In addition to studying the rhetoric and aesthetics of visual language, students will learn skills in hands-on story development, construction of messaging strategies, and contemporary trends in environmental storytelling. (In addition to the designated class times, there will be optional excursions on Thursday afternoons.)

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:TBA

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 course provides the basic analytic tools necessary for the understanding of international relations. After a brief introduction to the realist and liberal approaches to the study of international relations, the course covers various fundamental concepts, such as national power, foreign policy, conflict, political economy, international trade, and international organizations.

The three most influential religions of the world all originated within a small geographical area that we now call the Middle East. To many it is the Holy Land; to others still it is the root of modern wars. This course surveys the rise and historical development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from their modest beginnings to their global influence, with particular emphasis on the historical and intellectual forces that made these growths possible. Readings in primary and secondary sources will consider the ancient kingdom of Judaea, the Jewish origins of Christianity, the philosophies of medieval Christianity and Islam, the earliest conflicts between Christianity and Islam (including the Crusades), and the search for religious identity in a globalized and pluralistic modern world. (This writing-intensive course counts towards the Academic Writing requirements.)