Summer Session 2 Courses

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.

Download Syllabus

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 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.

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 course studies the internal environment of firms and organizations, namely how to organize and manage people in order to implement strategic plans effectively. Topics include: organizational structures and change, human resources, leadership, group dynamics and teamwork, motivation, and multicultural management. Special attention will be given to the study of leadership, which plays a critical role in increasingly complex and multicultural organizations. The readings and class discussions include both theoretical concepts, case studies and practical exercises. (Junior status recommended)

Download Syllabus

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.

This course will survey the history of Italy from the end of the Roman Empire to the dawn of the Renaissance. Topics covered in this nearly 1000-year stretch of time include, but are not limited to, the Germanic invasions of the fifth century, the rise of the papacy and the papal states, the Arab and Byzantine conquests of Sicily and southern Italy, civic government in the medieval city-states, political thought in the age of Dante, Humanism, and the early Renaissance fascination with Roman antiquity. This class takes advantage of FUS’s unique position on the doorstep of Italy and will include several guided visits to medieval churches, castles, towns, and abbeys in Ticino and the northern region of Italy. All reading are in English, a combination of medieval sources in translation and recent scholarship. (This course carries an additional fee: CHF 150)

This course is designed for students who have completed three 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 B2 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 able to interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. They will be able to: a) understand the main ideas of complex texts on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization; b) produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options. 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.

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.

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. (This course carries an additional fee: CHF 250 for transportation and related activities in Milan)

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. 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.

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.

Download Syllabus

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.

Aimed at beginning and intermediate students exploring the countryside, towns, villages, and interiors of Ticino, this digital photography course focuses on the production of still and moving image based work, probing how location is used as a material to create form and inspire content in contemporary photography and cinema. Readings, screenings, discussions, museum visits and creative image based works are essential components of the course. Aspects of image capturing, available lighting, digital manipulation and editing a time-based video will be covered and experimented with. The key aspects of photography to be studied in this course have been divided into four stages: planning, picture making, selecting/editing and presenting. Students will follow this cycle of production for the four creative projects. In particular, this studio course is a way to facilitate the awareness of this interaction through fundamental technical exercises in looking, listening and making––connecting the still and moving image craft to documentary, fine art, and narrative genres. (Students will need 30 CHF for art exhibit visits and journal)

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.)

Students will learn about the practical and theoretical aspects of field archaeology at the Etruscan site of Albagino, between Florence and Bologna. The site was a sacred lake, and the goal of the project is to reconstruct the sacred landscape of the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. Participants will be housed in the picturesque town of Firenzuola. Excavation takes place on a forested grove in the high Apennine Mountains

Dates: 1 - 25 July 2019 (This travel course must be taken in conjunction with POL 376 International Environmental Politics for a total of 6 credits.) This interdisciplinary course explores the politics and practice of sustainable development in Africa (Kenya). Through a series of on-site explorations in the host countries, problem-based exercises, service learning and presentations by local university professors, public policy makers (to include NGOs) and experts in sustainable development, students will learn about the political, social, economic, environmental and cultural relationships that encompass the important field of sustainable development. Students will come to better understand how each country approaches sustainable development and natural resource management through participation in on-site expeditions and visits. Student research projects will include team-based case studies in the areas of sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, water and natural resource management, and sustainable housing in light of global environmental issues such as deforestation, water resource and human habitat degradation, threats to biodiversity, and conventional models of development. Please note: The field portion of the course will include traveling in overland vehicles with experienced guides. Accommodations will be in either backpacker lodges (dormitory style beds) or in safari tents at campgrounds with hot showers and toilets. IMPORTANT: Registration and a non-refundable CHF 1,500 (USD 1,500) deposit are due by 5 April 2019.

(Dates: 1 August - 17 August 2019) This on-site, experimental course will enable students explore the creative possibilities of media which have largely been considered mechanical, reproductive while also discovering the art and culture of Poland. The course will begin in Warsaw, with lectures and tours that will introduce this fascinating country. The centrepiece is a two-week residence at the PATA printing workshops of the Akademia Sztuk Pięknych in Łodz, with a weekend trip to Krakow. During the workshops, students will be able to choose from an incredible array of printing processes, including relief and intaglio techniques, as well as collograph, silkscreen and textile printing and much more. The course has the following goals: to gain knowledge of printing materials, equipment and techniques; to produce prints using the techniques introduced during the course; to understand printing techniques in an art historical perspective and acknowledge of printing as a fine art; to construct a basic art vocabulary and develop the skills necessary to critical visual analysis. This Academic Travel course will also include visits museums, print/drawing collections, and places where artists work and printmaking workshops are held, thus providing in-depth knowledge and an adventure in printmaking! (Course meets directly in Warsaw – students should make their own arrangements for arrival and departure. Contact Professor Zsanski for further details.) IMPORTANT: Registration and a non-refundable CHF 1,500 (USD 1,500) deposit are due by 5 April 2019.

Download Syllabus

(This travel course must be taken in conjunction with POL 281T) It has become increasingly apparent in recent years that environmental problems have been proliferating and nation-states are not able to cope with them individually. International cooperation is essential to finding and applying solutions. This course will first examine the nature and the sources of the main environmental problems affecting the lives of nations, such as climate change and its effects, including the ozone layer and the greenhouse effect, acid rain, desertification, pollution, disposal of radioactive and chemical waste material, etc. Students will look at the environmental problems connected to trade globalization and the question of sustainable development and will study how states have tried to deal with these problems and the role of international organizations such as the UN and the EU and non-governmental organizations such as Greenpeace, etc. The effectiveness of international treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol and the problems in their application will also be examined.