This course combines skill building though experiential exercises and an understanding of the underlying theory to help you learn how to be an effective manager and team member in today’s technology-enabled team context. Topics include issues such as managing collaboration in and across teams, motivating effort, performance, social judgment, and cross-cultural issues. Students learn how organizations can improve their effectiveness through better management of people and how individual managers can be more effective in working with and leading others.
This course utilizes multidisciplinary sources of evidence to address Arab-Islamic knowledge and culture, the influences that they had on medieval and early modern Europe, and that they continue to have today, while questioning why many Western scholars have minimized Arab-Islamic contributions in favor of “Western Exceptionalism” narratives. By exploring cross-cultural transmissions of knowledge, students are encouraged to think critically about how ideas and technologies evolve as they are adopted by individuals and groups in order to suit their personal and cultural needs. Prerequisite: None. Fulfillment: Humanities Major Other Introductory Courses (18-19 Survey Courses).
This course will explore the macroeconomics and microeconomic foundations of economic development. We will discuss poverty, growth, development trap, distribution of income, demography and economic development, land and agricultural labor, health and nutrition, credit, insurance, intra-household allocation and gender, education. In these topics, we will ask: What determines the decisions of poor households in less-developed countries? What constraints do they face? What policies have been tried? What are the policy effect we have seen? Prerequisite: ECON-SHU 1 Principles of Macroeconomics or ECON-SHU 3 Microeconomics or ECON-SHU 202 Intermediate Macroeconomics or ECON-SHU 301 Econometrics. Fulfillment: Economics elective; Social Science Focus Political Economy 300 level.
The course focuses on the cross-currents of China’s encounters with the world, from the late 16th to the early 21st century. It proceeds from two assumptions: first, that China has long been engaged with the rest of the world rather than ever having been “closed”, as some would have it; and second, that impact and influence flow in multiple directions: into, through, and out of China, whether intentionally or involuntarily. Through a combination of lecture, discussion, and student research projects we will explore China’s encounters with the world chronologically and thematically, covering such broad topics as religion and philosophy; diplomacy; law; trade; war; revolution; political systems, and “soft power”. Pre-requisites: None. Fulfillment: CORE HPC or IPC; GCS China and the World; Humanities Introductory course (18-19: survey).
Open to students with no previous training in French. Not equivalent to FREN-UA 9010. Only by following FREN-UA9001 with FREN-UA9002 can a student complete the equivalent of FREN-UA9010 and then continue on to the intermediate level.
This course is a survey of the history of Palestine in the modern period, focusing on the conflict for control of this land from its origins in the late nineteenth century until the present. The purpose of this course is to examine the evolution of this ongoing struggle in its historical context and to try to understand why the various parties to this conflict have thought and acted as they did.
This popular introductory workshop offers an exciting introduction to the basic elements of poetry and fiction, with in-class writing, take-home reading and writing assignments, and substantive discussions of craft. The course is structured as a workshop, which means that students receive feedback from their instructor and their fellow writers in a roundtable setting, and they should be prepared to offer their classmates responses to their work.
The goal of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason is to give an account of human knowledge and its limits. This requires a careful analysis of the structure of human experience, the foundations of scientific knowledge, and the ways in which we try (and often fail) to extend our knowledge beyond what experience can teach us. This course will involve a close reading of the entirety of the Critique of Pure Reason. Along the way, we will discuss topics including the nature of matter and mind, free will, and the existence of God. Prerequisite: One prior philosophy course Fulfillment: Humanities Advanced Course.
This course provides an introduction to literary theories and methodologies. We will analyze such different approaches to literary expressions as classical, modern, structuralist, post-structuralist approaches; Marxist, colonial and post-colonial approaches, including feminist and post-human methodologies for different literatures. The course will emphasize the shifts and turns in these approaches. The aim is to acquire knowledge of a variety of literary approaches at work when reading literature and of the relationships between text, author, writing and audience. Pre-requisites: None Fulfillment: Humanities Foundations/Introductory course(18-19: Critical Concepts/Survey).
Our goal is to map China. But rather than making maps through calculations or grids, we will be mapping China conceptually and theoretically. This is to say that in studying China’s regions, physical geography, political territories, cities, counties, and people, our goal is to develop skills for thinking about China spatially. With thousands of years of recorded history and a political system oriented to progress and national development, China is often imagined in terms of linear time. However, from ancient walled cities to the Mao-era work-unit system to the more recent migrations of rural labor, understanding how political, commercial, and social spaces are organized is essential for understanding China’s past and present. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or above. Fulfillment: CORE SSPC or IPC; GCS elective The Politics, Economy, and Environment of China; Social Science Focus Environmental Studies 200 level; Humanities Interdisciplinary or other Advanced course ( 18-19: Critical Concepts or Topic).
How did people in ancient and modern China understand health and treat illness? Historically and now, has “Chinese medicine” been an insular or open system? What can health perceptions and healing practices tell us about historical changes in China and its changing relationship with the world? Drawing on insights from the history of medicine and medical anthropology, this course explores health and healing in China through five chronologically organized units and one diachronically comparative unit. We will consider the cosmological, philosophical, and sociological factors that shape different visions of health. We will examine how local and global political processes affect healing practices and their perceived legitimacy and investigate what illness and remedy-seeking experiences reveal about the wider contexts in which medical activities take place. Prerequisite: CCSF-SHU 101L GPS
This course invites students from diverse backgrounds and provides an accessible introduction to the burgeoning field of Computational Social Science (CSS). We aim to explore research design and data skills at the intersection of social sciences and digital innovations. This course emphasizes using big and rich social digital data to understand and explain societies and human behaviors. We introduce fundamental topics in CSS, including digital trace data collection, social network analysis, and text-as-data, using the R programming language. Besides discussing the new opportunities of CSS, this course also highlights critical topics, such as data ethics and data-driven bias. Prerequisite: None. Fulfillment: Core AT; Social Science Foundational Course; Social Science Methods Course.
Exposes students to some of the most provocative and entertaining novels written in Japanese since the end of the Second World War. Students see how the collapse of totalizing ideologies brought by Japan?s defeat led to an extremely fertile and yet somewhat atomized literary landscape. In this new postwar terrain, it became increasingly difficult to think of literature in terms of ?schools? or ?influences,? as questions of cultural and individual identity became harder and harder to answer in a world of material prosperity and cultural hybridization.
Topics in Interactive Media Arts courses are courses within the broader field of emerging media, covering a wide range of topics depending on the expertise of the current course instructor. This course will cover a specific emerging media topic from a practical and/or theoretical perspective. Students will learn about the topic from readings, discussions, and writings, as well as through hands-on assignments and projects. Students can enroll in multiple “Topics in IMA” courses simultaneously in one semester and receive full credits for each course. Prerequisite: None. Fulfillment: IMA elective; IMB IMA/IMB elective.
Project-based course designed to guide students through three advanced projects: data visualization with APIs, games that communicate specific experiences, and cooperative networked interactions where two users work together to achieve a common goal. Each project is split into 3-4 weeks, so students have ample time to thoughtfully design a program, think through the technical architecture, develop it, and iterate based on in-class feedback.
An inquiry into the ways that technology — mechanical, electronic, analog, and digital — shapes and is shaped by cultural, political, and social values. Students become acquainted with key concepts and approaches to understanding the interplay of technology and society (e.g. technological determinism, social construction of technology, actor networks, affordances) and how these have been applied to such cases as the clock, the automobile, the assembly line, household technology, the telephone, and more recent communication technology.
The concept of sustainability is important in our current moment, yet we use the term in a variety of ways and via different frameworks of understanding. This course explores how we talk about and understand the concept of sustainability, including as environment and climate change, food production and consumption, and individual and community health. Students will examine the concept of sustainability through these different lenses, exploring the connections among them.
This course introduces students to basic digital composition in the context of research and practice-based project development. Students explore practices in digital multimedia production, web design and development, digital imaging, sound and video editing applications, scripting in HTML and CSS, and the operation of production equipment. Students conduct fieldwork and site-specific ethnographic research on a significant issue in the local context and present their findings through the design of a web-based portfolio.
Readings from climatologists, economists, anthropologists, geographers, cultural analysts, and activists. Examines the natural and social impact of global warming in the context of the climate justice movement, which is modeled on American-derived principles of environmental justice in the 1990s and poses a legal and humanitarian challenge to those who place their faith in market-driven solutions. Examines how populations are unevenly affected by climate change, and how this imbalance is being addressed by advocates of decarbonization.
New York has played a crucial role in the history of media, and media have placed a crucial role in the history of New York. New York has been represented by media since Henry Hudson wrote his reports to the Dutch. Media institutions have contributed centrally to its economy and social fabric, while media geographies have shaped the experiences of city living. This course explores media representations, institutions, and geographies across time and is organized around the collaborative production of an online guidebook to the media history of New York.
The Science of Movement will introduce students to the multidisciplinary field of how the human brain controls movements, how we learn new movements, and the rehabilitation of various movement disorders and injuries. This course is appropriate for undergraduate students with an interest in human movement, neuroscience and behavior, physical medicine, dance and/or athletics. No prior course of study in neuroscience is necessary to successfully engage with the course material. This course will count towards general education requirements for social science for Tisch undergraduate students.
Fashion companies, as business entities, have always been faced with balancing technological and operational necessities with creative and imaginative artistry. Today, this challenge is even more difficult to manage, as the industry’s traditional modes of operation (e.g. a multitude of physical retail locations, seasonally driven creation & distribution of products, near total dependency on foreign production, and the producer’s sense of fashion trend entitlement) has given way to omnichannel retailing, merchandise “drops” and smaller collections, reimagining production systems (aka “Supply Chains”)and the ascendency of the consumer as the controlling factor in confirming fashion trends and determining market outcomes, to name just a few of the disruptive changes. This has been underscored by the industry struggling to contain its role as a major source of global pollution, and global warming. The ESG/CSR Sustainability challenge has intensified Fashion’s need to manage these disruptive changes and incorporate new operational modes while, in the same space and time, embracing the new digital ways of thinking about business and fashion, including the impact of the Metaverse, NFT’s, Blockchain and virtual try-on processes and platforms. This course and this class is charged with finding new, untried but business-driven, solutions to these challenges placed within the Sustainability context.
Images depict, words describe. A picture of the cat of the mat depicts the cat as being on the mat. The sentence ’the cat is on the mat’ describes the cat as being on the mat. Both represent the world as being in a certain state, but they do so in different ways. What is the difference in these ways of representing? What does it take for an image to depict? This course covers most major theories of depiction, including resemblance, experience, recognition, pretense, and structural theories. We then expand the scope of inquiry to include topics such as systems of depiction, analog vs. digital representation, maps, film, comics, maps, mental imagery, and relations to the cognitive science of vision.
Covers the basic concepts of probability. Topics include the axiomatic definition of probability; combinatorial theorems; conditional probability and independent events; random variables and probability distributions; expectation of functions of random variables; special discrete and continuous distributions, including the chi-square, t, F, and bivariate normal distributions; law of large numbers; central limit theorem; and moment generating functions. The theory of statistical estimation is introduced with a discussion on maximum likelihood estimation.
In this course you will attain an understanding of the key factors that contribute to organizational success and the role that managers play in helping their organizations become more successful. The better that you understand these issues, the more effective you will be in your future careers. More specifically, the course will explore how organizational leaders develop winning strategies, and then design their organization in a way that aligns structures, social relationships, tasks, human resource practices, and people to achieve those strategies. In exploring these issues, you will identify the challenges that organizational leaders and managers face as they try to make good decisions in the face of a constantly evolving industry environment, competing goals and agendas, and an increasingly diverse and global workforce.
This course will survey literature produced at various points in the tumult of modern Chinese history, from the late Qing through to the present day. While the time period will be broad, we will hope to engage in close, critical readings of significant works of fiction from a selection major authors primarily from Mainland China. How do certain concerns of modernity arise in different texts, at different times, and for different writers? What different relationships do we see being shaped between literature, life, and politics, and how does fiction negotiate certain tensions and anxieties about modern and contemporary life? By exploring a variety of engaging novels and short stories, we will hope to gain a more nuanced understanding of modern China and the role that fiction has played as both an agent of modernity and a reflection of modern Chinese life.
Introduction to research and theory of human development across the life span. Seminal theories & basic research of individual growth & development are analyzed & critiqued. Emphasis is on the range in human development with discussion of normative & non-normative development. Emphasis is also placed on the importance of understanding the influence of normative & non-normative contexts of development, including the impact of culture, heritage, socioeconomic level, personal health, & safety. Relations between home, school, & community and their impact on development are also explored via readings, lectures, discussions, & weekly observations in the field. Interrogation of implicit folk theories as a foundation for exploration of formal knowledge of human development.
This course offers students a foundational understanding of the technological building blocks that make up digital media & culture, & of the ways they come together to shape myriad facets of life. Students will acquire a working knowledge of the key concepts behind coding, & survey the contours of digital media architecture, familiarizing themselves with algorithms, databases, hardware, & similar key components. These technological frameworks will be examined as the basic grammar of digital media & related to theories of identity, privacy, policy, & other pertinent themes.
This course examines the imagery of science and technology, the role of visuality in the construction of scientific knowledge, artistic renditions of science, and the emergence of visual technologies in modern society. It looks at how visuality has been key to the exercise of power through such practices as cataloguing and identification; the designation of abnormality, disease, and pathologies; medical diagnosis; scientific experimentation; and the marketing of science and medicine. We will examine the development of the visual technologies in the emerging scientific practices of psychiatry and criminology; explore the sciences of eugenics, genetics, pharmacology, brain and body scans, and digital medical images of many kinds; the marketing of pharmaceuticals, and the emerging politics of scientific activism.
Roughly one third of the Middle East population today is between 15 and 29 years old – a demographic “bulge” which has brought Middle Eastern youths at the forefront of media and government concerns both at the regional and global scale. But from the figure of the young jihadist to that of the Arab spring revolutionary, dominant perceptions of these youths often fall into highly polarized archetypes. Moving the focus away from politics and religion, this course explores the everyday worlds of Middle Eastern youths and the complex interactions – with institutions, peers and family members – which characterize their daily lives. By analyzing multiple youth cultures divided along the lines of gender, ethnicity, religious affiliation, or social class, students will address the diversity of Middle Eastern youths and question the universality of age categories. A large space will also be devoted to the voices of Middle Eastern youths themselves, from Egyptian literature and Emirati cinema to Moroccan hip-hop. These cultural productions will allow students to look at the way Arab youths use globalized artistic genres to address regional issues and express their fears, hopes and desires.
Why do some organizations succeed while others flounder? Whether it be as an employee within a traditional for-profit business, or within one of the wide spectrum of alternative career paths, all of us will ultimately be a part of organizations. This course will help illuminate the key processes and factors that determine why organizations function as they do, drawing upon the fields of management, strategy, sociology, and psychology in the process. Specific topics covered include: Corporate strategy and achieving competitive advantage, Organizational structure and design, Organizational and national culture, Leadership, Motivation and incentives, Groups dynamics, Power & politics within organizations, including a discussion of persuasion & influence and social networks, Judgment and decision-making.
This course evaluates marketing as a system for the satisfaction of human wants and a catalyst of business activity. It presents a comprehensive framework that includes a) researching and analyzing customers, company, competition, and the marketing environment, b) identifying and targeting attractive segments with strategic positioning, and c) making product, pricing, communication, and distribution decisions. Cases and examples are utilized to develop problem-solving abilities.
Examination of food from historical and transnational perspectives. Topics considered are: the origins of agriculture, the phenomenon of famine, the co-evolution of world cuisines and civilizations, the international exchange and spread of foods and food technologies following 1492, issues of hunger and thirst, and the effects of the emergent global economy on food production, diets, and health. Liberal Arts Core/MAP Equivalent – satisfies the requirement for Cultures and Contexts for Steinhardt students.
The second semester of Social Foundations spans a thousand years, from the rise of Islam and the reunification of China under the Tang dynasty (in the 7th century C.E.) through the Scientific Revolution and the decline of the Mogul empire in India. This course invites students to consider great ideas that have often helped earlier peoples organize their lives–but which have also set them in conflict, sometimes with other communities, sometimes among themselves. Such ideas have sparked movements for ethical and social reform, for conquest, for the recovery of lost classics, and for religious renewal.
The first semester of Social Foundations introduces students to the ancient world and ends with the dissolution of the Western Roman Empire, of the Gupta Empire in India, and of the Han Dynasty in China. This course takes a global perspective and uses an interdisciplinary approach, and part of its aim is to explore enduring questions such as the relation between the individual and society, between justice and power, and between humanity and the divine.
Examines media images in relation to the making of ethnic and racial identities in the United States. Surveys some of the theoretical approaches to the study of images, paying particular attention to the intersection of history and ideologies or representation. Looks into the nature and politics of stereotypes; inquires into their reproduction through discourses, representations, and practices; and then moves to a comparative examination of media images in relation to the making of African American, Latino, Asian, and Native American images in the media, looking specifically at changes and continuities in the representation of these four minority groups in the media.
The course serves as an introduction to the thought and legacy of Karl Marx. Marx’s theory of capitalism centers on the concept of value. Value is the interface between culture and commerce, the hinge on which Marx’s theory and Marxism turn. Although Marx sometimes distinguished between an economic “base” and a legal-cultural “superstructure,” he managed to depict the culture of capitalism as a whole. This method forms one of his crucial legacies, which we will explore in and after Marx. Organized around a slow reading of Capital, Volume 1, the course will also feature short readings from those who inspired Marx (David Ricardo, G. W. F. Hegel, Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace) and those his work influenced (Rosa Luxemburg, Theodor W. Adorno, Stuart Hall, Donna Haraway). We will follow the trajectory that Capital itself takes, from the commodity and the concept of value to machinery, cooperation, and accumulation.
This course provides an introduction to the fundamental topics in macroeconomics, the analysis of the economy as a whole. After an overview of introductory economic concepts, such as comparative advantage, opportunity costs, and supply and demand, the course focuses on the determinants of aggregate income, employment, and prices. Other topics include the study of long-run economic growth, the business cycle, the financial system, as well as monetary and fiscal policy. *ECI-UF 101 and ECII-UF 102 may meet some of the equivalent course requirements for the College of Arts and Science. Students may take ECI-UF 101 and ECII-UF 102 in any order; neither course is a pre-requisite for the other.
Self-tracking. Biohacking. Personal informatics. Quantified self. The contemporary “quantified self” movement makes claims of “self-knowledge through numbers” and improving health and human welfare. There are clearly other elements to self-tracking culture that deserve critical investigation. What does the self become through the lens of data? What is the dark side of data that can be used against us, and without regard for social justice and equality? This multidisciplinary course takes both a theoretical and a practical look at the pressing issue of data aggregation about human beings. It looks to the past for historical forms of self-quantification and to the future of a rapidly expanding globalized landscape of app tracking and wearable technologies. With the question of human data in mind, the course examines the unsure futures of humanity in a variety of domains: medicine and aging, education, the arts, marketing, and the Internet of Things. Students will situate themselves critically within this increasingly dense data landscape by creating data about themselves that can be analyzed and interpreted using a variety of data visualization and storytelling frameworks.
Humanity has long imagined monstrous transformations of ourselves. What do these creatures mean to us, historically and today? What do we think we are becoming? Investigates the supernatural in popular culture through vampires and zombies. Places them in the context of our imagination of the divine through history and ethnography, and also alongside our intimate problems of managing sex, gender, race, and class. The archives of religions, psychologies, philosophy, film, TA, and novels provide rich source material, Requires a short midterm essay and a longer final project, while posting to a forum most weeks.
Virtually unknown outside of academic discourse until recently, the term cultural appropriation has become a commonplace in social and popular media, as activists and public intellectuals have highlighted what they see as problematic uses (or abuses) of cultural symbols, artifacts, or expressive modes connected to marginalized groups. But what exactly is cultural appropriation, and under what circumstances can it be said to constitute a form of exploitation or violence? This course approaches these questions both philosophically and empirically, asking, on the one hand: What is culture, and how can it be “owned” or “stolen”? and on the other: How have practices of adopting or using culture been implicated in processes of social subjugation or marginalization? Course readings are drawn from a range of disciplines across the humanities and social sciences, including cultural anthropology, art theory, music studies, and philosophy. By engaging with a rich corpus of ideas through in-class discussions, oral presentations, and written reflections, students will develop critical perspectives on cultural appropriation as well as the broader concepts of culture, race, and ethnicity.
Second of two introductory courses in general physics for non science or engineering majors. (Not an acceptable substitute for PH-UY 2023 or PH-UY 2033) Electric forces and fields. Electric potential and capacitance. Electric current. Magnetic forces and fields. Faradays law and inductance. Maxwell’s Theory of Electromagnetism. Electromagnetic waves. Light and Color. Geometrical optics. Image Formation. Interference and diffraction. | Prerequisite(s): PH-UY 1213 or PH-UY 1013; Co-requisite: EX-UY 1.
Introduction to the fundamental principles of psychology, emphasizing both the unity & the diversity of a field that spans major theoretical & research areas, including biological bases of human behavior, learning, development, motivation, & social and abnormal behavior. Links between theory & classic as well as contemporary research are a recurrent theme. Liberal Arts Core/MAP Equivalent – satisfies the requirement for Society & the Social Sciences
This course introduces contemporary topics in Science and Technology Studies, emphasizing the relations among science, technology and society from philosophical, historical, and sociological points of view. This course is required for STS majors and satisfies an HuSS General Education Elective for all other majors.
A broad survey, we will consider works of architecture, ceramics, metalwork, textiles and the arts of the book. Given the span of centuries embraced by the term ’Islamic art’ – from the 7th century up to the present day – and the expanse of geography – from Spain to China and beyond – this course cannot be a complete survey within the constraints of a single semester. Instead, this course will present a select group of materials within a chronological and dynastic framework, with an emphasis on specific case studies. These selections will highlight important internal developments as well as ’points of contact’ between cultural entities. This approach – at once global and local – speaks to the dynamic and fluid qualities of many of the arts produced in the regions under scrutiny.
The history of comedy in 20th century America is the history of America itself. Comedians from all walks of life have provided a funhouse mirror as well as a perceptive lens for American society and culture. This course will examine significant periods and players of the 20th century comedic genre and analyze them against their historic context and legacy. Humor will be used as a platform to discuss how comedy was governed by and ultimately responded to the influence of American society. This course will observe how comedians in turn shaped American life, running the gamut from silent movies to Vaudeville; screwball comedies of the 1930s and ‘40s to the Golden Age of Television; from the sitcom to the political comedies of present day. Equally important, this course will analyze the genesis and evolution of the comedic persona in performance: what worked, what did not work, and why. Comprehensive analysis of performances will help this course determine how performers did what they did and why they made the choices they made. This course will assess how the work of the comedian has evolved and grown over the course of a career, what methods have withstood the test of time, and why.
Aristotle to Beyoncé and Beyond introduces students to an eclectic group of storytellers and storytelling. Students study the mechanics of telling a story, gaining a deeper appreciation and understanding of how storytellers and storytelling impact the world.
This course provides students with both research and managerial perspectives in the development and application of marketing research tools and procedures. It describes the development of research designs from problem formulation to analysis and submission of the research report. It also covers the analysis of techniques in marketing research, such as focus groups, experimental design, surveys, sampling, statistical analysis, and reporting. Cases are utilized in the development of methods and in specific areas of application.
Transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) youth are quickly becoming more visible in society. Parents of gender non-conforming children are coming to mental health providers in increasing numbers and are often met with stigma and bias and a lack of education on TGNC health. TGNC youth are turned out of their homes at disproportionate rates and harassed and bullied in school at higher rates than their gender conforming peers. They have higher rates of suicide, depression and substance abuse and face unique medical, legal and social barriers. They also have produced their own cultures and communities to face these challenges. This course will examine the scientific research on TGNC youth in the context of the practical challenges faced by these individuals and their families. Students will hear from experts in the field, receive personal accounts from TGNC teens and transgender adults, and take field trips to social services agencies and events produced by TGNC teens themselves.
In this course students read masterpieces of French literature from the French Revolution to the end of the twentieth century. Works are considered from various historical, aesthetic and theoretical perspectives. Texts include: Le Père Goriot (Balzac); Madame Bovary (Flaubert); Les Faux-Monnayeurs (Gide); La Nausée (Sartre); Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein (Duras), and Du côté de chez Swan I (Proust), which will be the subject of a final essay. Conducted in French.
In this course we focus on four contemporary novels in which the world of the character, the narrator, or the author, is read through the lens of a literary classic. In each case, the reading and rewriting of the primary text involves temporal and spatial displacements (from the 18th to the 20th century, from Europe to the Caribbean and to the South Pacific) that generate shifting perspectives and a constant reshuffling of center and periphery. Between a reverential affiliation to the past and a creative misreading and rewriting of it, these intertextual encounters with « great » Western literary works insistently raise the questions of identity, originality, and “writing back”. Exploring these questions will therefore also involve drawing on comparative, translation, and postcolonial studies.
The goal of the first half of the course is to build a basic understanding of how information about traits is encoded in our genes, how this “blueprint” is interpreted by cellular machinery to build a complex human being, and how our heredity has resulted in our evolution. In the senond half of the course, we will continue the exploration of how environment, experience and random errors affect the process of building our traits, what happens when these processes fail, and the promise and possible peril of genetic technologies for human life. Fulfillment: CORE ED (with CCEX-SHU 137)
This course is an introduction to the problems and methods of contemporary philosophy. Topics may include: 1. What is the relationship between mind and body? 2. Can belief in the existence of the external world be justified? 3. Are there any good arguments for the existence of God? 4. Can we act freely if everything that we do is determined by laws of nature? 5. Is there a theory of how we ought to live? Prerequisite: None. Fulfillment: Humanities Foundational/Introductory Courses (18-19: Critical Concepts).
In this workshop-based course, students will become well versed in contemporary debates on social media and its impact on self and society, share their own experiences and observations in this area, design an original research project (using methods such as discourse analysis, virtual ethnography, and interviewing), and write a long-form analysis paper.
Data science is changing our lives. While the importance of data science is widely acknowledged, there are also great concerns around it. How are data generated? How can they be used to make predictions and inform insights? What can be the potential dangers of applying data science techniques? What are the social and human implications of their uses? This multidisciplinary course explores these questions through hands-on experience on key technical components in data science and critical reviews of human and social implications in various real-world examples, ranging from social science to arts and humanities to engineering. In the course, students will 1) learn basic concepts and skills in data science (e.g., crawling and visualization); 2) apply these skills in a creative project; 3) discuss social and human implications of data science, including data privacy; algorithmic bias, transparency, fairness, and accountability; research ethics; data curation and reproducibility; and societal impacts. This course encourages students to reconsider our common-place assumptions about how data science works and be critical about the responsible use of data.
Open only to Photography & Imaging majors. Sophomore Standing. This class will chronicle the history of photography?s complex and symbiotic relationship to the other visual arts: painting, sculpture, architecture, installation and performance, among others. Beginning with the medium?s invention and the early fights of its practitioners to establish themselves as fine artists, the course will describe photographers? unique attempts to negotiate their relationships with both artistic movements and the media culture of which they are a part. Robinson, Cameron, Emerson, F. Holland Day, Stieglitz, Moholy-Nagy, Rodchenko, Weston, Alvarez Bravo, Lartigue, De Carava, Cahun, Robert Frank, Diane Arbus and Cindy Sherman (among others) will be seen within the context of their respective art worlds, so the impact of art movements, cultural attitudes and new technologies on photographers during different historical periods can be assessed.
Over the past few decades, many readers have come to a fuller appreciation of the emotional and imaginative power of the Bible?s narratives, which still speak with remarkable clarity to our own sensibilities, leading one critic to characterize the Bible as a ?full-fledged kindred spirit? of modernism. The course pursues this ?kindred spirit,? using a broadly literary approach as its guide. While the focus is on narrative?the Pentateuch (Genesis?Deuteronomy) and the Former Prophets (Joshua?Kings), as well as shorter narrative books (Ruth, Jonah, and Esther)?it also studies Ecclesiastes and Job as ancient precursors to modern skepticism. Finally, it studies one modernist engagement with the Bible: Kafka?s Amerika.
Survey of Greek and Roman narrative fiction in antiquity, its origins and development as a literary genre, and its influence on the tradition of the novel in Western literature. Readings include Chariton?s Chaereas and Callirrhoe, Longus?s Daphnis and Chloe, Heliodorus?s Ethiopian Tale, Lucian?s True History, Petronius?s Satyricon, and Apuleius?s Golden Ass. Concludes with the Gesta Romanorum and the influence of this tradition on later prose, such as Elizabethan prose romance.
This introductory-level course is needed to provide students with a firm understanding of distinctively philosophical approaches to issues concerning race and racism. This course has two themes. The first is an exploration of the concept of race. This is a question in social ontology, which is the philosophical study of the nature of social entities. The second is an examination of some of the normative and conceptual issues surrounding the most morally significant of the ways in which “race” has mattered for social life, namely as the concept that defines the object of the attitudes, practices, institutions and beliefs we call “racist.” We shall ask what racism is, what sorts of things can be racist, and what makes racism wrong.
Introduces students to issues and themes in the history of the Jesus movement and early Christianity through a survey of the main texts of the canonical New Testament as well as other important early Christian documents. Students are given the opportunity to read most of the New Testament text in a lecture hall setting where the professor provides historical context and focus on significant issues, describes modern scholarly methodologies, and places the empirical material within the larger framework of ancient history and the theoretical study of religion.
This course introduces object-oriented programming, recursion, and other important programming concepts to students who already have had some exposure to programming in the context of building applications using Python. Students will design and implement Python programs in a variety of applied areas.
From the 8th century until the 17th century, Islam played a crucial role in the history of the Iberian Peninsula. Today this period is often portrayed as one of inter-religious harmony, while al-Andalus is simultaneously mourned in contemporary Islamist discourse as a lost paradise. While we look at the history of Al-Andalus and assess the importance of the contributions of Al-Andalus to Europe and America, we evaluate the significance of its legacy in modern Spain. Furthermore, we will study the protagonist role that Spain has played in relations between Europe and the Mediterranean Islamic countries during the Modern Age. Students will gain further understanding and contextualization of current Arab-Muslim geopolitics. As a case study, we will address the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco, as well as its ensuing process of decolonization and the consequences that shape the current international relations between the two neighboring countries, Spain and Morocco.
In the last decade, many Latin American nations have witnessed decisive progress in the legal recognition of non-normative sexualities and gender identities. The conventional map of “advanced democracies” crafting models of democratization to be exported to “less developed” nations seems definitely challenged: a new understanding of the multiple temporalities of queer cultures in North and South America is even more necessary than ever. In order to explore this multi-layered landscape, this course is aimed at reconstructing the historical detours of queer cultures in Buenos Aires and New York, considered enclaves of queer cultures in Argentina and the US respectively. The course revisits the last three decades in order to question the dominant and frequently reductive narratives of lineal progress. Taught simultaneously in Buenos Aires and New York, the class includes critical readings of queer cultural production as well as work on local archives and interviews with activists and GLTTBI organizations.
Open to students with no previous training in Spanish and to others on assignment by placement test. 4 points. Beginning course designed to teach the elements of Spanish grammar and language structure through a primarily oral approach. Emphasis is on building vocabulary and language patterns to encourage spontaneous language use in and out of the classroom.
This course will cover various professional Music Production Techniques & Strategies such as: Sampling (& Sample Chopping), Drum Programming / Drum Design, Synthesis & Sound Design, Music Theory (in the context of Music Production), MIDI Editing, as well as numerous Mixing Techniques. Over the course of the class, through the utilization and knowledge of these various skills, students will learn how to create Original Music Compositions & Productions. The primary DAW platform for the course is Ableton. While a Beatmaker / Composer / Producer must be well versed in the application of various software and hardware tools, as well as the many Production skills & techniques, they must also have artistic vision and creative efficacy. So while the course is about Music / Beat Construction and the tools involved, there will also be a strong emphasis on innovative envision, inventive mobility, and how to think / strategize like a Music Producer.
The study of the intersection of key philosophical and ethical systems with the analysis of performing art works and the music industry. Students learn an “Eclectic Method” of analysis to holistically explore and study works of art from cultures from around the world while studying ethical complexities and analytical systems in relation to the performing arts industries.
This course examines the ethical issues that arise in the context of the rapid development of technology and the increasing power of business corporations. In recent years, technological progress has allowed us to achieve many things, including the creation of intelligent machines that can surpass human capabilities. Yet, for all these benefits, the development of science and technology has spawned a host of problems such as: conflict between individual rights and social welfare; clash between respect for personal autonomy and expertise; automation and unemployment; and the replication of human bias by algorithms. Along with technological progress, the social role of businesses and corporations are also becoming increasingly important. How should corporations, for example, balance the pursuit of profit with respect for employees’ rights and liberties? Should the state refuse to enforce unconscionable contracts, even when enforcing those contracts would make both parties better off? What is the social role of corporations in the context of increasing inequality?
The course offers an overview of integrated circuit-design process: planning, design, fabrication and testing; device physics: PN junction, MOSFET and Spice models; inverter static and dynamic behavior and power dissipation; interconnects: cross talk, variation and transistor sizing; logic gates and combinational logic networks; sequential machines and sequential system design; subsystem design: adders, multipliers, static memory (SRAM), dynamic memory (DRAM). Topics include floor planning, clock distribution, power distribution and signal integrity; Input/Output buffers, packaging and testing; IC design methodology and CAD tools; implementations: full custom, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA). The course provides foundations of VLSI design and custom VLSI design methodology and state-of-the-art CAD tools. | Prerequisites: CS-UY 2204 (C- or better) and EE-UY 3114. ABET competencies: a,c,e,k.
This course evaluates marketing as a system for the satisfaction of human wants and a catalyst of business activity. It presents a comprehensive framework that includes (1) researching and analyzing customers, company, competition, and the marketing environment; (2) identifying and targeting attractive segments with a strategic positioning; and (3) making product, pricing, communication, and distribution decisions. Cases and examples are utilized to develop problem-solving abilities.
Taught by NYC-based movement-based, interdisciplinary artist Eiko Otake, this course contemplates metaphorical nakedness and human and bodily experiences of time and space. Through movement study, reading, writing, and discussion the class will be a place of both collective and individual learning. Students will examine how being or becoming a mover reflects and alters each person’s relationships with challenges of the current world, with history, and with other beings. Topics of study include atomic bomb literature and Fukushima nuclear disaster. We will acknowledge how distance is malleable and how going to places is an act of choreography and self-curation. Questions we will explore include: How do various art works deal with witnessing and archiving history? How does art help humans to survive massive violence and understand other people’s experiences? How does art-making help people to deal with historical and personal trauma? How does honing one’s aesthetic contribute to constructing own thoughts and critical views? Reading, movement reviews and journal entries are required every week. Journals are graded by how they reflect homework assignments. Students will work on final projects, which would complement the syllabus. The instructor is available for individual consultation throughout the course. Students are strongly encouraged to nurture their own rigor. No previous dance training or movement study is necessary to take this course.
Introduction to the physical aspects of sound, psychoacoustics, basic electricity, principles and practice of magnetic recording and an overview of the recording studio, including an introduction to multi-track recording techniques. Students perform various duties just as they would in a professional recording session with live musicians in the recording studio. Open to students without previous experience in recording technology.
How do we feel about robots? With technological developments in capability, performance, autonomy, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness, robots have arrived in everyday life. This course considers the history and ethics of human-robot interaction and explores unsolved hurdles we face as robots assume a ubiquitous presence in our lives. How are robots currently integrating into human-centered, civic industries such as education, heath, and smart cities? What roles might robots play in the future of these industries? What are the economic and labor implications associated with robotic integration? How will consumers respond to the increased use of robots in daily life? How have popular media representations over the last century influenced the way we experience these changes? Topics will also include the miniaturization of robots and their use in situations such as focused drug delivery within the human body, save-and-rescue missions, or military combat. Students will assemble and program several Lego Mindstorm robots capable of carrying prefabricated objects and will also assemble a small house.
How does “silence” help to define our sense of being and existence? Across different cultures, various philosophies of art, science, and society have viewed and thought about silence differently. This course invites students to think about and experience silence by asking three fundamental questions: 1) What does it mean to be silent? (Literally and metaphorically); 2) Does silence shape our lives? And if so, how? 3) Can we have an active relationship and recognition with silence just as we do with sound or action? Drawing on multi-disciplinary sources from around the world to explore the philosophical frameworks and thought systems that have engaged in the study and observation of silence, the syllabus will include works of art, literature, theater, films, architecture, and music, which students will engage via a mix of seminar, lecture, and studio methods of teaching, to enable the creations of their own artistic responses to their experience of silence and the material presented in class.
Is automation a science or a tool? Muslim contributions in automation, overlooked in the history of science, were long regarded as means for caliphs and the rich to impress the masses. But Muslim engineers excelled in creating complex automated systems, using them as gifts to foreign leaders, as public attractions, or to augment religious ceremony such as daily calls to prayer. Mainly powered by kinetic energy, these automata drew on scholars’ deep knowledge of hydraulics and complex levers and included musical instruments, horologia, automated drinking fountains, and clocks that told time using complex audiovisual tools. This course draws on historical sources and foundational science to explore Muslim advancements in automation. What roles did translation play as Muslim scientists encountered and documented the work of previous scholars? What were the basic automatic systems they developed and how do they compare to current technologies? How did they draw on environmental resources to develop automated systems without the need for non-renewable energy? Students will address such questions as they explore implications for their own projects in design and engineering.
Is creativity a gift or a skill? Can creativity be learned? Because creativity is deeply personal, this course will address these questions through individual and collective experiences. The heart of this course is the Personal Creativity Project – an opportunity for students to practice creativity by designing and executing a project of their choice. The project may be on any topic, from art and music to computer programs and business model development. The project will be complemented by reading assignments (completed prior to class), class discussions, and one-on-one meetings with the instructor. Students will leave the course with a completed project and a personal philosophy of creativity, based on the fusion of readings, study, discussion, and experience. The course provides a great deal of freedom for learning and does not provide step-by-step instructions. As a result, the successful completion of this course will require a significant amount of self-motivation.
Have you ever wondered how the internet or Facebook is able to support a billion simultaneous users? This course teaches students the design and implementation of such Internet-scale networks and networked systems. Students learn about the principles and techniques used to construct large-scale networks and systems. Topics in this course include routing protocols, network congestion control, wireless networking, network security, and peer-to-peer systems. Upon completing this course, students are able to initiate and critique research ideas, implement their own working systems, and evaluate such systems. To make the issues more concrete, the class includes several multi-week projects requiring significant design and implementation. The goal is for students to learn not only what computer networks are and how they work today, but also why they are designed the way they are and how they are likely to evolve in the future. Examples are drawn primarily from the internet.
Discrete mathematics concerns the study of mathematical structures that are discrete rather than continuous, and provides a powerful language for investigating many areas of computer science. Discrete structures are characterized by distinct elements, which are often represented by integers. Continuous mathematics on the other hand deals with real numbers. Topics in this course include: sets, counting techniques, logic, proof techniques, solving recurrence relations, number theory, probability, statistics, graph theory, and discrete geometry. These mathematical tools are illustrated with applications in computer science.
Computer Science is an innovative and exciting field that focuses on producing efficient solutions for solving problems in any field. This course introduces students to the foundations of computer science. Students learn how to design algorithms to solve problems and how to translate these algorithms into working computer programs using a high-level programming language. The course covers core programming concepts including basic computation, data structures, decision structures, iterative structures, file input/output, and recursion. Students also learn the elements of Object Oriented Programming (OOP), such as objects, classes, inheritance, abstraction, and polymorphism. A final project allows students to combine these concepts to produce a large program of their design.
There are many cognitive tasks that people can do easily and almost unconsciously but that have proven extremely difficult to program on a computer. Artificial intelligence is the problem of developing computer systems that can carry out these tasks. We will focus on three central areas in AI: representation and reasoning, machine learning, and natural language processing.
Students or several students work with a faculty member and/or graduate students on a current topic in computer science. Each term, a project course with a particular theme is offered by the Department of Computer and Information Science. A faculty member assigns individual or group projects. The project course is highly structured and supervised closely by faculty. Students are expected to use the design and project-management skills they learned in CS-UY 4513 Software Engineering. Alternatively, students may work with a faculty member on an individual project of mutual interest. A written report and oral presentation are required. | Prerequisite: CS-UY 4513 or CS-UY 3513.
Introduces theories, methods, and political trajectories central to the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis (SCA). SCA 101 addresses how individuals and populations structure their worlds and navigate the resulting social, cultural, and political terrain. It privileges scholarly work with an intersectional approach, drawing on theoretical insights from such fields as social geography, feminism and queer studies, ethnic studies, urban and metropolitan studies, critical race theory, labor studies, and cultural studies.
The kinds, dynamics, causes, and treatment of psychopathology. Topics include early concepts of abnormal behavior; affective disorders, anxiety disorders, psychosis, and personality disorders; the nature and effectiveness of traditional and modern methods of psychotherapy; and viewpoints of major psychologists past and present.
The course description for this Topics in Politics course varies depending on the topic taught. Please view the course descriptions in the course notes section below.
Introduces problems raised by the nature of art, artworks, and aesthetic judgment. Considers the expressive and representational properties of artworks, aesthetic attention, and appreciation, as well as the creation, interpretation, and criticism of artworks. Readings from classical and contemporary sources.
Offered only at NYU Paris. Examines various philosophical and psychological approaches to language and meaning, as well as their consequences for traditional philosophical problems in metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. Discusses primarily 20th-century authors, including Russell, Wittgenstein, and Quine.
The course focuses on combining the creative techniques of fiction with the rigor of journalistic travel writing to produce stories about Prague (not only) that move beyond the constraints of the news and feature story: stories that engage, resonate with readers, provide insight – stories which “produce the emotion”. The course proceeds by the reading and analysis of important contemporary journalism and classic travel pieces: examination of the narrative; fictional and literary devices used in travel writing; examination of and practice with various information gathering strategies; humor; point of view; unique voice. Distinguished Czech travel writers/journalists/photographers will be invited as guest lecturers.
The course explores three-dimensional treatment of the kinematics of particles and rigid bodies using various coordinate systems, Newton’s laws, work, energy, impulse, momentum, conservative force fields, impact and rotation and plane motion of rigid bodies. | Prerequisite for Brooklyn Students: ME-UY 2213 | Prerequisite for Abu Dhabi Students: ENGR-UH 2011
The course covers three-dimensional vector treatment of the static equilibrium of particles and rigid bodies. Topics: Equivalent force and couple systems. Distributed force systems. Static analysis of trusses, frames and machines. Friction, impending motion. Methods of virtual work. | Prerequisite: PH-UY 1013 and MA-UY 1024
This course is designed to help students to develop vocabulary, learn new idiomatic expressions, and improve fluency and pronunciation. The emphasis is on the understanding and production of contemporary spoken French through a study of authentic documents such as radio and television interviews, advertisements, and spontaneous oral productions.
Continuation of FREN-UA 9001. To continue on to the intermediate level, a student must complete both FREN-UA9001 and FREN-UA 9002. This two-semester sequence is equivalent to FREN-UA 9010.
This course explores the arts from the late17th/early18th-century to the post-World War II era, examining how they define and reflect both local cultural views and rapidly shifting global understandings of the world. The course considers how the diverse conceptions and conditions of modernity both shaped and were shaped by the arts around the world. Many of the issues pertinent to the course — industrialization/urbanization; the dislocations, disasters, and opportunities that followed cross-cultural contact; colonialism, decolonization, conflicts of political ideology, and liberation struggles; fundamental redefinitions of mind, language, gender, and sexual identity — have had very different effects in various parts of the world; instructors encourage students to explore what it means to study the arts from global perspectives and what “globalization” itself has meant and means in the context of the arts.
This course examines the arts produced within diverse cultural traditions across the globe from the rise of Islam at the beginning of the 7th century to the global empire building of the late17th/early 18th century. The course explores the distinctive conventions and traditions of different media, and the development of cultural traditions from their ancient foundations to the early modern period through successive influences and assimilations, both local and external. Diverse cultural traditions are also considered in relation to one another: by direct comparison of works even in the absence of historical cultural contact; by consideration of mutual interactions, exchanges and contestations; by the assertion of cultural dominance; and by resistance to such assertions.
This course introduces the arts from their origins to the end of antiquity, as defined for these purposes by the roughly coincident dissolutions of the Gupta, Han, and Western Roman empires, focusing on how individuals and social relations are shaped in literature, the visual, plastic, and performing arts, and through music. Conceptions of the divine, the heroic, power and disenfranchisement, beauty, and love are examined within the context of the art and literature of East and South Asia, the Mediterranean world, and contiguous regions (such as Germania, Nubia, and Mesopotamia). Instructors prepare the way for Cultural Foundations II by giving some attention to the modes by which cultural transmission occurred across these regions prior to the rise of Islam.
In this course we focus on four contemporary novels in which the world of the character, the narrator, or the author, is read through the lens of a literary classic. In each case, the reading and rewriting of the primary text involves temporal and spatial displacements (from the 18th to the 20th century, from Europe to the Caribbean and to the South Pacific) that generate shifting perspectives and a constant reshuffling of center and periphery. Between a reverential affiliation to the past and a creative misreading and rewriting of it, these intertextual encounters with « great » Western literary works insistently raise the questions of identity, originality, and “writing back”. Exploring these questions will therefore also involve drawing on comparative, translation, and postcolonial studies.
This course covers the fundamentals of human brain development from birth to young adulthood. The focus is on normal brain functioning, but illustrative pathological development and dysfunctional conditions are reviewed as well, such as developmental dyslexia, autistic disorders, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Once students have developed a foundational knowledge of neurocognitive functioning, the course addresses three additional sections that reflect methods of examining brain-based activity: observation, assessment, and intervention. At the end of each section, students should have a greater understanding of the neurocognitive developmental perspective and be able to apply their knowledge of brain-based skill sets to understanding the environmental demands that children and teens confront, including learning in school, handling complex social interactions, remembering autobiographical experiences, and managing emotional reactions. Students read a sampling of research articles, relevant clinical materials, and textbooks chapters.
Beginning by considering how impressionism refined and redirected the artistic aims of 19th-century realism, follows the development of progressive art to the brink of cubism and pure abstraction in the first years of the 20th century. Following impressionism and post-impressionism, close attention is paid to symbolism, aestheticism, art nouveau, the Arts and Crafts movement, fauvism, and expressionism. The aesthetic aims of these movements are analyzed in tandem with the social and cultural conditions that generated them.
This course focuses on key aspects of entrepreneurship as a critical engine for innovation. It also treats entrepreneurship as a state of mind that is not limited to small firms. Students discuss current theories and practices related to starting and managing entrepreneurial enterprises, emphasizing firms in technology- , information- and knowledge-intensive environments. Particular attention is paid to the critical issues of (1) identifying opportunities that provide competitive advantage; (2) the development of a solid business plan; (3) the marketing of new ventures; (4) entrepreneurial business operations, including human-resource and process management; (5) ethical and social issues in entrepreneurial firms; and (6) financial management and fund raising for entrepreneurial firms. | Prerequisites: Junior or senior student status. MG-UY 3002 and MG-UY 3404
Dance is an integral & defining component of cultures throughout the world & throughout history. This course introduces students to dance as a live & performing art through a variety of experiences including attendance at live performances, examination of videos & theoretical texts, & physical participation in the practice & performance of dance. Through discussions, written assignments, & the creation of original dance compositions, students will explore the history & cultural relevance of a variety of forms of dance within their own lives, larger society, & the global community beyond. Liberal Arts Core/CORE-MAP Equivalent – satisfies the requirement for Expressive Cultures for Steinhardt students.
This course explores the ways in which popular Hollywood films construct the historical past, the ensuing battles among historians and the public over Hollywood’s version of American history, and the ways such films can be utilized as historical documents themselves. We will consider films as products of the culture industry; as visions of popularly understood history and national mythology; as evidence for how social conflicts have been depicted; and as evidence of how popular understanding and interpretations of the past have been revised from earlier eras to the present.
In this course we will cover the varieties of Italian food in their past and present forms. First, we will explore the history of food from past civilizations, leading up to World War I, just after the great immigration to the New World. Time periods examined will be ancient Rome, Medieval, Renaissance, Risorgimento, leading to the modern era. This course includes topics ranging from Pellegrino Artusi’s famous cookbook in the contest of Italian unification to the relationship between Italian Futurism and food. The second part of the course will introduce students to the regional diversity of Italian food using mediums such as TV, art, and film. We will examine the ways in which food shapes contemporary Italian society, from the more intimate family kitchen to the most elegant Italian restaurant in New York City.
This course examines several ’classic’ texts to understand both their own intrinsic merit and their influence on society from their inception until our own time. Our emphasis, indeed, is on using these texts to understand our lives and world now. We explore classic texts in relation to contemporary life’s dilemmas of consumerism and spiritualism, individual rights and community rights, vocation and career, God and the afterlife, rebellion and escape from freedom. Readings may include Aeschylus’ The Oresteia, Sappho’s Poems, Plato’s Republic, Lucretius’ On the Nature of the Universe, Ovid’s Metamorphoses or Cicero’s On the Laws, Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales or Cervantes’s Don Quixote.
The goals of this course are twofold. First, students will learn about conceptions of race and ethnicity in the ancient Mediterranean world (inclusive of North Africa and West Asia) through select examples of ancient art and texts. The course examines how racial and ethnic differences were conceptualized in the ancient world, while also considering the processes of racial formation in the context of ancient empires and kingdoms. Second, students will examine the ways that the study of the art, archaeology, and culture of the ancient Mediterranean has impacted modern/contemporary formations of race. Archaeological and historical disciplines centering around the ancient Mediterranean world (e.g. Classics, Egyptology, ‘Near Eastern’ Studies) have developed alongside western imperial projects and the construction of monuments to white supremacy in the United States. Redressing these histories, artists and writers of color (e.g. Edmonia Lewis, Yayoi Kusama, Kandis Williams, Fred Wilson) have likewise engaged with ancient art and myth in order to problematize and resist such racist legacies. In this seminar, students will become familiar with a range of primary source material alongside secondary sources that theorize and engage with race from different disciplines. The course will provide students with premodern, historical perspectives on race, illuminating the aesthetic, cultural, and political strategies by which power was distributed and administered along racial lines. Furthermore, students will learn about the stakes of studying the ancient world for contemporary debates around race.
The course is an introduction to microeconomics. It assumes no prior knowledge of the subject. The course examines the fundamentals of microeconomics needed by technologists, relying to a considerable extent upon mathematical expression and representation. The principle topics covered are price theory, production and cost theory, the theory of the firm and market theory, including the practical relevance of these to the management of technology-intensive enterprises. The role of the state and of government regulation will be considered as a special topic. Students who take this course cannot receive credit for ECON-UA 2 or FIN-UY 2003. | Prerequisite: MA-UY 1024 or MA-UY 1054 or MA-UY 1324 or an approved equivalent.
In this course, we explore queer and transgender identity through practice, theory, and politics. Approaching media from queer, trans, and intersectional lenses can inform the way we understand the circulation of power around media technologies, and enable us to better understand their histories and cultural contexts. Our approach is grounded in theories, case studies, and readings from communication and media studies. Students are equipped to bring tools from queer theory & trans studies to their everyday encounters with media, technology, and culture.
Why do so many high school students apply to study at expensive institutions when there are cheaper alternatives available? Who is able to attend, and who is excluded? Why do college costs keep rising so fast? Shouldn’t college be free? Students explore answers to these kinds of questions in this course. Students explore a range of economic concepts and empirical evidence that speaks to the value of Field available for additional information in footerhigher education for individuals and societies; state and institutional financial aid policies; and university budgets and spending priorities.
Examines the state of college-student mental health and wellness on a personal and systems level. As undergraduate university students approach the end of adolescence, they often reevaluate the beliefs, values, and assumptions with which they left home. Young adulthood is a time of great promise, but the transition from child to adult is never easy. We look at how individuals can create positive change by reinterpreting their goals and identifying steps toward a successful college experience. Key findings from the fields of neuroscience and positive psychology are referenced to inform our study of the biopsychosocial underpinnings of success and happiness. Through lectures and discussions, students learn about a variety of wellness topics that include mindfulness, relationships, and self-esteem. The final project requires students to promote an area of mental wellness on campus.
This course explores sound as an art form and technical practice in its own right. Topics include contemporary techniques in composition, sound art, and interactive installation. Students will produce sound with narrative elements that evoke social, cultural & critical-thinking. Their final projects can be experimental podcasts, music (performance and/or recordings), multi-channel audio installations, or multimedia projects. | Prerequisite: DM-UY 1113 or MPATE-UE 1001
In 1903, at the dawn of the commercial music industry, sociologist W. E. B. DuBois famously proclaimed that the foremost problem in twentieth century American society is “the problem of the color line.” Du Bois’s prescience sets the stage for this course’s exploration of racial identity in recorded, commercially available music. We will examine how racial performance has intermingled with music consumption in the United States since blackface minstrelsy in the 1830s. Our goal is to understand how deeply embedded race—both ascribed and claimed—is in American music culture, reverberating throughout the last century in debates on artists’ authenticity, propriety, and popularity. This course is organized chronologically; each week is devoted to a particular era and its corresponding musical genres leading up to the present. With the rising importance of visual media since the mid-20th century, a historically informed understanding of the confluences of race and ethnicity in American music culture through music media and technologies will offer an enhanced understanding of the past and our contemporary, internet-driven musical landscape.
This course explores the multi-faceted nature of New York City as a cultural & economic hub for food & media. Food is never just something we eat, but in New York City food has taken on an increasing prominence in public life. Food shapes communities & is an increasingly important marker of social & cultural identities. Media of all types fuel & shape our connections to food. Tastes are defined; diets & food habits are promoted & demoted; food fortunes & food celebrities are made. How has New York City become so important to the business of taste? What goes on behind-the-scenes? Topics include: Food-related publishing & broadcasting; green markets, food trucks, & systems of supply & distribution; marketing; Chinatowns, diversity, fusion, & identity. Open to majors & non-majors including special students. Classroom instruction is supplemented by site visits, guest lectures, & field research.
This course addresses the design and implementation of secure applications. Concentration is on writing software programs that make it difficult for intruders to exploit security holes. The course emphasizes writing secure distributed programs in Java. The security ramifications of class, field and method visibility are emphasized. | Knowledge of Information, Security and Privacy equivalent to CS-GY 6813. Prerequisite: Graduate standing
Special topics in Sustainable Urban Environments at the 3000 level, to be decided by instructor. | Prerequisites: Completion of first year writing requirements. Notes: Satisfies a HuSS Elective.
Ethical expertise is integral to the careers and responsibilities of engineering and technology management professionals, from long-standing issues around professional responsibilities to society and more recent controversies such as “techlash” concerns about bias, equity, and surveillance. This survey course introduces undergraduate students to some of the most relevant ethical issues in engineering and the technology industry today. Students will begin by exploring basic ethical approaches from a variety of philosophical traditions and how these principles have historically been integrated into engineering professions. Then, students will study a variety of topics of high importance to engineers today, including ethics in computing, data, and automated systems; medical ethics, past and present; disability ethics and activism; ethical issues related to the environment and climate change; and ethical issues related to race and gender. | Notes: Satisfies a HuSS elective.
This course emphasizes on the 3D animation through digital modeling / sculpting techniques, keyframe and blend-shape animation . The course breaks down into 4 stages : 1. basic topology of head model, 2. high-poly sculpting and projection texturing, 3. Keyframe and blend-shapes animation, 4. 3D animation final project. In the final project, students get to choose either lip-sync animation or conceptual piece utilizing the created head models. An overview of digital editing / compositing and sound design will also be introduced to assist with students’ final project at the end of the semester. Prerequisite: None. Fulfillment: IMA/IMB elective.
This is a practice-based course designed to teach basic programming skills in the context of critical and cultural media studies and digital humanities. Requires no prior programming experience, simply a willingness to explore code at a more technical level with the aim of using computation as an expressive, analytical, critical and visualizing medium. Students learn basic coding techniques such as variables, loops, graphics, and networking, all within a larger conversation on the social, cultural, and historical nature of code and coding practices.
We are inundated by data, but data alone do not translate into useful information. Statistics provides the means for organizing, summarizing, and therefore better analyzing data so that we can understand what the data tell us about critical questions. If one collects data then understanding how to use statistical methods is critical, but it is also necessary to understand and interpret all the information we consume on a daily basis. This course provides these basic statistical approaches and techniques. This course may not be acceptable as a substitute for any other Probability and Statistics course. For Sustainable Urban Environments (SUE) students, please see your advisor. Note: Not open to math majors or students who have taken or will take MA-UY 2054 or MA-UY 2224 or MA-UY 3014 or MA-UY 3514 or ECE-UY 2233 or equivalent.
This course gives an overview of PDEs that occur commonly in the physical sciences with applications in heat flow, wave propagation, and fluid flow. Analytical as well as some numerical solution techniques will be covered, with a focus on applications rather than analysis. | Prerequisites: MA-UY 2034 or MA-UY 4204 or MA-UY 4254
Limits of real and complex sequences and series; topology of metric spaces; continuity and differentiability of functions; definition, properties, and approximations of Riemann integrals; convergence of sequences and series of functions; Fourier series and other orthogonal systems of functions, approximations theorems. | Prerequisites: (MA-UY 2114 or MA-UY 2514) and (MA-UY 1044 or MA-UY 2034 or MA-UY 3034 or MA-UY 3054) and Junior level standing or above. | Anti-Requisite: MA-UY 4644
This course covers techniques of integration, introduction to ordinary differential equations, improper integrals, numerical methods of integration, applications of integration, sequences, series, power series, approximations of functions via Taylor polynomials, Taylor series, functions of two variables, graphs of functions of two variables, contour diagrams, linear functions, functions of three variables. | Prerequisites: MA-UY 1024 or MA-UY 1324 | Corequisite: EX-UY 1.
Similar to MA-UY 2114 Calculus III, but at a faster pace and deeper level. Functions of several variables. Vectors in the plane and space. Partial derivatives with applications, especially Lagrange multipliers. Double and triple integrals. Spherical and cylindrical coordinates. Surface and line integrals. Divergence, gradient, and curl. Theorem of Gauss and Stokes. Students pursuing an honors mathematics degree are especially encouraged to consider this course. Prerequisite: (MA-UY 1124 or MA-UY 1424) with a grade of A- or better OR a 5 on the AP Calculus BC Exam and Department Permission. Anti-requisite: MA-UY 2114
This course covers: Library of Functions, functions of one variable. Limits, derivatives of functions defined by graphs, tables and formulas, differentiation rules for power, polynomial, exponential and logarithmic functions, derivatives of trigonometric functions, the product and quotient rules, the chain rule, applications of the chain rule, maxima and minima, optimization. The definite integral, the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus and interpretations, theorems about definite integrals, anti-derivatives. | Prerequisite: Placement Exam or MA-UY 914 | Corequisite: EX-UY 1
Introduction to the mathematics of finance. Topics include: Linear programming with application pricing and quadratic. Interest rates and present value. Basic probability: random walks, central limit theorem, Brownian motion, lognormal model of stock prices. Black-Scholes theory of options. Dynamic programming with application to portfolio optimization. | Prerequisites: A grade of C or better in (MA-UY 2114 or MA-UY 2514) and a grade of C or better in (MA-UY 2054 or MA-UY 2224 or MA-UY 2414 or MA-UY 3014 or MA-UY 3022 or MA-UY 3514 or MA-UY 4114).
An introduction to the mathematical treatment of random phenomena occurring in the natural, physical, and social sciences. Axioms of mathematical probability, combinatorial analysis, binomial distribution, Poisson and normal approximation, random variables and probability distributions, generating functions, the Central Limit Theorem and Laws of Large Numbers, Markov Chains, and basic stochastic processes. Note: Not open to students who have taken MA-UY 2224, MA-UY 2233, ECE-UY 2233 or MA-UY 3022 | Prerequisite: A grade of C or better in (MA-UY 2114 or MA-UY 2514) and (MA-UY 1044 or MA-UY 2034 or MA-UY 3034 or MA-UY 3054).
Introduction to abstract algebraic structures, including groups, rings, and fields. Sets and relations. Congruences and unique factorization of integers. Groups, permutation groups, homomorphisms and quotient groups. Rings and quotient rings, Euclidean rings, polynomial rings. Fields, finite extensions. | Prerequisites: A grade of C or better in (MA-UY 2114 or MA-UY 2514) and (MA-UY 1044 (formerly 3044) or MA-UY 3054 or MA-UY 3113). Additionally, it is suggested for students to have taken MA-UY 4614 or MA-UY 4644 as a prerequisite. Note: Cannot receive credit for both MA-UY 4044 and MA-UY 4054.
A first course in ordinary differential equations, including analytical solution methods, elementary numerical methods, and modeling. Topics to be covered include: first-order equations including integrating factors; second-order equations including variation of parameters; series solutions; elementary numerical methods including Euler’s methods, Runge-Kutta methods, and error analysis; Laplace transforms; systems of linear equations; boundary-value problems. Restricted to Tandon math majors and students with a permission code from the math department. Fulfills ordinary differential equations requirement for the BS Math degree. | Prerequisites: C or better in (MA-UY 2114 or MA-UY 2514 or MATH-UH 1020 or MATH-UH 1021 or MATH-SHU 151) and (MA-UY 1044 or MA-UY 3054 or MA-UY 3113 or MATH-UH 1022 or MATH-SHU 140 or MATH-SHU 141). Note: Not open to students who have taken or will take MA-UY 2034 or MA-UY 4254
Introduction to abstract algebraic structures, including groups, rings, and fields. Sets and relations. Congruences and unique factorization of integers. Groups, permutation groups, group actions, homomorphisms and quotient groups, direct products, classification of finitely generated abelian groups, Sylow theorems. Rings, ideals and quotient rings, Euclidean rings, polynomial rings, unique factorization. | Prerequisites:(A grade of A- or better in MA-UY 2114 or a grade or B or better in MA-UY 2514) and (a grade of A- or better in MA-UY 1044 (formerly 3044) or MA-UY 3113 or a grade of B or better in MA-UY 3054). Additionally, it is suggested for students to have taken MA-UY 4614 or MA-UY 4644 as a prerequisite. Note: Cannot receive credit for both MA-UY 4044 and MA-UY 4054.
Formulation and analysis of mathematical models. Mathematical tools include dimensional analysis, optimization, simulation, probability, and elementary differential equations. Applications to biology, sports, economics, and other areas of science. The necessary mathematical and scientific background will be developed as needed. Students participate in formulating models as well as in analyzing them. | Prerequisites: A grade of C or better in (MA-UY 2114 or MA-UY 2514) and (MA-UY 2034 or MA-UY 1044 (formerly MA-UY 3044) or MA-UY 3054).
This honors section of Linear Algebra is intended for well-prepared students who have already developed some mathematical maturity. Its scope will include the usual Linear Algebra (MA-UY 3044) syllabus; however, this class will move faster, covering additional topics and going deeper. Vector spaces, linear dependence, basis and dimension, matrices, determinants, solving linear equations, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, quadratic forms, applications such as optimization or linear regression. Note: Not open to students who have already taken MA-UY 1044, MA-UY 1533, MA-UY 2034, or MA-UY 3113. | Prerequisites: A- or better in MA-UY 1024 or MA-UY 1324 or MA-UY 1022
This course provides a deeper understanding of topics introduced in MA-UY 2012 and MA-UY 2034 and continues the development of those topics, while also covering functions of a Complex Variable. Topics covered include: The Gram-Schmidt process, inner product spaces and applications, singular value decomposition, LU decomposition. Derivatives and Cauchy-Riemann equations, integrals and Cauchy integral theorem. Power and Laurent Series, residue theory. | Prerequisites: (MA-UY 2114 or MA-UY 2514) AND (MA-UY 2034). Note: Not open to students who have taken MA-UY 1533, MA-UY 3112 or MA-UY 4433.
Logic, proofs, set theory, functions, relations, asymptotic notation, recurrences, modeling computation, graph theory. | Prerequisite: Math Diagnostic Exam or MA-UY 914 (minimum calculus level required) | Prerequisite for Shanghai students: MATH-SHU 131. Note: This course and CS-GY 6003 cannot both be taken for credit.
Systems of linear equations, Gaussian elimination, matrices, determinants, Cramer’s rule. Vectors, vector spaces, basis and dimension, linear transformations. Eigenvalues, eigenvectors, and quadratic forms. Restricted to Tandon math and CS majors and students with a permission code from the math department. Fulfills linear algebra requirement for the BS Math and BS CS degrees. Note: Not open to students who have already taken MA-UY 1533, MA-UY 2034, MA-UY 3113 or MA-UY 3054. | Prerequisite: A grade of C or better in MA-UY 1022 or MA-UY 1024 or MA-UY 1324 or MATH-UH 1012Q or MATH-UH 1013Q or MATH-SHU 121 or MATH-SHU 201
In numerical analysis one explores how mathematical problems can be analyzed and solved with a computer. As such, numerical analysis has very broad applications in mathematics, physics, engineering, finance, and the life sciences. This course gives an introduction to this subject for mathematics majors. Theory and practical examples using Matlab will be combined to study a range of topics ranging from simple root-finding procedures to differential equations and the finite element method. | Prerequisites: A grade of C or better in (MA-UY 2114 or MA-UY 2514) and (or MA-UY 1044 or MA-UY 3034 or MA-UY 3054 or MA-UY 3113) | Anti-Requisite: MA-UY 4524
MA-UY 2034 is an introduction to ordinary differential equations and linear algebra. The course develops the techniques for the analytic and numeric solutions of ordinary differential equations (and systems) that are widely used in modern engineering and science. Linear algebra is used as a tool for solving systems of linear equations as well as for understanding the structure of solutions to linear (systems) of differential equations. Topics covered include the fundamental concepts of linear algebra such as Gaussian elimination, matrix theory, linear transformations, vector spaces, subspaces, basis, eigenvectors, eigenvalues and the diagonalization of matrices, as well as the techniques for the analytic and numeric solutions of ordinary differential equations (and systems) that commonly appear in modern engineering and science. | Prerequisite: MA-UY 1124 or MA-UY 1424. Note: Not open to students who have taken MA-UY 1044 or MA-UY 3054 or MA-UY 3083 or MA-UY 4204.
The course covers architecture and operation of embedded microprocessors; microprocessor assembly language programming; address decoding; interfacing to static and dynamic RAM; Serial I/O, Parallel I/O, analog I/O; interrupts and direct memory access; A/D and D/A converters; sensors; microcontrollers. Alternate-week laboratory. Objectives: to provide foundations of embedded systems design and analysis techniques; expose students to system level design; and teach integration of analog sensors with digital embedded microprocessors. | Prerequisites: CS-UY 2204 (C- or better) and EE-UY 2024 or EE-UY 2004 (C- or better). ABET competencies: a, c, d, e, g, j, k.
This course develops basic techniques used in communication networks. After protocol layering is introduced, algorithms and protocols are discussed for use in each of the five layers: physical, data link, network, transport and application. Specific protocols such as TCP/IP, ATM, SS7 are included. | Prerequisite for Brooklyn Engineering Students: Junior status in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or computer science. Co-requisites for Brooklyn Engineering Students: ECE-UY 2233 (EE majors) or MA-UY 2224 (CompE/CS majors) | Prerequisites for Abu Dhabi Students: ENGR-AD 194 (or co-req of MA-UY 3113) and ENGR-AD 195 (or co-req of ECE-UY 2233) . ABET competencies: a, c, e.
Focusing on software engineering, the course introduces techniques to specify, design, test and document medium and large software systems. Design techniques include information engineering, object orientation and complexity measures. Also covered are testing methods, such as path testing, exhaustive test models and construction of test data. An introduction to software tools and project management techniques is presented. Student projects involve team software development and tracking. | Prerequisites: Juniors or higher majoring in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or Electrical and Computer Engineering. Co-requisite: CS-UY 3224
This course covers a top-down approach to computer design. Topics: Computer architecture, introduction to assembly language programming and machine language set design. Computer organization, logical modules; CPU, memory and I/O units. Instruction cycles, the datapath and control unit. Hardwiring and microprogramming. The memory subsystem and timing. I/O interface, interrupts, programmed I/O and DMA. Introduction to pipelining and memory hierarchies. Fundamentals of computer networks. | Prerequisite for Brooklyn Engineering Students: CS-UY 2204 (C- or better) for computer engineering majors; (CS-UY 2134 or CS-UY 1134) and (CS-UY 2124 or CS-UY 1124) (C- or better) and MA-UY 2314 for computer science majors. Students who are neither computer engineering majors nor computer science majors must take either CS-UY 2204 (C- or better) OR (CS-UY 2134 or CS-UY 1134) and (CS-UY 2124 or CS-UY 1124) (C- or better) and MA-UY 2314.| Prerequisite for Abu Dhabi Students: ENGR-AD 121. | Prerequisites for Shanghai Students: CSCI-SHU 2314 and CSCI-SHU 210 (C- or better) or CENG-SHU 201. ABET competencies: a, c, e.
This course provides a hands on approach to machine learning and statistical pattern recognition. The course describes fundamental algorithms for linear regression, classification, model selection, support vector machines, neural networks, dimensionality reduction and clustering. The course includes computer exercises on real and synthetic data using current software tools. A number of applications are demonstrated on audio and image processing, text classification, and more. Students should have competency in computer programming. | Prerequisite for Brooklyn Students: CS-UY 1134 AND (MA-UY 2034, MA-UY 2034G, MA-UY 1044 or MA-UY 3054) AND (MA-UY 2224, MA-UY 2222, MA-UY 2233, ECE-UY 2233, MA-UY 3012, MA-UY 3014, or MA-UY 3514) | Prerequisite for Abu Dhabi Students: (ENGR-UH 3510 or CS-UH 1050) (C- or better) AND (MATH-UH 1022 or MATH-UH 1023) AND (MATH-UH 2011Q or ENGR-UH 2010Q) | Prerequisite for Shanghai Students: CSCI-SHU 210 (C- or better) AND (MATH-SHU 140 or MATH-SHU 141) AND MATH-SHU 235
This course takes a top-down approach to computer networking. After an overview of computer networks and the Internet, the course covers the application layer, transport layer, network layer and link layers. Topics at the application layer include client-server architectures, P2P architectures, DNS and HTTP and Web applications. Topics at the transport layer include multiplexing, connectionless transport and UDP, principles or reliable data transfer, connection-oriented transport and TCP and TCP congestion control. Topics at the network layer include forwarding, router architecture, the IP protocol and routing protocols including OSPF and BGP. Topics at the link layer include multiple-access protocols, ALOHA, CSMA/CD, Ethernet, CSMA/CA, wireless 802.11 networks and link-layer switches. The course includes simple quantitative delay and throughput modeling, socket programming and network application development and Ethereal labs. | Prerequisite for Brooklyn Students: (CS-UY 2134 or CS-UY 1134) and (CS-UY 2124 or CS-UY 1124) (C- or better) | Prerequisite for Abu Dhabi Students: ENGR-UH 3510 or CS-UH 1050 (C- or better) | Prerequisite for Shanghai Students: CSCI-SHU 210 (C- or better)
This course studies the fundamental concepts and principles of operating systems. Batch, spooling and multiprogramming systems are introduced. The parts of an operating system are described in terms of their functions, structure and implementation. Basic policies for allocating resources are discussed. | Prerequisites for Brooklyn Students: CS-UY 2214 AND (CS-UY 2134 or CS-UY 1134) AND (CS-UY 2124 or CS-UY 1124) (C- or better). | Prerequisite for Abu Dhabi Students: (ENGR-UH 3510 or CS-UH 1050) (C- or better) AND (CS-UH 2010 or ENGR-UH 3511) | Prerequisites for Shanghai Students: CSCI-SHU 210 (C- or better) AND CENG-SHU 202
This course introduces database systems and their approach as a mechanism to model the real world. The course covers data models (relational, object-oriented), physical database design, query languages, query processing and optimization, as well as transaction management techniques. Implementation issues, object oriented and distributed databases also are introduced. | Prerequisites for Brooklyn Students: (CS-UY 2134 or CS-UY 1134) and (CS-UY 2124 or CS-UY 1124) (C- or better) and MA-UY 2314 | Prerequisites for Abu Dhabi Students: (ENGR-UH 3510 or CS-UH 1050) (C- or better) and CS-UH 1002 | Prerequisites for Shanghai Students: CSCI-SHU 210 (C- or better) and CSCI-SHU 2314
This course surveys modern biochemistry and emphasizes current areas of research. Also covered are structure-function relationships in proteins; enzymes and their mechanisms of action; bioenergetics principles and energy production; and biochemical theories and techniques. | Prerequisites: CM-UY 2213 or CM-UY 2214 or CM-UY 2234 or instructor’s permission.
The course covers the fundamentals of biology with emphasis on cell and molecular biology. The course material includes introduction to biomolecules and bioenergetics, basic organization and functioning of living cells and general principles of genetics and reproduction.
This course addresses the basic processes, as studied by the physical, biological sciences, and behavioral that determine the nature of the physical environment and how it affects life on earth. Topics include the physical environment (Lithosphere, Hydrosphere, Atmosphere, climate); the biological environment (biological systems, biodiversity, population dynamics, ecology) and modern environmental problems, including resource shortages (such as water and energy), diseases, soil, water and air pollution, climate change and their relationship to political and economic issues. Note: This course cannot be used to satisfy Humanities/Social Science requirements for majors outside of the TCS department. | Prerequisites: Completion of first year writing requirements.
This course continues CM-UY 2213 and emphasizes finding the principles of organic chemistry in industrial practice and biochemical mechanisms. It introduces instrumental methods of analysis and identification. | Prerequisite: CM-UY 2213. Co-requisite EX-UY 1
In this course, students focus on client and server side programming, as well as the web design and development process. Students are also introduced to databases for the web. Examples of dynamic web applications include content management systems, registration systems, and social media solutions. | Pre-requisite: DM-UY.2193
This class examines the intersecting dynamics of media genres and geo-linguistic cultural markets in the configuration of global and regional media flows. It looks in particular at the way media genres travel and how their circulation raises issues about the cultural power of certain media narratives in specific historical, political and social conditions of consumption. We will examine the battle for national, regional, and global media markets as a struggle for the ’Slegitimate’ cultural and political view of the world expressed through information (news), scientific discourse (documentaries), and popular culture (films, tele novels, reality television, music) to understand the complex global flow of television programs and films.
This course introduces students to the complex relationship between interactivity and storytelling. Students analyze how an interactive structure creates narrative. Works explored in this course range from nonlinear novels, experimental literature, audio narratives, theater/performance to film as narrative databases and games. The study of the structural properties of narratives that experiment with digression, multiple points of view, disruptions of time, space, and storyline is complemented by theoretical texts about authorship/readership, plot/story, and characteristics of interactive media. | Prerequisite: EXPOS-UA 2, EXPOS-UA 9, EXPOS-UA 22, ASPP-UT 2 or WRCI-UF 102. Note: Satisfies HuSS elective.
This seminar course is an introduction to the theories, questions, and conditions that encompass interactive media. Students will engage in readings that critically examine both the impact that interactive media and technology have on culture and societies as well as the ways in which social contexts shape the development and application of these technologies. The contexts become apparent by examining interactive media and interactivity through the lenses of relevant perspectives including politics, ethics, race, gender, and cybernetics. Throughout the semester students will leverage theory to analyze interactive media works and build a vocabulary for making sense of our increasingly mediated world. The course thus serves to lay a conceptual foundation for students to inform and direct their own creative practice. Readings, discussions, research, and writing constitute the body of this course.
What are the distinctions between facts, data, information, opinion, and understanding? Through what techniques of argumentation are these concepts discovered and/or achieved? Course introduces students to rhetoric—the art of persuasion. We explore techniques of rhetoric related to truth telling and opinion formation. We consider the significance of these activities to the city (polis) and matters held in common (res publica). Activities include participant observations of persuasion in courtroom settings. Optimal for students considering law careers.
This course explores the ways people create, maintain, and augment the meaning of gender, developing insight into understanding gender ideology and the media representation of gender. The course examines how ideas about gender shape our communication practices, and how our practices of communication produce gender.
This course examines how globalization impacts the construction of gender and sexuality. Through discussions of contemporary issues in various global sites, the course addresses the politics of gender as it is shaped by trans-border flows of media, people and cultural products.
This course examines the production, representation and cultural meaning of Latino media in the U.S. Provides a general survey of Latino media in the U.S. with particular focus on the cultures of production of Spanish and English language television, radio, film, advertising, newspapers, magazines and internet-based media.
An upper level course on the topic of censorship in American culture, from the late 19th century to the present. The course explores many of the areas where debates about obscenity and censorship have been urgently contested, from discussion bout birth control, to literature, film, theatre, art galleries and history museums, to public sidewalks, lecture halls, and the internet. The goal is for the students to have an enhanced understanding of the historical contexts in which important cultural and legal struggles over censorship have taken place, and to bring that understanding to bear on contemporary debates about the arts, sexuality, national security, media technology, privacy, and government involvement in the marketplace of ideas and images.
Introduces students to the study of media, culture, and communication. The course surveys models, theories, and analytical perspectives that form the basis of study in the major. Topics include dialogue, discourse, mass and interpersonal communication, political economy, language, subject-formation, critical theory, experience, and reception.
This course provides an overview of experimental film and video history and theory, centered on hands-on production. The course will include readings, workshops, screenings, discussions, assignments, critiques, and technical instruction around cinema as a radical practice, and the ways in which computing techniques can be leveraged for new forms of expression in the moving image. Students will study and experiment with cutting-edge techniques in cinematic production such as motion capture, 3D (stereo, depth) filmmaking, and interactive / performative cinema. | Prerequisite: DM-UY 2263
This course introduces students to the fundamental skills and professional practices vital to pursuing a career within a range of creative fields and industries. Students will explore strategies for effective documentation and presentation of their creative work, the art of self-promotion and exhibiting work publicly in various forms and environments, as well as networking and career preparation. | Prerequisite: Junior or Senior Standing
Students will learn advanced techniques of 3D computer animation, along with the theories and principles of motion including motion capture. Students will become comfortable utilizing cameras, lights, dynamics, motion, and effects in an industry-standard software. Comprehensive critiques will be conducted regularly to encourage good design for time-based animation. | Prerequisites: DM-UY 2133
This course introduces important issues, historical and contemporary, related to science and technology from a variety of social, political and philosophical viewpoints. The multidisciplinary approach helps students to understand the interaction between science, technology and society and to discover the conditions that foster technological innovation. The scientific and technological way of thinking becomes clear through historical examples, helping students to consider important issues of science and technology policy, such as how science and technology can be used to benefit society and how one can foster innovation in a society or an organization. | Prerequisites: Completion of first year writing requirements. Co-requisites: None. Notes: Satisfies a HuSS Elective.
Ah, love. L’amour. The very word stirs our imaginations and pulls at our heartstrings. This most fundamental of emotions has long been a source of creative inspiration – a muse for literature, song, and art. The importance of love and intimacy in human life is clear, but what can the latest observations and scientific discoveries about the brain tell us about this supreme emotion? Through discussions, papers, and projects, we will examine the concepts of love and intimacy through various lenses, including those of neurobiology, evolutionary psychology, culture, and art. Focusing on the development of love throughout the lifecycle, we will study how people seek intimacy, how love evolves over time, the influence of love on human behavior, and love and intimacy’s relation to psychological well-being.
In this course, students focus on client-side programming. Assignments are arranged in sequence to enable the production of a website of professional quality in design and production. This studio stresses interactivity, usability, and the quality and appropriateness of look and feel.
This course is an orientation to the essential concepts and practices of digital audio. It is a creative and theoretical foundation studio that combines an orientation to sound and listening with fundamental techniques of digital audio production: recording, editing, and mixing. The course covers topic areas such as microphone and field recording techniques, recording studio best practices, audio editing, DAW (digital multi-track) production, and mixing.
This course provides an overview of documentary film and video history and theory, centered on hands-on production. The course will include readings, workshops, screenings, discussions, assignments, critiques, and technical instruction around documentary and pseudodocumentary forms. | Prerequisite: DM-UY 2263
In this course, students complete a coordinated sequence of short projects that add up to a finished, live-motion video project. The course strongly emphasizes the relevance of particular tools and techniques to the specific project Concepts are introduced through the screening of historical examples, from 1895 to the present. The course format is modeled on professional standards and workflow for preproduction, production and postproduction. | Prerequisites: DM-UY 2263
Introduces students to the study of media, culture, and communication. The course surveys models, theories, and analytical perspectives that form the basis of study in the major. Topics include dialogue, discourse, mass and interpersonal communication, political economy, language, subject-formation, critical theory, experience, and reception. Liberal Arts Core/CORE Equivalent for Societies and the Social Sciences.
This course explores Tango as an aesthetic, social and cultural formation that is articulated in interesting and complex ways with the traditions of culture and politics in Argentina and Latin America more generally. During the rapid modernization of the 1920s and 1930s, Tango (like Brazilian Samba), which had been seen as a primitive and exotic dance, began to emerge as a kind of modern Field available for additional information in footer primitive art form that quickly came to occupy a central space in nationalist discourse. The course explores the way that perceptions of a primitive and a modern converge in this unique and exciting art. In addition, the course will consider tango as a global metaphor with deeply embedded connections to urban poverty, social marginalization, and masculine authority. .
In 2010, WikiLeaks, in a partnership with some of the most important news publications, began releasing thousands of classified diplomatic cables sent between the U.S. State Department and consulates and embassies around the world. Three years later, Edward Snowden leaked top secret information about surveillance activities by the NSA. More recently, the Panama Papers became the biggest data leak in the history of journalism. These events signal the beginning of the big leak era, which this course will focus on. We will analyze the role of media concentration and technological innovation as twin driving forces in the inception of this big leak era over recent years. We will study the consequences of these changes at three different levels: (i) the legal consequences for whistleblowers; (ii) the resulting birth of global networks and partnerships that expose technical, cultural and economic limitations in the traditional media; and (iii) the geopolitical implications, as a breach in one government ́s security apparatus is a victory for that government ́s opponents. Finally, we will confront one larger question: whether the big leak era means that transparency will (could?) replace fairness as journalism ́s main paradigm. .
This course covers key issues, theories, and concepts in the field of visual culture, focusing on the social role of images and visuality (the power relations of looking, being seen and unseen). Topics include modern forms of visuality and visual technologies, concepts of spectacle, museums and image collections, image icons, taboo images, how images relate to memory, how images circulate through various social arenas such as art, advertising, popular culture, comic books, news, science, entertainment media, video games, theme parks, architecture, and design.
Departing from the premise that money and finance are not simply a system but also a culture, this class considers how money, finance, and economics are shaped in part through media representations. We examine historical ways of thinking about money, the centrality of financial markets in 20th-21st century globalization, and the examination of financial systems in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown. Students explore the role of money media in shaping attitudes toward consumerism, financial decisions, and finance systems.
The course investigates dominant critical perspectives within the field of Environmental Communication, the premise of which is that the way we communicate powerfully impacts our perceptions of the “natural” world, and that these perceptions shape the way we define our relationships to nature. We access various conceptual frameworks for addressing questions of environment, culture, and communication. Students explore topics such as nature/wildlife tourism, consumerism, representations of the environment in popular culture, and environmental activism.
This class reads architecture and the built environment through the lenses of media, communication, and culture, departing from the proposition that spaces communicate meaningfully and are in conversation with the social. From Gothic cathedrals to suburban shopping malls to homes, factories, skyscrapers and digital cities, students acquire a vocabulary for relating representations and practices, symbols and structures, and for identifying the ideological and aesthetic positions that produce settings for everyday life.
This course introduces students to key concepts in history of media and communication, and to the stakes of historical inquiry. Rather than tracing a necessarily selective historical arc from alphabet to Internet or from cave painting to coding, the course is organized around an exploration of case studies in context.
This interactive, discussion-oriented course addresses the politics and tactics underlying five broad categories of media activism: media interventions at the levels of representation, labor relations, policy, strategic communication, and “alternative” media making. The course surveys the existing scholarship on media activism, and undertakes close analyses of actual activist practices within both old and new media. We examine a wide-range of digital media as well as local, national, and global media activist institutions.
This class addresses how colonialism and postcolonialism are shaped and mediated through images and the gaze. The dynamics of colonial history motivate and shape colonial and postcolonial perceptions and influence their patterns of global circulation when the boundary between the world out there and the nation at home is increasingly blurred. Course surveys a range of image texts through various media (photography, television, cinema) and sites (war, the harem, refugee camps, prisons, disasters); nationalist mobilization, counter-insurgency, urban conflict, disaster management, the prison system, and the war on terror.
This course will track the various manifestations of media amateurism over time and medium, while also exploring theoretical concerns and cultural discourses that surround their work and social construction, especially in relation to notions of professionalism, community, networks, artistic practice, collectivism, and marginalization.
This course examines fashion as a form of communication and culture. We examine how fashion makes meaning and how it has been valued through history, popular culture and media institutions, focusing on the relationship between fashion, visual self-presentation, and power. The course situated fashion both in terms of its production and consumption, addressing its role in identity and body politics (gender, race, sexuality, class), art and status, nationhood and the global economy, celebrity and Hollywood culture, youth cultures and subversive practices.
This course examines globalization as it is inscribed in everyday practices through the transnational traffic of persons, cultural artifacts and ideas. The course will focus on issues of transnational mobility, modernity, the local/global divide and pay specific attention to how categories of race, gender and ethnicity intersect with transnational change.
Examines the basic tenets and operative principles of the global copyright system. Considers the ways in which media industries, artists, and consumers interact with the copyright system and assesses how well it serves its stated purposes: to encourage art and creativity. Special emphasis on the social, cultural, legal, and political issues that have arisen in recent years as a result of new communicative technologies.
An inquiry into the ways that technology — mechanical, electronic, analog, and digital — shapes and is shaped by cultural, political, and social values. Students become acquainted with key concepts and approaches to understanding the interplay of technology and society (e.g. technological determinism, social construction of technology, actor networks, affordances) and how these have been applied to such cases as the clock, the automobile, the assembly line, household technology, the telephone, and more recent communication technology.
Explores the subject of desire in modern media and culture. Freud’s ideas have had a profound influence on everything from the earliest manuals on public relations to the struggles of modern feminism. We will read a range of psychoanalytic theorists while studying how their insights have been put to work by both the culture industry and its critics.
An exploration of television as a medium of information, conveyor and creator of culture and a form of aesthetic expression. Course examines the historical development of television as both a cultural product and industry.
Explores how people form relationships with locales they occupy, how they attach meanings to spaces to create places, and how experiences of inhabiting, viewing, and hearing those places shape their meanings, communicative practices, cultural performances, memories, and habits. Themes include: mapping and the imagination; vision and space, soundscape, architecture and landscape; new media and space/time compression; space and identity; spatial violence; and spatialization of memory. Satisfies Core Cultures & Contexts for non-MCC Steinhardt students.
In this course students will build form the skills they learned in 3D Modeling and 3D Animation to produce 3D for Interactive Applications. Projects may be geared to scientific, engineering or entertainment applications according to individual skills and professional aspirations. | Prerequisites: DM-UY 2133
Today’s applications are increasingly mobile. This course teaches students how to build mobile apps for Android or iOS devices, as well as how to deploy them in app stores. The history of mobile computing is also explored. | Prerequisite: DM-UY 2193
This class introduces the principles of 2D and 3D computer-game design. Students learn the range of game types and understand their conceptual building blocks. Students complete a structured sequence of assignments toward the completion of a new-game design. Students prepare, through a staged sequence of assignments, a fully worked-out design for an original game. Criteria include storyline quality, graphics quality and appropriateness of design to the game concept originality. For games with an educational or instructional purpose, clarity and effectiveness for the target audience is considered. | Prerequisite: DM-UY 1133
A site to help IMA NY students find equivalent courses
For students joining IMA in Fall 2022 and beyond, our new program structure affects the categorization of courses on this site.
Classes listed in the “IMA Major Electives” categories refer to the old IMA program structure. If you’re under the new IMA program structure, these courses count as general IMA Electives for you. Your program structure is noted on your academic advising spreadsheet.
Students on the new program structure can search the Interchange for courses. If you’re looking for “IMA Major Distribution” courses, you'll find them listed here: