A writing practicum associated with 11.200 and 11.205 that focuses on helping …
A writing practicum associated with 11.200 and 11.205 that focuses on helping students present their ideas in cogent, persuasive arguments and other analytical frameworks. Reading and writing assignments and other exercises stress the connections between clear thinking, critical reading, and effective writing.
This course is geared to increase the knowledge and awareness of prospective …
This course is geared to increase the knowledge and awareness of prospective teachers about concepts and programs of bilingualism in the U.S. We will explore the history of bilingual education in the United States, policies, theories and practices. In addition, we will explore viewpoints on literacy for bilinguals or emergent bilinguals. We will also explore bilingual programs and the controversies and ideologies about bilingualism in the U.S. and the rest of the world.
The trifecta of globalization, urbanization and digitization have created new opportunities and …
The trifecta of globalization, urbanization and digitization have created new opportunities and challenges across our nation, cities, boroughs and urban centers. Cities in particular are in a unique position at the center of commerce and technology becoming hubs for innovation and practical application of emerging technology. In this rapidly changing 24/7 digitized world, governments are leveraging innovation and technology to become more effective, efficient, transparent and to be able to better plan for and anticipate the needs of its citizens, businesses and community organizations. This class will provide the framework for how cities and communities can become smarter and more accessible with technology and more connected.
The defining challenge facing business leaders is to develop and drive performance …
The defining challenge facing business leaders is to develop and drive performance into the future. For commercial firms, this generally means building profits and growing the value of the business. Although their focus may be on non-financial outcomes, public services, voluntary groups, and other not-for-profit organizations share the same central challenge—continually improving their performance. When the causes of performance through time are not understood, management has difficulty making the right decisions about important issues. Worse, entire organizations are led into ill-chosen strategies for their future. To overcome these problems, leaders need the means to answer three basic questions: 1. Why is business performance following its current path? 2. Where are current policies, decisions, and strategy leading us? 3. How can future prospects be improved? These questions are the starting point for this book.
Uses a case approach to develop a framework for business analysis. Provides …
Uses a case approach to develop a framework for business analysis. Provides students with tools for business analysis, including strategic, accounting, financial, and prospective analysis. Concepts are then applied to a number of decision-making contexts, such as credit analysis, investor communications, merger analysis, financial policy decisions, and securities analysis. From the Course Description: Course Description The purpose of this class is to advance your understanding of how to use financial information to value and analyze firms. We will apply your economics/accounting/finance skills to problems from today's business news to help us understand what is contained in financial reports, why firms report certain information, and how to be a sophisticated user of this information.
This lecture course provides students with a comprehensive introduction to the international …
This lecture course provides students with a comprehensive introduction to the international relations of the People's Republic of China. China's foreign relations during the Cold War as well as contemporary diplomatic, security and economic issues will be examined to identify and explain China's foreign policy goals and their implementation since 1949. Throughout, this course will investigate the sources of conflict and cooperation in China's behavior, assessing competing explanations for key events and policies. Readings will be drawn from political science, history, and international relations theory.
A key theme of this course is that most health outcomes are …
A key theme of this course is that most health outcomes are driven by personal behavior choices, but that those choices are made in the context of the neighborhoods where we live, work, and play. A corollary to this theme is that engaged citizens are healthier citizens (defined as a "resident of a particular city"). The object of this project is to take the principles learned in the classroom and apply them in a community environment: observe an issue in the community, document it through video/audio commentary, then use the tools of advocacy to address the issue.While designed for a Public Health course, this activity can be adapted for any topic where community organizing can lead to positive change.
Explores the changing map of the public and the private in pre-industrial …
Explores the changing map of the public and the private in pre-industrial and modern societies and examines how that map affected men's and women's production and consumption of goods and leisure. The reproductive strategies of women, either in conjunction with or in opposition to their families, is another major theme. How did an ideal of the "domestic" arise in the early modern west, and to what extent did it limit the economic position of women? How has it been challenged, and with what success, in the post-industrial period? Focuses on western Europe since the Middle Ages and on the United States, but some attention to how these issues have played themselves out in non-Western cultures. This course will explore the relation of women and men in both pre-industrial and modern societies to the changing map of public and private (household) work spaces, examining how that map affected their opportunities for both productive activity and the consumption of goods and leisure. The reproductive strategies of women, either in conjunction with or in opposition to their families, will be the third major theme of the course. We will consider how a place and an ideal of the "domestic" arose in the early modern west, to what extent it was effective in limiting the economic position of women, and how it has been challenged, and with what success, in the post-industrial period. Finally, we will consider some of the policy implications for contemporary societies as they respond to changes in the composition of the paid work force, as well as to radical changes in their national demographic profiles. Although most of the material for the course will focus on western Europe since the Middle Ages and on the United States, we will also consider how these issues have played themselves out in non-western cultures.
Electric cars are more than a novel means of mobility. They have …
Electric cars are more than a novel means of mobility. They have been recognized as an essential building block of the energy transition. Fulfilling their promise will imply a significant change in the technical, digital and social dimensions of transport and energy infrastructure. As the massive adoption of electric mobility will deeply change our society and our individual routines, government intervention is called for. If you are interested in learning about the roles of government in shaping the transition towards electric mobility and renewable energy systems, then this is the course for you.
In this course, you will explore the promise of electric mobility from different public policy perspectives and different levels of government, and learn how they interact. After completing this course, you will be able to assess a policy plan to support the introduction of electric cars and make a motivated choice between alternative policy instruments. In the final week, the course will be concluded by connecting the different track perspectives.
The course includes video lectures, presentations and exercises, which are all illustrated with real-world case studies from projects that were implemented in the Netherlands.
This course explores the theoretical and empirical perspectives on individual and industrial …
This course explores the theoretical and empirical perspectives on individual and industrial demand for energy, energy supply, energy markets, and public policies affecting energy markets. It discusses aspects of the oil, natural gas, electricity, and nuclear power sectors and examines energy tax, price regulation, deregulation, energy efficiency and policies for controlling emission.
This course explores the proper role of government in the regulation of …
This course explores the proper role of government in the regulation of the environment. It will help students develop the tools to estimate the costs and benefits of environmental regulations. These tools will be used to evaluate a series of current policy questions, including: Should air and water pollution regulations be tightened or loosened? What are the costs of climate change in the U.S. and abroad? Is there a "Race to the Bottom" in environmental regulation? What is "sustainable development"? How do environmental problems differ in developing countries? Are we running out of oil and other natural resources? Should we be more energy efficient? To gain real world experience, the course is scheduled to include a visit to the MIT cogeneration plant. We will also do an in-class simulation of an air pollution emissions market.
This course presents an examination of ethical issues relevant to systems-based research …
This course presents an examination of ethical issues relevant to systems-based research procedures, professional conduct, social and environmental impacts, and embedded ethics in research and professional practice in RESS based jobs. In this course, you will consider case studies of ethical issues that can arise when engaging renewable energy and sustainability systems. You will also develop an ethics case study based on your area of RESS interests. The goals of the course are to provide you with tools for analyzing ethical issues both in the line of professional duties and in consideration of the various ethical issues that face an entire sector of renewable energy and that underpin the very reasons for taking a sustainable and renewable approach.
Continuation of Finance Theory I, concentrating on corporate financial management. Topics: Capital …
Continuation of Finance Theory I, concentrating on corporate financial management. Topics: Capital investment decisions, security issues, dividend policy, optimal capital structure, hedging and risk management, futures markets and real options analysis. The objective of this course is to learn the financial tools needed to make good business decisions. The course presents the basic insights of corporate finance theory, but emphasizes the application of theory to real business decisions. Each session involves class discussion, some centered on lectures and others around business cases.
" This course explores the foundations of policy making in developing countries. …
" This course explores the foundations of policy making in developing countries. The goal is to spell out various policy options and to quantify the trade-offs between them. We will study the different facets of human development: education, health, gender, the family, land relations, risk, informal and formal norms and institutions. This is an empirical class. For each topic, we will study several concrete examples chosen from around the world. While studying each of these topics, we will ask: What determines the decisions of poor households in developing countries? What constraints are they subject to? Is there a scope for policy (by government, international organizations, or non-governmental organizations (NGOs))? What policies have been tried out? Have they been successful?"
Urban governance comprises the various forces, institutions, and movements that guide economic …
Urban governance comprises the various forces, institutions, and movements that guide economic and physical development, the distribution of resources, social interactions, and other aspects of daily life in urban areas. This course examines governance from legal, political, social, and economic perspectives. In addition, we will discuss how these structures constrain collective decision making about particular urban issues (immigration, educationŰ_). Assignments will be nightly readings and a short paper relating an urban issue to the frameworks outlined in the class.
The studio will focus on the district of Gaoming, located in the …
The studio will focus on the district of Gaoming, located in the northwest of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) - the fastest growing and most productive region of China. The District has recently completed a planning effort in which several design institutes and a Hong Kong planning firm prepared ideas for a new central area near the river. The class will complement these efforts by focusing on planning and design options on the waterfront of the proposed new district and ways of integrating water/hydrological factors into all aspects and land uses of a modern city (residential, commercial, industrial) - including watershed and natural ecosystem protection, economic and recreational activities, transportation, and tourism.
Have you seen a Clean Coal baseball cap? In the challenge to …
Have you seen a Clean Coal baseball cap? In the challenge to meet soaring energy demand with limited resources, volatile issues like those related to the environment, national security and public health are often addressed outside of normal market transactions and are called externalities, or nonmarket factors. Stakeholders can act in resourceful ways to create a nonmarket environment that best serves their interest. A firm may challenge a law that makes it expensive or difficult to do business or compete with others, for example. An individual may organize a boycott of products or services that violate the individual's interests or principles--hey, don't buy from them! Nonmarket strategy in the energy sector is the subject of this engaging course.
This course examines systematically, and comparatively, great and middle power military interventions, …
This course examines systematically, and comparatively, great and middle power military interventions, and candidate military interventions, into civil wars from the 1990s to the present. These civil wars did not easily fit into the traditional category of vital interest. These interventions may therefore tell us something about broad trends in international politics including the nature of unipolarity, the erosion of sovereignty, the security implications of globalization, and the nature of modern western military power.
This course examines the economic, political, social, and spatial dynamics of urban …
This course examines the economic, political, social, and spatial dynamics of urban growth and decline in cities and their key component areas (downtown, suburbs, etc.). Topics include impacts of industrialization, technology, politics, and social practices on cities. Students will examine the role of public and private sector activities, ranging from zoning and subsidies to infrastructure development and real estate investment, in affecting urban growth and decline. Readings are both theoretical and empirical, with considerable thought paid to comparative and historical differences.
GEOG 438W is a writing-intensive course that concentrates on the human-environment interactions …
GEOG 438W is a writing-intensive course that concentrates on the human-environment interactions involved in contemporary and future global warming. The course comprises two broad topical areas: global warming impacts, which takes place in the first half of the course, and global warming mitigation and policy, which encompasses the second half of the course. Each week highlights a theme, such as the impacts of climate change on human health or greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, that weaves through the course lecture, reading assignment, class discussion, and writing activity.
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