Courses

Special Operations are typically defined as national security actions in hostile, denied, or sensitive environments, and often require covert, clandestine, or low-visibility approaches. From hostage-rescue operations to tactical reconnaissance, special operations forces are typically deployed for national security objectives in which traditional military units are not suitable or applicable. This course examines the nexus of special operations and national security, with the United States serving as its primary example. It has four core objectives: 1) develop an understanding of the concepts and ideas of special operations in national security; 2) explore the priorities and challenges of the utility of special operations, from intelligence to policies to investments; 3) exchange insights, paradigms, and perspectives in class discussions and assignments; and 4) sharpen analytical thinking, research methods, writing skills, and verbal communication. Major themes of study will be: national security fundamentals; concepts of war, conflict, and special operations; and the use of special operations forces over time.

This course serves as an introduction to the study of international political and economic relations. We look at the connections between politics and economics as well as markets and governments and relate them to key substantive issue areas such as finance, trade, investment, marketing, income inequality and poverty, and globalization. In examining the issue areas, we shall look both at how scholars think about them and how private and public decision makers analyze and impact them. The teaching is informed by the sharing with students knowledge deriving from multiple disciplines, cultures, and languages to help them gain useful real-world insights.

Prerequisites: ITAL V1102 or W1102, or the equivalent. If you did not take Elementary Italian at Columbia in the semester preceding the current one, you must take the placement test, offered by the Italian Department at the beginning of each semester. Same course as ITAL V1201-V1202.

Prerequisites: MATH S1102, or the equivalent. Columbia College students who aim at an economics major AND have at least the grade of B in Calculus I may take Calculus III directly after Calculus I. However, all students majoring in engineering, science, or mathematics should follow Calculus I with Calculus II. Vectors in dimensions 2 and 3, complex numbers and the complex exponential function with applications to differential equations, Cramer's rule, vector-valued functions of one variable, scalar-valued functions of several variables, partial derivatives, gradients, surfaces, optimization, the method of Lagrange multipliers.