Courses

Prerequisites: (COMS W3134 or COMS W3136COMS W3137) and (COMS W3203) Introduction to the design and analysis of efficient algorithms. Topics include models of computation, efficient sorting and searching, algorithms for algebraic problems, graph algorithms, dynamic programming, probabilistic methods, approximation algorithms, and NP-completeness.

Prerequisites: STAT UN1201, ECON UN3211 Intermediate Microeconomics and ECON UN3213 Intermediate Macroeconomics. Equivalent to ECON UN3025. Institutional nature and economic function of financial markets. Emphasis on both domestic and international markets (debt, stock, foreign exchange, Eurobond, Eurocurrency, futures, options, and others). Principles of security pricing and portfolio management; the capital asset pricing model and the efficient markets hypothesis.

Prerequisites: ECON UN3211 and ECON UN3213 or the equivalent. Introduction to the principles of money and banking. The intermediary institutions of the American economy and their historical developments, current issues in monetary and financial reform.

Uncertainty is ubiquitous and information about that uncertainty plays a key role in economic
decision-making and exchange. In this course, we will first consider how individuals and society
can manage uncertainty. We will then focus on how economic relationships may suffer from
some parties not having all the information that is relevant to their decision-making. We will see
how these kinds of information asymmetries invite lying and cheating. We will also study how
parties can structure their agreements to address the problems that such information asymmetries
create.

Prerequisites: ECON UN3211 and ECON UN3213. This course examines labor markets through the lens of economics. In broad terms, labor economics is the study of the exchange of labor services for wages—a category that takes in a wide range of topics. Our objective in this course is to lay the foundations for explaining labor market phenomena within an economic framework and subsequently apply this knowledge-structure to a select set of questions. Throughout this process we will discuss empirical research, which will highlight the power (as well as the limitations) of employing economic models to real-world problems. By the end of this course we will have the tools/intuition to adequately formulate and critically contest arguments concerning labor markets.

Prerequisites: ECON UN3211 and ECON UN3213. Equivalent to ECON UN4500. The theory of international trade, comparative advantage and the factor endowments explanation of trade, analysis of the theory and practice of commercial policy, economic integration. International mobility of capital and labor, the North-South debate.

An introduction to the enormous diversity of life on Earth. From bacteria to mammals, this course will survey species diversity, with an emphasis on ecological interactions and conservation. The course will also use basics of genetics and evolutionary biology to explore how diversity is generated and maintained. No previous knowledge of science is assumed. Fulfills a science requirement for most Columbia and GS undergraduates.

English communication proficiency is important for academic achievement and career success. Columbia Engineering provides English communication instruction for students who would like to improve their communication skills in English. In a small group setting (15-20 students), enrollees will obtain opportunities to interact with the instructor and fellow classmates to improve communication skills.

Over the centuries, readers have been drawn to accounts of “true” crime—violent narratives involving real people and real events. And yet, as with any literary object, the notion of “truth” is always unstable—stories and their tellings are always shaped by the motivations, values, and choices of those who tell them, often with an eye toward the audience that will consume them. Whether constructed in order to moralize, to enforce or critique social or political ideologies, or purely to sell copies, “true
crime” is a literary genre that reveals attitudes about gender, race, and class; that illustrates—and sometimes calls into question—cultural norms and mores; that calls on readers to reflect on their own morbid curiosity and assumptions and fears. In this class we will engage with a diverse selection of literary texts—spanning from the Middle Ages to the present day and from a range of genres, including pamphlets, plays, novels, and more—as well as contemporary films, a tv series, and a
podcast. Through close reading and critical analysis, we will examine the evolution of the “true crime” genre and the cultural and societal contexts that shape the portrayal of crime for popular consumption. We will explore the ways in which texts and authors sensationalize, moralize, and convey the complexities of crime. We will analyze point of view: who’s telling the story, whom we sympathize with, and what insights we get into the minds of those committing crimes as well as those who fall prey to them. We will consider justice and policing— the role played by the law and its enforcers in shaping narratives about crime and punishment, right and wrong. Finally, we will reflect on the ethical implications of representing real-life crimes in literature, and how “true crime” narratives shape social perceptions, fears, prejudices, and notions of justice and morality.