Courses

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.

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.

Water covers the majority of the earth’s surface but what of the life in these waters? Rivers, wetlands, lakes, estuaries and oceans provide habitat for an extraordinary diversity of animals. This course explores the amazing array of aquatic animals that occupy both freshwater and marine ecosystems as well as the natural and human activities that impact their survival. No previous knowledge of science is assumed. Fulfills the science requirement for most Columbia and GS undergraduates.

Using evolutionary principles as the unifying theme, we will survey the study of animal behavior, including the history, basic principles and research methods.

We will also analyze videos from the field as we explore the fascinating world of animal behavior.  Through a range of approaches, students will gain familiarity with the scientific method, behavioral observation and research design.   Although this is listed as a 3000-level course, no prior biology experience is required. Fulfills the science requirement for most Columbia and GS undergraduates

Dinosaurs  explores how science works and provide practical knowledge about the history of life and how we have come to understand it. We learn how to analyze the evolutionary relationships of organisms and examine how dinosaurs came to be exemplars of a very successful group of organisms dominant on land for 140 million years. We will delve deeply into how direct descendants of small carnivorous theropod dinosaurs evolved into birds, still more diverse than mammals, dominating the air. The Mesozoic, a “hot-house world”, with no ice caps and was the kind of world we are hurtling towards because of our input of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and we will look at how their time is a natural experiment for our future. The non-avian dinosaur met their end in a remarkable cataclysm discovered by detective work that we will delve deeply into as a paradigm of the scientific method  Finally, they are fun and spectacular - monsters more fantastic than any person has invented in legend or religion - and they are still with us!  

In the context of the climate change, this course asks: how do we shape, spark, facilitate, and accelerate social change?

In order to mitigate and/or adapt to climate change, individuals, communities, organizations, and societies around the world – especially in wealthy nations – face the urgent need to implement significant changes, quickly. To avoid the worst climate scenarios, energy systems, patterns of production and consumption, political landscapes, daily habits, and even modes of thinking must evolve at every scale. The risks and impacts of climate change are well known and all too evident; and yet, global emissions continue to rise, natural ecosystems continue to be exploited and degraded, and frontline communities and nations continue to bear the brunt. To date, we have largely failed to implement the necessary changes to our current social and economic systems, by multiple metrics and at multiple scales. This course asks: what skills and practices are needed to more effectively spark, facilitate, accelerate, and manage the personal, social, organizational, and political changes needed at a range of scales to mitigate and adapt to climate change, all in an era of increasing disasters and social upheaval?

Students will explore a range of texts and thinkers that grapple with the subject of change; gain fluency with a range of “change management” tools and frameworks; analyze strategies for facilitating, accelerating, or shaping change process in a range of organizations and systems; learn from a series of guest “change experts;” and build their own theory of change for a specific problem or system.

Authors may include: Adrienne Maree Brown, Kate Crowley, Dennis Dalton, Ruth DeFries, Eknath Easwaran, Mahatma Gandhi, Ezra Klein, Margaret Heffernan, Brian Head, Ian Hodder, Robert Kegan, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Lisa Laskow Lahey, Jonah Lehrer, Andrew Marantz, Donella Meadows, Kendra Pierre-Louis, Horst Rittel, Isabel Romanzcy, Jonathan Safran-Foer, Leith Sharp, Twyla Tharp, Melvin Webber.

In the context of the climate change, this course asks: how do we shape, spark, facilitate, and accelerate social change?

In order to mitigate and/or adapt to climate change, individuals, communities, organizations, and societies around the world – especially in wealthy nations – face the urgent need to implement significant changes, quickly. To avoid the worst climate scenarios, energy systems, patterns of production and consumption, political landscapes, daily habits, and even modes of thinking must evolve at every scale. The risks and impacts of climate change are well known and all too evident; and yet, global emissions continue to rise, natural ecosystems continue to be exploited and degraded, and frontline communities and nations continue to bear the brunt. To date, we have largely failed to implement the necessary changes to our current social and economic systems, by multiple metrics and at multiple scales. This course asks: what skills and practices are needed to more effectively spark, facilitate, accelerate, and manage the personal, social, organizational, and political changes needed at a range of scales to mitigate and adapt to climate change, all in an era of increasing disasters and social upheaval?

Students will explore a range of texts and thinkers that grapple with the subject of change; gain fluency with a range of “change management” tools and frameworks; analyze strategies for facilitating, accelerating, or shaping change process in a range of organizations and systems; learn from a series of guest “change experts;” and build their own theory of change for a specific problem or system.

Authors may include: Adrienne Maree Brown, Kate Crowley, Dennis Dalton, Ruth DeFries, Eknath Easwaran, Mahatma Gandhi, Ezra Klein, Margaret Heffernan, Brian Head, Ian Hodder, Robert Kegan, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Lisa Laskow Lahey, Jonah Lehrer, Andrew Marantz, Donella Meadows, Kendra Pierre-Louis, Horst Rittel, Isabel Romanzcy, Jonathan Safran-Foer, Leith Sharp, Twyla Tharp, Melvin Webber.