A contextualized close reading of Geoffrey Chaucer's ambitious and enduring literary project, The Canterbury Tales, with attention to language change, narrative technique, the representation of varied and distinctive medieval voices, and the poem as vivid introduction to life and thought in the later Middle Ages. Not open to first year-students.

Brain implants, embryo selection, self-driving cars, nanotechnology, robot nurses, virtual teachers, cognitive enhancing drugs and artificial general intelligences are among the technologies that might have a large impact on our economy over the next few decades. This seminar uses the tools of microeconomics to explore the potential effects of these and other possible technologies and to explain how economic incentives shape the types of technologies businesses develop. Prerequisite: ECO 250.

An exploration of several of the following topics in the economics of higher education: the economic returns to a college education; the additional economic returns to attending an elite college; the determinants of college admissions; the role of SAT scores in determining performance in college; the construction and effects of the U.S. News rankings of colleges; peer effects in colleges; and the current (and future) crisis in funding higher education. The course emphasizes empirically testing economic hypotheses using several databases. Prerequisites: ECO 250 and ECO 220.

An investigation of the role of financial instruments and institutions in the economy. Major topics include the determination of interest rates, the characteristics of bonds and stocks, the structure and regulation of the banking industry, the functions of a modern central bank and the formulation and implementation of monetary policy. Prerequisite: ECO 253 or permission of the instructor.

China faces a range of environmental challenges in the 21st century: air pollution, water contamination, food scarcity, energy management and deforestation. The course considers these environmental issues, examining how they have come about; the Chinese response to them; their global impact; and the measures being proposed-and taken-to address them. Environmental issues are placed in the context of the social, economic and political changes that have occurred in China during the past few decades: economic growth, globalization, urbanization, population migration and media expansion.

Focusing on a theme of significance to the region, this course introduces students to a variety of methods of inquiry used for research in the interdisciplinary field of East Asian studies. Students are introduced to methods of locating and analyzing information sources, developing research questions and writing during the course of the semester. Normally taken in the sophomore or junior year. Also open to non-EAS majors. Enrollment limited to 18.  Imagining, constructing and criticizing national identity and cultural tradition in film and literature from the two Koreas.

This course looks comparatively at the histories of China, Japan and Korea from the late 18th century to the present. It examines the struggles of these countries to preserve or regain their independence and establish their national identities in a rapidly emerging and often violent modern world order. Although each of these countries has its own distinctive identity, their overlapping histories (and dilemmas) give the region a coherent identity. We also look at how individuals respond to and are shaped by larger historical movements.

This course looks comparatively at the histories of China, Japan and Korea from the late 18th century to the present. It examines the struggles of these countries to preserve or regain their independence and establish their national identities in a rapidly emerging and often violent modern world order. Although each of these countries has its own distinctive identity, their overlapping histories (and dilemmas) give the region a coherent identity. We also look at how individuals respond to and are shaped by larger historical movements.

A survey of Japanese literature from the late 19th century to the present. Over the last century and a half, Japan has undergone tremendous change: rapid industrialization, imperial and colonial expansion, occupation following its defeat in the Pacific War, and emergence as a global economic power. The literature of modern Japan reflects the complex aesthetic, cultural and political effects of such changes.

This team-taught studio course introduces first-year students to a range of conceptual frameworks for making and thinking about art. Unlike a skills-based class devoted to a single medium, in this course students practice problem-solving across traditional media boundaries. Students have the opportunity to explore two-dimensional, three-dimensional and time-based media. Assignments allow students to develop both studio and site-specific approaches. The course is strongly recommended for students considering the art major.