TEACHING

COMPUTER LANGUAGE WORKSHOP

This is a student-run computer language workshop made of seven meetings per semester. The course will provide an intermediate/advanced understanding and familiarity with working in R and carrying out data analysis, visualization, and editing of simple and complex datasets.

Focus will be given to both technical details and more general concepts, to allow participants to analyze data and interpret them properly. Therefore, after taking the course, participants should be comfortable with using R to handle data, perform descriptive and basic econometric analyses with R.

CORPORATE FINANCE I

The course presents the foundations of finance with an emphasis on applications vital for corporate managers. We discuss most of the major financial decisions made by corporate managers both within the firm and in their interactions with investors. Essential in most of these decisions is the process of valuation, which will be emphasized throughout the course and assessed through the three crucial decisions made by a corporation: investment, financing, and cash management.

The course is divided in six major sections. Topics include criteria for making investment decisions, valuation of financial assets and liabilities, relationships between risk and return, capital structure choice, payout policy, the effective use and valuation of derivative options and futures, and risk management.

HISTORY OF FINANCIAL CRISES

The aim of this course is to provide an account of the major financial crises that have repeatedly occurred around the world over the course of history. In particular, every crisis episode will be addressed by jointly looking at the historical background and the specific economic and financial conditions which led to the crash as well as the policy responses implemented to overcome the crisis.

The course is divided into three main parts. The first part covers early episodes of financial crises and speculative bubbles, starting from the “Tulip mania” up until the late 19th century. The second part focuses on “The Great Depression” and its aftermath, up until the 1970s. The third part deals with post-WWII financial capitalism, focusing on currency crises, banking crises, and stock market crashes, as well as the main crises episodes of the XXI century (“The Great Recession” and the Eurozone Crisis).

QUANTITATIVE REASONING I

This course is designed to help students gain an understanding of fundamental numerical and quantitative skills and their application to everyday life. The focus will be on applying basic mathematical concepts to solve real-world problems, and developing skills in interpreting and working with data in order for students to become able to function effectively as professionals and engaged citizens.

Topics will include problem-solving and back-of-the-envelope calculations, unit conversions, and estimation, percentages and compound interest, linear and other models, data interpretation, analysis and visualization, basic principles of probability, and an introduction to quantitative research and statistics. Another important objective of the course is a clear introduction to and a development of appropriate working knowledge of MS-Excel as well as some of the software’s most common applications in a variety of contexts. This course is offered every semester and does not satisfy the math course requirements for the Interdisciplinary Science major.

QUANTITATIVE REASONING II

Building upon Quantitative Reasoning I numerical and quantitative skills, this course focuses on quantitative research methods and related skills. Students will learn how to use the statistical package R to perform statistical analysis and data visualization, and their applications to business and social sciences. Students will be able to identify, understand, and critique primary and secondary research in industry, scholarly, government, and other specialized applications. They will also gain expertise with the use of large data sets.

Particular emphasis is placed on issues and themes currently considered most central to human development including social progress, economics, efficiency, equity, participation and freedom, sustainability and human security.