Results for THINK 50

The family into which a child is born plays a powerful role in determining lifetime opportunities. This course will apply tools from economics and related social sciences to study how the functioning of families is shaped by laws, social insurance, social norms, and technology. Topics will include intergenerational transmission of wealth and health, the importance of the early family environment, partnership formation, cohabitation and marriage, teen pregnancy and contraception, assisted reproduction, Tiger Moms and Helicopter Parenting, and the employment effects of parenthood. In the context of these topics, the course will cover social science empirical methods, including regression analysis, causal inference, and quasi-experimental methods. Throughout the course, we will think critically about the role of the government and how the design of public policy targeting families affect our ability to solve some of the most important social and economic problems of our time. Prerequisites: Econ 50

This short, intensive seminar features Humanities Scholar & Artist in Residence Clare Whistler (visiting from England April 15-30) will meet for dialogue, workshop, creation, and improvisation. This workshop will help students to think through methods of humanistic inquiry as ways of integrating meaning and purpose into their lives; it will focus on projects, research, collaborations, walking explorations, and relationships. This course will be of interest to students who would like to maintain humanistic values, make a decent living, find good mentors and collaborators, and create communities that are attentive to their constructed and natural environments. This year's course will center on personal assignments and will focus in particular on the theme of gardens.The course will meet M/W 5-7 PM with optional Friday studio time. The first meeting is Monday, April 15.

This is a course to help future business leaders understand the policy risks that result from the changing relationship between the United States and China.Driven in part by policy decisions over the past decade in Washington and Beijing, the world built by the West after World War II is changing. Most American policymakers now label the relationship between the U.S. and China as one of strategic competition. They are often less clear on whether this term applies to the governments, the peoples, the businesses based within each country, or the two nation-states. At the same time, these two superpowers also have shared interests. We seek to understand the changing relationships between the U.S. and China, and what both competition and possible cooperation between their governments mean for others. American business leaders may be caught between two governments with conflicting interests. Business leaders in other countries may be caught among three governments: America, China, and their home-country government. This is a course not about China per se, but instead about the interactions between these two superpowers' governments and policies.We will look at the U.S.-China relationship by unpacking and examining distinct elements, devoting 1 or 2 class sessions on each topic.Relying in part on guests with practical expertise in some element of the U.S.-China relationship, our goals are to understand:* The most significant changes in Chinese policy direction in the Xi era;* Changes among Western leaders' policy approaches as they have realized their 50-year-old policy toward China either was wrong or is now out-of-date;* What the strategic competition label might mean and how it could translate into specific policy changes in both countries;* What opportunities exist for cooperation and mutual benefit despite strategic competition;* How China might try to change the post-WWII international rules and organizations;* How leaders of global businesses, in the U.S., China, and other countries, are caught between these two governments;* What decoupling in certain industries might mean; and* Possible ways to think about these issues as the U.S.-China relationship evolves.

This course is designed for students interested in exploring the cutting edge of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Students will learn several fundamental concepts related to nanomaterials synthesis and characterization that are commonly used in research and industrial settings, including self-assembly, soft lithography, VLS growth, and nanoparticle size control. In lieu of traditional labs, students will attend weekly discussion sections aimed at priming students to think like materials engineers. Through these discussions, students will explore how to design an effective experiment, how to identify research gaps, and how to write a compelling grant proposal. This course satisfies the Writing in the Major (WIM) requirement. Enrollment is limited to 24. Prerequisites: ENGR 50 or equivalent introductory materials science course. CME 106 or Stats 110 is recommended. Contact the instructor for more information. Undergraduates register for 160 for 4 units, Graduates register for 170 for 3 units.

This course is designed for students interested in exploring the cutting edge of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Students will learn several fundamental concepts related to nanomaterials synthesis and characterization that are commonly used in research and industrial settings, including self-assembly, soft lithography, VLS growth, and nanoparticle size control. In lieu of traditional labs, students will attend weekly discussion sections aimed at priming students to think like materials engineers. Through these discussions, students will explore how to design an effective experiment, how to identify research gaps, and how to write a compelling grant proposal. This course satisfies the Writing in the Major (WIM) requirement. Enrollment is limited to 24. Prerequisites: ENGR 50 or equivalent introductory materials science course. CME 106 or Stats 110 is recommended. Contact the instructor for more information. Undergraduates register for 160 for 4 units, Graduates register for 170 for 3 units.

How does our brain give rise to our abilities to perceive, act and think? Survey of the basic facts, empirical evidence, theories and methods of study in cognitive neuroscience exploring how cognition is instantiated in neural activity. Representative topics include perceptual and motor processes, decision making, learning and memory, attention, reward processing, reinforcement learning, sensory inference and cognitive control.

This course introduces the theories of consumers, producers, and markets, and uses these concepts to understand how people make complex economic decisions in the real world. By the end of the course, students will be familiar with core microeconomic models and be able to use them with real-world applications related to government spending, taxation, and welfare programs. The goal of the course is for students to learn how microeconomists think and approach economic problems. Prerequisites: ECON 1 and MATH 20 or equivalent.

Get the strategy right, and the chance for success is great. Nowhere is this more evident than in today's world of major challenges. Strategy is at the heart of problem solving and achieving objectives, yet few people can define strategy, much less understand how to conceptualize, design, and execute effective strategies that yield the best outcomes.This course focuses on interesting and engaging case studies, each of which illustrates a key ingredient of strategy. Some are well-known historical events, while others are less obvious, but all have a strategic lesson to share. They are quite diverse, from the planning of a high-risk rescue in the Colorado Rockies, to a product crisis in a Fortune 50 company, to a little-known failed military mission of WWII, to a commercial airline disaster. The ability to think through challenging and varied scenarios is both instructive and mind-stretching. There will be some pre-reading on each case study and there may be a field trip for students to put their lessons into practice. The course is designed to be highly interactive; all to enable students to unravel the mystery and power of strategic thinking. Students will also have the opportunity to select and analyze a case reflecting interests of their own. This course can help students not only prepare for a career in a range of fields, but also as they meet the challenges of their current coursework. Problem-solving skills are central in every walk of life; this seminar can help students build a stronger foundation for sound decision-making.