CISS 112
Capitalism in Context
Common Area: None
Capitalism in Context will introduce students to the intellectual foundations and principles of capitalism, detailing how these intersect with ideas about individual liberty, social responsibility and human flourishing. Capitalism itself is a contested term, and we will explore some of the many “capitalisms” that have arisen, always with an eye to normative questions about which accord best with the demands of morality and justice. Additional topics to be addressed may include, but are not limited to: debates about regulation and the proper relationship between the state and the market; theories of corporate social responsibility and the evolution of corporate governance; the challenges posed by the increasing focus on finance rather than industrial production as the main source of profit making; and the social, political and technological changes that have accompanied this shift.
CISS 150
Intro to Global Health
Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies
It is recognized that poverty plays a central role in many preventable diseases. With the development of nations have come improvements in health. The linkages between health and development can only be understood within the broader context of socio-political and economic factors. In the landscape of globalization and international development there has emerged a vast international health regime. This course focuses on these linkages in the context of this international political economy of health. Key aspects are critically examined including the concepts and architecture of global health, the global burden and epidemiology of disease, health and development of nations, and political-economic determinants of health and development. This foundational course in global health will use a variety of analytical perspectives including political, legal, economic and epidemiological. The course focuses on developing countries.
CISS 191
Vienna Around 1900
Common Area: Literature
The course focuses on the final glory days of Austria. After dominating Europe as imperial city and court of the Holy Roman Empire for centuries until 1806, Austria steadily diminished in geographical size and as a political powerhouse. However, at the turn-of-the-century, intellectual and aesthetic achievements secure Vienna's fame apart form the house of Habsburg. The course strives to convey the awe-inspiring diversity of innovations in art, architecture, design, music, journalism, criticism, literature, philosophy, and science through texts, slides and recordings. At the same time, the course addresses the cultural phenomena in the historical, political, and social context of events leading up to and following WWI.
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