Online courses directory (2511)

This class will be constructed as a lecture-discussion, the purpose being to engage important theoretical issues while simultaneously studying their continuing historical significance. To enhance discussion, three debates will be held in class. Each student will be required to participate in one of these debates. Each student will also be required to write three short papers. Class participation is essential and will be factored into the final grade.

The course will portray the history of theory neither as the history of architectural theory exclusively, nor as a series of prepackaged static pronouncements, but as part of a broader set of issues with an active history that must be continually probed and queried. The sequence of topics will not be absolutely predetermined, but some of the primary issues that will be addressed are: pedagogy, professionalism, nature, modernity and the Enlightenment. Classroom discussions and debates are intended to demonstrate differences of opinion and enhance awareness of the consequences that these differences had in specific historical contexts.

The course provides a survey of the theory and application of time series methods in econometrics. Topics covered will include univariate stationary and non-stationary models, vector autoregressions, frequency domain methods, models for estimation and inference in persistent time series, and structural breaks.

We will cover different methods of estimation and inferences of modern dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models (DSGE): simulated method of moments, Maximum likelihood and Bayesian approach. The empirical applications in the course will be drawn primarily from macroeconomics.

This course is an introduction to the analytical tools that support design and decision-making in real estate and infrastructure development. There is a particular focus on identifying and valuing sources of flexibility using “real options”, Monte-Carlo simulation, and other techniques from the field of engineering systems. This course integrates economic and engineering perspectives, and is suitable for students with various backgrounds. It serves to provide useful preparation for thesis work in the area. The course applies the approach to the design and phasing of a mega infrastructure real estate project.

Note

This MIT OpenCourseWare site is based, in part, on materials on Design for Real Estate and Infrastructure Development from Professor de Neufville's and Professor Geltner's Web site.

This course is an introduction to the analytical tools that support design and decision-making in real estate and infrastructure development. There is a particular focus on identifying and valuing sources of flexibility using “real options”, Monte-Carlo simulation, and other techniques from the field of engineering systems. This course integrates economic and engineering perspectives, and is suitable for students with various backgrounds. It serves to provide useful preparation for thesis work in the area. The course applies the approach to the design and phasing of a mega infrastructure real estate project.

Note

This MIT OpenCourseWare site is based, in part, on materials on Design for Real Estate and Infrastructure Development from Professor de Neufville's and Professor Geltner's Web site.

The course consists of a sampling of topics from algebraic combinatorics. The topics include the matrix-tree theorem and other applications of linear algebra, applications of commutative and exterior algebra to counting faces of simplicial complexes, and applications of algebra to tilings.

The main aims of this seminar will be to go over the classification of surfaces (Enriques-Castelnuovo for characteristic zero, Bombieri-Mumford for characteristic p), while working out plenty of examples, and treating their geometry and arithmetic as far as possible.

This course provides an introduction to algebraic number theory. Topics covered include dedekind domains, unique factorization of prime ideals, number fields, splitting of primes, class group, lattice methods, finiteness of the class number, Dirichlet's units theorem, local fields, ramification, discriminants.

The goal of this course is to describe some of the tools which enter into the proof of Sullivan's conjecture.

This class covers the mathematics of inverse problems involving waves, with examples taken from reflection seismology, synthetic aperture radar, and computerized tomography.

This course provides broad exposure to research in biophysics and physical biology, with emphasis on the critical evaluation of scientific literature. Weekly meetings include in-depth discussion of scientific literature led by various MIT faculty on active research topics. Each session also includes a brief discussion of non-research topics including effective presentation skills, writing papers and fellowship proposals, choosing scientific and technical research topics, time management, and scientific ethics.

Survey and special topics designed for students in Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Emphasizes ethological studies of natural behavior patterns and their analysis in laboratory work, with contributions from field biology (mammology, primatology), sociobiology, and comparative psychology. Stresses human behavior but also includes major contributions from studies of other animals.

In this graduate-level course, we will be covering advanced topics in combinatorial optimization. We will start with non-bipartite matchings and cover many results extending the fundamental results of matchings, flows and matroids. The emphasis is on the derivation of purely combinatorial results, including min-max relations, and not so much on the corresponding algorithmic questions of how to find such objects. The intended audience consists of Ph.D. students interested in optimization, combinatorics, or combinatorial algorithms.

This class will explore the cultural history and media industry surrounding the masculine drama of professional wrestling. Beginning with wrestling's roots in sport and carnival, the class examines how new technologies and changes in the television industry led to evolution for pro wrestling style and promotion and how shifts in wrestling characters demonstrate changes in the depiction of American masculinity. The class will move chronologically in an examination of how wrestling characters and performances have changed, focusing particularly on the 1950s to the present. Students may have previous knowledge of wrestling but are not required to, nor are they required to be a fan (although it is certainly not discouraged, either).

Special thanks to the WWE for allowing us to use various materials and for their participation and help with the course.

This class will explore the cultural history and media industry surrounding the masculine drama of professional wrestling. Beginning with wrestling's roots in sport and carnival, the class examines how new technologies and changes in the television industry led to evolution for pro wrestling style and promotion and how shifts in wrestling characters demonstrate changes in the depiction of American masculinity. The class will move chronologically in an examination of how wrestling characters and performances have changed, focusing particularly on the 1950s to the present. Students may have previous knowledge of wrestling but are not required to, nor are they required to be a fan (although it is certainly not discouraged, either).

Special thanks to the WWE for allowing us to use various materials and for their participation and help with the course.

This is a seminar based on research literature. Papers covered are selected to illustrate important problems and approaches in the field of computational and systems biology, and provide students a framework from which to evaluate new developments.

The MIT Initiative in Computational and Systems Biology (CSBi) is a campus-wide research and education program that links biology, engineering, and computer science in a multidisciplinary approach to the systematic analysis and modeling of complex biological phenomena. This course is one of a series of core subjects offered through the CSB Ph.D. program, for students with an interest in interdisciplinary training and research in the area of computational and systems biology.

This course considers reggae, or Jamaican popular music more generally—in its various forms (ska, rocksteady, roots, dancehall)—as constituted by international movements and exchanges and as a product that circulates globally in complex ways. By reading across the reggae literature, as well as considering reggae texts themselves (songs, films, videos, and images), students will scrutinize the different interpretations of reggae's significance and the implications of different interpretations of the story of Jamaica and its music. Beginning with a consideration of how Jamaica's popular music industry emerged out of transnational exchanges, the course will proceed to focus on reggae's circulation outside of Jamaica via diasporic networks and commercial mediascapes. Among other sites, we will consider reggae's resonance and impact elsewhere in the Anglo Caribbean (e.g., Trinidad, Barbados), the United Kingdom (including British reggae styles but also such progeny as jungle, grime, and dubstep), the United States (both as reggae per se and in hip-hop), Panama and Puerto Rico and other Latin American locales (e.g., Brazil), Japan and Australia, as well as West, South, and East Africa (Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Uganda).

This course considers reggae, or Jamaican popular music more generally—in its various forms (ska, rocksteady, roots, dancehall)—as constituted by international movements and exchanges and as a product that circulates globally in complex ways. By reading across the reggae literature, as well as considering reggae texts themselves (songs, films, videos, and images), students will scrutinize the different interpretations of reggae's significance and the implications of different interpretations of the story of Jamaica and its music. Beginning with a consideration of how Jamaica's popular music industry emerged out of transnational exchanges, the course will proceed to focus on reggae's circulation outside of Jamaica via diasporic networks and commercial mediascapes. Among other sites, we will consider reggae's resonance and impact elsewhere in the Anglo Caribbean (e.g., Trinidad, Barbados), the United Kingdom (including British reggae styles but also such progeny as jungle, grime, and dubstep), the United States (both as reggae per se and in hip-hop), Panama and Puerto Rico and other Latin American locales (e.g., Brazil), Japan and Australia, as well as West, South, and East Africa (Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Uganda).

This course considers reggae, or Jamaican popular music more generally—in its various forms (ska, rocksteady, roots, dancehall)—as constituted by international movements and exchanges and as a product that circulates globally in complex ways. By reading across the reggae literature, as well as considering reggae texts themselves (songs, films, videos, and images), students will scrutinize the different interpretations of reggae's significance and the implications of different interpretations of the story of Jamaica and its music. Beginning with a consideration of how Jamaica's popular music industry emerged out of transnational exchanges, the course will proceed to focus on reggae's circulation outside of Jamaica via diasporic networks and commercial mediascapes. Among other sites, we will consider reggae's resonance and impact elsewhere in the Anglo Caribbean (e.g., Trinidad, Barbados), the United Kingdom (including British reggae styles but also such progeny as jungle, grime, and dubstep), the United States (both as reggae per se and in hip-hop), Panama and Puerto Rico and other Latin American locales (e.g., Brazil), Japan and Australia, as well as West, South, and East Africa (Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Uganda).

This course considers reggae, or Jamaican popular music more generally—in its various forms (ska, rocksteady, roots, dancehall)—as constituted by international movements and exchanges and as a product that circulates globally in complex ways. By reading across the reggae literature, as well as considering reggae texts themselves (songs, films, videos, and images), students will scrutinize the different interpretations of reggae's significance and the implications of different interpretations of the story of Jamaica and its music. Beginning with a consideration of how Jamaica's popular music industry emerged out of transnational exchanges, the course will proceed to focus on reggae's circulation outside of Jamaica via diasporic networks and commercial mediascapes. Among other sites, we will consider reggae's resonance and impact elsewhere in the Anglo Caribbean (e.g., Trinidad, Barbados), the United Kingdom (including British reggae styles but also such progeny as jungle, grime, and dubstep), the United States (both as reggae per se and in hip-hop), Panama and Puerto Rico and other Latin American locales (e.g., Brazil), Japan and Australia, as well as West, South, and East Africa (Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Uganda).

This course is a graduate seminar surveying recent work on self-knowledge. Some questions that will be explored and discussed are: What is the distinctive philosophical interest of self-knowledge? Is self-knowledge really an epistemic achievement? Is it plausible that there is a uniform explanation of all distinctively first-personal self-knowledge?