Online Course Schedule for Fall 2023

Sex and Power in Mythology

Focusing primarily on Greco-Roman mythologies, this class explores the metamorphoses, societal transitions, and political upheavals found in mythology, which always depend on shifting relationships between sex and power. We will read Greco-Roman texts in conversation with other mythologies, pop culture, and contemporary discussions of how sex and power shape civilizations. Note: Contains graphic sexual and violent material, please read syllabus prior to joining course

Note: Core Area: Humanities, Writing, or Culture. Concentration: Humanities elective. Contains graphic sexual and violent material, please read syllabus prior to joining course.

Business Statistics

This course will introduce students to elementary statistics for business. Students will learn the foundational concepts of probability, descriptive statistics, and inferential statistics, and they will learn the standard techniques that are used to analyze statistical data in a business environment.

China: Healthcare & Education

This upper-level undergraduate course will build on essential foundational work in “China’s Digital Revolution” to explore in greater depth one of the following topics only briefly referenced in the course: 1) opportunities for foreign biopharma companies to invest in expansion of China’s digital healthcare delivery system, currently a top priority on the official agenda, or 2) current trends in China’s online education economy, including products designed for rural schools, foreign language tutoring online, and digital marketing of educational services. The Independent Study will proceed in four phases: topic selection and preliminary bibliography, research paper outline detailing thesis and subtopics, a draft paper submitted for review, and a final, 10,000-word paper (exclusive of bibliography) incorporating comments on the draft report. At all stages, the student will be guided by the instructor in meetings held once a week or more as needed. The result of the semester’s work is expected to be a professional level paper useful to the student as he applies to graduate school or for a job in a China-related field.

China's Digital Revolution

With record-breaking speed, China has transformed itself over the past forty years from a backward economy into a high-performing industrial power, second only to the United States in the digital technologies driving current global growth. China leads the world in e-commerce, fintech, electronic surveillance, 5G, and social media super apps. It is neck and neck in the race for first place in quantum computing and AI applications, industrial, commercial, and defense-related. But China faces a huge challenge going forward: closing a serious gap in the production of advanced semiconductors, the core technology behind all future innovation. Can China keep up the momentum in its pursuit of digital dominance? “China’s Digital Revolution” (BLHV 3106-01) helps explain how China achieved its present competitive ranking and points to possible outcomes in the digital race over the next few decades. The course provides students with basic knowledge and evidence-based material essential for informed discussion of alternative scenarios. Study units include the initial, Internet-building stage of the digital revolution, China’s Internet businesses as engines of connectivity and e-services, the rationale behind Chinese-style digital governance and surveillance, American versus Chinese cyber capabilities, and Beijing’s new initiatives to reduce dependence on foreign technology through concerted investments in domestic high-tech manufacturing.

Note: Core Area: Social Sciences or Culture. Concentration: International Relations regional requirement OR IR elective. OR Business and Entrepreneurship elective.

Comparative Political Systems

Note: Concentration: International Relations required

Environment & Climate Justice

Note: Core Area: Natural Sciences

Ethical Leadership

This course offers a selective introduction to the study of philosophy through the critical examination of ethical issues arising within situations calling for responsible leadership. We will apply theoretical principles to selected case studies from professional life, carrying out careful analysis of problems concerning right and wrong surrounding finance, accounting, and investment, marketing and advertising, corporate governance, international human rights, data science, global business, distributive and social justice, environmental policy, and national and global democratic citizenship.

Note: Core Area: Philosophy. Concentration: B/E elective

Ethics of COVID-19

In this course the classical ethics virtues of wisdom, justice, courage, temperance, and piety will be applied to the vital ethical and health issues we (Georgetown, the United States, and the entire world) are grappling with as we cope with COVID-19. Professor Lewis looks at how government approaches health and policy issues and Professor Buckley gives the academic background and critical analysis of current and emerging COVID issues. A signature piece of a Jesuit education is the study of ethics. Ethical issues have been debated and discussed throughout history and many of the issues which confronted society in classical times are still with us today. As society grows more complex, ethical issues also grow more complex. In this course, students are introduced to the classical issues in ethics and are required to read, write, and discuss critically the following major ethical theories: 1) virtue ethics, 2) stoicism, 3) religious ethics, 4) the social contract, 5) natural rights, 6) duty ethics, and 7) utilitarianism. We will also study modern and contemporary interpretations of these traditional theories. Finally, the traditional theories are applied to critical ethical issues confronting society today in COVID. Applied ethics topics include social justice, bioethics, national security, and the politics of COVID.

Note: Core Areas: Philosophy and Writing

Female Rulers - Antiq to Today

Female rulers have existed since antiquity, and many have left lasting legacies that have been kept alive through iconic television series and films. While at times they may have done little to advance female rights, they nevertheless pushed the boundaries of what was socially acceptable for women at their time, all while navigating complex power dynamics, obstacles, and salacious scandals. In this course, we will explore what female leadership looks like, what challenges these rulers faced, and how they navigated a social, political, and military landscape dominated by men. We will analyze why we remain fascinated by their reigns today, and how their legacies still impact our modern world.

Note: Core Areas - Social Sciences, Culture OR Humanities. Concentration - Humanities elective

Intro to Business

This course will provide a comprehensive introduction to business from a practical and “real-world” perspective, and explore the major areas of business to include product and service innovation and development; marketing and strategy; management and operations; and, finance. Importantly this course will explore the opportunities and challenges presenting by international business, technology, and the use of data and data analytics.

Introduction to Criminology

In this course, we will explore key areas of study within criminology including the nature and extent of crime, theories of criminal behavior, the social and economic roots of crime, and the effectiveness of various approaches to preventing and controlling crime. You will be introduced to the psychology of crime as well as the anomie, social control, social conflict, social disorganization, and routine activity theories. We will also examine contemporary issues related to hate, racism, Violent Extremism, mass violence, and cybercrime from the theoretical lens of criminology. Throughout the semester, you will have the opportunity to discuss the application of core criminology concepts to current social affairs.

Note: Core Area: Social Sciences. Contains graphic sexual and violent material, please read syllabus prior to joining course.

Introduction to Public Policy

Public policy-- that is, all the laws, regulations, and guidelines, along with judicial decisions, executive actions, and funding priorities-- shape every aspect of our lives. This introductory course explores this mosaic of rules through the lens of real people trying to make real changes through public policy. Using personally relevant examples, students will analyze how public policy is created, modified, implemented, and evaluated. We will explore 1) the federal and state governments’ overlapping policy responsibilities, 2) the legal system’s checks and balances on the policymaking process, and 3) the role of advocacy, including grassroots activism and nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, in shaping public policy. This course also provides experiential learning of public policy. Students will learn about policymaking in their own communities, observe and analyze policy-making in their own communities and practice creating and communicating evidence-based policy recommendations. Students will also analyze existing advocacy organizations to learn best practices and evaluate real-world strategies for changing public policies. There are no prerequisites for this class; everyone is warmly welcome

Note: Core Areas - Social Sciences OR Writing. Concentration: International Relations elective

Linear Algebra

We often think of a space as a collection of points. But strictly speaking, points are one dimensional, and they can't be added together. Points occupy a location, but they take up no space, so they can't be scaled bigger or smaller, and they can't be added together (putting two points in the same spot doesn't make a bigger point). But here's a thought experiment. What if the "points" of a space were things that could be scaled up and down, and added together? Amazingly, these strange sorts of spaces do exist, and they pop up incredibly often, in many different disciplines ranging from economics, to physics, to artificial intelligence. Mathematicians call these kinds of spaces "vector spaces," and linear algebra is the branch of mathematics that studies them. In this course, we introduce ourselves to the basic concepts and techniques of modern linear algebra. No prior mathematical training is required. Our perspective will be that of the curious philosopher: we will aim to understand why these ideas work the way they do. To help make our quest more concrete, we will learn about game theory as we go, and we will utilize linear algebra to learn efficient ways to analyze strategies that would otherwise be too complex to understand.

Losing God? Secularization

Are we losing God? This course provides a review of current understandings of the theory, history, and empirical evidence for what is widely known as secularization. This has generally been understood as the process by which organized religion is weakened as a political, social, and cultural force in a society. The degree to which religion loses this role appears to vary by place, time, and faith. Often depicted theoretically as an evolutionary process that develops in a response to the Enlightenment/science, economic development, and/or modernization, the real world development of secularization appears to be much more uneven. There are periodic religious revivals that create reversals and it is rare for the conversion to be anything near complete. Committed atheists (as compared to agnostics or “Nones”—those without a religious affiliation) are most often a minority throughout the world—even in places where states have sought to create a completely secular world. Predictions of the demise of religion are common in history. Why have these gone unfulfilled… so far? At the same time clearly religion has often moved from the core of society and the state into the realm of the individual and personal periphery. What can we say about the future of religion today? Is more secularization or religious revival ahead? This course will review the theory, history, and evidence and provide points of view on these questions.

Note: Core Areas: Culture, Social Sciences, Philosophy, Humanities.

Operations Management

Note: Concentration: B/E elective

Political Theory

For four thousand years, solutions for practical problems in communities (“polis”=cities) have prompted reflection (“theoria”) that accelerated after the pre-modern emergence of competing territorial central European “nation-states”. What is the history and future of political institutions for SCS students specially selected to be promising leaders in a national and global capital like DC, attending the world’s flagship Jesuit University which embodies social justice (among 500 globally and 27 nationally)? You encounter an evolving six trillion dollar worldwide war on terror, an emerging global pandemic of 8.5 million, 450k deaths, 118k in the USA, 270 million global migrants and mass mobilizations of protest in 2000 cities and towns in the USA and sixty nations, against racism, violence, police brutality and for justice and equity for peoples of color, especially “Black Lives Matter”. What common toolboxes of tools can help? This course covers key historical figures, political institutions and processes with main examples focusing on USA national and local government and examples from around the world. Students reflect on their actual or proposed professional experiences within the nation’s capital, nationally and globally. The course is designed to engage highly motivated and talented students who wish to move on to careers in the public or private sector, government consulting, electoral politics, lobbying, homeland security or further academic study. Weekly readings, videos, lectures, posts and class time cover the historic legacy of political philosophy, basic principles of the national government: structure, powers and operations of Congress; the presidency and the Supreme Court, the bureaucracy; citizenship, elections, public opinion, justice system, media studies, political parties, lobbying, civil rights movements and pressure groups—with their theoretical roots (Premoderns; Plato, Aristotle; Moderns; Hobbes, Rousseau, Locke, Hegel, Marx, Fascism; colonialism; Achebe, Baldwin; postcolonialism, Orientalism and representation; Fanon, Said; Postmodernity/consumerism; Jameson; gendering of citizenship in four feminist waves; critical race theory, Hooks; intersectionality-Crenshaw; LGBTQ, Black, Latinx, Chicanx, Asian, etc). Why does this matter? Today some 190 geographic, political entities called “states” and those sharing a cultural identity called “nations”, include some 87 democracies of different kinds for nearly half the world’s population, amidst global demands in industrializing and post-industrializing regions for “greater democracy” for all citizens “created equal,” whether or not they live in official democracies.

Note: This course is required for the International Relations concentration.

Strategy & Strategic Mindset

This course is an introduction to strategy and the strategic mindset for business. We will learn the basics of strategic management, which provides tools to help a business answer the following two questions: Where should we compete? How should we compete? At the same time, we will focus on the fundamentals of game theory, which provides mathematical tools for analyzing strategic environments so as to determine the best strategies. In addition, students will consider strategy from a philosophical point of view, and investigate the epistemology and ethics of competing in strategic environments.

Note: Core Area: Philosophy. Concentration: B/E required

Writing Self: Memoir/Nonfict

TBD

Note: Core Areas: Writing or Humanities. Concentration: Humanities or Professional Media elective