24.01 Classics in Western Philosophy (MIT)
This course will introduce you to the Western philosophical tradition, through the study of major figures such as Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Hume, and Kant. You will get to grips with questions that have been significant to philosophy from its beginnings: questions about the nature of the mind or soul, the existence of God, the foundations of knowledge, ethics and the good life. In the process of evaluating the arguments of these philosophers, you will develop your own philosophical and analyt
11.366J Planning for Sustainable Development (MIT)
This course explores policy and planning for sustainable development. It critically examines concept of sustainability as a process of social, organizational, and political development drawing on cases from the U.S. and Europe. It also explores pathways to sustainability through debates on ecological modernization; sustainable technology development, international and intergenerational fairness, and democratic governance.
17.460 Defense Politics (MIT)
This course focuses on the institutional relationships that affect the raising, maintenance and use of military forces in the United States. It is about civil/military, government/industry, military/science and military service/military service relations.
The course examines how politicians, defense contractors, and military officers determine the military might of the United States. It analyzes the military strategies of the nation and the bureaucratic strategies of the armed services, contract
Tocqueville's New Political Science: Address by Professor Harvey Mansfield
Professor Mansfield discusses Tocquevillian political theory and its intrinsic connection to practice.
11.011 The Art and Science of Negotiation (MIT)
This course provides an introduction to bargaining and negotiation in public, business, and legal settings. It combines a "hands-on" skill-building orientation with a look at pertinent social theory. Strategy, communications, ethics, and institutional influences are examined as they influence the ability of actors to analyze problems, negotiate agreements, and resolve disputes in social, organizational, and political circumstances characterized by interdependent interests.
11.001J Introduction to Urban Design and Development (MIT)
This course examines the evolving structure of cities and the way that cities, suburbs, and metropolitan areas can be designed and developed. Boston and other American cities are studied to see how physical, social, political and economic forces interact to shape and reshape cities over time.
11.422 Downtown Management Organizations (MIT)
This course focuses on the origins, functions, and implications of downtown management organizations (DMOs), such as business improvement districts, in a variety of national contexts including the United States, Canada, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. It critically examines how a range of urban theories provide a rationale for the establishment and design of DMOs; the evolution and transnational transfer of DMO policy; and the spatial and political externalities associated with the local p
Islam and Liberal Democracy: How Tradition Matters (with An-Na'im, Jackson, Moosa, Esposito)
The Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and the Berkley Center sponsored a seminar with leading scholars to address how tradition matters in Islamic political thought today. The wide-ranging discussion considered how the Islamic tradition - including the Qur'an, the life and sayings of the Prophet, and diverse legal schools - relates to the idea of a liberal democratic state.
Proselytism and Religious Freedom: The Political Implications of Proselytism (with Al-Marayati, Daug
In the context of a globalizing world marked by the freer flow of people and ideas, proselytism has become increasingly controversial. On March 3, 2010, the Berkley Center sponsored a day-long symposium on proselytism and religious freedom in the 21st century. Experts from a variety of scholarly and policy fields investigated the theological, legal, and political implications of the missionary impulse.
Debating the War of Ideas: (with Afsaruddin, Ahmed, Phares and Patterson)
Debating the War of Ideas is a new book that brings together competing voices from across continents, religions, and political persuasions to present their understanding of the strife within the Muslim world and/or between Islamic and Western traditions?the ideas that so many around the globe believe are worth fighting, killing, and even dying for. This event included a panel discussion with chapter contributors Asma Afsaruddin, Akbar Ahmed, Walid Phares, Eric Patterson, and others.
Afghanistan's Religious Landscape: Politicizing the Sacred (with Kristian Berg Harpviken)
Afghanistan?s thirty years of war have seen the gradual and heavy politicization of religion, transforming the lanscape of religious authority, political process, and the Afghan statebuilding project.
STS.340J Introduction to the History of Technology (MIT)
This course is an introduction to the consideration of technology as the outcome of particular technical, historical, cultural, and political efforts, especially in the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. Topics include industrialization of production and consumption, development of engineering professions, the emergence of management and its role in shaping technological forms, the technological construction of gender roles, and the relationship between humans and machines.
John Taylor on Monetary Policy
John Taylor of Stanford University talks about the Taylor Rule, his description of what the Fed ought to do and what it sometimes actually does, to keep inflation in check and the economy on a steady path. He argues that when the Fed has deviated from the Rule in recent years, the economy has performed poorly. Taylor also assesses the chances for a monetary or financial disaster and the Fed's recent expanded role in intervening in financial markets.
Bernstein on Inequality
William Bernstein, author of A Splendid Exchange, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about inequality. Bernstein is worried about it; Roberts is not. Bernstein argues that inequality is damaging to the health of low-status people and hurts the health of the economy. Roberts challenges Bernstein's empirical evidence. It's a lively conversation on the economics of status, productivity and the progressivity of taxes.
Patri Friedman on Seasteading
Patri Friedman, Executive Director of the Seasteading Institute, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about seasteading, the creation of autonomous ocean communities as an alternative to existing political and cultural forms. Topics discussed include the political and economic viability of seasteading, risks of piracy, the aesthetics of living on the ocean, and the potential impact of seasteading on conventional governments.
Selgin on Free Banking
George Selgin of West Virginia University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about free banking, where government treats banks as no different from other firms in the economy. Rather than rely on government guarantees to protect depositors (coupled with regulation), banks would compete with each other in offering security and return on deposits. Selgin draws on historical episodes of free banking, particularly in Scotland, to show that such a world need not be unduly hazardous or filled with
Higgs on the Great Depression
Robert Higgs, of the Independent Institute, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the Great Depression, the New Deal, and the effect of World War II on the American economy. Using survey results, financial data, and the pattern of investment in the 1930s, Higgs argues that New Deal policies created a climate of uncertainty that prolonged the Great Depression. Using consumption data, he argues that prosperity did not return during wartime, but rather after the war when government interventi
1.201J Introduction to Transportation Systems (MIT)
1.201J/11.545J/ESD.210J is required for all first-year Master of Science in Transportation students. It would be of interest to, as well as accessible to, students in Urban Studies and Planning, Political Science, Technology and Policy, Management, and various engineering departments. It is a good subject for those who plan to take only one subject in transportation and serves as an entry point to other transportation subjects as well.
The subject focuses on fundamental principles of transportat
Epstein on the Rule of Law
Richard Epstein of the University of Chicago and Stanford University's Hoover Institution talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the rule of law. Epstein lays out a minimalist definition and a more expansive definition when considering the protection that individuals might have when facing the power of the state or the sovereign. Applications include "takings" and the current government interventions in the auto industry and the financial sector.
