Alternative Marcoeconomics
The is the study of how scarce resources are allocated to satisfy unlimited wants in a cultural context. Microeconomics is often defined as the study of individual agents' [persons, organizations, firms, markets] choices about the allocation of scarce goods and how these individual choices relate to the society made up of those individuals. The focus here is the use of technology and social interaction to coordinate individual action.
Human Genome Education
Anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can now explore the draft sequence of the human genome. How can molecular biologists capitalize on these data riches, and what are the advantages of using the assembled draft sequence? This website aims to jump-start those who want make use of this information, but are not sure where or how to start.
Defying Genocide
This collection of activities and resources is a companion guide for the 15-minute film Defying genocide. The history of the Holocaust and the 1994 Rwandan genocide illustrate the entire spectrum of human behavior, from unimaginable evil to extraordinary goodness.
Through a study of the Holocaust, Rwanda, and genocide, students learn that genocide occurs because individuals, organizations, and governments make choices to participate, resist, or turn away.
Students can also see that at the same
Computer Science
Computer science is the study of computational systems and their use in representing important problems in science and society. Major topics include computational science, software systems, network systems, theory of computation, machine learning, and human-computer interaction.
Design and Construction of an Eco-House
This interdisciplinary course is a real-world collaborative multi-year project that connects various departments, courses, and independent study projects on a college campus. Using the client/consultant model, students from several departments and a wide range of environmental backgrounds come together to explore the design of an efficient future student house on campus. Over a couple of years, students research and test building designs, energy for heating and power, natural flows of available
Calibrated Peer Review: Introduction - Why Study Geology?
In this activity, students read an article entitled "Why Study Geology?", then write an essay addressing points listed in the Writing Prompt. After this, students are introduced to the process of Calibrated Peer Review and evaluate their papers. On this Starting Point page, users can access information about the exercise's learning goals, context for use, teaching notes and tips, teaching materials, assessment ideas, references and topics covered.
Digital Durham
For many years scholars have recognized that late nineteenth-century Durham, North Carolina makes an ideal case study for examining emancipation, industrialization, immigration, and urbanization in the context of the New South. "With its tobacco factories, textile mills, black entrepreneurs, and new college," the historian Syd Nathans observes, "Durham was a hub of enterprise and hope." By the early twentieth century, Durham became renowned for its vibrant entrepreneurial spirit. Both W.E.B. Du
How language works - The cognitive science of linguistics
Students studying linguistics and other language sciences for the first time often have misconceptions about what they are about and what they can offer them. They may think that linguists are authorities on what is correct and what is incorrect in a given language. But linguistics is the science of language; it treats language and the ways people use it as phenomena to be studied much as a geologist treats the earth. Linguists want to figure out how language works. They are no more in the busin
Bad blood - A case study of the Tuskegee syphilis project
Syphilis is a venereal disease spread during sexual intercourse. It can also be passed from mother to child during pregnancy. It is caused by a corkscrew-shaped bacterium called a spirochete, Treponema pallidum. This microscopic organism resides in many organs of the body but causes sores or ulcers (called chancres) to appear on the skin of the penis, vagina, mouth, and occasionally in the rectum, or on the tongue, lips, or breast. During sex the bacteria leave the sores of one person and enter
Reading for Philosophical Inquiry
In this introduction to philosophical thinking, we will read some essays specially chosen from four main areas of interest: (1) the philosophy of life, (2) the philosophy of religion, (3) ethics, and (4) metaphysics and theory of knowledge. Although our approach is not comprehensive, it is reasonably representative of some of the more significant areas of philosophical inquiry. The readings are intended to illustrate the interrelations between these subject areas of philosophy and, as well, to p
Discrimination, Distrust, and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence Among a
Objective: Although discriminatory health care experiences and health care provider distrust have been shown to be associated with health care disparities, little is known about their contribution to racial/ethnic disparities in antiretroviral therapy adherence. We therefore sought to assess the extent to which discriminatory health care experiences and health care provider distrust influence treatmentrelated attitudes, beliefs, and self-reported adherence in a national sample of HIV-infected pa
Racial Differences in Cardiac Catheterization as a Function of Patients’ Beliefs
Objectives. We examined racial differences in cardiac catheterization rates and reviewed whether patients’ beliefs or other variables were associated with observed disparities.
Methods. We did a prospective observational cohort study of 1045 White and African American patients at 5 Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers whose nuclear imaging studies indicated reversible cardiac ischemia.
Results. There were few demographic differences between White and African American patients in our sample.
The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means
In the midst of the worst financial upheaval since the Great Depression, George Soros explores the origins of the crisis and its implications for the future. Soros, whose breadth of experience in financial markets is unrivalled, places the current crisis in the context of decades of study of how individuals and institutions handle the boom and bust cycles that now dominate global economic activity. 'This is a once in lifetime moment', says Soros in characterising the scale of financial distress
Where Now For the United States After the Election?
The 2008 race for the White House has been the most exciting in recent American history. But will it make much difference to the United States and the rest of the world who wins: Obama or McCain? Michael Cox is a professor of international relations at LSE. Jessica Mathews is president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Rob Singh is a fellow of the RSA and an associate fellow of the Institute for the Study of the Americas.
Human Security in an Age of Turbulence
Mary Kaldor is a prolific author who has written widely on a range of key issues over the years ranging from the 'Baroque Arsenal' (1982) a study that challenged the logic of militarism and the belief that more weapons meant more security, through to her groundbreaking 'New Wars'(1999) a book that reveals the new forms that organized violence will take in the 21st century. Mary Kaldor today is one of the most influential and respected alternative voices in the field of applied international poli
Learning How to Cite Judith Butler
This lecture explores the production of critical value and competency in contemporary feminist theory. Robyn Wiegman is Professor of Women's Studies and Literature and former Director of the Women's Studies Program at Duke from 2001-2007. Her publications include American Anatomies: Theorizing Race and Gender (1995), Who Can Speak: Identity and Critical Authority (1995), Feminism Beside Itself (1995), AIDS and the National Body (1997), The Futures of American Studies (2002), and Women's Studies
Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn't Buy Presents for Christmas
Christmas is a time of seasonal cheer, family get-togethers, holiday parties, and-gift giving. BUT – How many of us get gifts we like? How many of us give gifts not knowing what recipients want? Waldfogel illustrates how our consumer spending generates vast amounts of economic waste—over £50 billion each winter. He provides solid explanations to show us why it's time to stop the madness and think twice before we start on our Christmas shopping extravaganza. When we buy for ourselves, every
You are not a gadget
Something started to go wrong with the digital revolution at the start of the 21st century. Individual creativity has begun to go out of fashion and people are being restricted to what can be represented on a computer. Are we deadening the human experience? Jaron Lanier delivers a call to arms in support of the human and reflects on the good and bad developments in design 20 years after the invention of the web.
HIV/AIDS In Uganda: How Anti-Retrovirals Change People's Lives.
Until only a few years ago, an AIDS diagnosis in Africa was seen as the harbinger of an inevitable and lingering death. In rich countries, anti-retroviral therapy has made AIDS a manageable condition for most infected people. The challenge has been to provide such treatment in resource constrained settings, particularly in Africa. In a unique study combining sophisticated quantitative and qualitative analysis, Antonieta Medina Lara and Barbara Nyanzi-Wakholi examine the way that the roll out of
Entrepreneurial Strategy and Assessment
This course provides a continuation of the CUSB Entrepreneurial Studies Concentration. The course objectives focus on critical analysis of opportunity assessment and entrepreneurial strategy. Specifically, the course covers analysis of the strategic challenges involved in the initiation, evolution, development, and control of entrepreneurial ventures. Course activities will primarily involve the investigation of: (a) critical issues facing leaders of entrepreneurial firms, (b) proposed solution,
