The delay in the online publication of this year’s Yale College course catalog has new and old students alike scratching their heads and shaking their fists.

Last summer, the course catalog for the 2013-’14 academic year appeared on the Yale University Online Course Information website on July 10. Two weeks past this date, the catalog is still nowhere to be found.

Earlier today, newly instated Yale College Dean Jonathan Holloway sent an email to the class of 2018 and new transfer students saying, “The Yale College Programs of Study, also known as the blue book, will soon to be available online.”

The following message was posted on the the Classes v2 website regarding this year’s course sites:

“Creation of the Fall 2014 course sites has been rescheduled to the end of July.Unfortunately, the data we need for the Fall 2014 course site creation process has been delayed due to a system change at the Registrar’s office. As soon as we get this data we can proceed with the creation of the course sites.

We are very sorry for the inconvenience. We hope to have the course sites available as soon as possible. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns at classes2@yale.edu.

Thank you,The Classes*v2 Support Team”

In the meantime, students have expressed discontent with the delay on various social media platforms. In the Class of 2018 Facebook group, one new student posted an image of a fake “missing” notice for the Blue Book, joking that it has been missing since “early July 2014.” The poster, which has been liked over 220 times, advises those with information about the Blue Book to “CONTACT THE OFFICIAL CLASS OF 2018 PAGE.”

The News has amassed the following incomplete course listing from department- and major-specific emails and websites:

African-American Studies

AFAM 254: “Engaging Archives of Black Atlantic Slavery”, Heather Vermeulen

 

Art

Art course listings may be found here.

 

Computer Science

Fall-term courses

CPSC 112:  Introduction to Programming, Daniel Abadi (MWF 10:30-11:20)

CPSC 150:  Computer Science and the Modern Intellectual Agenda, David Gelernter (MW  11:35-12:50)

CPSC 183:  Introduction to Law, Technology, and Culture, Brad Rosen (MW   4:00- 5:15)

CPSC 201: Introduction to Computer Science, Holly Rushmeier (MWF 10:30-11:20)

CPSC 202: Mathematical Tools for Computer Science, Dana Angluin (TTh  1:00- 2:15)

CPSC 323: Introduction to Systems Programming and Computer Organization, Stanley Eisenstat  (MW   1:00- 2:15)

CPSC 424*: Parallel Programming Techniques, Andrew Sherman (TTh 11:35-12:50)

CPSC 426*: Building Decentralized Systems, Bryan Ford (MW   1:00- 2:15)

CPSC 428*: Language-Based Security, Zhong Shao (TTh  2:30- 3:45)

CPSC 4xy+ TBA, Ruzica Piskac, (TTh  1:00- 2:15)

CPSC 445: Introduction to Data Mining, Vladimir Rokhlin (MW   1:00- 2:15)

CPSC 467: Cryptography and Computer Security, Michael Fischer (MW   2:30- 3:45)

CPSC 469*: Randomized Algorithms, James Aspnes (MW  11:35-12:50)

CPSC 470: Artificial Intelligence, Drew McDermott (MWF 10:30-11:20)

CPSC 475: Computational Vision and Biological, Steven Zucker (TTh  2:30- 3:45)

Perception+  New course

*  Most likely not offered in 2015-2016

Spring-term courses

CPSC 112: Introduction to Programming, Bryan Ford  (MWF 11:35-12:25)

CPSC 151: The Graphical User Interface: DOS to Windows to What?, David Gelernter (MW  11:35-12:50)

CPSC 185: Control, Privacy, and Technology, Brad Rosen (F    3:30- 5:20)

CPSC 201: Introduction to Computer Science, Dana Angluin (MWF 11:35-12:25)

CPSC 223: Data Structures and Programming Techniques, James Aspnes (MW   1:00- 2:15)

CPSC 365:  Design and Analysis of Algorithms, Daniel Spielman (TTh  2:30- 3:45)

CPSC 421: Compilers and Interpreters, Zhang Shao (MW   1:00- 2:15)

CPSC 431*: Computer Music: Algorithmic and Heuristic Composition, Paul Hudak (MW   2:30- 3:45)

CPSC 438: Database System Implementation and Architectures, Daniel Abadi (MW   2:30- 3:45)

CPSC 439: Software Engineering, Ruzica Piskac (MW  11:35-12:50)

CPSC 440: Numerical Computation, Vladimir Rokhlin (MW   1:00- 2:15)

CPSC 4xy+: TBA, Michael Fischer (TTh  1:00- 2:15)

CPSC 468: Computational Complexity, Joan Feigenbaum (TTh  2:30- 3:45)

CPSC 472: Intelligent Robotics, Brian Scassellati  (MWF 10:30-11:20)

CPSC 476*: Advanced Computational Vision, Steven Zucker (TTh  2:30- 3:45)

CPSC 478: Computer Graphics, Julie Dorsey (TTh  1:00- 2:15)

+  New course

*  Most likely not offered in 2015-2016

 

East Asian Studies

East Asian Studies courses may be found here on the Council on East Asian Studies website.

 

Economics

Economics course listings may be found here on the Department of Economics website.

 

Ethics Politics & Economics

EPE 222, Theories of Political Institutions, Seok-ju Cho

The purpose of this course is to provide students with a systematic understanding of political institutions so that they are able to develop their own ideas and thoughts on institutional choices and reform. The subjects belong to the fields of analytical theory and comparative politics.We will begin with a survey of various normative criteria to evaluate political institutions by. We then will discuss positive theories of political institutions, focusing on rational choice institutionalism. Lastly, we will compare different political systems in the current world with respect to their institutional performances. About two thirds of the course will be devoted to positive theories. The format will be a mixture of lecture and discussions.

EPE 230, Ethics and Commerce-Self-Interest and its Critics, Andrew Sabl

The course will discuss what self-interest is; how, if at all, we can distinguish self-interest from other motives for behavior; and whether and when society is better off relying on self-interest compared to other motives. Classic readings from 17th through 20th centuries as well as current debates on economic rationality, rational choice in political science, and philosophical ethics. Readings include Pierre Nicole, Mandeville, Hutcheson, Hume, Smith, Sidgwick, Becker, Elster, Hirshman, and Sen.

EPE 295, Game Theory and Political Science, Deborah Beim

Introduction to game theory—a method by which strategic interactions among individuals and groups in society are mathematically modeled—and its applications to political science. Concepts employed by game theorists, such as Nash equilibrium, subgame perfect equilibrium, and perfect Bayesian equilibrium. Problems of cooperation, time consistency, signaling, and reputation formation. Political applications include candidate competition, policy making, political bargaining, and international conflict.

EPE 242, Politics and Markets, Peter Swenson

Examination of the interplay between market and political processes in different substantive realms, time periods, and to a limited extent, other countries. Substantive focuses include three institutional pillars of modern capitalism: property, the corporation, and banking. Investigation of the politics in areas such as product and service markets, agriculture, labor markets and the welfare state, torts and liability, health care, and finance. An primary analytic focus is on the economic motives of interest groups and coalitions in the political process. Important contemporary issues include corporate personhood and speech in the political process, health care reform, and the role of deregulation in the recent financial crisis.

EPE 245, Global Firms and National Governments, Joseph LaPalombara

This seminar addresses aspects of multinational, or global, firms that create challenges for public policy makers. Among thousands of such firms, a few hundred account for over 90% of the twenty trillion dollars in foreign direct investments made around the world. These investments have come to constitute as well more than fifty per cent of contemporary foreign trade. These magnitudes are reflected in both the political influence such firms exercise everywhere and, equally important, in the problems they create, all of which, at every level of government require official attention. These challenges become more complex as powerful global firms continue to emerge from once-dependent and less-developed countries—such as China, India, Brazil and others. In effect, lawmakers essentially everywhere are required to debate and enact public policies designed to keep some of the activities engaged in by these giant firms under public scrutiny and (presumably) public control. The first four weeks of the course will provide an overview of the major aspects of the above phenomena, with special attention paid to the behavior of multinational firms as they relate to the less-developed countries. The remainder of the semester will focus on case studies, and related readings, which involve actual situations about which students will analyze, evaluate and draw conclusions. The underlying problem that runs through all of these cases and discussions is the complex relationship between State and Market.

EPE 246, The Politics of Development Assistance, David Simon

Study of development assistance, a dominant feature of the political economies of some of the world’s poorest countries. The motivations and politics of aid from donors’ perspectives; the political and economic impact of aid on developing countries. Proposals to make aid a more effective instrument of development.

EPE 250, The Euorpean Union, David Cameron

This course will examine the institutions, politics, and policy process of the European Union, the relations between the EU, its member states, and the citizens of those states, and the contemporary challenges facing the EU. Among the topics to be considered are the reasons why the European Community was created, why it and the EU have evolved as they have, the continuing process of enlargement, the relations among the institutions of the EU and between those institutions, the member states, and European citizens, the existence of a “”democratic deficit”” and the challenge of strengthening the democratic legitimacy of the EU, the challenges posed by immigration and the rise of xenophobic and euroskeptic politics, those posed by the recent eurozone debt crisis, and the role of the EU as a regional and global actor and, related to that, the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

EPE 287, Liberty in Politics, Markets and Society, Andrew Sabl

Key questions regarding liberty explored through critical examination of classic texts by Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Smith, Tocqueville, and Mill. The definition, origins, and foundations of liberty; whether liberty in some realms might require the restriction of liberty in others.

EPE 290, Democracy, Development and Security in the Korean Peninsula, Seok-ju Cho

This seminar is designed to provide in depth knowledge on the issues of economic development, political regime change, and security in the Korean peninsula. The focus is on topics that are important in the current politics of South and North Korea. We will investigate different strategies of economic development adopted by the two states and their consequences in light of economic theories. We will discuss political regime changes in the two states applying theories of democratization. We will examine international relations issues such as denuclearization, peace-keeping, and reunification.

EPE 312, Moral Choices in Politics, Boris Kapustin

A study of how and why people make costly moral choices in politics. Figures studied include Thomas More, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Václav Havel, and Aung San Suu Kyi.

EPE 380, Bioethics, Politics, and Economics, Stephen Latham

This is essentially a “topics” course in biomedical ethics, but with a twist: for each topic examined, we will look not only at the main ethical arguments surrounding the topic, but also at the way in which debate on the topic has been mobilized politically, and/or at the economic impact of resolving the moral question one way or another. Take embryonic stem-cell research, for example: We will consider a number of the moral arguments concerning the permissibility of various kinds of embryonic and related stem-cell research—but we will also consider the political rhetoric connected to stem-cell research (e.g., in political advertising), as well as the validity of various claims made about the economic promise of state investment in embryonic stem-cell research. Topics to be covered this year include: US abortion politics and its history, embryonic stem cell research, commercialized subject-enrollment in international biomedical research, the politics and economics of assisted suicide, the assisted reproduction market, and the possibility of establishing a market for organs for transplantation.

EPE 447, Global Journalism, National Identity, James Sleeper

Thursdays, 1:30 -3:20 pm. Location to be announced.

EPE 466, Children’s Law and Policy, Alexandra Dufresne

Major themes and controversies in children’s law and policy in the United States. Topics include juvenile justice, child abuse and neglect, special education, and the rights of immigrant and refugee children. Development of skills in legal reasoning, analysis, and policy design.

EPE 472, Ethnic Conflict, Nicholas Sambanis

This course explains ethnic conflict, focusing on its violent forms, especially ethnic civil war. There have been about 180 civil wars and many more episodes of lower-intensity armed conflict since 1945. Many of those conflicts have been fought along ethnic lines. Antipathies and competition between ethnic groups are a constant feature of human history. Empirical evidence (including experiments) across societies shows a human tendency for in-group bias and out-group prejudice. Some theorists have posited that humans are hard-wired to dislike –and even fight against— members of out-groups. Ethnic out-groups are especially prone to generate such reactions. We will consider the reasons for such behavior and review the dominant explanations for ethnic conflict, putting them in empirical context by analyzing several contemporary cases of ethnic war. We will review major databases of ethnic conflict spanning more than 50 years and try to explain empirically why ethnic conflicts start and how they might end. Is ethnic conflict rooted in economics (poverty; growth decline; commodity price shocks; dependence on mineral wealth) or in politics (exclusion from governance; repression of human and civic rights; authoritarianism)? When societies experience large-scale violent ethnic conflict, how can they return to stable peace? Does the experience of ethnic violence create wounds that stay open, dividing people permanently or are there institutional solutions that can bring people back together? We will address these questions and many others with reference to actual cases of ethnic war, focusing especially on one historical case (Bosnia) and one case of active ethnic conflict (Iraq). Assigned readings are a mix of classic sources and cutting-edge research from political science, economics, and sociology. The course should help students acquire an in-depth understanding of the problem of ethnic conflict and consider some of its solutions.

EPE 276, Rethinking Sovereignty, Seyla Benhabib

Discussion of the crises of sovereignty and the end of sovereignty. Postnationalist, cosmopolitan, and neoliberal criticisms of sovereignty. Traditional models of sovereignty compared with cosmopolitan alternatives; implications of these models for the definition and enforcement of rights. Readings include works by Hobbes, Kant, Rousseau, Austin, Schmitt, Kelsen, Habermas, Waldron, Pogge, Sassen, and Aleinikoff.

 

History

Fall seminars can be found here.

 

History of Science and Medicine

Offerings may be found on the program website.

 

Residential College Seminars

Seminar descriptions may be found on the Yale College website.

 

Philosophy

Courses are listed on the department website, found here.

 

WESLEY YIIN