Course Descriptions
15-100 Introductory Programming 10 units
An introduction to the process of program design and analysis using the Java programming language for students who have NO prior programming experience. Topics to be covered include basic data types and their operators, I/O, control structures (selection, loops), classes (including methods and fields), arrays, and simple sorting and searching algorithms.
15-200 Advanced Programming 9 units
This course assumes prior programming experience in Java (at the level of 15-100) and is designed to expand students' knowledge of computer science and sharpen their programming skills through the implementation of a large project. The course extends object-oriented programming techniques begun in 15-100 and covers data aggregates, data structures (e.g., linked lists, stacks, queues, trees, and graphs), and an introduction to the analysis of algorithms that operate on those data structures.
21-120 Differential & Integral Calculus 10 units
Functions, limits, derivatives, logarithmic, exponential, and trigonometric functions, inverse functions; L'Hospital's Rule, curve sketching, Mean Value Theorem, related rates, linear and quadratic approximations, maximum-minimum problems, inverse functions, definite and indefinite integrals, and hyperbolic functions; applications of integration, integration by substitution and by parts.
21-256 Multivariate Analysis 9 units
Taylor's Theorem; geometric sequences and series and their applications in compound interest; vectors and matrices, lines, and planes; partial derivatives, directional derivatives, gradient, chain rule, maximum-minimum problems, Lagrange multipliers and the Kuhn-Tucker Theorem.
21-257 Models/Methods Optimization 9 units
Introduces basic methods of operations research and is intended primarily for Business Administration and Economics majors. Review of linear systems; linear programming, including the simplex algorithm, duality, and sensitivity analysis; the transportation problem; the critical path method; the knapsack problem, traveling salesman problem, and an introduction to set covering models.
36-207 Probability/Statistics for Business 9 units
This is the first half of a year long sequence in basic statistical methods that are used in business and management. Topics include exploratory and descriptive techniques, elementary probability theory, statistical inference in simple settings, basic categorical analysis, and statistical methods for quality control.
70-100 Introduction to Business 9 units
This course provides an overview of the functional areas of business and how they contribute to the management of a firm. It places business within the broader context of business history, business ethics, and the role of business in various world cultures.
70-122 Introduction to Accounting 9 units
This course provides the knowledge and skills necessary for the student to understand financial statements and financial records and make use of the information for management and investment decisions. Topics include an overview of financial statements and business decisions; the balance sheet, the income statement, and the cash flow statement; sales revenue, receivables, and cash; cost of goods sold and inventory; long-lived assets and depreciation, and amortization; current and long-term liabilities; owners? equity; investments in other corporations; an introduction to financial statement analysis; and international issues dealing with financial statements.
70-208 Regression Analysis 9 units
The theory and applications of multivariate regression and time series analysis, with particular emphasis on business applications.
70-251 Economic Theory 9 units
Course content under review
70-311 Organizational Behavior 9 units
This course examines the factors, which influence individual, group, and firm behavior in the context of the work place. Topics covered include perception, group behavior, decision-making, motivation, leadership, and organizational design and change.
70-332 Business, Society, and Ethics 9 units
The course examines the political, social and legal environment of the firm, within and outside the United States. Topics include restrictive trade practices, laws and directors' responsibilities and liabilities, manufacturers' responsibilities and liabilities, securities regulation, environmental protection, intellectual property, labor unions, trade associations, employee rights and duties, the attorney-client relationship, advertising and the media, the role of regulatory agencies, multinational operations, dealing with bribery and corruption, values in a business society, societal implications of business policies and corporate social responsibility.
70-340 Business Communications 9 units
Business Communications develops and sharpens your written, oral, and interpersonal communication, introducing you to common forms of professional writing and speaking in specific business situations. The course explores crucial rhetorical issues that impact your ability to communicate and achieve your objectives as a business leader.
70-345 Oral Communications 9 units
In this course, students prepare, present, discuss, and critique the different oral presentations currently practiced in business. Topics include developing verbal and physical presence; planning presentations based on audience needs and expectations; projecting personal credibility, professionalism, and appropriate emotional responses; and using various multi-media technology. Assignments and cases will cover informative and persuasive presentations, which will vary from term to term and may include the following business talks: such as formal public introductions, explanation of policy and/or procedures; employee training sessions; state-of-the-company addresses; sales proposals; team-driven strategic plans; unfavorable annual reports; public interviews with a hostile press; budget proposals.
70-346 Written Communication 9 units
A course in the style and mechanics of composition. Written Communications aims to increase your confidence and facility as a professional writer. The course develops and sharpens your knowledge of writing standards and techniques, patterns of organization and development, strategies of structure and definition, principles of classical rhetoric and processes of revision. Through close reading, detailed language analysis, and repeated, guided practice in composition, Written Communications prepares you for the writing you will do in your professional career; the identification, construction and exploration of issues and ideas, crafted with the best possible means of support and expression and the most effective means of persuasion, given your purpose and audience.
70-365 International Trade/Law 9 units
The course discusses the international legal system and laws that affect international trade. It covers the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, treaties and concessions, shipping and customs, appointment of foreign sales agents, resolution of trade disputes, international mergers and joint ventures, international competition law, UN sales convention, international trade organizations (IMF, WTO, World Bank, etc.), risk insurance, cultural factors, international E-Commerce and intellectual property.
70-371 Production 1 9 units
An introduction to production and operations management that covers both manufacturing and services. It deals with design and planning issues (capacity and location planning, facility layout) as well as operational issues (inventory management, material requirements planning, scheduling, project management). It also discusses such recent developments as computer integrated manufacturing, flexible manufacturing systems, and just-in-time inventory systems. The linkage between strategy and tactics and the role of integrated systems will be emphasized. The students will learn concepts and tools that shall help them to manage from the "boardroom" to the "toolroom".
70-381 Marketing 1 9 units
An introduction to the nature and fundamentals of marketing. Topics include an analysis of the factors influencing buyer behavior, marketing research, market segmentation, development of marketing strategies (new product, price, advertising and distribution decisions), and international marketing.
70-391 Finance 1 9 units
The course examines the role of the financial manager in the overall management and control of a firm. Stress is placed on the use of analytical models for improving the decision-making process. Both the short-term management of working capital and the long-term planning of capital structure and investment strategy are covered.
70-401 Management Game 9 units
This is an applied strategy class that focuses on the implementation of a strategy using a simulation as a framework. The course is designed to integrate the concepts and techniques studied earlier in the curriculum, into a unified, general management framework. The course has 3 main educational objectives: 1.) to give the student a dynamic competitive environment in which to experiment, 2.) to teach strategic planning as a process with an implementation focus, 3.) to learn to cooperate within a high performance team. Students are divided into teams of 5 or 6 managers and given the task of operating a computer synthesized company for 3 simulated years. At the end of each year, the manage students report to a board of directors who review performance, set compensation, approve future plans and provide shareholder oversight. Students are graded based on metrics similar to real executives: 1.) ability to achieve objectives, 2.) value creation for shareholders, 3.) creation of competitive advantage, 4.) accumulation of personal wealth.
70-430 International Management 9 units
This course is designed to familiarize the student with the problems and opportunities involved in operating a business that spans national borders. It addresses recent developments in world trade, changes in international investment patterns, the world financial environment, business policy and strategy for firms competing in the global marketplace, and theory behind international business. Issues in managing cross-cultural differences, global marketing, multinational finance, accounting, and taxation are also examined.
70-451 Management Information Systems 9 units
The objectives of this course are to provide students with basic knowledge of the technology used in computer-based information systems and to enable them to acquire the skills for analyzing how to manage this technology in business. There is a strong emphasis on how to become both an intelligent user of information systems and also an effective participant in the design process of these systems.
70-480 International Marketing 9 units
Course content under review
73-100 Principles of Economics 9 units
An introductory course in the development and use of economic tools for analysis of public policy issues. The course begins with an introduction to the central problem of organizing an economy and allocating resources, emphasizing an overview of the market system in a private enterprise economy. Demand and supply analysis and the elements of long-run competitive equilibrium are developed. This is followed by an analysis of the foundations of consumer behavior which determine market supply and demand. The course concludes with an examination of cases in which the competitive paradigm does not hold (monopoly, oligopoly), and a consideration of the problem of multi-market equilibrium in a private enterprise economy. In addition to serving as an introduction to economic analysis, the course is also intended to provide the necessary methodological basis for students who go on to take courses in intermediate economic analysis.
73-200 Macroeconomics 9 units
A calculus-based introduction to modern macroeconomics. The objective of this course is to develop a practical understanding of the global economy with special emphasis on the impact of macroeconomic developments on international financial markets and business. Topics include aggregation and measurement, national income accounting and the aggregate resource constraint, long-run economic growth, short-run business cycle fluctuations, the role of money and financial markets, and government monetary and fiscal policies. Students are assumed to have a good grasp of single-variable calculus, but not necessarily any more advanced mathematics. Ideas of multi-variate calculus (such as partial derivatives) are introduced as needed and taught in the context of economic theory.
76-099 Academic English 9 units
Course content under review
76-100 Academic English 2 9 units
Course content under review
76-101 Interpretation and Argument 9 units
This course will give students a comprehensive grounding in communication processes. The class focuses on the way in which interpretive areguments in the processes of communication and social and personal development. In the class, students will deveop these skills by reading and understanding the important issues and arguments regarding those issues advanced by a variety of texts, both fiction and non-fiction. They will then be asked to respond to these positions by developing positions of their own, in their writing and in their speaking. The course thus serves as an introduction to the discourse and arguments of the academic community, as well as serving as an introduction to some of the broader issues that the academic community address.
76-274 The Writer's Craft 9 units
This course is designed to develop students' fluency with major patterns of English prose, patterns that underlie the range of genres of English (e.g., journals profiles, plays, histories, fiction, exposition, scientific writing, technical writing, instructions, computer documentation, business policy, and argument). Students learn how mastery of these patterns creates powerful experiences for readers, and learn to recognize, discuss, and produce these patterns in a supportive and friendly workshop atmosphere. Grammar and word choice are not taught as isolated exercises but in the context of work-shopping students papers. Students learn from this method that language "errors" (in grammar, word choice, sentence arrangement, and paragraph arrangement) are best noticed and treated as "bumps" that hinder the reader's understanding or enjoyment of the text.
The workshop is organized around seven structured writing projects (Self-Portrait, Observer Portrait, Scenic Writing, Narrative History Writing, Information Writing, Instruction, and Argument). Each assignment is introduced as a mini-lesson. Students learn from this lesson the challenge of the assignment and why they are likely to need multiple drafts to complete it. Students then will submit and workshop their drafts in class.
By the end of the class students should feel comfortable with and gain competence in composing English texts across the main varieties of English prose.
79-104 Introduction to World History 9 units
Introduction to World History challenges students to think analytically about the major historical processes that shaped and continue to shape cultures and civilizations. The course is based on a series of case studies that focus on shifting power relations between and within civilizations. Three major themes connect the several topics discussed throughout the semester: issues of authority and inequality within civilizations; encounters and conflicts between civilizations; and patterns of continuity and change across space and time. The course demonstrates how historians explain what has happened in the past and in various civilizations and cultures; presents the kinds of evidence that historians use to reconstruct the past; and examines the interpretations historians make based on this evidence. The semester begins with a consideration of the rich culture of medieval Iberia and then moves on to discuss: the encounters between the "old" world and the "new"; the emergence of a transatlantic society; industrialization in Europe and China; environmental imperialism in India; and tradition and modernity in post-colonial Africa.
79-299 US-Arab Encounters US & the Arab World 9 units
What is the nature of the relationship between the United States and the Arab countries of the Middle East? This is an innovative cross-cultural course that will enable CMU students in Pittsburgh and at the CMU campus in Qatar to interact with one another and with students at other American and Arab universities in exploring the US-Arab relationship, with the goal of improving awareness and understanding.
Students will delve into themes and questions within an interdisciplinary framework that includes history, international relations, conflict resolution and media studies. Topics range from the role of religion in society to an investigation of the part media plays in our understanding of US and Arab perceptions of each other and of events. CMU students in Pittsburgh and Qatar will utilize the newest web-camera and videoconferencing for the traditional in-class part of the course and enjoy a chance to work collaboratively on multimedia projects and other assignments with students elsewhere in the US and the Arab world via an on-line discussion forum.
The most innovative feature of the course will be the Soliya program, which will connect students in the United States and the Middle East for real time discussion sections and on-line project collaboration on issues concerning modern US- Middle East relations. Schools participating in the program will include Tufts, Harvard, Clark, Virginia Commonwealth, Birzeit, Qatar, American University of Cairo, American University of Beirut, and the Philadelphia University (Jordan). Students in the Qatar course can expect to interact with students from many if not all of these schools during the Soliya portion of the course. For more complete information on Soliya, please see www.soliya.net.
Students registering for this class should be prepared for a substantial time commitment. There will be two lecture/discussion classes per week, meeting at 3:30-4:50 until October 30th, and then 4:30-5:50 after the 30th, in order to take account for American daylight savings time. All Ramadan classes will be from 3:30-4:50. In addition, students will participate in the Soliya program for 2 hours/week, at times the students themselves determine out of a list of available times (the students may participate in the Soliya program from a home computer if they choose to do so).
80-150 Nature of Reason 9 units
This course offers an intellectual history of philosophical views regarding the nature of human reasoning in mathematics and the sciences, from ancient to modern times. The first part of the course traces the search for deductive methods for obtaining certain knowledge, starting with Aristotle and Euclid, and continuing through the Middle Ages and late Renaissance thought, to the work of Boole and Frege in the nineteenth century. The second part of the course considers the history of skepticism about empirical knowledge, covering Plato, Sextus Empiricus, Descartes, Pascal, and Hume, along with replies to skepticism in the works of Bayes and Kant. The third part of the course discusses theories of the nature of mind, culminating in the computational conception of mind that underlies contemporary cognitive science.
88-205 Comparative Politics 9 units
The aim of the course is to discuss, analyze and compare democratic, totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. Each of the models will be analyzed both from a theoretical and a practical perspective emphasizing the rights and obligations of the individual, the form in which the government functions and the process through which countries arrive at a particular form of government. The course will focus on British democracy, Nazi Germany, and Chile's authoritarianism. The course will conclude with an analysis of current processes of democratization and transition to capitalism. No prerequisites. This course fulfills DCR2 of the H&SS General Education Program.
