An Interdepartmental Program in Business

(1-99) Primarily for Undergraduate Students

BUS 1a Business Fundamentals of Finance, Consulting, and Tech
[ ss ]

Does not meet the requirements for the major or minor in business.

Designed to equip students with business sector knowledge and strategic thinking skills essential for a critical understanding of three popular business sectors: finance, consulting, and technology. We will focus on developing differentiated business and market analytics tools to construct a thorough understanding of these large and vibrant sectors of the business world. In addition, students will learn techniques and frameworks to help them navigate and parse these sectors with the goal of assisting the students in their own search for business areas that can inspire and motivate them in pursuit of their individual vision of personal satisfaction and societal impact. Usually offered every year.

BUS 6a Financial Accounting
[ dl ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a with a grade of C- or higher.

Develops basic concepts and accounts and applies them to income measurement, capital values, and costs. Through the use of cases, develops the basis for rational choice and control of business activity. Usually offered every semester in multiple sections.

BUS 10a Business Fundamentals
[ dl ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a. BUS 6a may be taken concurrently with BUS 10a.

Introduces the internal complexity of modern businesses and the various roles they play in society. First examines the internal workings of firms--marketing, operations, finance, and other functions. Subsequently, the relationships between businesses and their context--the economy, social issues, and government are studied. Usually offered every semester in multiple sections.

BUS 47a Business Communication
[ oc ss wi ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a and BUS 10a. Enrollment limited to Business Majors.

Success in today's competitive corporate world stems from an individual's strong communication skills. As a future professional, you will be asked to organize, develop, and deliver concise presentations and write business specific that meet a range target audiences' needs in a variety of business contexts. This course will help you prepare and develop your written, oral, visual, and digital communication skills, as well as your critical and analytical thinking skills. Emphasis will focus on real business cases, my personal business experiences, and communication styles and techniques represented in the business community. By the end of this class, you will understand how to communicate professionally using various business communication techniques and applications based on the audience you are communicating with and in what context through practice and feedback from both professor and peers will be an important part of this course. Usually offered every year.

BUS 51a Introduction to Data Analytics with Excel
[ dl qr ss ]

Prerequisite: Bus 6a. May not be taken for credit by students who took BUS 51b in prior years.

Teaches students how to analyze data, how to create data visualizations, and how to use data for basic inference. The course is taught using Microsoft Excel, thus allowing students to also learn the most common piece of software used in the workplace to analyze business data. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 98a Independent Study

Does not meet the requirements for the major or minor in Business. Signature of the instructor required.

Normally available for a student who has taken a course and wishes to pursue further reading or research in that field or study a subject not listed among the department course offerings. Usually offered every year.

BUS 98b Independent Study

Yields half-course credit. Does not meet the requirements for the major or minor in Business. Signature of the instructor required.

Normally available for a student who has taken a course and wishes to pursue further reading or research in that field or study a subject not listed among the department course offerings. Usually offered every year.

BUS 99a Senior Research

Independent research and writing under faculty direction for the purpose of a senior Business honors project. Usually offered every fall.

BUS 99b Senior Project

Completion and submission of a senior Business honors project. Usually offered every spring.

(100-199) For Both Undergraduate and Graduate Students

BUS 109a Human Psychology and Financial Decision Making
[ ss ]

Prerequisites: ECON 2a or 10a, in addition to BUS 71a, Fin 103a, or ECON 171a.

Behavioral Economics and Finance applies insights from psychology to understand the observed behavior of people and markets. It is traditional in economics and finance to assume that economic agents are 'perfectly rational,' meaning they make decisions in accordance with logic and statistics textbooks, they see the world accurately, they have perfect recall, and they are perfectly selfish. This approach has provided insights of great practical value and explains a lot of what we know about financial markets and corporate decisions, but it leaves much of the real world unexplained. Why do stock prices, house prices, and exchange rates sometimes go through bubbles, rising far higher than justified by fundamentals and then crashing? Why do retail investors trade too much, and why don't they diversify enough? Why don't people save enough for retirement? Usually offered every other year.

BUS 111a Business Analytics
[ ss ]

Prerequisites: BUS 6a, BUS 10a and BUS 51a.

This course is about analyzing and interpreting data about markets and customers. It has been designed for managers who will be using data analytics, and so is intended for students wanting to go into marketing, finance, consulting, entrepreneurship, business strategy and operations management. Students who take this class will learn about the sorts of business decision problems in which research information is most useful, including problems related to pricing, target market selection, and new product introduction. Usually offered every year.

BUS 113a Intermediate Financial Accounting
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a.

Expands the understanding of accounting theory and evaluates the impact of alternative accounting procedures on financial statements. Topics covered include revenue recognition, accounting changes/errors, inventory measurement and valuation, long-lived assets acquisition, disposition, and impairment. Usually offered every year.

BUS 114a Managerial Accounting
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a.

Introduction to the principles, concepts, and methods of managerial accounting, including internal reporting used in planning, control, and decision making. Learn how organizations use this information to measure and control resources used in producing goods and providing services. Usually offered every year.

BUS 120a Organizational Behavior in Business
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a and BUS 10a. This course may not be taken for credit by students who have taken PSYC 150b.

Covers the fundamentals of organizational behavior, including topics like leadership, work motivation, organizational culture, organizational structure, group dynamics, perception, and decision-making in a global environment. Assignments include individual and group project analyses focused on topical business issues using course concepts. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 130a Entrepreneurship and Innovation
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a and BUS 10a.

Explores why, when, and how to start a new business venture. Includes identifying opportunities, gaining access to resources, and assembling a team with key skills. Uses lectures, case discussions, and outside speakers to introduce issues in both theory and practice. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 131a Fail Faster, Fail Smarter
[ ss ]

Can not be taken for credit by students who have taken BUS 233a previously.

The Innovation and Ideation Lab is a hands-on, feature development, customer and market driven course that teaches students how to take ideas from concept to market readiness. Designed to develop a product or service as with a customer in mind, emphasizing real-world testing and iterative prototyping. Students will work through structured ideation, market research, and hypothesis testing, culminating in a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). The course does not cover business models but focuses instead on customer engagement, MVP development, hypothesis testing, and early go-to-market strategy. Usually offered every year.

BUS 135a Introduction to Commercial Real Estate
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a and BUS 10a.

Provides students with the fundamentals of real estate investment analysis and examines major trends and current issues: affordable housing; preservations, conservation, and environmentalism; green construction; new urbanism and smart growth; and the meltdown in the capital markets. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 140a Sports Analytics
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BIOL 51a, BUS 51a, ECON 83a, ECON 210a, MATH 36a and Math 36b, or PSYC 51a, or equivalent.

The global sports industry has skyrocketed to a one-half trillion-dollar industry from the insatiable
appetite for spectators to consume, media to broadcast, leagues to produce, and merchandisers to
sell sports-related products. In addition, a social community has evolved through fantasy sports
leagues, group leagues, team-based fan experiences and social media. Finally, with the recent
legalization of sports betting, spectators can now actively wager on specific event outcomes and
individual performance. Usually offered every year.

BUS 152a Marketing Management
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a and BUS 10a. Corequisite: BUS 51a.

An introduction to key concepts in competitive strategy and marketing, which are used to help firms create, sustain, and capture value. Topics include industry analysis, competitive advantage, market identification, and marketing policies. Incorporates case studies, discussion method, team projects, and business research. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 153a Marketing Research
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 152a.

Marketing research is critical to business success in today's information economy. We will learn quantitative marketing research models and techniques for analyzing consumer behavior and marketing information. Topics include marketing segmentation, targeted promotion strategies, brand positioning, new produce design, and customer profitability. Usually offered every year.

BUS 154a Branding Strategy
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 152a with a grade C or higher, or BUS 252a with a grade of C+ or higher.

Examines the value of building, sustaining, and communicating a company's brand and its value
proposition through promotional activities and channels of distribution. A competitive, online
simulation is used to enhance case studies. Usually offered every year.

BUS 160a Competitive Strategy
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a and BUS 10a. BUS 152a is recommended.

Allows students to examine the challenges and opportunities of doing business globally using a few simple frameworks developed at Harvard Business School. Students will use such frameworks to think about the design and execution of successful strategies, in the US market, in emerging markets, in entrepreneurial firms and in social platforms. Usually offered every year.

BUS 172a Operations Management
[ ss ]

Prerequisites: BUS 6a and BUS 10a. Corequisite: BUS 51a.

Operations Management is the scientific study and optimization of the processes that organizations use to create the products/services purchased by their customers. Topics include process analysis, the impact of variability on process performance, quality management (lean production and six sigma), project management, inventory management, supply chain coordination, revenue management and operations strategy. Usually offered every year.

BUS 180a The Financial System
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 20a and either BUS 71a or ECON 171a.

Financial systems are centered on key institutions, instruments, and markets, but they also involve governments and public policy. If you have financial responsibilities in a private corporation or a consulting firm, or you are working directly in the financial systems for a commercial bank, investment bank, or an asset manager, it is essential that you understand how the entire financial system works. With that in mind, this course lays out the organizational structure of finance, what functions it serves and why. Usually offered every year.

FIN 103a Financial Management
[ dl ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a. Corequisite: BUS 51a. Cannot be taken for credit by students who have taken BUS 71a in previous years. Cannot be taken by students who have taken FIN 203a. Does not earn elective credit toward the Economics major or minor.

Introduces students to topics and methods in the field of finance. Covers how firms secure financing via equity and debt markets, valuation of stocks and bonds, fundamental analysis techniques, capital budgeting techniques, relationship of risk and return, and the time-value-of-money. Usually offered every semester.

FIN 104a Corporate Finance
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 71a, FIN 103a, or ECON 171a. Cannot be taken for credit by students who have taken BUS 117a, FIN 202a, or FIN 204a in previous years.

Develops greater depth of financial skills and logical thought processes necessary to formulate and implement business decisions in a global environment. Topics include firm valuation, capital structure and security issuances, payout policies, and corporate restructuring. Usually offered every year.

FIN 105a Investment and Portfolio Management
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: FIN 103a or BUS 71a. Cannot be taken for credit by students who have taken FIN 205a in previous years.

Provides a thorough grounding in portfolio management for students who are already familiar with financial markets. The first half of the course will cover Markowitz portfolio optimization, the Capital Asset Pricing Model, and the Arbitrage Pricing Theory. The lectures will cover the theories, and the
problem sets will teach you how to apply these theories to manage portfolios.

The second half of the course will deal with recent developments in portfolio management. We will be spending several weeks discussing what does and does not deliver extraordinary investment performance. We will also deal with special techniques employing derivatives to enhance performance as well as the Black-Scholes model. The final part discusses the evaluation of the performance of funds and fund managers and the impact of transaction costs. Usually offered every year

(200 and above) Primarily for Graduate Students

BUS 242a Predictive Modeling in Sports

Prerequisite: BUS 215f and ECON 210a. Co-requisite: BUS/FIN 241a. May not be taken for credit by students who have taken BUS 140a in the past.

Offers a general topic course on machine learning tools, and their implementation through Python, and the Python packages, Scikit Learn, Keras, TensorFlow, and the Natural Language Toolkit (NLT). The course is oriented heavily to applications in business and finance, giving students the tools needed to survive in the modern data analytics space. It is not intended as a deep theoretical approach to machine learning. Students will finish the class with a basic understanding of how to execute predictive analytic algorithms, as well as rigorously test their performance. The course is statistical in nature. Usually offered every year.

BUS 244a Generative AI Foundations for Business

Prerequisites: BUS 215f, ECON 210a, and one of the following: BUS 211a, or BUS 212a, or BUS/FIN 241a.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) focuses on systems that can create, manipulate, and understand content across various modalities including text, images, and structured data, and has the potential to transform business operations across sectors by learning patterns from vast amounts of data to generate new, contextually relevant content.

This course aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of generative AI technologies, architectures, and deployment strategies in business contexts. It is designed to equip students with both theoretical foundations and practical implementation skills that are grounded in real-world business applications. The primary objective is to help students develop the ability to identify business problems where Gen AI can create value, select appropriate AI architectures and models, and implement end-to-end solutions while considering business constraints. Usually offered every year.

BUS Core Courses

BUS 6a Financial Accounting
[ dl ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a with a grade of C- or higher.

Develops basic concepts and accounts and applies them to income measurement, capital values, and costs. Through the use of cases, develops the basis for rational choice and control of business activity. Usually offered every semester in multiple sections.

BUS 10a Business Fundamentals
[ dl ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a. BUS 6a may be taken concurrently with BUS 10a.

Introduces the internal complexity of modern businesses and the various roles they play in society. First examines the internal workings of firms--marketing, operations, finance, and other functions. Subsequently, the relationships between businesses and their context--the economy, social issues, and government are studied. Usually offered every semester in multiple sections.

BUS 51a Introduction to Data Analytics with Excel
[ dl qr ss ]

Prerequisite: Bus 6a. May not be taken for credit by students who took BUS 51b in prior years.

Teaches students how to analyze data, how to create data visualizations, and how to use data for basic inference. The course is taught using Microsoft Excel, thus allowing students to also learn the most common piece of software used in the workplace to analyze business data. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 120a Organizational Behavior in Business
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a and BUS 10a. This course may not be taken for credit by students who have taken PSYC 150b.

Covers the fundamentals of organizational behavior, including topics like leadership, work motivation, organizational culture, organizational structure, group dynamics, perception, and decision-making in a global environment. Assignments include individual and group project analyses focused on topical business issues using course concepts. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 152a Marketing Management
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a and BUS 10a. Corequisite: BUS 51a.

An introduction to key concepts in competitive strategy and marketing, which are used to help firms create, sustain, and capture value. Topics include industry analysis, competitive advantage, market identification, and marketing policies. Incorporates case studies, discussion method, team projects, and business research. Usually offered every semester.

ECON 2a A Survey of Economics
[ qr ss ]

Intended for students who are not Economics majors or minors. May not be taken for credit by students who took ECON 10a in prior years. Concurrent enrollment in ECON 10a is not allowed.

Introduces economic analysis with policy applications. The economist's approach to social analysis is systematically elaborated. Usually offered every semester.

ECON 10a Introduction to Microeconomics
[ qr ss ]

Intended for Economics majors and minors or students who intend to take more than one Economics course. Students who have taken ECON 2a and received a B+ or better cannot receive credit for this course, and concurrent enrollment in ECON 2a is not allowed. May not be taken for credit by students concurrently with or after they have taken ECON 80a.

Introduces the field of microeconomics, which is the study of how individuals and firms make decisions and how these decisions interact. Usually offered every semester.

FIN 103a Financial Management
[ dl ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a. Corequisite: BUS 51a. Cannot be taken for credit by students who have taken BUS 71a in previous years. Cannot be taken by students who have taken FIN 203a. Does not earn elective credit toward the Economics major or minor.

Introduces students to topics and methods in the field of finance. Covers how firms secure financing via equity and debt markets, valuation of stocks and bonds, fundamental analysis techniques, capital budgeting techniques, relationship of risk and return, and the time-value-of-money. Usually offered every semester.

BUS Digital Literacy

BUS 6a Financial Accounting
[ dl ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a with a grade of C- or higher.

Develops basic concepts and accounts and applies them to income measurement, capital values, and costs. Through the use of cases, develops the basis for rational choice and control of business activity. Usually offered every semester in multiple sections.

BUS 10a Business Fundamentals
[ dl ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a. BUS 6a may be taken concurrently with BUS 10a.

Introduces the internal complexity of modern businesses and the various roles they play in society. First examines the internal workings of firms--marketing, operations, finance, and other functions. Subsequently, the relationships between businesses and their context--the economy, social issues, and government are studied. Usually offered every semester in multiple sections.

BUS 51a Introduction to Data Analytics with Excel
[ dl qr ss ]

Prerequisite: Bus 6a. May not be taken for credit by students who took BUS 51b in prior years.

Teaches students how to analyze data, how to create data visualizations, and how to use data for basic inference. The course is taught using Microsoft Excel, thus allowing students to also learn the most common piece of software used in the workplace to analyze business data. Usually offered every semester.

FIN 103a Financial Management
[ dl ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a. Corequisite: BUS 51a. Cannot be taken for credit by students who have taken BUS 71a in previous years. Cannot be taken by students who have taken FIN 203a. Does not earn elective credit toward the Economics major or minor.

Introduces students to topics and methods in the field of finance. Covers how firms secure financing via equity and debt markets, valuation of stocks and bonds, fundamental analysis techniques, capital budgeting techniques, relationship of risk and return, and the time-value-of-money. Usually offered every semester.

BUS Oral Communication

BUS 47a Business Communication
[ oc ss wi ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a and BUS 10a. Enrollment limited to Business Majors.

Success in today's competitive corporate world stems from an individual's strong communication skills. As a future professional, you will be asked to organize, develop, and deliver concise presentations and write business specific that meet a range target audiences' needs in a variety of business contexts. This course will help you prepare and develop your written, oral, visual, and digital communication skills, as well as your critical and analytical thinking skills. Emphasis will focus on real business cases, my personal business experiences, and communication styles and techniques represented in the business community. By the end of this class, you will understand how to communicate professionally using various business communication techniques and applications based on the audience you are communicating with and in what context through practice and feedback from both professor and peers will be an important part of this course. Usually offered every year.

BUS Writing Intensive

BUS 47a Business Communication
[ oc ss wi ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a and BUS 10a. Enrollment limited to Business Majors.

Success in today's competitive corporate world stems from an individual's strong communication skills. As a future professional, you will be asked to organize, develop, and deliver concise presentations and write business specific that meet a range target audiences' needs in a variety of business contexts. This course will help you prepare and develop your written, oral, visual, and digital communication skills, as well as your critical and analytical thinking skills. Emphasis will focus on real business cases, my personal business experiences, and communication styles and techniques represented in the business community. By the end of this class, you will understand how to communicate professionally using various business communication techniques and applications based on the audience you are communicating with and in what context through practice and feedback from both professor and peers will be an important part of this course. Usually offered every year.

BUS Quantitative

BUS 51a Introduction to Data Analytics with Excel
[ dl qr ss ]

Prerequisite: Bus 6a. May not be taken for credit by students who took BUS 51b in prior years.

Teaches students how to analyze data, how to create data visualizations, and how to use data for basic inference. The course is taught using Microsoft Excel, thus allowing students to also learn the most common piece of software used in the workplace to analyze business data. Usually offered every semester.

BUS Elective in Business Administration

BUS 109a Human Psychology and Financial Decision Making
[ ss ]

Prerequisites: ECON 2a or 10a, in addition to BUS 71a, Fin 103a, or ECON 171a.

Behavioral Economics and Finance applies insights from psychology to understand the observed behavior of people and markets. It is traditional in economics and finance to assume that economic agents are 'perfectly rational,' meaning they make decisions in accordance with logic and statistics textbooks, they see the world accurately, they have perfect recall, and they are perfectly selfish. This approach has provided insights of great practical value and explains a lot of what we know about financial markets and corporate decisions, but it leaves much of the real world unexplained. Why do stock prices, house prices, and exchange rates sometimes go through bubbles, rising far higher than justified by fundamentals and then crashing? Why do retail investors trade too much, and why don't they diversify enough? Why don't people save enough for retirement? Usually offered every other year.

BUS 111a Business Analytics
[ ss ]

Prerequisites: BUS 6a, BUS 10a and BUS 51a.

This course is about analyzing and interpreting data about markets and customers. It has been designed for managers who will be using data analytics, and so is intended for students wanting to go into marketing, finance, consulting, entrepreneurship, business strategy and operations management. Students who take this class will learn about the sorts of business decision problems in which research information is most useful, including problems related to pricing, target market selection, and new product introduction. Usually offered every year.

BUS 113a Intermediate Financial Accounting
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a.

Expands the understanding of accounting theory and evaluates the impact of alternative accounting procedures on financial statements. Topics covered include revenue recognition, accounting changes/errors, inventory measurement and valuation, long-lived assets acquisition, disposition, and impairment. Usually offered every year.

BUS 114a Managerial Accounting
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a.

Introduction to the principles, concepts, and methods of managerial accounting, including internal reporting used in planning, control, and decision making. Learn how organizations use this information to measure and control resources used in producing goods and providing services. Usually offered every year.

BUS 130a Entrepreneurship and Innovation
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a and BUS 10a.

Explores why, when, and how to start a new business venture. Includes identifying opportunities, gaining access to resources, and assembling a team with key skills. Uses lectures, case discussions, and outside speakers to introduce issues in both theory and practice. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 131a Fail Faster, Fail Smarter
[ ss ]

Can not be taken for credit by students who have taken BUS 233a previously.

The Innovation and Ideation Lab is a hands-on, feature development, customer and market driven course that teaches students how to take ideas from concept to market readiness. Designed to develop a product or service as with a customer in mind, emphasizing real-world testing and iterative prototyping. Students will work through structured ideation, market research, and hypothesis testing, culminating in a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). The course does not cover business models but focuses instead on customer engagement, MVP development, hypothesis testing, and early go-to-market strategy. Usually offered every year.

BUS 135a Introduction to Commercial Real Estate
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a and BUS 10a.

Provides students with the fundamentals of real estate investment analysis and examines major trends and current issues: affordable housing; preservations, conservation, and environmentalism; green construction; new urbanism and smart growth; and the meltdown in the capital markets. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 140a Sports Analytics
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BIOL 51a, BUS 51a, ECON 83a, ECON 210a, MATH 36a and Math 36b, or PSYC 51a, or equivalent.

The global sports industry has skyrocketed to a one-half trillion-dollar industry from the insatiable
appetite for spectators to consume, media to broadcast, leagues to produce, and merchandisers to
sell sports-related products. In addition, a social community has evolved through fantasy sports
leagues, group leagues, team-based fan experiences and social media. Finally, with the recent
legalization of sports betting, spectators can now actively wager on specific event outcomes and
individual performance. Usually offered every year.

BUS 153a Marketing Research
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 152a.

Marketing research is critical to business success in today's information economy. We will learn quantitative marketing research models and techniques for analyzing consumer behavior and marketing information. Topics include marketing segmentation, targeted promotion strategies, brand positioning, new produce design, and customer profitability. Usually offered every year.

BUS 154a Branding Strategy
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 152a with a grade C or higher, or BUS 252a with a grade of C+ or higher.

Examines the value of building, sustaining, and communicating a company's brand and its value
proposition through promotional activities and channels of distribution. A competitive, online
simulation is used to enhance case studies. Usually offered every year.

BUS 160a Competitive Strategy
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 6a and BUS 10a. BUS 152a is recommended.

Allows students to examine the challenges and opportunities of doing business globally using a few simple frameworks developed at Harvard Business School. Students will use such frameworks to think about the design and execution of successful strategies, in the US market, in emerging markets, in entrepreneurial firms and in social platforms. Usually offered every year.

BUS 172a Operations Management
[ ss ]

Prerequisites: BUS 6a and BUS 10a. Corequisite: BUS 51a.

Operations Management is the scientific study and optimization of the processes that organizations use to create the products/services purchased by their customers. Topics include process analysis, the impact of variability on process performance, quality management (lean production and six sigma), project management, inventory management, supply chain coordination, revenue management and operations strategy. Usually offered every year.

BUS 180a The Financial System
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 20a and either BUS 71a or ECON 171a.

Financial systems are centered on key institutions, instruments, and markets, but they also involve governments and public policy. If you have financial responsibilities in a private corporation or a consulting firm, or you are working directly in the financial systems for a commercial bank, investment bank, or an asset manager, it is essential that you understand how the entire financial system works. With that in mind, this course lays out the organizational structure of finance, what functions it serves and why. Usually offered every year.

BUS 222f Global Dexterity

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

To be a global worker and a true "citizen of the world" today means you are able to adapt your behavior to conform to new cultural contexts without losing your authentic self in the process. Work on developing "global dexterity" skills to accomplish this. Usually offered every year.

BUS 227a Influence, Power and Identity

Examines how many aspects of your career--landing a job, a promotion, or a new client--require you to influence other people and to affect how they think, feel, and behave. Students will explore and apply the latest research on successful influence strategies. Usually offered every year.

BUS 233a Entrepreneurship and Rapid Prototyping

Recommended prerequisites: BUS 152a and BUS 232f. Can not be taken for credit by students who have previously taken BUS 131a.

Focuses on prototyping/lean startup, minimum-viable products, design thinking, project management, and product/service development. Today, the most important skills entrepreneurs need to have are not necessarily learned in the traditional classroom environment. The work of an entrepreneur and project manager of any kind requires mastering the art of rapid experimentation/prototyping with multiple iterations to improve systems, products or services. This course is designed to allow students to learn those tools in a hands-on, immersive approach, allowing students to launch one actual product or service in the course of a semester. Usually offered every year.

BUS 255a Consumer Behavior

Focuses on fundamental theories and concepts in consumer psychology and exciting new findings to enhance students' understanding of how and why people choose, use and evaluate goods and services the way they do. This knowledge will come from lectures, readings and discussions in class, but also from hands-on experiential learning through involvement in a semester-long group project. Usually offered every year.

BUS 262a Alliance, Acquisition, and Divestment Strategy

Business combinations are central to competitive strategy. Inter-firm alliances of various sorts (e.g., joint ventures) are particularly valuable in rapidly changing industries and in unfamiliar markets. Mergers and acquisitions can add value when scale and scope are keys to success. Surveys the strategic and organizational issues involved in business combinations. Discusses ideas from research, and applies them to managerial decisions using case studies and projects. Jointly taught by researcher and experienced consultant. Usually offered every year.

BUS 275a Introduction to Negotiations

Introduces students to the fundamentals of negotiation analysis and practice. It uses case studies and experiential exercises, which take place inside and outside of the classroom to build an analytic and behavioral framework for sharpening understanding and improving performance in negotiation. Usually offered every year.

BUS 292a Marketing Field Project

Students work in teams on marketing projects for external sponsors. This course provides an opportunity for students to apply their skills and knowledge to solving real-world problems under the supervision of a faculty member. The course culminates in a final presentation to the sponsor before the end of the semester in which it is undertaken. Field Projects serve as a transition point for students from education to professional practice. Requires a strong foundation in marketing, along with good presentation and teamwork skills. Usually offered every year.

BUS/ECON 265f Global Strategic Management

Formerly offered as BUS 265a.

Studies the economic strategies followed by emerging markets and examines the differences in the business environment in emerging and developed markets. We then zoom in and study the strategies of firms that successfully (and unsuccessfully) do business in emerging markets. We analyze strategy in large and small entrepreneurial firms, particularly social enterprises that target the base of the pyramid. Usually offered every year.

ECON 135a Industrial Organization
[ oc qr ss ]

Prerequisites: ECON 80a and ECON 83a or permission of the instructor.

Microeconomic analysis of firm behavior under alternative market structures and implications for market outcomes. Topics include strategic interaction, entry and exit, collusion, predation, price discrimination, product differentiation, vertical relations, imperfect information, advertising, and patents and innovation. Usually offered every year.

ECON 141b Economics of Innovation
[ ss ]

Prerequisites: ECON 80a and ECON 83a or permission of the instructor.

Studies innovation and technological change as the central focus of modern economies. Topics include the sources of growth, economics of research and development, innovation, diffusion and technology transfer, appropriability, patents, information markets, productivity, institutional innovation, and global competitiveness. Usually offered every year.

ECON 161a International Macroeconomics and Finance
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 82b.

Applications of international economic theory--regarding trade, the balance of payments, investments, and exchange rates--to the management of import/export firms and multinational corporations. Usually offered every year.

ECON 172b Money and Banking
[ ss wi ]

Prerequisites: ECON 82b and ECON 83a or permission of the instructor.

Examines the relationship of the financial system to real economic activity, focusing especially on banks and central banks. Topics include the monetary and payments systems; financial instruments and their pricing; the structure, management, and regulation of bank and nonbank financial intermediaries; and the design and operations of central banks in a modern economy. Usually offered every year.

ECON/FIN 171a Financial Economics
[ ss ]

Prerequisites: ECON 80a and ECON 83a or permission of the instructor.

An introduction to financial economics. Topics include the selection of assets, portfolio choice under uncertainty, equilibrium asset pricing models, the efficient markets hypothesis, futures, and options markets. Usually offered every year.

FIN 104a Corporate Finance
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: BUS 71a, FIN 103a, or ECON 171a. Cannot be taken for credit by students who have taken BUS 117a, FIN 202a, or FIN 204a in previous years.

Develops greater depth of financial skills and logical thought processes necessary to formulate and implement business decisions in a global environment. Topics include firm valuation, capital structure and security issuances, payout policies, and corporate restructuring. Usually offered every year.

FIN 105a Investment and Portfolio Management
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: FIN 103a or BUS 71a. Cannot be taken for credit by students who have taken FIN 205a in previous years.

Provides a thorough grounding in portfolio management for students who are already familiar with financial markets. The first half of the course will cover Markowitz portfolio optimization, the Capital Asset Pricing Model, and the Arbitrage Pricing Theory. The lectures will cover the theories, and the
problem sets will teach you how to apply these theories to manage portfolios.

The second half of the course will deal with recent developments in portfolio management. We will be spending several weeks discussing what does and does not deliver extraordinary investment performance. We will also deal with special techniques employing derivatives to enhance performance as well as the Black-Scholes model. The final part discusses the evaluation of the performance of funds and fund managers and the impact of transaction costs. Usually offered every year

LGLS 189a Business Law
[ ss ]

May not be taken for credit by students who took AMST 189a in prior years.

Surveys core legal institutions of property, contracts, and corporations. Examines how law promotes and restrains the development of capitalism and market society in America, from the era of mass production through the age of global trade and digital commerce. Usually offered every year.

BUS Business and Society

AMST 103b Advertising and the Media
[ ss ]

Combines a historical and contemporary analysis of advertising's role in developing and sustaining consumer culture in America with a practical analysis of the relationship between advertising and the news media in the United States. Usually offered every second year.

AMST/LGLS 188b Louis Brandeis: Law, Business and Politics
[ ss ]

Brandeis's legal career serves as model and guide for exploring the ideals and anxieties of American legal culture throughout the twentieth century. Focuses on how legal values evolve in response to new technologies, corporate capitalism, and threats to personal liberty. Usually offered every second year.

ANTH 70a Business, Culture and Society
[ ss ]

In a diverse and rapidly changing global marketplace, it is crucial to understand local traditions, customs and cultural preferences. In this course, we adopt anthropological approaches to understand their impact on business practices, products, services, clients and ideas. Usually offered every second year.

ANTH 163b Economies and Culture
[ djw nw ss ]

Prerequisite: ANTH 1a, ECON 2a, ECON 10a, or permission of the instructor.

We read in newspapers and books and hear in everyday discussion about "the economy," an identifiably separate sphere of human life with its own rules and principles and its own scholarly discipline (economics). The class starts with the premise that this "common sense" idea of the economy is only one among a number of possible perspectives on the ways people use resources to meet their basic and not-so-basic human needs. In the course, we draw on cross-cultural examples, and take a look at the cultural aspects of finance, corporations, and markets. Usually offered every second year.

CHIN 106b Business Chinese and Culture
[ fl nw wi ]

Prerequisite: CHIN 40b or equivalent. Does not meet the requirement in the school of humanities.

An advanced Chinese course where students develop their language proficiency and cultural knowledge in professional settings such as the workplace. The course is conducted entirely in Chinese and is designed for students who want to sharpen their language skills and reach a higher level of proficiency in which they are able to read newspapers, magazines, or professional documents, as well as to improve their communicative ability and enhance their self-confidence in Chinese workplaces. Usually offered every second spring.

COSI 12b Advanced Programming Techniques in Java
[ dl sn wi ]

Prerequisite: COSI 10a or successful completion of the COSI online placement exam.

Studies advanced programming concepts and techniques utilizing the Java programming language. The course covers software engineering concepts, object-oriented design, design patterns and professional best practices. This is a required foundation course that will prepare you for more advanced courses, new programming languages, and frameworks. Usually offered every year.

COSI 21a Data Structures and the Fundamentals of Computing
[ dl sn ]

Prerequisite: COSI 12b. Graduate students may take this course concurrently with COSI 12b with permission of the Director of Graduate Studies.

Focuses on the design and analysis of algorithms and the use of data structures. Through the introduction of the most widely used data structures employed in solving commonly encountered problems. Students will learn different ways to organize data for easy access and efficient manipulation. The course also covers algorithms to solve classic problems, as well as algorithm design strategies; and computational complexity theory for studying the efficiency of the algorithms. Usually offered every year.

ECON 20a Introduction to Macroeconomics
[ qr ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a with a B+ or higher or ECON 10a. May not be taken for credit by students concurrently with or after they have taken ECON 82b.

Introduces the field of macroeconomics. Macroeconomics is the study of the overall or aggregate economic performance of national economies. Usually offered every semester.

ECON 35b History of Taxation
[ oc ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a.

Traces taxation from the origins of coinage (560 BCE) to the proposed global minimum corporate tax (2021+). We examine taxes within the supply-and-demand model, including discussions of deadweight loss and allocative efficiency. Additionally, the course focuses on the political economy, welfare, and equity impacts of taxation. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 50a Sustainable Business Strategy and Consumption: Economic Foundations and Scandinavian Case Studies
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a.

Examines sustainability through an economic lens while analyzing decisions of businesses, consumers, and policymakers. Studies consumer preferences and adaptation to market demands, market failures and tragedy of the commons, risk vs. uncertainty, and cost-benefit analysis. Explores the complexity of managing the environment for all of humanity's common good. Usually offered every year.

ECON 57a Environmental Economics
[ oc ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a.

Investigates the theoretical and policy problems posed by the use of renewable and nonrenewable resources. Theoretical topics include the optimal pricing of resources, the optimal use of standards and taxes to correct pollution problems under uncertainty, and the measurement of costs and benefits. Usually offered every year.

ECON 76b Labor Economics
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a.

Analysis of competitive and less-than-competitive markets. Rationale for alternate methods of paying workers (e.g., hourly wages, piece rates, bonuses). Sources of wage differentials among jobs and workers. The U.S. labor movement, the process of collective bargaining, and the economic effects of unions. Effects of government interventions in the labor market, such as the minimum wage and occupational safety regulation. Extent and effects of discrimination in the labor market. Inequality in the distribution of wages. Usually offered every second year.

ENG 188b Capitalism and Nature
[ hum oc ]

Investigates the vision of nature offered in pro-capitalist and anti-capitalist narratives from around the world. Usually offered every third year.

ENGR 11a Introduction to Design Methodology
[ sn ]

Prerequisite: Instructor permission required.

An introduction to the engineering design process, with a focus on human-centered design. Students work in teams to solve authentic design problems under the theme of “design to repair the world.” Students are guided through a highly scaffolded process in which they form an idea, sketch it, and develop it through multiple iterations leveraging quick feedback loops and the Design Thinking methodology. Students will become fluent in basic additive and subtractive manufacturing, including 3D printing, laser cutting, and CNC machining. Usually offered every year.

ENGR 22b Engineering a Circular Economy
[ sn ]

The way we produce, use, and dispose of materials and products today is unsustainable. Resource extraction destroys ecosystems and biodiversity worldwide; manufacturing is responsible for an enormous fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions; and waste plastics are now found in every corner of the earth, including our bodies, with as-yet unknown consequences to human and ecological health. The circular economy is a model of production and consumption that offers a potential solution to these problems -- where all materials and products are designed to be used, reused, and recycled again and again, minimizing environmental impact from resource extraction, manufacturing, use, and final disposal.

In this class, students will learn what is required to realize this vision of a circular economy from an engineering and design perspective. Based on a methodological foundation from industrial ecology, students will use life-cycle assessment and material flow analysis to characterize the profound issues with contemporary manufacturing and waste systems, and justify the principles of materials and product stewardship that underpin the circular economy model. Students will also learn to critique materials management and circular economy proposals at various scales, including materials and product design, so-called "circular business models," and municipal, national, and global materials systems. Finally, students will use what they have learned to propose new engineering design solutions to real-world challenges. Usually offered every second year.

ENVS 131b The Political Economy of Global Climate Governance
[ djw ss ]

Introduction to the political economy of climate governance and its social justice implications, especially the perspectives and proposals from the global South (Latin America, Africa, and South Asia). This course will map, compare, and systematize different proposals based on the green economy to public ownership and control over common goods proposals like just transition and buen vivir. Students are encouraged to discuss and apply concepts to their own creative proposals for social interventions, developing their practice and skills for climate activism, engagement, and leadership. Usually offered every year.

FA 181a Housing and Social Justice
[ ca deis-us dl ss ]

Employs housing as a lens to interrogate space and society, state and market, power and change, in relation with urban inequality and social justice. It trains students to become participants in the global debates about housing. In doing so, it teaches students about dominant paradigms of urban development and welfare and situates such paradigms in the 20th century history of capitalism. It will explicitly adopt a comparative and transnational urban approach to housing and social justice, showing how a globalized perspective provides important insights into local shelter struggles and debates. Usually offered every second year.

HBRW 124a Hebrew for Business, Doing Business in Start-Up Nation
[ dl fl wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor. Does not meet the requirement in the school of humanities.

Provides students with tools and competence to deal with the Israeli business community. For advanced-intermediate Hebrew students who wish to gain cultural understanding and business language speaking skills. Usually offered every second year.

HIST 160b American Legal History II
[ deis-us ss ]

Survey of American legal development from 1865 to the present. Major topics include constitutionalism and racial inequality, the legal response to industrialization, progressivism and the transformation of liberalism, the rise of the administrative state, and rights-based movements for social justice. Usually offered every year.

HS 104b American Health Care
[ ss ]

Examines and critically analyzes the United States healthcare system, emphasizing the major trends and issues that have led to the current sense of "crisis." In addition to providing a historical perspective, this course will establish a context for analyzing the current, varied approaches to health care reform. Usually offered every year.

HS 110a Labor, Work, and Inequality
[ ss ]

Examines what economic and social factors drive inequality in terms of conditions at work, from wages to discrimination to worker voice, and how these conditions are connected to business decisions, government policies, union and worker advocacy, and worker norms and beliefs. Usually offered every year.

HSSP 104b Health Economics
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a.

Emphasizes the concepts and tools of health economics applicable to both developed and developing countries. Topics include: cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis, the demand for health services, insurance and risk, managed care, provider reimbursement, national health insurance, and an overview of health care systems in other countries. Usually offered every second year.

HSSP 106a Managing Medicine
[ ss wi ]

Prerequisite: HS 104b or LGLS 114a.

Overview of the principles of management within health care, and how public policy decisions can influence the choices of individual healthcare organizations. Through case studies of real hospitals, insurers, and firms, the class examines choices of clinicians and managers aimed at improving health care quality, delivering patient satisfaction, and containing costs. Usually offered every year.

HSSP 107b Health Care Technology: Evaluating Emerging Medical Services, Drugs and Devices
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: HS 104b or permission of the instructor. Priority given to HSSP majors and minors.

An overview of the role of medical technology in the U.S. health care system, with a focus on the impact of prescription drugs on the health care system, their promise for the future, and inherent risks. Usually offered every year.

LGLS 114a American Health Care: Law and Policy
[ deis-us ss ]

Sophomore standing or higher.

This interdisciplinary seminar focuses on individual rights. Highlights how our laws and policies affect American health care. Traces the evolution of the doctor-patient relationship; explores access issues, including whether health care is or should be a fundamental right; assesses the quality of care and the Explores options and prospects for meaningful reform. Usually offered every year.

LGLS 136a Intellectual Property for Innovators
[ ss ]

Intellectual property (IP) represents over 90% of the value of major companies and drives significant advancements in science, business, arts, and technology. This course provides a hands-on approach to understanding IP, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. Students will explore and develop innovative solutions to specific needs at Brandeis and beyond. They will evaluate the patentability of their inventions, select and search trademarks, and design logos.

Through case studies of products like the Apple iPhone and Adidas sneakers, students will learn how IP protects products from copying. The course will also examine the evolving challenges that artificial intelligence poses to existing legal frameworks. "Mystery snacks" will serve as an immersive example of how IP affects our daily lives. The course concludes with students pitching their inventions and IP protection strategies, reinforcing their understanding of the strategic importance of IP in business decisions. Usually offered every year.

LGLS 138b Science on Trial
[ qr ss ]

Surveys the procedures and analytic methods by which scientific data enter into litigation and regulation/policy making. Introduces basic tools of risk analysis and legal rules of evidence. Case studies of tobacco litigation and regulation; use of DNA and other forensic evidence in the criminal justice system; the Woburn ground-water contamination case; and other topics to be selected, such as genetics in the courtroom, court-ordered Cesarean sections, polygraph testing, alternative medicine, and genetically modified foods. Usually offered every second year.

MATH 15a Linear Algebra
[ sn ]

Prerequisites: MATH 5a and permission of the instructor, placement by examination, or any mathematics course numbered 10 or above. Students may take MATH 15a or 22a for credit, but not both.

Matrices, determinants, linear equations, vector spaces, eigenvalues, quadratic forms, linear programming. Emphasis on techniques and applications. Usually offered every semester.

MATH 37a Differential Equations
[ sn ]

Prerequisites: MATH 15a or 22a and MATH 20a or 22b.

A first course in ordinary differential equations. Study of general techniques, with a view to solving specific problems such as the brachistochrone problem, the hanging chain problem, the motion of the planets, the vibrating string, Gauss's hypergeometric equation, the Volterra predator-prey model, isoperimetric problems, and the Abel mechanical problem. Usually offered every spring.

MATH 126a Introduction to Stochastic Processes and Models
[ sn ]

Prerequisites: MATH 15a, 20a, and 36a.

Basic definitions and properties of finite and infinite Markov chains in discrete and continuous time, recurrent and transient states, convergence to equilibrium, Martingales, Wiener processes and stochastic integrals with applications to biology, economics, and physics. Usually offered every second year.

NEJS 150b Israeli Civil Society: Diversity, Democracy, and Justice
[ djw hum ]

Civil society sustains democracy. It is where alternative futures are imagined, social boundaries are forged and contested, and identities are negotiated. As societies are becoming increasingly diverse and divided, and less stable and safe – civil society is where people organize, dream, and act. The Israeli civil society offers a fascinating case study for understanding the links between identity, organizations, and society. Through the Israeli context, we explore how national, ethnic, gender, cultural, differences are constructed and managed in diverse and divided societies; understand how civic engagement shapes the future of democracy; and learn about the complexity and diversity of Jewish identity, in Israel and the diaspora. Usually offered every second year.

PSYC 34b Social Psychology
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: PSYC 10a.

An introduction to theory and research on the psychological processes that relate the individual to the larger social world in terms of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. Topics include attitudes, social perception, prejudice and discrimination, attraction, behavior in groups, and the role of culture. Usually offered every year.

SOC 112b Social Class and Social Inequality
[ oc ss ]

Presents the role of social class in determining life chances, lifestyles, income, occupation, and power; theories of class, inequality, and globalization; selected aspects of social class and inequality; and connections of class, race, and gender. Usually offered every second year.

SOC 150b Culture of Consumption
[ ss ]

Examines the historical development and social significance of a culture of consumption. Considers the role of marketing in contemporary society and the expression of consumer culture in various realms of everyday life, including leisure, the family, and education. Usually offered every year.

SOC 175b Environmental Movements: Organizations, Networks, and Partnerships
[ ss ]

Studies environmental movement organizations and field strategies, national advocacy organizations, as well as community-based and civic approaches to environmental problem solving. Case studies draw from sustainable and climate resilient cities, watersheds, coastal adaptation, forests, ecosystem restoration, environmental justice, renewable energy, and the greening of business. May be combined with internships and action research. Usually offered every year.

THA 138a The Business of Show Business
[ ca oc ]

Provides students with an overview of the many different facets of what it takes to produce live theater in America today. With an emphasis on non-profit theater, students will learn about organizational structure, aesthetic and artistic goals, facilities management, budgeting and revenue streams, public relations/marketing/advertising and communication. From brainstorming to barnstorming, this course will give students the step-by-step process of delivering live, professional theater. Usually offered every second year.

FIN Core Electives

BUS 109a Human Psychology and Financial Decision Making
[ ss ]

Prerequisites: ECON 2a or 10a, in addition to BUS 71a, Fin 103a, or ECON 171a.

Behavioral Economics and Finance applies insights from psychology to understand the observed behavior of people and markets. It is traditional in economics and finance to assume that economic agents are 'perfectly rational,' meaning they make decisions in accordance with logic and statistics textbooks, they see the world accurately, they have perfect recall, and they are perfectly selfish. This approach has provided insights of great practical value and explains a lot of what we know about financial markets and corporate decisions, but it leaves much of the real world unexplained. Why do stock prices, house prices, and exchange rates sometimes go through bubbles, rising far higher than justified by fundamentals and then crashing? Why do retail investors trade too much, and why don't they diversify enough? Why don't people save enough for retirement? Usually offered every other year.

BUS 180a The Financial System
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 20a and either BUS 71a or ECON 171a.

Financial systems are centered on key institutions, instruments, and markets, but they also involve governments and public policy. If you have financial responsibilities in a private corporation or a consulting firm, or you are working directly in the financial systems for a commercial bank, investment bank, or an asset manager, it is essential that you understand how the entire financial system works. With that in mind, this course lays out the organizational structure of finance, what functions it serves and why. Usually offered every year.

FIN 105a Investment and Portfolio Management
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: FIN 103a or BUS 71a. Cannot be taken for credit by students who have taken FIN 205a in previous years.

Provides a thorough grounding in portfolio management for students who are already familiar with financial markets. The first half of the course will cover Markowitz portfolio optimization, the Capital Asset Pricing Model, and the Arbitrage Pricing Theory. The lectures will cover the theories, and the
problem sets will teach you how to apply these theories to manage portfolios.

The second half of the course will deal with recent developments in portfolio management. We will be spending several weeks discussing what does and does not deliver extraordinary investment performance. We will also deal with special techniques employing derivatives to enhance performance as well as the Black-Scholes model. The final part discusses the evaluation of the performance of funds and fund managers and the impact of transaction costs. Usually offered every year

FIN 234a Social Impact Investing

Prerequisites: FIN 201a, FIN 203a, FIN 205a, or ECON 171a.

Looks at the intersection of finance and a social conscience both from the perspective of investors, and the perspective of corporate decision makers. Investors and businesses face many ESG (environment, social and governance) concerns, including climate change, income inequality, discrimination, and worker welfare, to name only a few. Students will learn about the growing field of ESG investing, and the closely related field of Impact Investing. We will examine how ESG factors can be integrated with other investment criteria such as diversification and risk. In the second part of the course we will examine ESG decisions from the perspective of corporate decision makers, often referred to as CSR (corporate social responsibility). We will look at investments in green technology, investments in the community and involvement in social causes. We will examine these investments both from a social and a financial perspective. Usually offered every year.

FIN 240a Venture Capital and Financing Innovation

Prerequisites: FIN 201a, FIN 203a, or FIN 205a.

Emphasizes financial decision making skills for entrepreneurs. The structure will follow the firm's life cycle, with modules on contracting, valuation, and financial planning in the entrepreneurial context, raising capital, security choice, and the structure and valuation of exit decisions in the presence of information uncertainty. Usually offered every year.

FIN 261a Fixed Income Securities

Prerequisites: FIN 201a or FIN 203a or FIN 205a, or permission of the instructor.

Studies fixed income securities; cash flow structures, pricing risk measures; features of major fixed income sectors; valuation of fixed income securities with embedded options; portfolio management and performance measurement; interest rate derivatives and applications to asset/liability management. Usually offered every semester.

FIN 270a Options and Derivatives

Prerequisites: FIN 201a or FIN 203a or FIN 205a, or permission of the instructor.

Introduces students, using a reasonably formal mathematical approach, to a broad range of topics related to the traded securities, markets, pricing, and applications of financial derivatives. Special focus is placed on how replication is used to price financial derivatives. Derivatives studied include those defined on commodities, currencies, equities and equity indexes, with an introduction to fixed income derivatives. Usually offered every semester.

FIN General Electives

ECON 142b Behavioral Economics: European Case Studies
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a. Students must earn a C- or higher in MATH 10a, or otherwise satisfy the calculus requirement, to enroll in this course. Corequisite: ECON 80a. Course to be taught at Brandeis program in Copenhagen.

Behavioral economics rethinks the standard economic model of human behavior by integrating experiential learning and psychological research into economic theory. This course is based on behavioral economic theory and cases from Denmark and Europe examining choices of individuals. Usually offered every year.

ECON 151a Statistical Modeling with R for Economics and Finance
[ ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 83a.

Introduces students to statistical modeling using R, with applications to real-world issues in economics and finance. Topics include: describing data; computing of probability; data generation; Markov-Monte Carlo methods and Bayesian linear regression. Teaches the basics of programming in R, including how to write functions, store and manage data, and produce data visualizations. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 172b Money and Banking
[ ss wi ]

Prerequisites: ECON 82b and ECON 83a or permission of the instructor.

Examines the relationship of the financial system to real economic activity, focusing especially on banks and central banks. Topics include the monetary and payments systems; financial instruments and their pricing; the structure, management, and regulation of bank and nonbank financial intermediaries; and the design and operations of central banks in a modern economy. Usually offered every year.

HIST 114b Histories of American Capitalism
[ deis-us ss wi ]

Explores the history of American capitalism as it developed from the colonial period to the near present. We will follow three main analytical themes through the centuries: racial capitalism; the role of the state in shaping economic development; and the function of social reproduction and other unwaged work in commercial societies. As we engage central historiographic debates about the timing and location of the transition to capitalism in the United States, we will use the concept of capitalism as a tool to better understand and differentiate the wide range of economic systems that have existed in the nation’s history. Topics include: the rise of wage labor and the expansion of markets; slavery and emancipation; territorial conquest; technological and infrastructural development; the rise of big business and organized labor; alternative labor regimes and the experience of work; the economic dimensions of gender, race, and other categories of social difference; social welfare policy; and recent developments in deindustrialization, globalization, and income inequality. Usually offered every year.

Provisional University Bulletin (2025-2026)