July 8, 2010

  • Open Yale Courses

    Yale also has wonderful open courses for everyone to enjoy in their spare time.

    YALE ECON 252 - Financial Markets
    (Taught by Robert Shiller. Enough said. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this series.)
    author:Robert J. Shiller, Department of Economics, Yale University

    Financial institutions are a pillar of civilized society, supporting people in their productive ventures and managing the economic risks they take on. The workings of these institutions are important to comprehend if we are to predict their actions today and their evolution in the coming information age. The course strives to offer understanding of the theory of finance and its relation to the history, strengths and imperfections of such institutions as banking, insurance, securities, futures, and other derivatives markets, and the future of these institutions over the next century.

    YALE PHIL 176 - Death

    (Very, very intriguing lectures. Highly recommended.)
    author:Shelly Kagan, Department of Philosophy, Yale University

    There is one thing I can be sure of: I am going to die. But what am I to make of that fact? This course will examine a number of issues that arise once we begin to reflect on our mortality. The possibility that death may not actually be the end is considered. Are we, in some sense, immortal? Would immortality be desirable? Also a clearer notion of what it is to die is examined. What does it mean to say that a person has died? What kind of fact is that? And, finally, different attitudes to death are evaluated. Is death an evil? How? Why? Is suicide morally permissible? Is it rational? How should the knowledge that I am going to die affect the way I live my life?

    YALE PLSC 114 - Introduction to Political Philosophy
    (A little dry... but interesting nonetheless)

    author:Steven B. Smith, Department of Political Science, Yale University

    This course is intended as an introduction to political philosophy as seen through an examination of some of the major texts and thinkers of the Western political tradition. Three broad themes that are central to understanding political life are focused upon: the polis experience (Plato, Aristotle), the sovereign state (Machiavelli, Hobbes), constitutional government (Locke), and democracy (Rousseau, Tocqueville). The way in which different political philosophies have given expression to various forms of political institutions and our ways of life are examined throughout the course.

    Game Theory
    Benjamin Polak, Yale
    (Watch this series for all the "games" that they play in class. )

    This course is an introduction to game theory and strategic thinking. Ideas such as dominance, backward induction, Nash equilibrium, evolutionary stability, commitment, credibility, asymmetric information, adverse selection, and signaling are discussed and applied to games played in class and to examples drawn from economics, politics, the movies, and elsewhere.

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