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Keywords: risk
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Explores the changing roles, ethical conflicts, and public perceptions of science and scientists in American society from World War II to the present. Studies specific historical episodes focusing on debates between scientists and the contextual factors influencing their opinions and decisions. Topics include the atomic bomb project, environmental controversies, the Challenger disaster, biomedical research, genetic engineering, (mis)use of human subjects, scientific misconduct and whistleblowing.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: The Art of the Probable" addresses the history of scientific ideas, in particular the emergence and development of mathematical probability. But it is neither meant to be a history of the exact sciences per se nor an annex to, say, the Course 6 curriculum in probability and statistics. Rather, our objective is to focus on the formal, thematic, and rhetorical features that imaginative literature shares with texts in the history of probability. These shared issues include (but are not limited to): the attempt to quantify or otherwise explain the presence of chance, risk, and contingency in everyday life; the deduction of causes for phenomena that are knowable only in their effects; and, above all, the question of what it means to think and act rationally in an uncertain world. Our course therefore aims to broaden students’ appreciation for and understanding of how literature interacts with--both reflecting upon and contributing to--the scientific understanding of the world. We are just as centrally committed to encouraging students to regard imaginative literature as a unique contribution to knowledge in its own right, and to see literary works of art as objects that demand and richly repay close critical analysis. It is our hope that the course will serve students well if they elect to pursue further work in Literature or other discipline in SHASS, and also enrich or complement their understanding of probability and statistics in other scientific and engineering subjects they elect to take.
- Subject:
Humanities, Social Sciences
- Grade Level:
Post-secondary
- Collection:
MIT OpenCourseWare
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Many difficult ethical questions have arisen from the explosive growth of biomedical research and the health-care industry since World War II. When and how should doctors be allowed to help patients end their lives? Should embryos be cloned for research and/or reproduction? Should parents be given control over the genetic make-up of their children? What sorts of living things is it appropriate to use as research subjects? How should we distribute scarce and expensive medical resources? While some of these questions are genuinely new, products of rapid changes in biomedical technology, others have been debated for centuries. Drawing on philosophy, history, and anthropology, this course will show students how problems in bioethics can be approached from a variety of perspectives, with the aim of understanding how we have gotten where we are, and how we should decide where to go next.
- Subject:
Humanities, Social Sciences
- Grade Level:
Post-secondary
- Collection:
MIT OpenCourseWare
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: This course addresses the challenges of defining a relationship between exposure to environmental chemicals and human disease. Course topics include epidemiological approaches to understanding disease causation; biostatistical methods; evaluation of human exposure to chemicals, and their internal distribution, metabolism, reactions with cellular components, and biological effects; and qualitative and quantitative health risk assessment methods used in the U.S. as bases for regulatory decision-making. Throughout the term, students consider case studies of local and national interest.
- Subject:
Science and Technology
- Grade Level:
Post-secondary
- Collection:
MIT OpenCourseWare
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Students explore their understanding of the notion of risk in relation to their own experiences and in response to a variety of quotes. This exercise serves as a springboard to themes in the novel "Fahrenheit 451".
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: In recent years, the redistribution of risk has created conditions for natural and technological disasters to become more widespread, more difficult to manage, and more discriminatory in their effects. Policy and planning decision-makers frequently focus on the impact that human settlement patterns, land use decisions, and risky technologies can have on vulnerable populations. However, to ensure safety and promote equity, they also must be familiar with the social and political dynamics that are present at each stage of the disaster management cycle. Therefore, this course will provide students with: 1) An understanding of the breadth of factors that give rise to disaster vulnerability; and 2) A foundation for assessing and managing the social and political processes associated with disaster policy and planning.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Engineering School-Wide Elective Subject. Description given at end of this chapter in SWE section.
- Subject:
Science and Technology
- Grade Level:
Post-secondary
- Collection:
MIT OpenCourseWare
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Provides a rigorous treatment of environmental economics. Topics include welfare analysis, social choice, and ethical dimensions of economic criteria for protecting the environment, regulating risk, and measuring the demand for environmental goods, property rights, international and macro dimensions of environmental regulation, and economic incentives (including marketable permits and emission fees). Graduate students are expected to explore the subject in greater depth through additional reading, individual research, and a substantial term paper.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Continuation of Finance Theory I, concentrating on corporate financial management. Topics: Capital investment decisions, security issues, dividend policy, optimal capital structure, hedging and risk management, futures markets and real options analysis. The objective of this course is to learn the financial tools needed to make good business decisions. The course presents the basic insights of corporate finance theory, but emphasizes the application of theory to real business decisions. Each session involves class discussion, some centered on lectures and others around business cases.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Studies basic concepts of financial and managerial accounting. Viewpoint is that of the users of accounting information (especially managers) rather than the preparer (the accountant).
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Introduction to investments and corporate finance. Topics include: project and company valuation, risk and return in capital markets, the pricing of stocks and bonds, corporate financing and dividend policy, the cost of capital, and financial options. Subject provides a broad overview of both theory and practice. Restricted to Management of Technology students. Financial Management studies corporate finance and capital markets, emphasizing the financial aspects of managerial decisions. It touches on all areas of finance, including the valuation of real and financial assets, risk management and financial derivatives, the trade-off between risk and expected return, and corporate financing and dividend policy. The course draws heavily on empirical research to help guide managerial decisions.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Explores the foundations of policy making in developing countries. Goal is to spell out various policy options and to quantify the trade-offs between them. Special emphasis on education, health, gender, fertility, adoption of technological innovation, and the markets for land, credit, and labor.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Life is full of risk. In this unit ‘risk’ describes the probability and consequences of harm or, at worst, disaster. Risk management involves many stakeholders and integrated management systems help to ensure that safety, quality, environmental and business risks are all managed correctly. This unit also looks at emergency preparedness, that is, the management of emergencies and disasters.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: This team-taught subject is for doctoral students working on emerging technologies at the interface of technology, policy and societal issues. It integrates concepts of research strategy and design from a variety of disciplines. The class addresses problem identification and formulation of research topics, the role of qualitative and quantitative research methods, and the use of various data collection techniques. Coursework focuses on students' thesis proposals, faculty-student study panels, critical evaluation of research design, and ethical issues in conducting research and gathering data.
- Subject:
Science and Technology
- Grade Level:
Post-secondary
- Collection:
MIT OpenCourseWare
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Frameworks and Models for Technology and Policy students explore perspectives in the policy process -- agenda setting, problem definition, framing the terms of debate, formulation and analysis of options, implementation and evaluation of policy outcomes using frameworks including economics and markets, law, and business and management. Methods include cost/benefit analysis, probabilistic risk assessment, and system dynamics. Exercises for Technology and Policy students include developing skills to work on the interface between technology and societal issues; simulation exercises; case studies; and group projects that illustrate issues involving multiple stakeholders with different value structures, high levels of uncertainty, multiple levels of complexity; and value trade-offs that are characteristic of engineering systems. Emphasis on negotiation, team building and group dynamics, and management of multiple actors and leadership. This course explores perspectives in the policy process - agenda setting, problem definition, framing the terms of debate, formulation and analysis of options, implementation and evaluation of policy outcomes using frameworks including economics and markets, law, and business and management. Methods include cost/benefit analysis, probabilistic risk assessment, and system dynamics. Exercises include developing skills to work on the interface between technology and societal issues; simulation exercises; case studies; and group projects that illustrate issues involving multiple stakeholders with different value structures, high levels of uncertainty, multiple levels of complexity; and value trade-offs that are characteristic of engineering systems. Emphasis on negotiation, team building and group dynamics, and management of multiple actors and leadership.
- Subject:
Science and Technology, Social Sciences
- Grade Level:
Post-secondary
- Collection:
MIT OpenCourseWare
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Risk, in a financial context, is a synonym for uncertainty. This unit will allow those with some background knowledge of the area to explore investment risk. You will examine how and why investors are risk-averse and look at the risk factors involved in making a decision to invest.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Neoclassical analysis of the labor market and its institutions. A systematic development of the theory of labor supply, labor demand, and human capital theory. Topics discussed also include theories of wage and employment determination, turnover, search, unemployment, equalizing differences, and union behavior. Particular emphasis on the interaction of theoretical and empirical modeling. The aim of this course is to acquaint students with traditional topics in labor economics and to encourage the development of independent research interests. This course is taught in two parts: Fall term and then in the subsequent Fall term.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Neoclassical analysis of the labor market and its institutions. A systematic development of the theory of labor supply, labor demand, and human capital theory. Topics discussed also include theories of wage and employment determination, turnover, search, unemployment, equalizing differences, and union behavior. Particular emphasis on the interaction of theoretical and empirical modeling.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: This course presents a unique and challenging perspective on the causes of human disease and mortality. The course focuses on analyses of major causes of mortality in the US since 1900: cancer cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, infectious diseases. Students create analytical models to derive estimates for historically variant population risk factors and physiological rate parameters, and conduct analyses of familial data to separately estimate inherited and environmental risks. The course evaluates the basic population genetics of dominant, recessive and non-deleterious inherited risk factors.
- Subject:
Science and Technology
- Grade Level:
Post-secondary
- Collection:
MIT OpenCourseWare
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: This course presents a unique and challenging perspective on the causes of human disease and mortality. The course focuses on analyses of major causes of mortality in the US since 1900: cancer cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, infectious diseases. Students create analytical models to derive estimates for historically variant population risk factors and physiological rate parameters, and conduct analyses of familial data to separately estimate inherited and environmental risks. The course evaluates the basic population genetics of dominant, recessive and non-deleterious inherited risk factors.
- Subject:
Science and Technology
- Grade Level:
Post-secondary
- Collection:
MIT OpenCourseWare
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