Course Catalog System (Course Inventory Management and Review System, CIMRS)

POL 300: Democracy, Authoritarianism & Regime Transitions

Dan Wessner — 2025-07-30

What is democracy? How does democracy emerge? Why are some countries democracies but not others? Why is authoritarianism persistent in some countries? These are some of the most enduring questions in political science. This course addresses these questions by examining the political science scholarship on regimes and regime transitions. This is an advanced course in political science, and some introductory courses on political philosophy or political science are required.

Prerequisites: POL 100: Introduction to Political Science

PHIL 100: The Art of Argument

Edward Moad — 2025-07-30

This course introduces students to questions about the art (or arts) or argument, and gives them the tools they need to better evaluate, think about and make arguments. The course sees argument as a social practice that exists cross-culturally, and draws upon a wide array of sources to explore the complexities of the human search for agreement and truth.

Prerequisites: None

PHIL 200: Introduction to Ethics

Giorgia Brucato (A)/Edward Moad (B) — 2025-07-30

In this course we will confront some of the major ethical issues that arise in our society—the treatment of animals (vegetarianism, experimentation), the beginning of life (abortion, in vitro, PGD testing), the ethics of war (when to go, how to wage), the ethics of politics (what ought our representatives do), the end of life (right to die, suicide, euthanasia), fear of death, the ethics of food, and the environment.

In Ethics, we seek not simply opinions or personal positions on these contentious problems, but hope to make a broader claim about right and wrong. These issues are ethical issues insofar as when we take a position on them we make a claim about what is the right or wrong thing to do. And we are not simply making the statement that this is right or wrong for me, but also for anyone else who is as properly thoughtful and informed as I am. That is, I think I have good reasons for saying such-and-such is right or wrong, and you ought to also be convinced by my reasons.

In order to have such convincing reasons, we will need to say what it means for something to be right or wrong in general. This is where ethical theories come in. An ethical theory makes a claim about what makes something right or wrong in general. If we know that, then we ought to be able to look at each of these specific problems and any cases in which they arise, and evaluate them to see how they ought to be resolved. That will be our goal in this course–to introduce and engage students in the theories of ethics and their application to practical ethical problems so that they develop the knowledge of each ethical theory and the ability to apply them to particular issues.

Prerequisites: None

PHIL 201: Introduction to Political Philosophy

Giorgia Brucato — 2025-07-30

This course introduces students to the questions, theories, and classic texts of political philosophy, engaging issues of ethics, citizenship, democracy, representation, shared resources and other features of theoretical approaches to politics. This course will introduce and critically engage students in the fundamental questions of how we are to live in the world with others.

Prerequisites: None

PHIL 301: Philosophy as Practice

Edward Moad — 2025-07-30

We often imagine philosophy is a matter of sitting and thinking about things. But philosophy is also a set of practices, modes of living and ways of life. So how do we think better about philosophy as a practice? And what role does practice have in our present day approaches to philosophy? To be good philosophers, do we need to do more than thinking? Do we need to instead need to put in place new practices, in pursuit of our philosophical goals?

In this course, students will explore the idea that philosophy not only proposes new ways of thinking, but that it also challenges us to adopt a suite of practices relating to the arts of living well.

Students will be encouraged to put philosophical ideas to the test practically, and to cross the boundary between reflection and practice, scholarship and first-person experience, to ask what it might mean to make philosophy a practice, here in the 21st century.

Prerequisites: PHIL 201: Introduction to Political Philosophy, PHIL 200: Introduction to Ethics

POL 100: Introduction to Political Science

Lina Kassem (A)/Swe Oo Mon (B) — 2025-07-30

The course is a broad introduction to the discipline of political science. Students will be introduced to subfields within the discipline: political theory, comparative politics, and international relations. Then, the bulk of the course examines major themes in comparative politics, including the formation of nation-states, political regimes, and political violence. We will also examine themes that cut across the subfields, including globalization, populism, and human rights.

Prerequisites: None

POL 140: Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies

David Golding — 2025-07-30

Peacebuilding Through Drama stands as an innovative and intercontinental forum, where exploration and engagement in peacebuilding converge with the transformative power of drama and theater. It is crafted to unite students from varied backgrounds, creating a collaborative space to study and practice the art of fostering peace through online performative arts. Delving into the core principles of Agosto Boal's "Theater of the Oppressed," this course provides an empowering platform for participants to drive social change through theater. Furthermore, the curriculum incorporates Petro Janse van Vuuren's "Redemptive Theatre," which melds performance with healing.

Prerequisites: None

POL 230: Comparative Politics of Southeast Asia

Dan Wessner — 2025-07-30

This course examines Comparative Politics through the lens of the ten Southeast Asian member states of ASEAN. The subfield of Comparative Politics in the discipline of Political Science hones comparative and contrastive skills to discern the purpose and attributes of various political entities: principally states, societies, and subnational groups, but also militaries, media, and leaders. Drawing on the ASEAN context, this course will examine democratic, non-democratic, socialist, and communist regimes. It will study the political violence, political economy, and political cultures that have arisen in the historical context of Southeast Asian colonialism, capitalism, imperialism, militarism, and independence movements. Students will select one group of regional states to research, present, and write about in terms of ASEAN principles, precarity, and prospects in this age.

Prerequisites: None

SSST 100: Craft of Social Inquiry

Omar Osman (A)/Romina de Jong (B)/Swe Oo Mon (C) — 2025-07-30

This course is an introductory course for social studies. We will cover what social inquiry is and why it is important.
During this course we will look at different methods of knowing and making sense of the world. We will focus on typical questions that are asked in social science and specific approaches to answer these questions. You will learn the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to answering questions in the field of social science, for instance through a in-depth study on climate change. Selected readings from different social science disciplines will be used as an interdisciplinary approach to addressing questions in this field.

Prerequisites: None

SOC 410: Identity: Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Class

Kyaw Win Tun — 2025-07-30

Have you ever wondered why the identification of someone with a particular identity category or categories—gender, race, ethnicity, and/or class—has consequences on their life? In the course, we will consider this question and study how we are identified in these terms through social relations and structures. We will examine this identifying social process and its mechanisms from sociological, anthropological, and historical perspectives. Throughout the course, we will also critically analyze these identity terms, as well as the social practices and discourses related to them.

Prerequisites: POL 100: Introduction to Political Science OR SOC 100: Introduction to Sociology

ECON 111: Introduction to Macroeconomics

Elena Nikolova — 2025-07-30

This course is an introduction to Macroeconomics from a very broad perspective. Macroeconomics analyzes topics such as economic growth, inflation and unemployment. How can the central bank influence the economy in times of crises? What should the government do in order to counteract environmental issues? Why do countries trade with each other?

Though ultimately based on the actions of individuals and firms (which we will analyze in Microeconomics), Macroeconomics is concerned with developments on the aggregate level: countries as a whole, government spending, taxation and Central Bank policies. This course is a foundation course which is needed in order to follow higher level courses in the Economics module.

Prerequisites: None

ECON 110: Introduction to Microeconomics

Khondker Aktaruzzaman (A)/Omar Osman (B) — 2025-07-30

This course is an introduction to Microeconomics from a very broad perspective. Microeconomics is the science of how people use resources. A large part is about decision making: Which is the best route for going to school, and should I walk or take the bus? Can I get a dog as a pet, should I buy vegetables in the market in the morning or in the afternoon, and why are the prices different in different cities? This course is a foundation course which is needed in order to follow higher level courses in the Economics module.

Prerequisites: None

ECON 210: Microfinance and Development

Khondker Aktaruzzaman — 2025-07-30

Microfinance has been hailed as one of the most effective tools for combating poverty through loans, grants, insurance and other financial products offered to the poorest of the global poor around the world. This course provides in-depth discussions on these issues, introduces microfinance principles and practices and examines the contemporary debates on microfinance from developmental standpoint. The main objective of the course is to prepare students to take on roles as policy analysts and technical advisers on development tools in banks and financial institutions, foundations, governments, multilateral development organisations and international agencies.

Prerequisites: None.

ECON 251: Behavioral Economics

Elena Nikolova — 2025-07-30

In the course, we will study how behavioral economists explain a range of psychological and social phenomena, and how those explanations differ from standard economic ones. Likely topics include drug use, sex, crime, gambling, over-eating, overconfidence and procrastination. In particular, we will study various ways in which (apparent) irrationality influences people’s judgment and decision-making.

Behavioral economics is invaluable to anyone with an interest in human behavior. It is particularly relevant to those with an interest in economics, management, marketing, industrial organization, public policy, and the psychology of judgment and decision-making. No previous acquaintance with behavioral economics is necessary.

Prerequisites: ECON 110: Introduction to Microeconomics

ENVR 160: Sustainable Development Policy

Andya Paz — 2025-07-30

The Environmental Policy and Governance course provides students with an in-depth understanding of environmental policy development, implementation, and governance at various levels, including international, national, and local. The course explores the processes and challenges of formulating and implementing effective environmental policies, as well as the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders. It covers topics such as policy analysis, environmental law, regulatory frameworks, stakeholder engagement, and policy evaluation. Through lectures, case studies, discussions, and practical exercises, students will develop the knowledge and skills necessary to critically analyze environmental policies and contribute to effective environmental governance.

ENVR 410: Environmental Security

Dale Mineshima-Lowe — 2025-07-30

A key aim of this course is to consider why and how the environment is currently understood as an issue that requires security. The urgency of environmental security concerns implies catastrophic futures that hold irreparable damage and disruption for our contemporary ways of life. Securing the present against these potential dystopian futures involves practices and policies that can reinforce and extend existing imbalances in geo- and bio-political power and the value attached to different forms of life. It also has implications for identity, citizenship and appropriate ways of interacting with ‘nature’. The framing of these issues forecloses alternative ways of imagining the future, our relationships with nature and each other, and of acting to make these futures possible.

Prerequisites: POL 100 or similar

ITRL 300: International Relations

Dale Mineshima-Lowe — 2025-07-30

What is international relations? How does international politics work? In this course students will be introduced to major theories in IR: realism, liberalism, and constructivism. We will examine how these theories are applicable to different facets of international politics such as grand strategy and international political economy. We will also examine key questions in contemporary politics – such as humanitarian intervention, peacekeeping, and climate change.

Prerequisites: None

MATH 111: Calculus II

Asadullah Jawid — 2025-07-30

This course is a continuation of Calculus I. The topics cover integration and its applications, series and sequences.

Prerequisites: MATH 110: Calculus I

MATH 110: Calculus I

Asadullah Jawid — 2025-07-30

This course is an introduction to differential calculus and is designed to meet the needs of Statistics and Data Science students. Topics will cover functions, limits, derivatives and applications. Basic concept of integration is also included.

STAT 100: Introduction to Statistics

Zeynep Yetkiner-Ozel — 2025-07-30

This course provides an introduction to the quantitative tools for monitoring, analyzing data, and evaluating data. Through practical and real-world applications, students learn statistical methods that can be used in quantitative analysis of real-world problems. This course focuses both on concepts underlying statistical methods as well as problem solving through the use of STATA, a popular statistical software package.

Prerequisites: None

STAT 301: Mathematical Statistics

Mohamed Megheib — 2025-07-30

This is a course on mathematical statistics: an introduction to statistical inference. This is an advanced level course, and students are expected to have completed required introductory courses as outlined in the program, such as Intro to Stats, Probability, Linear Algebra, etc.

Prerequisites:

MATH 100: Introduction to Probability

STAT 100: Introduction to Statistics

MATH 210: Linear Algebra

CS 210: Programming with Python

Khin Sandar Kyaw — 2025-07-30

This course is an introduction to programming with Python for students without any previous programming experience. Throughout the class, we will cover different data types, writing functions, using packages like Numpy and Python and creating data visualizations. We will also use version control with Git.

Prerequisites: STAT 100: Introduction to Statistics

CS 251: Statistical Programming with R

Mohamed Megheib — 2025-07-30

This course will introduce students with higher level statistical programming using R, data visualization with base graphics and ggplot2, reproducible reports with Markdown, and developing dashboards with Shiny.

Prerequisites: STAT 100: Introduction to Statistics

CS 300: Introduction to Machine Learning

Nwe Nwe Htay Win — 2025-07-30

This course is an introduction to Machine Learning. Requirements for this class are completion of basic Mathematics and Statistics modules, as well as the Introduction to Python. Throughout the class, we will cover the data preprocessing process as well as different types of machine learning models from the realms of supervised and unsupervised learning together with model evaluation metrics.

Prerequisites:

STAT 100: Introduction to Statistics

CS 210: Programming with Python

CS 301: Operating Systems and Networks

Sami Naji — 2025-07-30

Operating Systems (OS) are the intermediaries between the user and the computer. Learning about the basic functions and architecture broadens the abilities and horizon of the user, working with the machines more efficiently and effectively. Networks are at the heart of today's web and define how data is communicated.

Prerequisites:

CS 210: Programming with Python

CS 452: Stochastic Processes

Mohamed Megheib — 2025-07-30

This course is an in-depth dive into probabilities, distributions, random processes, and simulation.

Prerequisites:

MATH 100: Introduction to Probability

MATH 110: Calculus I

STAT 100: Introduction to Statistics

DATA 300: Data Management

Sami Naji — 2025-07-30

This course is an overview over important algorithmic concepts and how efficient algorithms depend on the design of suitable data structures.

Prerequisites: CS 210: Programming with Python

ENVR 210: Ecological Systems and Biodiversity

Jonathan Rhodes — 2025-07-30

Students will examine the intricate relationships between organisms and their environments, studying ecosystems, biodiversity, and the impacts of human activities on ecological systems.

The Ecological Systems and Biodiversity course provides students with a comprehensive understanding of ecosystems, their structure, function, and the importance of biodiversity within them. The course explores ecological principles, patterns, and processes, as well as the threats and conservation of biodiversity. Students will learn about the interconnections between organisms and their environment, the roles of ecological interactions, and the ecological services provided by ecosystems. Through lectures, fieldwork, laboratory exercises, and case studies, students will develop a strong foundation in ecological concepts and gain an appreciation for the importance of biodiversity conservation.

Prerequisites: Introductory Biology

MATH 100: Introduction to Probability

Win Maw Hlaing Oo — 2025-07-30

This is an introduction to probability for statistics and data science students. There is no prerequisite for this course. In addition to major students, this course is relevant and useful for non-major students.

Prerequisites: None

MDST 150: Visual Media and Our Mental Health

Andrey Tolstoy — 2025-07-30

This interdisciplinary course explores how images shape our perception, identity, social relationships, and mental health in a media-saturated world. Students examine the evolution of visual art from photography to digital platforms, developing tools for creating and analyzing works of visual art - and for taking care of themselves while they do it.

Throughout the semester, students engage in hands-on workshops, host guest speakers, develop theoretical and practical skills, and learn about developments in mental health research. The course emphasizes peer dialogue, self-reflection, and care for personal and communal well-being. Assignments combine creative production, analytical writing, and a close connection to the students’ lived experience. Final projects are student-designed within instructor guidelines, encouraging personal exploration of course themes.

Prerequisites: None

ARTS 220: Writing Self and World

Will Buckingham — 2025-07-30

In this course, students will explore the challenges of writing creative nonfiction in forms that go beyond the academic essay. In particular, they will explore the following:
1. The craft of memoir and the transformative power of personal storytelling
2. The art of literary reportage
3. The literary essay — bridging the personal and the political.
What is creative nonfiction? The writer Lee Gutkind calls it the art of “true stories, well-told.” This course aims to take students from first steps in writing creative nonfiction to engaging with the global marketplace for creative nonfiction writing. Students will also read widely both in creative nonfiction, and in theoretical approaches to understanding nonfiction writing. The readings are diverse, and take a global view on nonfiction writing, while placing contemporary creative nonfiction in its historical contexts. As well as focusing on the craft of writing, students will explore questions of ethics, truth and responsibility in nonfiction.
This is a creative writing course. Students will be expected to engage in all individual and collective writing tasks, and will come to understand the possibilities and the challenges of creative nonfiction by writing creative works of their own.
By the end of the course, students will have built up a substantial portfolio of their own work: two assignments, six-micro assignments, and a large.

ARTS 320: Aesthetics

James Batcho — 2025-07-30

This is an introductory course on aesthetics philosophy and its creative applications. It offers a comparative study of European and Asian traditions and concepts as they relate to today’s artistic practices. By situating these two traditions, you can gain a variety of “creative strategies” in thinking about the possibilities of artistic expression in works of art, while also gaining a theoretical foundation for future academic studies in aesthetics and humanities.

The course is taught in three modules:

Traditions of Thought and Practice
Perception & Form
Contemporary Theory and Practices

Coursework is assessed in the areas of reading, discussion, writing, examination, presentation, and creative practice. “Workshops” will enable students to interpret and apply theoretical concepts in collaborative audiovisual exercises, through the use of photography, moving image, and sound design.

SEM 100: First Year Seminar I

2025-07-30

The four-sequenced seminar courses are part of a one mega-course (16 credits), that share the same objectives and learning outcomes. In Freshman Seminar I, students will take a cross-cultural perspective on human existence in the context of the many worlds we all occupy: natural, social and existential. Human beings, the philosopher Martin Heidegger once wrote, is "being-in-the-world." In this course, students will experience and explore a wide variety of ways in which we can conceptualize what it means to be situated in the world. Students will explore human existence in the context of post-Darwinian understandings of what it means to be a human animal. Building on this foundation, they will consider what it means to be radically and irreducibly social. Through exploring the work of both Confucian philosophers and evolutionary theories of ethics, they will ask what it means to be a social animal. And they will explore the rich traditions of existentialism to explore what it means to find ourselves here, evolved beings living in society with each other, conscious of our limitations, our freedom and our death. This Seminar I course will give students the ability to move between radically different frameworks of understanding, to derive rich and complex insights into the human experience.

Prerequisites: None

4 Credit Hours | Descriptors:DVID,PTVA,LOGR

SEM 200: Second Year Seminar I

Will Buckingham(A&B)/Lina Kassem C&D)/Swe Oo Mon(E)/Khondker Aktaruzzaman(F) — 2025-07-30

The four-sequenced seminar courses are part of a one mega-course (16 credits), that share the same objectives and learning outcomes. In Sophomore Seminar 1, we will explore how difference is socially and historically constructed, what it can mean to us, and how it can act on us. We will also ask critical questions on what we already know about differences among humans in today’s world. The Seminar will start with exploring the concept of “the Other”, which is one aspect of difference. We will look into different views on “the Other” from European history and different parts of the world through Ryszard Kapuściński’s accounts and insights. Then we will read Said’s Orientalism to understand power, difference, and otherness. Along with him, we will question knowledge production projects of the European colonizing countries which still condition how and what we know about differences. After this, we will study how “othered(ing) races” were born out of differences in modern, historical events reading Charles W. Mills’ “The Racial Contract”. Next, we will keep reflecting on differences through the literary perspectives of Toni Morrison. This will also lead us into the US context contemplated by Angela Davis. Angela Davis will help us understand the
intersectionality of gender, race, and class and how this embeds oppression, as well as how we can resist such oppression in collective movements. Finally, we will read Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks exploring “gendered otherness” and its intersectionality with social, political, ideological, and economic life across different times and spaces.

4 Credit Hours | Descriptors: DVID, LOGR, DVIC

SECP 498-PPE Senior Capstone I (PPE)

David Golding — 2025-07-30

Senior Capstone is a year-long project-based/research-based course that all senior students have to take and complete. Senior Capstone I is taken in the first semester of their senior year and Capstone II is taken in the second semester of their senior year.

Senior Capstone projects are always associated with student’s declared majors. While the syllabus is shared by all Senior Capstone Instructors, a student will work closely throughout the entire year with a dedicated capstone instructor, who will create a conducive research and learning environment for all capstone course students. This is made possible by the fact that each capstone course has no more than 16 students, who will be advised closely by the capstone instructor. The students will also be required to provide feedback to one another in the course.

The senior capstone courses are characterized not by the delivery of instruction by the instructor, but by the immersive and collaborative environment. This is made possible by the cumulative and progression-based nature of the course. In the first semester, the students will be taken on sequential steps to finally produce a detailed project proposal. In the second semester, the students will do research and produce a thesis, which will then be recommended by the instructor to be approved by the division of capstone origin in order for the student to graduate from Parami University.

This course meets for three hours once every week, and expects students to put in at least ten independent project hours per week.

Prerequisites: This course is available only to fourth year students.

SECP 498-SDS: Senior Capstone I (SDS)

Nwe Nwe Htay Win — 2025-07-30

This course meets for three hours once every week, and expects students to put in at least ten independent project hours per week.

Prerequisites: This course is available only to fourth year students.

ENCP 100: English Composition I

Karie Piecynski(A&B)/Mia Sasaki(C&D)/Zahnur Rofiah(E&F)/Lori Enns(G&H) — 2025-07-30

English Composition I focuses on foundation skills of university-level writing. The course will take students through all the steps of the expository writing process from pre-writing to revising and proofreading. Students will work through a series of expository essays, including narratives and descriptive pieces. The course will support them in acquiring appropriate critical reading skills, as well as following conventions of standard English in writing. Students will also be introduced to selecting, using, and correctly referencing sources.

Prerequisites: None

INST 105: Science in Daily Life

Win Maw Hlaing Oo — 2025-07-30

The Citizen Science program is offered to all first-year students, and is a science literacy foundation program that introduces students to use various approaches to scientifically analyze a chosen theme. While a focused theme may be different from year to year, the theme has the characteristics of general importance and relevance to society. The theme for the year 2024-2025 is “Digital Earth.”

Prerequisites: None