Programs Archive

Urban Studies Concentration

Tales of the city Since ancient times, cities have been significant engines of social change. As more and more people flock to metropolitan areas in search of opportunity, how do we assess the changes that urbanization brings? This question is critical because soon more than half of the world’s population will be living in cities.…
Peace and Conflict Studies Concentration

Peace is defined as not only the absence of violence but also the presence of the conditions, such as social justice and human rights, that make it sustainable. In order to learn how we can build more peaceful and just systems and societies, the concentration draws on the knowledge of many disciplines, including chemistry, economics,…
Law and Society Concentration

‘The adhesive force in the cement of society’ Several months before his assassination, President John F. Kennedy used these words to describe the importance of law in a civilized society. He understood that governing bodies — from local municipalities to international courts of law — create laws and legal systems to regulate and balance the…
Latin American and Latinx Studies Concentration

Explore la cultura influeyente Latinx people make up an estimated one-sixth of the U.S. population, and the cultural, economic, and geopolitical impact of Latin America and Latinx people is substantial. The increasing number of people who speak both Spanish and English in the U.S. is accompanied by the rising popularity of Latin music, art, cinema,…
Jewish Studies Concentration

From their origin as a small Middle Eastern tribe to their present-day diaspora throughout the world, people of Jewish faith and heritage — from Jesus, Spinoza, and Marc Chagall to Albert Einstein, Betty Friedan, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg — have left an indelible mark on almost every aspect of human endeavor, and their struggles are…
German Studies Concentration

From science and technology (think Einstein and Gutenberg) to psychology, philosophy, and the arts (Freud, Hannah Arendt, Mozart, and Marlene Dietrich) the achievements of German-speaking peoples have played a critical role in European and world history, from their first contact with the Roman Empire to the present. Why choose German studies? As a student in…
Geospatial Data Analytics Concentration

Geospatial technologies enable researchers, communities, and industries to address analytical problems where location is an essential parameter. Use spatial data to to better visualize and understand the world’s most complex challenges. Why study geospatial data analytics? A geographic information system (GIS) integrates the location data in maps with a wide range of information. This provides…
Genocide and Human Rights Concentration

The causes and repercussions of mass murder While the systematic murder of Jewish people during the Holocaust may be the best-known example of genocide, it was neither the first nor the last time that humans engaged in such behavior. What causes societies to disintegrate, step by step, such that they resort to mass violence as…
Ethics and Public Policy Concentration

Due diligence in decision-making Why study ethics and public policy? These are the kinds of questions that makers of public policy deal with on a daily basis, and their decisions can affect thousands of people — at home and abroad — in both intended and unintended ways. An understanding of ethical analysis as a complement to…
Computational Science Concentration

Apply the power of computation to scientific research. There are times when scientific experiments are too expensive, insufficiently accurate, or require conditions impossible to achieve in a laboratory setting. Fortunately, computers — cheap, powerful, and accurate — can often be used to simulate the required experimental conditions, while computations based on accurate mathematical models can…