Computer Science 179
Design of Usable Interactive Systems

Usability and design as keys to successful technology. Covers user observation techniques, needs assessment, low and high fidelity prototyping, usability testing methods, as well as theory of human perception and performance, and design best practices. Focuses on understanding and applying the lessons of human interaction to the design of usable systems; will also look at lessons to be learned from less usable systems. The course includes several small and one large project.

Computer Science 171
Visualization

An introduction to key design principles and techniques for visualizing data. Covers design practices, data and image models, visual perception, interaction principles, tools from various fields, and applications. Introduces programming of interactive visualizations.

Psychology 15
Social Psychology

An introduction to social psychological research and theory regarding everyday behavior. Topics include: social influence, attitude change, and obedience to authority; stereotyping and prejudice; social cognition; social interaction and group processes; interpersonal attraction; prosocial behavior; and everyday human judgment.

Engineering Sciences 22
Designing for Desirability

Multi-disciplinary course for students interested in designing products and services that are simple, irresistible, delightful, cool, covetable, viral, and, increasingly in today's day and age, much more likely to be successful. Students study real world cases of how organizations (e.g., Apple, Gucci, Swarovski) strategically design for desirability. In weekly design challenges, students use analogical transfer to apply these insights to diverse industries and target markets (e.g., health literacy campaigns, declining technologies, the future of luxury). Weekly critique panels with experts enable students to develop their own design point of view and to finish with a diverse design portfolio.

Engineering Sciences 51
Computer-aided Machine Design

A first course in the design and construction of mechanical and electromechanical devices. Engineering graphics and sketching; dimensions and tolerances. Introduction to materials selection and structural design. Machine elements and two-dimensional mechanisms; DC motors. Design methodology. Emphasis on laboratory work and design projects using professional solid modeling CAD software and numerically controlled machine tools.

Computer Science 105
Privacy and Technology

What is privacy, and how is it affected by recent developments in computer technology? Course critically examines popular concepts of privacy and uses a rigorous analysis of technologies to understand the policy and ethical issues at play. Case studies: RFID, database anonymity, research ethics, wiretapping. Course relies on some technical material, but is open and accessible to all students, especially those with interest in economics, engineering, political science, computer science, sociology, biology, law, government, philosophy.

Computer Science 143
Computer Networks

Principles, design, implementation, and performance of computer networks. Topics include: Internet protocols and routing, local area networks, TCP, performance analysis, congestion control, network address translation, voice and video over IP, switching and routing, mobile IP, peer-to-peer overlay networks, network security, and other current research topics. Programming assignments on protocol implementation and analysis.

Computer Science 61
Systems Programming and Machine Organization

Fundamentals of computer systems programming, machine organization, and performance tuning. This course provides a solid background in systems programming and a deep understanding of low-level machine organization and design. Topics include C and assembly language programming, program optimization, memory hierarchy and caching, virtual memory and dynamic memory management, concurrency, threads, and synchronization.

GSE A132: Educational Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship

This course, with a substantial focus on the practice and implementation of educational change, will critically examine the contributions of social entrepreneurs to expanding educational opportunity in a comparative context. The focus of the course will be on social entrepreneurs who are working to include and improve the quality of education for low-income and marginalized students. The course will prioritize initiatives under way in developing countries, including for purposes of analytic contrast some cases from early industrialized countries. We will use a series of case studies on social entrepreneurs and their educational innovations to examine the contributions of the program theory on which they are based to their success. We will examine the role played by social entrepreneurs in initiating and steering these innovations toward institutionalization, with particular attention to the way in which these entrepreneurs generate and mobilize resources, build partnerships with the public sector, and manage the politics of implementation of educational innovations.

Computer Science 164: Mobile Software Engineering

Introduction to principles of software engineering for mobile devices and best practices, including code reviews, source control, and unit tests. Topics include Ajax, encapsulation, event handling, HTTP, memory management, MVC, object-oriented design, and user experience. Languages include HTML5, JavaScript, and Objective-C. Projects include mobile web apps and native iOS apps.

Societies of the World 31: Political Economy After the Crisis

Alternative ways of thinking about contemporary market economies and their reconstruction. Three connected themes: the worldwide financial and economic crisis and the response to it, the effort to advance socially inclusive economic growth in richer as well as in poorer countries, and the future of globalization. What economics is and should become. This year the central topic will be crisis and the struggle for recovery as provocations to insight and as opportunities for reform. Students should have some acquaintance with economics, but no advanced training is required. Addressed to undergraduate and graduate students outside as well as within economics.

Applied Math 107: Graph Theory and Combinatorics

Topics in combinatorial mathematics that find frequent application in computer science, engineering, and general applied mathematics. Specific topics taken from graph theory, enumeration techniques, optimization theory, combinatorial algorithms, and discrete probability.

Arabic A: Elementary Arabic

Introduces students to the phonology and script of classical/modern standard Arabic and covers the basic morphology and syntax of the written language. Emphasis on the development of the four skills (reading, speaking, listening, and writing). Samples of modern (contemporary) and classical styles of writing introduced into basic syllabus, and audio-visual material from the contemporary Arabic media.

Computer Science 121: Introduction to Formal Systems and Computation

General introduction to formal systems and the theory of computation, teaching how to reason precisely about computation and prove mathematical theorems about its capabilities and limitations. Finite automata, Turing machines, formal languages, computability, uncomputability, computational complexity, and the P vs. NP question.

Statistics 104: Introduction to Quantitative Methods for Economics

Emphasizes applications in fields including, but not limited to, economics, health sciences and policy analysis. Topics covered: descriptive and summary statistics for both measured and counted variables; elements of experimental and survey design; probability; and statistical inference including estimation and tests of hypotheses as applied to one- and two-sample problems, multiple regression, correlation, and analysis of variance.

United States in the World 36: Innovation and Entrepreneurship: American Experience in Comparative Perspective

What gives rise to entrepreneurial opportunity and innovative activity? How do innovators and entrepreneurs think about the world? How are organizations born and how do they grow? How can innovation and entrepreneurship address the major challenges facing the world? The course will address these questions by bringing together faculty members of Harvard University to provide a diverse set of perspectives on the nature of innovation and entrepreneurship. The course has three complementary pedagogical methods. Members of the Harvard Business School faculty will provide a set of interactive lectures using case studies that illustrate how for-profit and not-for-profit organizations recognize and capitalize on opportunities. Second, faculty members from around the University will provide lectures on specific areas related to their expertise. Third, a set of group projects that allow students to work in the field with sponsoring organizations will be completed over the course of the semester.

Arabic A: Elementary Arabic

Introduces students to the phonology and script of classical/modern standard Arabic and covers the basic morphology and syntax of the written language. Emphasis on the development of the four skills (reading, speaking, listening, and writing). Samples of modern (contemporary) and classical styles of writing introduced into basic syllabus, and audio-visual material from the contemporary Arabic media.

Computer Science 51: Introduction to Computer Science II

Abstraction and design in computation. Topics include: Functional and object-oriented styles of programming; software engineering in the small; models of computation. Goal: understanding how to design large programs to make them readable, maintainable, efficient, and elegant. Exercises in ML and Java.

Economics 10: Principles of Economics

Introduction to economic issues and basic principles and methods of economics. Spring term focuses on macroeconomics: economic growth, inflation, unemployment, the business cycle, the financial system, international capital flows and trade imbalances, and the impact of monetary and fiscal policy.

Expos 20: Urban America

This course addresses questions about the past and present American urban experience by analyzing cities from various disciplinary perspectives. Unit I hones critical skills through close readings of How the Other Half Lives, an expose of late nineteenth-century New York. Unit II emphasizes the importance of context through analysis of the play, A Raisin in the Sun with companion texts. Unit III teaches the fundamentals of the research process through independent projects on Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Engineering Sciences 91r: Independent Research and Study

I worked with a visiting professor from Carnegie Mellon who was studying intellectual innovation. The exact topic: "Who makes the contribution in academia, is it the professors, their post docs, top students, average students, any old student? Contribute to this important research project by examining the publishing patterns of the top scientists and engineers of our day to learn who did what, who made the impact and who the true innovators are. Through this research you will learn about the patterns of contributors in top research and also understand how the aspiring engineer and scientist can place themselves to be one of those top innovators and contributors."

Computer Science 50: Introduction to Computer Science I

Introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming. This course teaches students how to think algorithmically and solve problems efficiently. Topics include abstraction, algorithms, encapsulation, data structures, databases, memory management, security, software development, virtualization, and websites. Languages include C, PHP, and JavaScript plus SQL, CSS, and HTML. Problem sets inspired by real-world domains of biology, cryptography, finance, forensics, and gaming. Designed for concentrators and non-concentrators alike, with or without prior programming experience.

Economics 10: Principles of Economics

Introduction to economic issues and basic principles and methods of economics. Fall term focuses on microeconomics: how markets work, market efficiency and market failure, firm and consumer behavior, and policy issues such as taxation, international trade, the environment, and the distribution of income.

Applied Math 21a: Mathematical Methods in the Sciences

Complex numbers. Multivariate calculus: partial differentiation, directional derivatives, techniques of integration and multiple integration. Vectors: dot and cross products, parameterized curves, line and surface integrals. Vector calculus: gradient, divergence and curl, Green's, Stokes' and Gauss' theorems, including orthogonal curvilinear coordinates. Applications in electrical and mechanical engineering.

Freshman Seminar 25n: Understanding Psychological Development, Disorder and Treatment: Learning through Literature and Research

Deepens understanding of human development and how individuals cope with serious emotional or social difficulties (neglect, bipolar disorder, autism, depression). We will use multiple perspectives: medical texts that provide practical knowledge, narrative readings to understand how patients experience the meaning of illness, speaking with patients about their experiences, and portrayals of development-related mental illness in the press. Examines the fundamental need for tenderness and making meaning, the resourcefulness required for resiliency and the context of vulnerability.