Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• CAS CS 651: Distributed Systems
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASCS112 & CASCS210) - Programming-centric introduction to how networks of computers are structured to operate as coherent single systems. Introducing principles of architecture, processes, communications, naming, synchronization, consistency and replication, fault tolerance and security, and paradigms such as web-based, object-based, file system, and consistency-based.
• CAS CS 654: Embedded Systems Development
  Lab-based course exploring concepts, techniques, best practices, and tools for the development of connected embedded systems, including: signal processing; sensing, control and actuation; programming and debugging on microprocessors; 1/0 interfacing and development of device drivers; and time-critical data handling.
• CAS CS 655: Graduate Computer Networks
  Graduate Prerequisites: (CASCS112 & CASCS210) CAS CS350 is recommended; or consent of instructor. - Concepts underlying the design of high-performance computer networks and scalable protocols. Topics include Internet design principles and methodology, TCP/IP implementation, packet switching and routing algorithms, multicast, quality of service considerations, error detection and correction, and performance evaluation.
• CAS CS 660: Graduate Introduction to Database Systems
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASCS112) CASCS350 recommended. - Graduate introduction to database management systems. Examines entity-relationship, relational, and object-oriented data models; commercial query languages: SQL, relational algebra, relational calculus, and QBE; file organization, indexing and hashing, query optimization, transaction processing, concurrency control and recovery, integrity, and security.
• CAS CS 680: Graduate Introduction to Computer Graphics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASCS112) and CASCS132 or CASMA242. - Introduction to computer graphics algorithms, programming methods, and applications. Focus on fundamentals of two- and three-dimensional raster graphics: scan-conversion, clipping, geometric transformations, and camera modeling. Introduces concepts in computational geometry, computer-human interfaces, animation, and visual realism. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Digital/Multimedia Expression.
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  • Digital/Multimedia Expression
• CAS CS 697: Computer Science Graduate Initiation
  Description: Graduate Prerequisite: enrollment in Computer Science Ph.D. or M.A. degree program.- Guidance for graduate students embarking on a research career in computer science. Topics include: research resources and methodologies, the research project development process, refereeing and reviewing, written and oral presentations, the dissertation, writing effective research proposals, ethics, and career planning. (Required of first-year doctoral candidates; open to interested CS Master's students.)
• CAS CS 698: CS Teaching Fellow Training
  Covers topics needed to be successful computer science teaching fellow. These include goals, content, and methods of instruction in computer science, and general teaching/learning issues. Required once of all teaching fellows.
• CAS CS 901: Internship in Computer Science
  Graduate Prerequisites: admission to a Master's program, including those with specializations, in the Department of Computer Science. - For Master's students in Computer Science, this internship course gives students substantive practical experience in the computing industry. This course may be taken once, with approval from the Director of the Master's Program. Bi-weekly and final reports required.
• CAS CS 995: Directed Study: Computer Science
  Graduate-level directed study in a topic in computer science.
• CAS EC 501: Microeconomic Theory
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASEC201 or equivalent, and either CASEC505 or CASMA225, or consent of instructor. - Covers the basic concepts and mathematical methods of microeconomic theory. Topics include consumer demand and its foundation on preferences and budget constraints, economics of uncertainty and imperfect information, production theory, applied competitive equilibrium analysis, elementary game theory, and imperfect competition.
• CAS EC 502: Macroeconomic Theory
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: CAS EC 202 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. - Graduate Prerequisites: EC 202 or equivalent, or consent of instructor. - Brief overview of macroeconomics, leading to mathematical models on long-run economic growth and inflation, and on short-run fluctuations with emphasis on the role of fiscal and monetary policy. Readings from research journals; introduction to analysis of macroeconomic data.
• CAS EC 505: Elementary Mathematical Economics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASMA121) or consent of instructor. - Graduate Prerequisites: (CASMA121) or consent of instructor. - Stresses the formulation of economic problems in mathematical terms. Topics covered include partial derivation, total differentials, constrained maximization, matrix algebra, dynamic analysis, and discounting. Cannot be taken for credit by concentrators in Mathematics or Economics and Mathematics.
• CAS EC 507: Statistics for Economists
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC203 OR CASEC303) or equivalent and elementary calculus. - Graduate Prerequisites: (CASEC203 OR CASEC303) Elementary Calculus. - Covers descriptive statistics, measures of association, dispersion, frequency distribution, probability, sampling distributions, estimation, and hypothesis tests. Introduces multivariate regression analysis, with emphasis on specification, testing, and interpretation of econometric models. Requires working with data and use of statistical software.
• CAS EC 508: Econometrics
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC507) and for undergraduate students only, (CASEC204 or CASEC304). - Graduate Prerequisites: (CASEC507) - Standard econometric methods for empirical economic research in academic or business settings. Basic concepts: quantification of uncertainty using confidence intervals, inference of causal relationships in regressions, and prediction based on regression estimates. Working with data and use of statistical software.
• CAS EC 513: Game Theory
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASMA121 OR CASMA122 OR CASMA123 OR CASMA124 OR CASMA127 OR CASM A129) or instructor's permission. - Mathematical models of decision-making and strategic interactions: basic equilibrium notions in normal form games, including signaling games and repeated games. Applications include auctions, foreign policy, takeover bids, entry deterrence, cooperation and conflict, financial markets, and public goods.
• CAS EC 515: Economics of Information
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201) and one of CAS MA 121, 122, 123, 124, 127 or 129, or consent of instru ctor. Recommended: CAS EC 403. - Introduction to mathematical models of information economics and their applications. Covers a wide range of situations in which players have access to different private information and this private information differently affects their incentives and strategic behavior.
• CAS EC 521: Development Policy
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASEC201 & CASEC202) - Graduate Prerequisites: (CASEC303 & CASEC304) - Rigorous and quantitative analysis of the problems of economic development, with emphasis on economic growth, macroeconomic stability, income distribution, and structural change. In a case study using historical data, students analyze a current problem and policy measures that might address it.
• CAS EC 523: Economics and Psychology
  Prerequisites: CASEC201 or EC221 or EC501. - Introduction to a field of economics that challenges the traditional model of rational decision-making and uses research in psychology to construct alternative models. Covers the theory of choice under certainty, uncertainty, and temptation; biases in judgment; social preferences.
• CAS EC 531: Market Structure and Industrial Organization
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (CASMA121) or a more advanced calculus course) and CASEC201 (or a more advanced m icroeconomics course), or consent of instructor. - Mathematical models and quantitative analysis of the main interactions between firms and consumers under different market conditions and market structures. Among the issues discussed: profit maximization, monopoly power, price discrimination, bundling, oligopoly and imperfect competition, entry deterrence, quality choice, and advertising.
• CAS EC 536: Economics of Corporate Organization
  Mathematical models and quantitative analysis of the architecture and performance of firms and other organizations. Topics include firm boundaries, the allocation of ownership and control, integration and outsourcing, corporate governance, performance evaluation, and compensation. May not be taken for credit in addition to CAS EC 436.