• Courses

    uCoruse6

    Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ)
    Quito, Ecuador

    Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) is a private liberal arts university located in Quito, Ecuador. In addition to the main campus located in Cumbayá, USFQ has a satellite campus and research station in the Galápagos Islands and a biological field station “Tiputini Biodiversity Station” in the Amazon basin.

    We believe in freedom as a fundamental human characteristic, and in training students to become well-rounded “world citizens”, leaders and entrepreneurs. As a research-centric university, USFQ has the highest number of PhDs in the country; a strength we leverage across all subjects.

    USFQ is truly an International University and is a leader in the region. Ranked #1 University in Ecuador and #51 in Latin America (2018 QS University Rankings). We currently have over 9,000 students enrolled of which 1000 are international students. We have over 100 Bilateral Partnerships for Research and Exchange, as well participate as members of prestigious International Networks, for example Berklee School of Music, Paul Bocuse, Global Liberal Arts Alliance, Hemispheric University Consortium and now, The Association for the Pacific Rim. Our faculty members represent 30 countries and 5 continents. We have both ABBET and AMBA accreditation.

    Website: www.usfq.edu.ec

    Course Offerings for the semester from January to August 2021

    APPLICATION CLOSED

    Students must submit an application online before:
    December 21, 2020 12:00nn Hong Kong Time (UTC+8)

    Home universities must submit the list of endorsed students to VSE Central Office before:
    December 22, 2020 12:00nn Hong Kong Time (UTC+8)



    Click on the course titles to reveal full course details:
    Number of Credits3
    Offering DepartmentCollege of Communication and Contemporary Arts
    Course TeacherAmy Scheidegger
    Language of InstructionEnglish
    First Day of ClassMar 22, 2021
    Last Day of ClassMay 16, 2021
    Course ComponentLecture
    Mode of TeachingAsynchronous
    Meeting Time-
    Time ZoneUTC-5
    Restrictions-
    Course DescriptionThis course aims to familiarize students with the basic tools of drawing, allowing them to develop the fundamental skills of perception through linear, volumetric and geometric figures that facilitate the understanding of specific studies and exercises, for instance still life and landscape.
    Course OutlineEnglish
    Number of Credits3
    Offering DepartmentCollege of Communication and Contemporary Arts
    Course TeacherDeborah Morillo
    Language of InstructionEnglish
    First Day of ClassJan 18, 2021
    Last Day of ClassMay 20, 2021
    Course ComponentLecture
    Mode of TeachingSynchronous
    Meeting TimeTue & Thu 1000-1120
    Time ZoneUTC-5
    Restrictions-
    Course DescriptionWorking closely with the scientist, the illustrator offers clarity to complex issues and an inside look at what is being studied. This course will focus on botanical illustrations. The course will introduce technical drawing skills in various media used traditionally in botanical scientific illustration such as pen and ink, gouache and watercolor, or acrylic.
    Course OutlineEnglish

    Number of Credits3
    Offering DepartmentCollege of Communication and Contemporary Arts
    Course TeacherAmy Scheidegger
    Language of InstructionEnglish
    First Day of ClassJan 18, 2021
    Last Day of ClassMar 14, 2021
    Course ComponentLecture
    Mode of TeachingAsynchronous
    Meeting Time-
    Time ZoneUTC-5
    Restrictions-
    Course DescriptionThis course will accustom students to the use of different tools and techniques of watercolor painting with the aim of developing practical skills in relation to intonation, gradients, contrasts of color, expression of shapes and volumes, representation of light and shadow, textures and artistic composition to develop artistic works using watercolor as a medium. The different criteria and tools needed to allow students to get to know, understand and develop skills for the correct use of watercolor will also be explored.
    Course OutlineEnglish
    Number of Credits3
    Offering DepartmentCollege of Communication and Contemporary Arts
    Course TeacherVerónica Jimenez
    Language of InstructionEnglish
    First Day of ClassJan 18, 2021
    Last Day of ClassMay 20, 2021
    Course ComponentLecture
    Mode of TeachingSynchronous
    Meeting TimeMon & Wed 1430-1550
    Time ZoneUTC-5
    Restrictions-
    Course DescriptionThis course explores imaginaries and discourses at the intersection of urban and environmental humanities. We will examine how 21st century arts, photography, film, literature, scientific discourses and technologies are involved in changing ideas about what constitutes life, the human, the urban dweller, the social realm, and the ecosystem. Indeed, we will explore the role of literature, media, science and arts in shaping our urban, global and environmental perceptions and discuss how these define our sense of self, agency and response-ability. We also analyze the often concealed connection between environmental and urban ideologies. This will imply developing a critical eye for examining key contemporary concepts such as: the Nature/Culture binary, the Anthropocene, diverse approaches to ecological thought, globalization processes, Posthumanism, New Materialism, and Science and Technology Studies. The readings and discussions are meant to posit the debate within an interdisciplinary field of studies. In fact, one central aim of the course will be constructing a shared space for interdisciplinary discussion. All our discussions will be activated through analysis of the different artistic, literary, sociocultural, economic and techno-scientific discourses through which we imagine our present and speculate about our futures. The course includes an experiential dimension. Throughout the semester students will be involved in analytical observations of our everyday spaces. We will develop a critical eye for thinking through what constitutes the dimensions of ourselves and our surroundings.
    Course OutlineEnglish
    Number of Credits3
    Offering DepartmentCollege of Biological and Environmental Sciences
    Course TeacherDiego Cisneros
    Language of InstructionEnglish
    First Day of ClassJan 18, 2021
    Last Day of ClassMay 20, 2021
    Course ComponentLecture
    Mode of TeachingSynchronous
    Meeting TimeMon & Wed 1130-1250
    Time ZoneUTC-5
    Restrictions-
    Course DescriptionIntroduction to ecological principles applied to the functioning of tropical ecosystems and the different aspects of the natural history of these ecosystems, with emphasis on the Neotropics. Conservation and management aspects will be discussed.
    Course OutlineEnglish
    Number of Credits3
    Offering DepartmentCollege of Biological and Environmental Sciences
    Course TeacherMargarita Brandt
    Language of InstructionEnglish
    First Day of ClassMar 22, 2021
    Last Day of ClassMay 16, 2021
    Course ComponentLecture
    Mode of TeachingAsynchronous
    Meeting Time-
    Time ZoneUTC-5
    Restrictions-
    Course DescriptionThis is a groundbreaking course produced internationally to help students from all disciplines learn and retain the core concepts of ocean health. Fundamentals of ocean science are taught by highly distinguished marine scientist in a comprehensive fashion while sharing the complexities to work with stakeholders looking for solutions for resource consumption and conservation of the marine realm. In each module students are encouraged to actively participate in the critical thinking group discussions and are required to present innovative assignments and a capstone project.
    Course OutlineTBA
    Number of Credits3
    Offering DepartmentCollege of Social Sciences and Humanities
    Course TeacherAna Hurtado
    Language of InstructionEnglish
    First Day of ClassJan 18, 2021
    Last Day of ClassMay 20, 2021
    Course ComponentLecture
    Mode of TeachingSynchronous
    Meeting TimeTue & Thu 1130 - 1250
    Time ZoneUTC-5
    Restrictions-
    Course DescriptionThis course focuses on understanding the genre of short story writing. Students will gain an understanding of the history of the short story and its status in the contemporary literary world. Furthermore, the course will ask students to delve into the world of creative writing by producing a short story as their final project.
    Course OutlineEnglish
    Number of Credits3
    Offering DepartmentCollege of Social Sciences and Humanities
    Course TeacherAlvaro Alemán
    Language of InstructionEnglish
    First Day of ClassJan 18, 2021
    Last Day of ClassMay 20, 2021
    Course ComponentLecture
    Mode of TeachingSynchronous
    Meeting TimeTue & Thu 0700-0820
    Time ZoneUTC-5
    Restrictions-
    Course DescriptionThe object of this course is to offer prospective students both an overview of the cinematic work of one of the acknowledged “great figures” of the medium and to introduce them to the critical scenario of film studies. The course is then concerned with sketching a brief historical perspective of the development of cinema in the XX century and with accompanying that narrative with a display of some key texts in Hitchcock’s oeuvre. We will touch upon the issue of the author, on the ways in which one might think to ally a specific object (film) to a distinctly collaborative medium (cinema) and on the manner in which Hitchcock developed and heightened this association in the minds of his audience. The overall purpose is to gain a broader understanding and appreciation of Alfred Hitchcock´s overall contribution to film and to film theory. We will observe, comment, think and write about many of Hitchcock’s films; in this endeavor, the practice and craft of writing about film will be crucial. Each screening will be followed by a class length discussion on the film and students are expected to respond to each film with a judicious, informed and formally adequate response paper.
    Course OutlineEnglish
    Number of Credits3
    Offering DepartmentCollege of Social Sciences and Humanities
    Course TeacherCecilia Isabel Conde
    Language of InstructionEnglish
    First Day of ClassMar 22, 2021
    Last Day of ClassMay 16, 2021
    Course ComponentLecture
    Mode of TeachingAsynchronous
    Meeting Time-
    Time ZoneUTC-5
    Restrictions-
    Course DescriptionIn this course, that is open to undergraduates of all majors, the following topics are explored at an introductory level: (a) the nature, implications, and consequences of human conflict; (b) the main current theories regarding its causes; (c) so-called ‘strategies’, that are the ways in which we humans address conflict (avoidance, confrontation, yielding, management and/or resolution); (d) escalation of conflct; (e) the tendency for escalation to become irreversible; (f) the main processes for de-escalation, management and resolution, including pre-negotiation and direct negotiation between or among the parties; (g) reconciliation between or among parties that were previously in conflict; and (h) various forms of impartial third-party intervention.
    Course OutlineEnglish
    Number of Credits3
    Offering DepartmentCollege of Social Sciences and Humanities
    Course TeacherCheryl Martens
    Language of InstructionEnglish
    First Day of ClassJan 18, 2021
    Last Day of ClassMay 20, 2021
    Course ComponentLecture
    Mode of TeachingSynchronous
    Meeting TimeTue & Thu 1430-1550
    Time ZoneUTC-5
    Restrictions-
    Course DescriptionStudents will work collaboratively with Indigenous communities to develop research questions related to the documentation of Indigenous history, language and culture in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Each student will participate in the entire process: from defining a topic to interviewing, transcribing and evaluating their work. Students will learn decolonial and indigenous approaches to research methods, the ethics of interviewing, and discuss culture and language endangerment.
    Course OutlineTBA



    Course enrollment is subject to final approval from your home university and the course offering university. Please contact the APRU VSE Coordinator of your home university for credit transfer information.