BFN 306: Behavioral Finance
Fall 2026
Instructor: Aws Al-Hasani
E-mail: aalhasan@ubishops.ca
Office: Virtual by appointment
(24 hours prior confirmation)
Office hours: Tuesdays 18:00
Class: Thursday at 19:00
Hamilton 305
Learning objectives
This is an advanced course that brings together knowledge from the areas of modern finance and cognitive science into one unified framework. After completing this course, you should understand:
(i) the discrepancy between the theoretical foundations of modern finance and the evidence suggesting individuals are not rational wealth maximizers.
(ii) the concept of cognitive bias and how individuals make financial decisions;
(iii) the role of emotions and heuristics as evolutionary adaptations to dealing with complex critical systems
(iv) how individual behavior aggregates into corporate financial policies and broad stock market movements
Textbook
There is no required textbook for this course; the class material will be provided by the instructor on Moodle. There is no charge for downloading and using class material. Class notes are written by me and are tailored to your specific needs. They are open content, meaning you can share, copy and distribute them for free as you please, provided that you quote and reference them properly.
General class policies
There will be no make-ups for failing to write a mid-term exam. However, my decision to accommodate certain cases will be based solely on medical considerations and compassionate grounds. Try to plan around exam dates.
Fall 2026
Instructor: Aws Al-Hasani
E-mail: aalhasan@ubishops.ca
Office: Virtual by appointment
(24 hours prior confirmation)
Office hours: Tuesdays 18:00
Class: Thursday at 19:00
Hamilton 305
Learning objectives
This is an advanced course that brings together knowledge from the areas of modern finance and cognitive science into one unified framework. After completing this course, you should understand:
(i) the discrepancy between the theoretical foundations of modern finance and the evidence suggesting individuals are not rational wealth maximizers.
(ii) the concept of cognitive bias and how individuals make financial decisions;
(iii) the role of emotions and heuristics as evolutionary adaptations to dealing with complex critical systems
(iv) how individual behavior aggregates into corporate financial policies and broad stock market movements
Textbook
There is no required textbook for this course; the class material will be provided by the instructor on Moodle. There is no charge for downloading and using class material. Class notes are written by me and are tailored to your specific needs. They are open content, meaning you can share, copy and distribute them for free as you please, provided that you quote and reference them properly.
General class policies
There will be no make-ups for failing to write a mid-term exam. However, my decision to accommodate certain cases will be based solely on medical considerations and compassionate grounds. Try to plan around exam dates.
- Teacher: Aws Al-Hasani