I wouldn't expect the theory of a field to be built upon Bad Ideas!
It is a strange course though. It is grad level (2xx at Harvard) but the syllabus is survey topics from a range of undergrad courses in CS. I would guess it's a smattering of advanced topics in those areas, but the description doesn't sell it as having all those topics as prereqs. Maybes it's meant as an extension school / professional master's class for people who do not have CS degrees? Refugees from math, physics, and autodidacts?
It is a strange course though. It is grad level (2xx at Harvard) but the syllabus is survey topics from a range of undergrad courses in CS. I would guess it's a smattering of advanced topics in those areas, but the description doesn't sell it as having all those topics as prereqs. Maybes it's meant as an extension school / professional master's class for people who do not have CS degrees? Refugees from math, physics, and autodidacts?