The objective of this course is to provide a solid background in the theory of finance. It builds a conceptual framework in which the students can start –as a first course– to understand the past and present of financial theory and how the different components of the literature all fit together. The course aims to present the material by analyzing the “seminal” papers that were written in the area of finance since as early as 1950s. The subjects chosen cover the five main theories upon which “modern finance” is founded: (1) Utility Theory, (2) State Preference Theory, (3) Mean-Variance Portfolio Theory, (4) Capital Asset Pricing Model and The Arbitrage Pricing Theory, and (5) The Modigliani-Miller Theorems. As a result of completing the course, the students are expected to become well-versed in the theoretical as well as empirical aspects of these five pillars and be ready to explore more advanced topics in finance.