English

This course introduces the fundamentals and methodology on research of molecular evolution. Topics: evolutionary changes and patterns of sequences, methods for phylogenetic analyses, and inferring sites under positive selection. The course also examines recent advances of molecular evolution studies on phylogenomics, horizontal gene transfer, and genome evolution. Recommended prerequisites include evolution, genetics or equivalent subjects. Laboratory practices are offered to provide familiarity with data retrieving and analyses. Homework assignments are distributed weekly, which require substantial extra work time.

During the course, students attend sessions at the UCL Institute of Education (IOE) where a range of experts present their responses to the question: what is education? Students are encouraged to consider and share their responses to this and other questions, in relation to their own contexts.

Given the continuously growing impact of the European Union on business, attention to politics is warranted in international business studies. At the same time, governance in the EU is far from straightforward, as it is based on a very complex mixture of political principles, structures, and institutions. This course looks at the wider institutional environment of the firm and provides background for doing business in Europe.  This course is a good option for students aspiring to work for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or business practitioners in Europe. A creative, multidisciplinary approach is taken, using original and challenging literature from the literature on international business, comparative politics, and comparative economic systems. The course material assists in understanding past and current changes in the broader European business & politics landscape.

This course is an overview of the major events, actors, and developments that have shaped the course and character of Europe since the French Revolution. Students examine the rise of nationalism, industrialization, and imperialism that paved the way for World War I and the making and remaking of Europe during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 

Henry Kissinger might be the most controversial American statesman of the 20th century. More than 40 years since he left office, he remains the focus of intense popular and scholarly debate concerning the uses of American power during the Cold War. This course explores these controversies in the study of "America and the World" in the 1970s. The course begins by examining how Kissinger’s ideas about foreign policy evolved during his early life in wartime Germany and his career as a foreign policy intellectual at Harvard University. The majority of the course is then concerned with the central controversies of Kissinger’s time in office as national security adviser and secretary of state between 1969 and 1976. Each week students will examine Kissinger’s role in shaping and implementing American foreign policy in a particular theater of the global Cold War, focusing on the major crises and conflicts of the decade. Students read and reflect on extracts from Kissinger’s memoirs as a primary source, in conjunction with the latest historical research on that topic. 

This course examines the natural functioning of coasts and oceans, including the critical role oceans play in the environmental, social and economic well-being of communities worldwide. With a sharp focus on Australia and the Asia-Pacific, it looks at solutions to the challenges facing oceans, from regenerating marine habitats and reversing biodiversity loss; producing sustainable aquatic foods and products; increasing resilience to sea level rise; and capturing carbon and reducing pollution.

This course explores the growth and development of popular literature from the Victorian era up to the present day. Students are introduced to key themes and theories of the popular as well as texts and contexts from a wide range of popular genres: crime fiction, fantasy, horror, science fiction, romance, and the newly emerged category of "Domestic Noir" amongst them. Each text is situated within the context of its genre as well as the historical/social context of the time at which it was written. Students are encouraged to think about ideas of “popularity” and “canonicity” and to interrogate the reasons why certain texts and genres dominate the bestseller lists and the popular imagination at different times.