English

This course offers students insights and different perspectives that can help explain why, over the centuries, some nations and cities succeed in our global economy while others fail. The course is divided into three parts. The first part introduces theories of global economics and the determinants for a nation/city to achieve power and prosperity versus poverty from a historical perspective. The second part examines specific case studies to enhance our understanding of concepts and broad intellectual perspectives to do with international trade, and monetary and financial systems. The course ends with current challenges in the global economy and the way nations and cities might resolve those problems. Special attention is given to the emergence of the world economy in the 21st century and the changing world economic order over time.

This course provides students with a broad understanding of international business, including the fundamental abilities and knowledge essential to the doing of business internationally: both in theory and practice. The course offers a foundation in international business. 

This course introduces fiction film screenwriting. It covers the professional practice of developing, writing and rewriting short film scripts in a collaborative, workshop environment. Upon completing this course, students will have significantly developed their practice in preparation for future screenwriting projects.

The course provides an introduction to the key neuroscience concepts and research techniques relevant to psychology.  Topics include the basics of neural function, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, sensorimotor processing, and research methods used. 

The course provides students with knowledge of the major theories and approaches to the analysis of international relations. In order to do so, it will focus on the structure of the international system, the dynamics of cooperation and conflict in the international arena, and the evolution of war in international politics. At the end of the course, students are able to distinguish the key factors underpinning cooperation and conflict in world politics and to use the major theories in international relations to understand contemporary international political phenomena. 

The course introduces students to the main theoretical traditions in international relations, including realism, liberalism, constructivism, the English School, and critical approaches to IR. It explores how these traditions conceptualize power, security, interests, institutions, and ideas, and how they contribute to our understanding of international politics. Students engage with the core theories of the discipline, such as balance of power, hegemonic stability, institutionalism, democratic peace, and capitalist peace. The course also examines the constructivist emphasis on norms and identity, the English School’s analyses of the evolution of the international order, as well as critical IR perspectives, which challenge mainstream theories by highlighting issues of inequality and colonialism.

What is queer art and who makes it? Has there always been queerness in art? This course looks at art-historical practices from a variety of historical, geographical, and social contexts, to explore how queerness, same-sex desire, or “homosexuality” have been represented, and how these representations changed over time, at intersections with their sociopolitical contexts. While the course has a predominantly contemporary focus, it begins with an examination of historical examples of same-sex desire in art before the 19th century. It looks at the modern developments brought by the Enlightenment and scientific progress which first invented and categorized “homosexuality” as a medical category and deviance, prompting 19th century artists to develop an elaborate language of coded homoeroticism. Following this historical introduction to the course, the focus shifts to a thematic approach: it covers a broad range of distinct practices and reflect on many different meanings of queerness, including: the US gay liberation history and the AIDS epidemic; thriving spaces of queer cultures such as waterfront and nightclubs; Irish, Polish, and Jewish queer artistic practices; and gender binary-defying practices of two-spirit Indigenous Americans and Indian Hijras. The course also looks at queer exhibitions and exhibiting queerness in various international contexts, and explores instances of explicit or implicit censorship of same-sex desire in art institutions. The course features a visit to an exhibition.

This course is unique in its focus on the core challenges facing our increasingly 'smart' cities, from their operational functions and planning through to management and control. The course reflects the changes that technology is making to the operation of, and our understanding of, the city, and gives students the technical and theoretical skills needed to make a difference to the cities of today and tomorrow.

The current uncertain times are marked by political upheavals, rapid technological change, and ecological loss and crisis. Yet, this perception of uncertainty is not unique to the present. How have people made sense of the unknown in the past? How have they tried to predict, control, or survive uncertain futures? This seminar explores how individuals, communities, and institutions have historically responded to uncertainty, in North America and beyond. Seminar topics therefore include religious beliefs and prophecies, narratives of destiny and utopia, science and statistics, social planning, bureaucracy and record-keeping, violence and exclusion, art, sports, as well as turns to history itself. Furthermore, the class discusses how historians themselves deal with uncertainty in their work: from gaps in the archives and collective memory, to epistemological questions, biases in historical research, and contested interpretations of the past. Through these themes, students are introduced to the foundational skills of studying history: how to ask critical questions, develop an argument, read primary and secondary sources, and how to write (about) history. A field trip to a local archive offers practical insights into what it means to work as a historian, and the uncertainties that come with it.

This course explores the fundamental nature of the main groups of materials which constitute planets such as the Earth, and develops an understanding of how atomic structure of materials ultimately defines planetary processes. In Part A: From atoms to minerals, students briefly review atomic theory, consider how atoms are arranged in crystalline materials and how this, ultimately, controls material properties. Interaction of crystalline materials with light, X-rays, and electrons are used to introduce the theoretical and practical basis behind analytical techniques used to study Earth and planetary materials. In Part B: Planetary building blocks, students review the main groups of solid materials which constitute planets such as the Earth, considering how structure, chemistry, physical properties, and occurrence are interrelated. In Part C: Modelling chemical processes, students consider how the stability and occurrence of materials can be predicted and determined numerically, and consider factors governing the rates at which natural processes occur.

In order to create a learning environment that promotes the wellbeing of all within it, there is a need for capacity building so that everyone has the skills, knowledge, and disposition to be able to make a positive contribution to the health promoting environment. This course seeks to serve that function, having the potential to enhance student wellbeing and student ability to thrive in university and achieve success in their studies, through increasing students' capacity to be well and so contribute positively to a healthy environment and ethos in which to study.