English

This course explores key concepts in European political thought in the 17th century. Natural law, the state of nature, state sovereignty and the social contract are just some of the themes which are studied. The focus is on a close reading of the major works by Hobbes, Pufendorf, and Locke, as well as examining the relationship of these authors.

What impact does war have on changing societal norms, such as sexual behaviour and the roles and status of women? How have societies altered the conduct of war, through the mobilization of resources or the persecution of minorities, for example? This course addresses these questions, exploring the dynamic relationship between culture, conflict and change to fully explore people at war. Through both a thematic and case study approach, it draws on a wide range of historic and contemporary conflicts to investigate the destructive and transformative power of conflict on social, cultural, and political life, as well as the ways that societies shape the motives, methods, and constraints of conflict. 

This course explores the rise and decline of democracy since the “third wave” of transitions in the late 20th century. It examines the causes of democratic backsliding, the resilience of democratic institutions, and strategies of resistance against authoritarianism. The course analyzes regime dynamics, civil society roles, and alternative authoritarian models shaping global politics today.

This course provides opportunities to read, write, and investigate an array of creative nonfiction writing such as personal narrative/memoir, profile, essays on popular culture, and the lyric essay.  The class reads a variety of works, ranging from popular, literary, and experimental, including but not limited to the works of Zadie Smith, Maggie Nelson, Rebecca Brown, Eula Biss, Hanif Abdurraqib, Jenny Zhang, IIya Kaminsky, Virginia Woolf, and others. The course covers the core elements of prose writing: voice, scene, description, and structure.

This course examines the historical and contemporary oppression of women through a global and comparative lens. It explores the use of witchcraft accusations in European, American, and African contexts as a means of suppressing assertive or powerful women, as well as other gendered practices such as foot binding, sati, and female genital mutilation. The course introduces key concepts of gender, sex, and patriarchy, analyzes the marginalization of women in patriarchal societies, and examines women’s rights in the contemporary world. Attention is given to differing understandings and enforcement of women’s rights at national and global levels, including the roles of international organizations such as the United Nations and the International Labor Organization, and extends the discussion of gender rights to include LGBTQ+ communities.

In the period covered by this course, from 1871 to the present, interactions between Gentiles and Jews in Germany underwent a dramatic and unprecedented set of upheavals. What were the main problems, struggles and achievements in this period of German-Jewish history? This course initially focuses on debating the chances and limits of emancipation and assimilation of Jews in Imperial Germany and on discussing the so-called Jewish Renaissance in the Weimar Republic. A survey of the expansion and the role of antisemitism and its political manifestations in German society will provide a platform for studying the Nazi take-over of power and the Holocaust. The course concludes with the post-war history of Jews in Germany, addressing contemporary challenges such as the integration of Russian-speaking Jews and the future of German Jewry. Students consider the ethical questions that arise when approaching a challenging area of historical enquiry, and learn to identify information needs appropriate to different situations. 

This course is designed for advanced undergraduates majoring in mathematics, statistics, and computer science. It primarily covers modern topics in computational statistics with an introduction to the statistical programming language R.

Prerequisites: Introductory probability and statistics courses are assumed to be taken, such as DATA130005 and DATA130024 or equivalent ones. Some coding experience is recommended.

In this course, students compare and analyze European politics, mapping changes and identifying constants. Instead of taking a country-by-country approach, students address key themes that shape politics in general and Europe in particular. Students explore key comparative questions about governance across Europe, including institutions of politics and how society and politics interacts.

This course investigates Western art practices from ancient times around 500 BC, to the modern era, the 20th century. Analyses of key works of art are considered in relationship to the social, political, economic and cultural circumstances that surrounded and informed them.

Asylum seekers and refugees activate some of today’s most urgent and fraught issues relating to citizenship and national identity, human rights, immigration and border security, economic crisis, xenophobia and Islamophobia. This advanced research seminar  introduces students to some of the ways in which contemporary theatre makers, filmmakers and artist-activists are responding to the predicaments and experiences associated with asylum and migration, as well as to the ways that asylum seekers and refugees have found ways to tell their own stories. Course content draws from performance practices, media representation, policy frameworks, as well as critical and philosophical writing in Europe (the UK, Germany, Austria, Italy and Greece) and Australia. Students study theatre and performance, feature film, documentary film and live art produced over the past two decades. They are also required to seek out and study new work in London or further afield. Theatre, film and activism offer rich and mutually-informative points of entry into this complex and controversial topic, helping students to perceive how relationships between asylum seekers and their would-be hosts are being negotiated in the 21st century.