English

This course provides an in-depth critical introduction to a range of important 20th/21st-century concepts, musical works, institutions and people and explores both their impact on musical culture and their relationship to wider political, social, and artistic issues during the 20th and/or 21st centuries.

This introductory course provides a comprehensive introduction to digital research for students from a range of backgrounds. Through a variety of interactive sessions students develop an understanding of the key principles of Open Science and Scholarship, the importance of reproducibility and methods for managing research projects. The course serves as a platform for students to undertake digitally enabled research projects.

This course helps students develop the relevant knowledge and understanding of fixed income instruments and interest rate models. The course provides an overview of the major institutions, organizations, and investors, and it covers both the theoretical background of fixed income markets and its practical implementation. Gaining hands-on experience using real-world examples, students develop the critical thinking and analytical skills to engage in fixed income markets globally.

This course analyzes developments in Russian literature after Stalinism, covering major literary texts and events in Russian cultural history from 1953 to the present, with a brief look at the period immediately preceding the post-Stalin era. Each week is devoted to a particular text or author, but certain themes recur throughout the course, including: emigration and exile; the boundaries between published and unpublished literature; experimentations in literary form; the effects of ideological and political change on literary production; and writers’ involvement in (or withdrawal from) politics.

This course examines post-war French politics and society through the study of objects. It explores issues such as race, class, gender, and sexuality in the context of modernization and urbanization, colonization and globalization, social movements and revolt. The course assesses the rebuilding of France in the aftermath of collaboration and occupation, looking at the expansion of the French state, the emergence of new social groups and categories, and the way in which conflicts emerge over social, political, and cultural questions. It charts these processes by focusing on the study of objects, drawing on a range of perspectives developed by historians, sociologists, and critical theorists.

This course introduces students to the social dimensions of climate and climate change. The course takes a critical analysis of the dominant international process to mitigate climate change emissions, comprising of the IPCC, UNFCCC process and the Paris Accord. We will explore the different ways in which climate knowledge is constructed and how climate is represented and articulated in society. Existing discourses of climate change are placed in an historical perspective, and alternative aims for climate change mitigation explored. The course begins with a history of the discovery of climate change and an outline of the global governance regime for climate mitigation, as manifested through the Paris Agreement, UNFCCC process, and the IPCC reports. We will then critically analyse this process, by discussing the assumptions that underpin it, the unintended consequences of action to fight climate change, and alternative measures and outcomes that are not covered within the UNFCCC process.

The course explores food as the essential link between nature and culture, examining how food classification, production, cooking, and eating shape cultural identity, social organization, family and gender systems, and religious practices. By studying practices of commensality, students uncover how food reveals ideas about similarity, difference, politics, religion, and social hierarchies. Students also explore contemporary issues such as how food consumption ties to identity, the obesity epidemic, and the environmental challenges of sustainable food production.

The course introduces students to the main theories and concepts in International Relations. In particular, this course covers debates such as liberalism, (neo)realism, Marxism and critical theory, constructivism and new-constructivism, gender and IR, postcolonial approaches to IR, ethics in IR, and the role of theory in IR.

Throughout history, representations of the Apocalypse or "end of the world" have evolved with the times, reflecting the changes occurring in the natural world, societies, politics, and beliefs, as well as our understanding of the world and of our place within. Taken individually, each of these stories or images mirror a society at a specific time but, together, they also illustrate the evolution of our thought-systems, philosophies, moral values, and spiritualities. Today, at a time when global environmental and health concerns are growing, and in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, apocalyptic representations are still permeating many discourses, from the arts to politics and economics, from gender to science, AI and the physical world. Using the exciting perspectives opened by the theory of the Anthropocene, this course presents an overview of some of the original apocalyptic tales, and the work of key artists of Western apocalyptic fiction, art, and architecture.

This course introduces the fundamental principles of finance and the basic structure of capital markets. It examines how financial markets (such as bonds, stocks or foreign exchange) and financial institutions (such as banks and mutual funds) work and explore the role of money. It then examines the foreign exchange market and how to cope with exchange rate risk. Finally, the course focuses on the financial services industry by exploring topics such as mutual funds, Financial Technology (FinTech), robo-advisors, cryptocurrencies or blockchain. Key concepts and applications include interest rates, exchange rates, derivatives, the time value of money, the conduct of monetary policies, the difference between passive and active investing, and crypto-assets.