English

This course examines the ideas, policies, and practices surrounding education and learning with children and young people outside of formal school-based settings. The couse looks at diverse approaches to informal education, including youth work, play work, social action, social pedagogy, and educational work in other settings such as museums, libraries, science centers, and outdoors. What these approaches have in common is a child-centered or youth-centered ethos; a holistic approach to learning; a central focus on anti-oppressive practice; and a high value placed on respectful and trusting relationships between learners and staff. The course considers what out-of-school practices offer to children and young people, reflects on the vital role of informal educators in such settings, and discusses how policy can support and/or create challenging conditions for learning out of school.

This course explores gender, sex, and sexuality in a cross-disciplinary environment that promotes a dialogue between both students and academics from different faculties. Teaching sessions comprise combinations of lectures and seminars that juxtapose different approaches to related subtopics, for example by pairing a science-based lecture with a seminar on the representation of gender or sexuality in the arts. These sessions are framed by reflective exercises aimed at identifying areas of overlap as well as gaps and contradictions within these approaches. 

This course focuses on the experiences of children and young people living in "troubled times." Through consideration of case studies - for example, the lives of child soldiers or the case of unaccompanied child migrants – students explore the ways in which adversity and crises, such as armed conflict, affect the everyday lives, education, and mental and physical health of children and young people. Students consider how well normative theories of childhood enable us to understand the lives of children and young people. Particular attention is paid to children and young people's vulnerability in such situations and their need of protection, as well as their agency: their ability to shape their lives and those of their communities in incredibly difficult situations.

This course provides an introduction to the study of International Political Economy (IPE). IPE is a field of research that combines the study of politics and economics, exploring both domestic and international factors that impact preferences, behaviors, and policies relating to economic globalization. The course covers major topics of inquiry within IPE such as the politics and policies relating to international trade, international investment, and international finance. Students are introduced to theoretical and empirical research analyzing each topic covered. 

This course examines the critical role of emotions in international relations. The first part provides a foundational understanding of emotions, focusing on their social and political dimensions. It explores the concepts of group and collective emotions, shedding light on how emotions operate at the societal level. The second part of the course delves into the role of emotions in intergroup conflicts. It analyzes how emotions such as hatred and fear can escalate conflicts, while emotions like empathy and collective guilt can facilitate reconciliation and conflict resolution. The final part explores the influence of emotions on contemporary global issues. This includes their role in the rise of populism and their impact on collective responses to climate change. Through this comprehensive approach, students gain a deeper understanding of how emotions shape international dynamics and global challenges. The course is graded on a pass/fail basis only.

This course introduces students to the key ideas in the study of language in society, with a focus on sociolinguistic phenomena which are observable in London. The course takes a survey approach, ensuring that the breadth of sociolinguistic scholarship is explored. The course is research driven, and students are exposed to the range of methodologies used in the discipline; students have the chance to carry out a project on dialectology and language attitudes within class sessions, and are taken a field trip to photograph the linguistic landscape in Brick Lane, China Town, and Camden. 

This course introduces students to a wide range of spaces and places where music is encountered and used throughout cultures and societies across the globe. It engages with changing ideas and concepts about the role of music in society, in different cultural contexts.

The ability to communicate scientific information well is important if one is to disseminate scientific ideas clearly and accurately. Scientific communication involves more than just writing. It also involves the ability to read, analyze, understand, and critique scientific subject matter in a knowing way, at an appropriate depth and breadth, and with an appropriate style for an intended audience. Within this broad context, this course guides students through writing a scientific research paper, as applied to the physical sciences, for an audience of their peers. Students write about one real physical phenomenon such as one of Hooke’s law, Torricelli’s law, projectile motion, the behavior of a pendulum, or some other suitable phenomenon. Such investigation is supported by simulations and/or practical experiments.

This course explores the thrilling and cataclysmic changes of the 17th century through the prism of poetry. As England came to grips with a fundamental change in the national religion; saw civil war pitting neighbor against neighbor and family against family; witnessed a steep rise in women authors and the emergence of modern science, the country’s values were challenged, overturned and re-formed. The course explore how poets responded to these intense changes. The course explores a wide range of writers, from John Milton and Aphra Behn to Aemilia Lanyer and Robert Hooke. Students analyze the brilliant wit, rich imagery, and evocative forms of the period’s poems and ask what they tell us about the historical conditions of their production, and vice versa. Does political poetry have a particular style? Can poetry propel revolution as well as respond to it? Students investigate the models that poets called upon to write about these unprecedented events. 

This course equips students with the knowledge and skills needed to foster socio-emotional development, enhance teamwork, and embrace digital competence in educational settings. Through a blend of theory, practical application, and collaborative exercises, students gain a comprehensive understanding of how these elements interplay to create an enriched learning experience. The course has three main topics. One is to help students to become an advocate of emotional education, understanding and regulating emotions, and providing emotional support and resilience within educational organizations. Students learn skills in emotional expression, understanding, and regulation. The second topic is the importance of teamwork and collaborative work, focusing on the dynamization of groups, group observation, and essential social skills in educational contexts. Through networking, communication, and the use of digital tools, students learn to work effectively within educational teams. Lastly, students develop the skills to master digital technologies in education, conceptualizing digital competence, and utilizing digital resources for teaching, learning, and professional development. The course explores digital resources for teaching and learning, digital content, evaluation and feedback, and professional development with digital technologies.