English

This course explores the representation of revenge across a wide selection of literary texts, some of which are read in translation. Among the topics investigated are tensions between the vengeance of the individual and the operations of law, the moral and emotional transformation of the revenger, the haunting presence of the dead, and ideas about pollution and expiation. Starting with plays from the classical period which form an essential background to revenge tragedy of the 16th and 17th centuries, students study a range of tragedies, relating individual texts to dramatic ideas of genre, to traditions and conventions of stage representation, and to the historical contexts of the period. 

This course introduces the broad literary genre of science fiction, with a particular focus on postwar American science fiction from the classics to cyberpunk. The first part of the course focuses on BLADE RUNNER and analyzes excerpts from various science fiction films of the period, including Ridley Scott's 1982 film adaptation. The second part of the course focuses on BURNING CHROME. The course strengthens literary analysis through close reading and considers how the thematic components of science fiction have developed over time. 

This course introduces the concept of performance understood as an embodied practice. It explores everyday performances (such as social encounters and institutional practices), civic performances (including speech acts and grassroots movements), and artistic performances (theatre, dance, music), inviting students to examine how these diverse forms of performance contribute to the constitution of public space. By engaging with performance theory, political theory, and art studies, the course equips students with analytical and methodological tools for investigating the public significance of performance. Through a combination of lectures, close readings, and assignments, it analyzes selected performances both individually and in groups. Reflective discussions foster active student engagement and participation. Students learn to assess how performances are constructed, how they shape public spaces, and how they generate political effects.

The course covers the archaeology and prehistory of Scotland from the very earliest human settlement in the 10th millennium BC until the end of the Iron Age and the Roman Occupation in the first millennium AD. Practical aspects of the course introduce students to the study and interpretation of archaeological artefacts, sites, and remains using Scottish material relevant to the course.

As well as a range of familiar and less familiar works by Shakespeare, this course covers comparative works of drama, poetry, and prose from before, during, and after Shakespeare's time, from literatures both English and foreign. It invites students to relate these to the Shakespeare works as examples of literary forms and genres such as tragedy, pastoral, history play, sonnet, and to consider the importance of form and genre in literature. 

This course studies the theory and practice of humanitarian intervention. It asks, is it ever justifiable to intervene in the domestic affairs of another sovereign state? If so, when, and for what reasons? 
 
This course considers the possibility that a norm of humanitarian intervention has emerged in international society since the end of the Cold War, examining case studies of the major intervention cases that have arisen in the last twenty years: Iraq 1991, Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq 2003, Darfur, Libya, and Syria. 

This course provides an introduction to the study of Antiquity by focusing on the mythological discourses of the ancient Near East and Greece, and on the rise of the European city-state in Classical Greece. All texts are studied in translation. The course divides into two complementary streams: (1) Mythology and the origins of western literature, with lectures focused on ancient mythology, especially the concept of the pantheon of gods and the hero as a figure poised between men and gods, concentrating on literary and artistic evidence for the study of ancient society and thought. (2) Politics, culture, and society in the Ancient City, surveying the history and culture of Ancient Greece, in the fifth and fourth centuries BC, a period of dynamic political and cultural innovation. The course covers topics including the rise (and fall) of the Athenian democracy, gender and sexuality, Greeks and barbarians, and the spectacular rise of the kingdom of Macedon. Students are introduced to original sources for Greek history.

In this course, students evaluate the importance of sex and gender as relevant categories in politics, whether and how they give rise to inequalities and disadvantages, and what should be done about it. In so doing, they also ask how certain areas of life, which are traditionally considered to be entirely private and thus lying beyond the realm of political concern (such as family life) might also have important political ramifications. Students address these questions mainly from a normative perspective. They ask what, if anything, is wrong about gender representations and relations in our society and what, if anything at all, should be done about it.

This course focuses on data analysis, an algorithmic-driven method of extracting text from (large) corpora, in literary and historical sources and social media.  The course includes a mini big data project to provide hands-on experience and an understanding of the affordances and limitations of data analysis methods. No background in the methods or programming skills is needed. Easy-to-learn web-based tools and software are used. Theoretically, the course explores how the representation of text in more visual formats which are typically removed from its semantic contexts, offers opportunities for both new insights as well as misrepresentation. Concepts covered include distant reading, algorithmic visualization, and data feminism. This course helps students become more savvy users of digital information: the implications and challenges that methods and technologies pose to conventional research, analysis, and publication in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, including issues such as transparency, authenticity, and bias.