University of Bristol

This course is a comprehensive introduction to the discipline and methods of comparative literature. It introduces some of the key concepts and practical issues via literary works of major significance from the classical age to the present day, using one or more such works (in a variety of genres) as practical examples in each teaching session. In its modern understanding comparative literature is a wide-ranging discipline that explores the ways in which literature (both canonical and popular) interacts with its contexts, literary, historical, philosophical, intermedial, and others.

In this course, students develop their analytical and research skills, learning to work with physical and digital archives, objects, and performance ephemera and how to examine less tangible impacts of performance on history. Students develop more critical awareness of both the material and cultural traces of performance and their significance in both social and theatrical terms. In addition to the core learning objectives, this course develops historical awareness through case studies spanning three centuries of British theatre history; advance research skills by introducing students to a range of primary texts, material objects and secondary sources; and develop collaborative working skills.

This course introduces students to the history of Europe in the early modern period. It also explores the history of early modern Europe from global perspectives, looking at connections with non-European peoples and polities, and examining what happened when very different cultures came into contact with each other. It compares changes and continuities in different parts of Europe, in a period marked by the disintegration of Western Christendom and the emergence of nation states. Chronologically, the main focus is on the 15th to 17th centuries, a period which saw changes of profound significance for the long-term development of Europe and the wider world, changes which continue to shape the landscape, institutions, and culture of our world today. Assuming no prior knowledge, this course provides an overview of the key political, social, economic, environmental, religious and intellectual developments of the early modern period. 

The course explores corporate power and how it influences law-making and law- enforcement. Students study the key drivers of corporate crime/harm, along with their social impacts. Students also examine the basis of corporations’ structural and agency power, and corporate influence on the production and dissemination of science. The examination of the causes of corporate crime/harm will focus on organizational and structural factors, while investigation of the social impacts of corporate crime/harm focuses on the negative effects on human health, wellbeing, and the environment. Finally, students examine the social responses to corporate harm, including public shaming and corporate sentencing.

This course provides a detailed analysis of some of the key themes and issues in the UK's political system. It provides an overview of the relationship between the different aspects of the political system and shows how these have evolved in the last twenty years. It focuses on both the formal institutions of Parliament and the non-elected actors who influence the UK's political process.

This course offers students the tools to come to an informed view about different models of development, whether there are better or worse ways of intervening in poorer countries, or whether it may be better to do nothing at all. The course considers a series of issues including economic takeoff in Pacific-Asia, ideas of dependency, neo-liberal theories of development, including the rise of the governance agenda, post-development, and the politics of international aid. Students learn to link theory and practice and to show the relevance of past debates to contemporary issues.

Drawing upon criminological, sociological, historical, political economy, penal theory, intersectional and decolonial perspectives, this course critically examines why and how societies punish criminal wrongdoing. It provides students with a thorough understanding of the main theoretical perspectives on punishment and their application to contemporary issues in penal policy.

The course examines the big questions about social welfare’s current developments and future prospects. The "state" in this case implies the economic conditions and the political and institutional environments in which welfare operates. It explores the relevance of key theoretical contributions to the understanding of welfare origins, trajectories, and futures. It examines the contributions of Marxism, Varieties of Capitalism, Social Reproduction Theory, and The New Political Economy of Welfare, with a particular focus on the contributions of Polanyi, Foucault, Thelen, and Schmidt. In looking at the current period it exams welfare in crisis and welfare retrenchment and resilience and considers recent debates about labor market change, social differentiation, and dualism. The institutional environment is examined in the decommodification and recommodification of welfare and a review of international experience explores the varieties of liberalization.

This course offers a comparative approach to fairy tales that highlights their transnational circulation and their contributions to shaping European values from the late 17C to the present. The course will give students a powerful sense of the hybridity and fluidity of cultures and of the way tales are appropriated to consolidate national, social and gender identities. By studying fairy tale adaptations in different media (including film), students will develop new techniques of interpretation. And by writing a fairy tale for our times, students will stretch their imagination and creativity. This course is well suited to students of Comparative Literatures and Cultures and of Modern Languages, as it will build on and stretch your understanding of how cultures function and interact. More broadly, this course will also be of particular interest to students interested in the cross-fertilization between cultures and nations in the history of Europe.

In this course students explore central theoretical issues in modern social anthropology and in the history of the discipline; key figures and their contributions to the history of anthropology; important ethnographic case studies; connections between ethnographic materials and theoretical positions; cross-cultural similarities and differences in a number of social and cultural domains; and the relevance of social anthropology for 21st century citizens.