University of Bristol

This course reviews the variety of methodologies and approaches that comprise the discipline of archaeology today. It introduces students to the history of archaeological research, from the antiquarians of the 18th century to contemporary debates on the interpretation of the past. A range of essential archaeological concepts are introduced alongside key field and laboratory methods, including survey techniques, relative and absolute dating, DNA analysis and environmental archaeology. The ways in which archaeologists have employed the evidence from objects, bodies, buildings, and landscapes to reconstruct past human societies are considered, with case studies exploring how particular archaeological cultures (for example the ancient Greeks) or issues (for example the origins of agriculture) can be addressed.

The course examines the development of art in Britain, and its struggle to assert itself in the wider international art world. Students take as a starting point the careers of four artists who are central to the canon of British art, and whose work still sparks debate. These case-studies vary from year to year. Previously, they have included William Hogarth, William Blake, J.M.W Turner, Walter Sickert, Vanessa Bell, Bridget Riley, Steve McQueen and Lubaina Himid. Possible examples are Lucian Freud, Tracey Emin, Grayson Perry, Pauline Boty and Olafur Eliasson. Building through the course is a larger discussion about the idea of a tradition of British art, and the value and stability of an artistic canon. Is there such a thing as tradition, and if so, what are its themes and preoccupations, and where might it be tending?

In this course students examine challenges related to measuring and modelling sea rising level, and they learn to appreciate why the sea level is rising and how sea level rise is estimated through a combination of observations and modelling. Reliable estimates of future changes are crucial, and students examine how knowledge of past sea level changes can be used to project future sea level rise, and students assess the limitations of such methods. Since, the ice sheets are the most important driver of sea level rise over the long-term, these are a particular focus of the course. The course also examines the economic and social consequences of sea level rise.

This course examines the contemporary international business issues and challenges posed to managers and organization operating across national borders. The course is highly interactive and covers issues such as the role of multinationals and foreign entry strategies. The course also provides opportunity for students to develop their analytical and transferable skills. By the end of the unit, students would have developed the skills to critically evaluate issues and challenges facing organizations operating across national borders.

The course introduces students to some overarching questions associated with literary, artistic, and intellectual culture in medieval and Renaissance Italy, and will provide them with some of the linguistic and analytical tools and terminology for approaching literary and visual texts from these earlier periods. The course thus develops broader critical skills as well as prepares students for specific medieval and Renaissance cultural studies.

The course surveys the fairy tale in English from the 17th to the 21st century. Students survey the first translations of fairy tales into English by the Grimms, Perrault, and Hans Christian Andersen – and explore the context of the huge popularity of these tales. Students investigate their early reception and influence, including on novels and tales written in English, before moving on to 20th and 21st century rewritings. Students also spend time on film adaptations and book illustrations. Detailed consideration is given to a range of critical approaches including psychoanalytical and feminist readings, and the classification of fairy tale plots. Close readings, comparing the language and emphasis of different versions of the same story, is also central to the course.

This course explores television programming in relation to its production and cultural contexts, initially by comparing the vision and practice of early British television (in the so-called Golden Age of the 1950s/60s) with the present complexities of the international television industry and contemporary consumer culture. Students also consider how commissioning decisions are made, and how notions of "quality" and expectations of public service shift in an increasingly plural environment that includes non-broadcast provision of television programming. Lectures and seminars are supplemented by screenings of a range of programs that may be seen to reflect the broader contextual changes of industry, markets, and the public sphere. Students deepen their understanding of practical creative decision making at various levels of the broadcasting industry by researching broadcaster requirements and working on commercially viable group TV program proposals to be presented/submitted at the end of the course.

This course  introduces students to contemporary European cinema. It explores some of the "blockbusters" of recent years against the backdrop of national film industries and develops the distinct and common features of a variety of films made in Europe between 1990 and the present. The following general issues are addressed: what makes a film a blockbuster; what are the dominant themes; what are the implications of filmmaking in Europe; and how does the film language differ from American blockbusters. Films to be studied may include: Boyle: TRAINSPOTTING (1996), Tykwer: RUN LOLA RUN (1998), Noe: IRREVERSIBLE (2002), Hirschbiegel: DOWNFALL (2004), Leigh: VERA DRAKE (2005), Almodovar: JULIETA (2016), Loach: I, DANIEL BLAKE (2016).

This course introduces students to core knowledge about child health and development, provides descriptions of common health problems of childhood and adolescence, and evidence-based responses to them, helps students understand the health policy context, including how health care provision aims to meet the health needs of children and young people, helps students understand how our physical and social environment shapes child health, and allows students to apply their knowledge and understanding to a range of topics and contexts.

The course foregrounds some of the most topical territory in art history and cultural studies today: how to deal with the Imperial past? As such, this course builds on the more global approach taken in Year 1, but it also provides an in-depth theoretical lens to examine the inter-relationship between visual culture and colonialism (especially in the context of the British Empire). Students explore the way the colonial past continues to influence contemporary art and the socio-economic landscape today. Students investigate notions of race, identity, national self-determination as well as the broader inter-connected ideas of Britishness, Black-ness and Other-ness. An understanding of these issues is vital for students to engage productively with the contemporary artworld. This course therefore explore exhibitions and artworks that are currently on view.