University of Bristol

This course explores the relationship between theater and politics, focusing on theater and performance events that are rooted in the explicit exploration of political issues. Case studies span historical periods and include suffrage parades, Brecht and political play-writing, workers theater, agitprop, Welfare State International, sit-ins, the Occupy movement, and contemporary approaches to political theater. This course considers these examples in detailed social and historical context, with focus on political, national, local, and cultural identities.

This course provides the essential base of organic chemistry required for advanced study at Levels 6 and 7 (Years 3 and 4). It covers the main areas of chemistry of carbanions, carbocations and radicals, monofunctional and difunctional carbonyl compounds, aromatic, homocyclic and heterocyclic compounds, amino derivatives, and modern aspects of synthesis. Workshops are integral to the unit.

This course explores the origin of quantization of molecular energies and demonstrates that wavefunctions are solutions to the Schrödinger equation for any 1-D problem; for particle in the 2-D box and for the hydrogen atom. It also examines the linearity of operators and identifes eigenvalues. Students explore the quantum mechanics of particle-in-a-box and its relationship to simple properties of ideal gases, as well as the quantum mechanics of the rigid rotor and its relationship to microwave spectroscopy. Students are able to deduce structural parameters from microwave spectra. The course also examines the relationship between the quantum mechanics of the harmonic oscillator and its relationship to IR spectroscopy.

In this course, students undertake a primary source-based project linked to a special topic in history. The project is supervised by the Special Topic Tutor and is assessed through a 4000-word project produced at the conclusion of the course. The assessment of this course is based entirely on the final paper. Students receive guidance from their supervisors in individual meetings, including initial discussions about their prospective topics, guidance meetings, email advice, and feedback following the completion of the project.

This course examines the history, constraints, and characteristics of British cinema and television since the early 20th century. Topics include gender relations and social issues; actors and performance; popular genres including heritage, comedy, and gangster films; television drama and its hybrid forms; indigenous and exportable qualities of British film and television; audiences; distribution, exhibition, and public service broadcasting; relations between the film and television industries; and the impact of new media in contemporary global contexts.

This course analyzes the issues related to the management of digital businesses. It reviews existing digital business models and applications; compares digital to other, more traditional forms of commerce; and describes its major opportunities, limitations, issues and risks. It provides a more detailed knowledge of some of the more successful business and revenue models in digitally-based businesses. Students discuss the application of these models to emerging markets and how these models enable innovation and societal benefits.

This course approaches the history of authorship by focusing on texts either purporting to be written by fictional characters (by authors such as Defoe, Swift, Robinson, or Beckett), or featuring fictionalized versions of "real" authorial figures (such as Chaucer, Lessing, Joyce, Roth). Students study texts that deliberately or mischievously blur those boundaries. In addition to thinking about authorship, students explore the development of kinds of literary characters.

The course examines the socio-economic and political change associated with European expansion and colonialism. It takes a historical perspective to introduce features of global political economy, past and present, including processes of production and appropriation, inequalities, social justice, and social change in the making of the Global South. The course is based on the premise that colonialism had profound effects on the formation of both the Global North and the Global South and that this historical knowledge is necessary to understand global processes today.

This course explores the relationship between public opinion and democracy. Students analyze mechanisms that link public opinion to representation, examine how public opinion is formed, consider the impact of social and political change on public opinion, and learn tools used for the measurement and analysis of public opinion.