University of Cambridge, Pembroke College

This course enables students from any subject major to explore gender and sexuality from a critical angle. By looking at the most popular debates from across the world, students examine how cultural makings of body, gender, femininity, masculinity, and sexuality have historically shaped and been shaped by wider social forces. The course visits foundational concepts and theories (feminist and queer theory) in gender studies which draw for example on philosophy, anthropology, sociology, and history. The lectures provide examples from across the globe, to enable students to question their very own norms, in the way people often fail to notice they exist. In seminars, students discuss their chosen examples from popular culture and facilitate discussion of current controversies around gender vis-à-vis the themes and theories covered in the lectures.

A research project that assigns students to expert professors in their proposed research topic. The course takes the students' research capabilities to a more professional level. This can be most closely compared to what is called a supervised research project in the USA.

This course utilizes an inter-disciplinary approach by using different analytical lenses when examining the intersections between different fields. The course begins with examination of key theoretical and ideological underpinnings related to natural resource management, synthesizing different academic fields beyond just economics and politics. This foundation is utilized to examine some of the most pressing contemporary global issues, with country and regional specific examples including from Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe.

This course provides insights into the fascinating world of stem cells and their applications in brain research and clinics. Students follow the life of a cell from embryogenesis to neurogenesis in the adult brain. Students learn directly from scientists how to apply advanced techniques to research, how to build disease models, and the ethical limitations concerning stem cell research. A broad part of the course is directed to debates about working with animal models and stem cells, applications of “mini-brains”, and the role of women in science.

The dramatic progress in living standards, over the last hundred years especially, has been possible only by the evolution of new materials.  The course provides an introduction to the wide breadth of Materials Science. It shows how the radically different responses of the huge range of materials we use in quite varied situations in everyday life enable us to exploit and benefit from their distinctive characteristics. Topics include atomic structure and its relevance to all classes of materials, the basis of mechanical and physical properties, environmental degradation and optimization using anisotropy. Examples of materials evolution are used to show how diverse materials are tailored to specific applications including transportation, power generation, communication, and health care. Further understanding and development of materials are essential given the demanding and growing challenges of sustainability.  Science and technology must provide some solutions and Materials Science has a pivotal role in enabling innovation and change.