University of St Andrews

This course covers the principles behind, and practical application of, data handling, visualization, and analysis in Earth Sciences. Statistical training includes understanding data types, data presentation and basic descriptive statistics, probability, hypothesis testing using parametric and non-parametric statistics, correlation and regression, and an introduction to numerical methods and modelling. 

This course is about the philosophy of first contact - that is, philosophical problems generated by first encounters with alien phenomena, agents, and experiences. The course addresses special problems of categorization (e.g., How can we identify phenomena and experiences that do not fit standard frameworks?), translation and communication (e.g., How can we decipher the meaning of radically unfamiliar languages?), philosophical psychology (How should we emotionally respond to radically unfamiliar phenomena?), as well as ethics and politics (What do we owe to foreign agents in the context of first contact, and what special dangers do such situations pose?) raised by such encounters. The course begins by considering general questions of philosophical psychology, and then moves on to consider specific instances of first contact, and their significance. 

The course addresses the relations between art and anthropology, and explores what anthropologists can say about aesthetic experience through a range of ethnographic examples. It explores the growing epistemological entanglement of contemporary art and anthropology. Contemporary artists are increasingly concerned with anthropological issues and the "art world" is continuously growing, embracing new artists and communities. What understanding can anthropology bring to the questions that plague contemporary art? Can the work of contemporary artists help anthropology develop new forms of research and output?

This course (followed by RU2202 in Semester 2) is the language track at second level for students who took the beginners' modules (RU1001 and RU1002) at first level. The most important elements of Russian grammar taught in the first year are reinforced and key intermediate grammatical topics are introduced. Audio-visual and writing classes are designed to improve listening comprehension and writing fluency in the language. Oral skills are developed with a native speaker in small-group oral classes. Students must have passed 1st year Russian language (or equivalent for visiting students) in order to take this course.

This course examines the changing role of the operating system, the concept and implementation of process, the OS/hardware interface with regard to storage and protection, and the techniques developed to achieve safety and throughput in multitasking systems.

This course examines the origin of the concept of sustainable development in public policy discourses with particular focus on the implications this concept has for the operation of business organizations. The course examines the difficulties of applying notions of sustainable development to single organizations as well as the challenges which conventional economic systems present to sustainable development. The course examines the theory and practice of managing for sustainable development, drawing on examples which are found in business. In addition, selected topics in managing for sustainable development are examined.

The early modern period saw considerable changes in the shape of warfare and in the nature of armed forces and the state, a process some historians have described as a military revolution. Yet the increasing pressures of war brought about considerable social, economic, and political breakdown, as rulers overburdened both their armed forces and their domestic subjects. This course examines how western European states organized and conducted war between the late 16th and the early 18th century, and consider what effects this had on political stability. The focus is not only on some of the great powers but also upon some minor states who punched above their weight on the international stage.

This course provides an understanding of psychological knowledge in several inter-related domains concerned with the biological bases of behavior. Emphasis will be laid on basic experimental science from analysis of molecular and synaptic events, single cell studies, brain activity scans, and clinical studies, and the relationship between cognitive, emotional, behavioral, neurological, and physiological processes are examined.

This course examines the general features of the A.I. problem solving process, and in particular the various forms of heuristic, together with their implementation and case studies of real systems.