University of St Andrews

Early Greece was the age of beautiful poetry and cutting-edge philosophy. The course explores the diversity of early Greek thought at the crossroads of poetry and philosophy, from the 8th to the 5th century BCE starting with Hesiod's struggle to re-order the world of gods and humans: Hesiod's work stands side by side with Homer's poems as foundational works of ancient Greek epic. We then consider the exciting literary and intellectual experiments of lyric poets and philosopher poets, who saw poetry as a way of writing philosophy, exploring love and attacking enemies. Authors to be studied include Sappho, Theognis, Solon, Xenophanes, and Empedocles. All texts are studied in translation.

The course introduces students to three or more works of pre-20th-century literature and culture to be read in Russian, while improving reading and comprehension skills. It includes a combination of canonical and non-canonical texts by women and men, and explores the cultural and institutional contexts in which texts were produced, published, read, or viewed. Students share impressions through class and online discussions, and informal presentations. Students must have passed 1st year Russian, or equivalent for visiting students.

This course covers the principles and practice of modern computer communications through studying network abstractions, protocols, architectures, and technologies at all levels of the five-layer reference model.

In this course, students develop appreciation for the diverse ways that natures are known, protected, and changed. It provides students with the skills to: (1) critically engage with histories and contemporary uses, languages, and concepts of nature and sustainable development; (2) critically reflect on our relationship to nature, as a basis for formulating strategies for action; (3) understand the fundamental, long-term functioning of coupled human and environmental systems, and the implications for sustainability; and (4) practice interdisciplinarity, synthesizing different forms of knowledge for sustainability or exploring their apparent contradictions. The course brings together both the natural and social sciences. It explores the roles of people, politics, and policies, and the nature of change that is required to meet contemporary challenges.

The course fosters the student's acquaintance with classical Latin and explores both prose and verse authors. The authors chosen may vary from year to year. Particular attention is paid to the development of their ideas, literary styles, and genres. There are lectures on the authors set, seminars to discuss broader themes within the module, and tutorials to monitor and assist progress in study of the language and interpretation of the literature. Students must have passed first year Latin to take this course.

This course examines European Gothic architecture from its origins in 12th-century France to the end of the Middle Ages. It focuses on ecclesiastical architecture, and on English and French Gothic, for it is in these fields that the growth and formal development of the style is best understood. Military, civic, and domestic architecture is examined, and individual lectures are devoted to Gothic architecture in Scotland, Germany, the Low Countries, Spain, Italy, and Central Europe. 

This course applies microeconomic reasoning to the study of the public sector. It surveys the scope and different modes of public intervention in the economy, with particular emphasis on the welfare state and income redistribution. It discusses the provision and financing of public and private goods and the design of tax systems.

This course introduces students to the key concepts that social anthropologists use in social analysis. It provides introductions to the principal areas of anthropological enquiry, placing kinship, economics, religion, and political life in a cross-cultural comparative context. Bringing these perspectives together, students consider how anthropology shines light on the interconnected nature of life in contemporary global societies.

The course examines the ecological and biological principles underpinning the major tropical marine ecosystems. It provides an understanding of the ecological processes that control tropical marine ecosystems, and considers the organisms that are characteristic of each. All the major tropical marine habitats are considered, but with a focus on coral reef, seagrass and mangrove ecosystems. The course also tackles topical research areas on the subject through student-led seminars, which vary depending on the latest scientific research and the specific interests of participants. 

This course examines how science in general, and natural history in particular, is presented to the public in a variety of locations and the role of these collections in outreach and public education. The course explores the role and history of British museums and collections, and students visit various museums and natural history collections in Scotland. After each visit, students discuss the visits and compare what they have seen with the university's natural history museum, the Bell Pettigrew Museum of Natural History. Students also produce a display on an aspect of biology for presentation in the Bell Pettigrew Museum.