University of St Andrews

Castles remain the most impressive physical reminders of Scotland's medieval past. The great royal fortresses of Edinburgh and Stirling provide symbols of Scotland's past nationhood; the ruined walls and towers of baronial castles demonstrate the power and pretensions of the great lords of the middle ages. As military strongholds, centers of government and lordship, and residences of royal and aristocratic households, these castles give access to the main themes of medieval Scottish politics and society. This course studies the castle in its context: the changing needs of military and domestic architecture in response to the needs of war and peace; the siting of castles and their use in wider structures of authority from Lothian and the marches to the Hebrides; and their role in warfare, as places of refuge and as bases for garrisons. Architectural and archaeological evidence is combined with descriptions of the Scottish castle in chronicles and record sources to obtain a full understanding of the buildings and their functions.

This course focuses on contemporary international institutions aimed at addressing matters of pressing global concern. It is, most of all, concerned with the practical policy challenges of governance: what should be done to reduce violence and promote peace, justice, and human rights, and how can these goals be achieved in a world of finite resources and competing interests? The course begins by introducing the range of actors in global governance. Students then reflect on major theoretical approaches concerning the origins and efficacy of global institutions, asking 'when do institutions matter, and how?' The second half of the module applies these analytic lenses to case studies including disarmament, humanitarian intervention, the International Criminal Court, and the human rights regime. 

Using contemporary texts, this course explores recent issues in philosophy of language. Topics include context and indexicality, indefinites and definites, quantifiers, modality and tense, or the relationships among singular propositions, singular thoughts, and singular terms. 

In this introductory course, students examine key concepts and approaches that are relevant to the study of film. The course develops the skills needed for film analysis by looking at aspects of film form such as mise-en-scene, editing, cinematography, narrative, and sound. Students also examine particular aspects of Film Studies such as genre, authorship, stardom, acting, fandom, and film industries. This course introduces students to notions of popular and art cinemas as well as documentary through a range of important cinematic texts from around the world.