University of Edinburgh

This is a first course in combinatorics and graph theory and covers graphs, Euler's V-E+F=2 Theorem, Kuratowski's Theorem, counting sets, generating functions, matching, Hall's Marriage Theorem, Polya counting, and counting paths in graphs.

This is an introductory-level course, giving an overview of a range of topics, including thermal physics, waves, elementary quantum mechanics, properties of matter, nuclear and particle physics, and astrophysics. The course is designed for those with qualifications in physics and mathematics at SCE Higher level or equivalent. It serves both as a preparation for further study in physics-based degree courses, and as a stand-alone course for students of other disciplines, including (but not limited to) mathematics, chemistry, computer science and engineering. The course includes an experimental laboratory element, Experimental Physics 1.

The first part of this course focuses on the self, identity, health, and society. Core concepts within interdisciplinary approaches to health identities are explored, including biographical disruption, stigma, disability, and the self. Next, the course looks at experiences of health, illness, and impairment in society. A series of three case studies is presented in which staff from across the school (Clinical Psychology, Nursing Studies, Counselling, Psychotherapy, and Applied Social Sciences) offer accounts of their experiences working with people living with key health issues (e.g. chronic illness, dementia, or depression). Finally, the course studies organizational and societal responses. It outlines contemporary responses to the perceived challenges of providing health and social care in a globalized and growing population. Issues covered include patients as partners, empowerment, and person-centered care.

Medicine is so pervasive in the modern Western world it seems difficult sometimes to understand what it is. This course explores the complex ways medicine is shaped by, and in turn, shapes us and the world we live in; whether medicine can be conceived as a system of knowledge, a form of power or an example of professional practice. The course focuses on some of the core theoretical insights that have emerged from the sociological studies of medicine, health, disease, and illness and is divided into two sections. In the first part, students look at the nature of medical professions, the relationships between clinicians and patients, biomedical power and knowledge, the rise of information communication and technology, empowered patient subjectivity and patient activism. In the second half of the course, students discuss the rise and status of public health (including some reflections on the social consequences of the coronavirus) and key contemporary issues in biomedicine (such as geneticization, pharmaceuticalization and cyborgization). We discuss the social and ethical consequences of these new medical (bio)technologies that may go 'beyond therapy' to enhancement. The question that runs throughout the course is whether, there is occurring a wider transformation from medicalization to biomedicalization that has changed what medicine was.