University of Edinburgh

Under the collective title, Art and Belief in Europe (c. 500 - 1700), the lectures in semester 1 address developments in European art from the rise of Christianity, through the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, concluding with the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. Geographies studied include Britain, Italy, France, and Germany. The course looks at the work of both early anonymous and later celebrated artists, such as Giotto, Jan van Eyck, Durer, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci, all within a broad range of social contexts. Students consider issues surrounding art and identity, including gender, sexuality, nationality, religious and political belief, as well as issues surrounding the art objects themselves, such as patronage, materiality, display, and reception. Whenever appropriate the weekly tutorials are conducted in the museums, galleries and public spaces of Edinburgh, which has world-renowned art collections.

This course develops knowledge and understanding of the international legal system; the main institutions which contribute to the development and application of international law; and the legal rules, principles, and processes which govern key areas of inter-state activity.

This course provides an account of the structure of Modern Scots dialects and Scottish English by examining variation in phonology, morphology, syntax and lexis from diachronic, synchronic and geographical perspectives.

Selected aspects of physiological processes in health and disease: from the integrative function of single cells to whole systems physiology. A core emphasis is on the experimental basis for our foundational knowledge of how physiological systems function and their regulation. Topics may include: cell and epithelial physiology, ion channels and transporters and their regulation, cell signalling and communication, endocrine and neuroendocrine physiology, sensory physiology, control and co-ordination of movement, control of feeding and responses to stress.

This is a course for beginners with no previous knowledge of Italian, designed to give complete beginners a basic, working knowledge of spoken and written Italian. It is a communicative course developing students' understanding and production of the language at CEFR level A1/A1+. 

The course looks at anthropological contributions to the understanding of ritual and religion, starting and ending with moments of especially acute reflection on the place of religion in the contemporary world. Our starting point will be that moment in the late 19th and early 20th century when classic theorists (especially Weber and Durkheim) pondered the place of religion in an age of scientific challenge, and students explore contemporary arguments about the boundaries between religion, power, and politics. Students also investigate the intersection of religion and ritual with a range of topics (gender, material culture, the body and cognition).