University of Edinburgh

The course introduces students to a range of theories and concepts used in the academic study of public policy. It explores issues that cross the remits of different levels of government (local, regional, national, international/supranational). The course is presented in a way that facilitates a comparative analysis of political systems in different places and at multiple levels. It brings together academic expertise and practical experience, by inviting policy practitioners to present case studies.

This course examines the changing use made of the concept of time in economic theory and in UK economic policy-making from the 1930s. The policy areas covered include exchange rates, trade, labor markets, human capital, the distribution of income and wealth, housing, social security, health, the ownership and structure of utility industries, public investment, transport, and taxation.

This course develops an integrated understanding of modern approaches to some of the core areas of psychology (the remaining core areas are covered in Psychology 2B). Students are also presented with a broader historical, conceptual, and methodological framework of psychological as well as its ethical dimensions and transferable skills such as identifying and summarizing key literature.

This course investigates how knowledge is embodied within artistic processes and artifacts. Students study the process of artistic research from artists producing knowledge avant la letter through to more scholarly approaches. The course acts as a bridge between art and more standard scholarly humanities research. This course is taught via a combination of lecture and seminar discussions with a greater emphasis placed on the discursive aspects of group discussion. This course may take place in standard lecture and seminar rooms but increasingly seeks alternate platforms for discussion of artistic research such as the studio, the walk, or the gallery. 

This course is an introduction to the history of the Islamic world from 550 to 1050 CE. It covers the pre-Islamic background to Islam, the life of the Prophet Muhammad, the Arab conquests, the formation of the first Muslim world empire (the Caliphate), the emergence of the "orthodox" Islamic traditions of Sunni and Shi'i Islam, and the fragmentation of the Caliphate into a "commonwealth" of successor states.

This course provides an introduction to modern evolutionary biology, covering the origin of hereditary variation, natural selection, the origin of species, methods of phylogeny construction, major evolutionary events, and coevolution. Examples are drawn from all major taxa; molecular, cellular, morphological, and behavioral evolution are considered. 

The course is an introduction to the study of ancient historiography, itself a crucial element of the study of history, past and present. I.e. the course encourages students to analyse a good number of ancient historians and histories, especially the key figures and key texts in the development of the practice we call history, including Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius, Livy, Cassius Dio, Tacitus, Ammianus Marcellinus, and others. The selection of authors to be studied in any one year depends on the research expertise of staff teaching the course so as to allow maximum scope for cutting-edge teaching based on new research undertaken by staff at Edinburgh.