University of Edinburgh

To understand the way that ecological and environmental systems function, we often look for associations and seek evidence of causality, or the pattern of interaction between components. We may ultimately seek to establish the nature of these relationships that we can make predictions for other systems or of future change. Reaching robust conclusions requires collection of sound data and proper statistical interpretation. This course equips students with an integrated knowledge of data collection and data analysis, for use in dissertation projects and careers beyond. This course considers the formulation of research questions and four broad themes: survey and sampling; relationships between variables; design, analysis, and interpretation of controlled experiments; and dynamic data and the principles of simulation modelling. 

In this course, students engage critically with key historical, cultural, and conceptual developments in Persian history and civilization. They study the texts (in translation) and aspects of the material culture of Iran in order to analyze the methodologies of specific writers, historians, historiographers, artists, patrons, or audiences who crafted various cultural signifiers. In the process students are encouraged to situate those developments within their specific historical and cultural contexts. In this way, students gain an understanding of how Persia developed, both as a nation and as a concept. This course develop students' analytical skills and their ability to read historical texts and literary texts, together with visual images. The course also brings students an awareness of how Iran influenced, and was influenced by, other societies, and identify the changing role the country has played on the international scene.

The 19th century saw a dramatic reversal of fortunes for Korea. From the longest-ruling dynasty in East Asia (518 years), the demise of the Choson dynasty (1392-1910) precipitated the loss of national sovereignty as Korea was colonized by Japan. Subsequent events - including colonial industrialization, the struggle for independence, and the division of the peninsula into North and South - have only added to the challenge of evaluating the legacies of the Choson dynasty. How did Confucianism influence Korean society? Why did Korea fail to maintain its sovereignty in the nineteenth century? What are the roots of capitalism in Korea? What set North Korea on a different trajectory than the South? This course answers these questions through a survey of the major historical issues that have shaped Korean society and culture from the early modern period through to the present. As well as covering developments in Choson society and Korea's turbulent experience of imperialism, capitalism, nationalism, conflict, and political change, this course also introduces students to the major historical debates that have shaped our knowledge of Korea today.

This course investigates the global history of city design and urbanism from ancient times to the contemporary period. Through an interdisciplinary course bibliography and readings in key historical texts on urbanism, students will grasp the major historical trends and philosophies of urban emergence and development. Tutorials centred on Edinburgh site visits and training in research and writing will prepare students to perform first-hand research and compose original scholarship on the built environment. The goal of this course is to give students a critical acumen for evaluating the architectural transformation of the urban realm across disparate cultures and far-flung geographies over time, from Antiquity to the present day.

This course studies the processes that underlie evolutionary change in natural populations. Subjects dealt with range from molecular evolution to the genetic consequences of interactions between species, and from variation at single genes to speciation itself. The course provides an integrated view, combining theoretical and experimental approaches to the study of evolution with a consideration of both pure and applied aspects of evolutionary change. There is a strong emphasis on the development of numerical skills needed for the analysis and interpretation of genetic data and a quantitative approach to the study of evolution. Problem based tutorials accompany these lectures. The course then considers a series of special topics including evolution of host-parasite interactions and speciation.