University of Edinburgh

This is a course for students with no previous knowledge of Chinese, designed to introduce complete beginners to the four basic skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing in Chinese.

In in this course, students learn how they can use their learning to make a difference. Working in collaboration with students from different disciplines, they tackle real-life complex challenges as they are faced by local communities. This is an experiential learning course where students get support and training to develop their skills in areas such as problem solving and critical data analysis, and use these skills together with their understanding of academic theories and methods to propose a solution to the challenge.

This course introduces the science of Physiological Plant Ecology with a strong focus on plant water relations and how recent climate change is affecting these. Plant Physiological Ecology teaches how plants function, grow, and survive in their ecosystems and how it underpins food security, ecosystem restoration, and the understanding of water as a resource. The course is set to inspire students to learn and think about how terrestrial ecosystems work and function, and what challenges they will be facing in the future.

The course offers an introduction to the literary, aesthetic, and intellectual culture of the Middle East, from the eve of Islam to the modern period. It explores the diverse influences which shaped cultural development during the classical period of Islamic civilization, and assesses the cultural transmissions, conflicts and cross-pollinations which have characterized the interaction between the Muslim world and the West. The course also provides an introduction to the most important resources and scholarly tools used in studying Islamic and Middle Eastern cultures.