King's College London

This course examines contemporary approaches to the past through a critical examination of current literature, case studies – mainly British, European, and imperial/colonial – and fieldwork excursions in and around London. History and Memory I and II are designed to explore the complex relationships between past and present, promote an understanding of the nature of history as a discipline, and investigate the social and public functions of historical research. The emphasis is on the often controversial relationship between professional historians and other groups with an interest in the past: politicians and states, cultural institutions, the media, and the general public. 

This course investigates how concepts of childhood and youth came about (and are constantly reinvented) in the context of particular social and economic conditions. This course considers how the lives of children and young people today have been shaped by historical and global contexts, and by different national, cultural, religious, social, and economic circumstances. It explores the histories of children and young people at work, at play, and in education, and how these histories shape childhood and youth in different global contexts today.

This is a course on the economics of money, banking, and financial markets. It provides students with an introduction to the role of money, financial markets, financial institutions, and monetary policy in the economy, thus providing a solid foundation for further study or employment in the financial services industry. There are three main components of the course. First, the role of financial markets in the economy is considered with a particular emphasis on bond markets and interest rate determination. The course then covers the main aspects of banks and other financial institutions before turning to an investigation of the role of money, central banking, and monetary policy.

Students study aspects of Plato’s ethics, epistemology, moral psychology, political philosophy, meta-ethics, metaphysics, and philosophy of religion. They are studying parts of three dialogues: the Protagoras, the Theaetetus, and the Republic. The first two dialogues engage with a position that Plato found deeply unsettling: relativism. Protagoras’ relativism not only encompasses ethics and politics, but also pertains to epistemology and even metaphysics. In both domains, appearance is given a much stronger role than we would expect. The Republic contains a sustained argument to combat the ills of relativism and unenlightened self-interest by developing the blue-print of “the philosopher” whose understanding of the forms enables him or her to navigate the ship of state successfully towards the good.