University of Manchester

How do people understand, experience, and shape place and space? How do space and place interface with difference, identities and groups in day-to-day life? How can we make sense of the social world through a critical lens? How does culture shape, and how is it shaped by, space and place? What are the practices, material artifacts, values and lived experiences that express and reinforce cultures? These are all key questions to social and cultural geography, an exciting and vibrant sub-discipline. This course sets out to examine themes such as place, space, power, difference, culture, and identity and demonstrates the value of a geographical perspective on a range of social and cultural phenomena worldwide. It also deepens students’ critical engagement with theoretical and methodological approaches that underpin contemporary social and cultural geography.

The course provides a grounding in core theories, models, and concepts within the field of individual differences psychology, and then relates these to key health and wellbeing outcomes.  A major topic within the unit is personality. Critical and historical perspectives on key theories, approaches to, and models of personality are presented, along with details of the methodological tools that have been used to measure personality. A critical examination of theories and data linking personality to physical and mental health is then presented. Additional concepts from individual differences psychology, such as mood, intelligence, and motivation, are also introduced, and then examined in relation to physical and mental health outcomes.

This course gives students an overview of how financial markets and institutions work. The content includes introduction to the financial system, financial claims, financial intermediaries, banking, financial markets, equity market, bond market, investment, hedge fund, and private equity, and sustainability in finance. Students learn how to explain the roles, structure, and mechanism of the financial system, financial institutions, and financial markets. Students also learn how to explain the key concepts such as financial claims, financial intermediation, and financial markets. They gain a good understanding of the relevant theories on financial markets and institutions, and explain phenomena such as adverse selection and moral hazard. 

The course introduces the concepts underpinning physiology and the major tissue types that form the structures of the body. Students examine the relationship between the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, learning how diseases of these systems can be interpreted in terms of altered physiology and anatomy.

The goal of this course is twofold. First, this course offers insights into the relationship between digital technologies and the city by engaging with ‘smart city,’ ‘surveillance,’ ‘big data,’ and a few other concepts. A range of case studies will be provided to demonstrate the agendas of various technologies, their effects on the material condition and organization of cities, and to evaluate the promises (and failures) of the “technological fix” with respect to social justice and equality. Second, this course introduces the opportunities of digital research in urban studies by offering hands-on experience in using basic Python and data analysis skills to extract and interpret data from social media platforms. Digital skills can be used toward dissertation research or projects at work. No prior knowledge is required.
 

This course addresses issues of nationhood and identity in British and Irish writing since the 1920s, including recent works by postcolonial writers. The content ranges across a wide geographical area and covers a broad spectrum of literary styles, themes and narrative voices. While the primary focus is on selected works of fiction and poetry, the course also examines key concepts in literary and cultural theory. Authors discussed include Sebastian Barry, Mohsin Hamid, Nikita Lalwani, Andrea Levy, Sam Selvon, Kamila Shamsie, and Irvine Welsh.

This unit introduces students to the topics of evolution, genetics and development. Students discover how natural selection, also known as "survival of the fittest," drives evolution. Students learn how the interaction of organisms with each other and with their environment influences the outcome of the evolutionary process. Students discover how the analysis of genomes can be used to understand evolution. Students learn how genes are transmitted from one generation to the next and appreciate the importance of genes in human disease. Students discover how animals and plants develop, and the relationship between development and evolution.

This course provides a comprehensive understanding of business ethics in modern work organizations. Students explore key concepts and theories, focusing on ethical and unethical behaviors within organizations. Students gain awareness of how organizations strive to manage their workforce and environments responsibly and sustainably. The course covers non-mainstream elements of organizational life, including organizational misbehavior and corporate crime. Students develop skills to analyze and solve organizational ethical problems using business ethics knowledge. Additionally, they understand the increasing importance of ethics, corporate responsibility, and sustainability for organizations today. 

The course develops students’ problem-solving skills, creativity, and commercial awareness. Acting as consultants, students identify and evaluate business opportunities using tools like SWOT, PEST, and Ansoff’s Matrix. This course bridges the gap between academic knowledge and real-world applications, making students’ expertise more relevant in business contexts. The course culminates in a consultancy project where students analyze a business and recommend innovative changes to that company’s business model. Students develop a consultancy mindset (i.e. commercializing focused both aware of other stakeholder interests and expectations), gain essential analytical skills, and further develop their abilities to innovate creating value in various contexts. 

The course introduces students to selected topics in the legal application of medical scientific expertise. Through a historical perspective, students learn about the historical development and application of forensic investigation techniques such as toxicology, psychiatry, crime scene investigation and DNA profiling, and how they were presented to the public in various media (e.g. detective fiction, newspaper reports, forensic television dramas). Students consider who makes claims to forensic truth and what tools and techniques they use to arrive at that conclusion.