University of Manchester

In 1899, Queen Victoria ruled a vast overseas empire, well over half the population could not vote, the Independent Labour party had no MPs, sex between men was a crime and convicted murderers were hung. By 1990, the empire had fallen, all adult men and women had been enfranchised, the Labour party had over 225 MPs, including open homosexuals. This course will examine these profound transformations, paying particular attention to political allegiance, government policy, and social attitudes. 

This course explores the mechanisms, implications, and ethics of an environment where artificial intelligence plays an increasingly important role. Students consider the science behind the headlines to help students develop an informed opinion regarding the complexities of the use of AI in society. Students also examine the conceptual frameworks behind AI methodologies and the sources of the data on which they operate. This course provides an introduction to computational thinking on what sort of problems AI can realistically be expected to help with. Students analyze a series of case studies highlighting the use of AI in work and society.

This seminar-based course examines major developments in artistic practice and theory from the mid-1960s up to the present day, situating them in their social, political, and economic context. It considers art produced after the exhaustion of modernism and the failure of the (neo-)avant-garde. This period is characterized by the disappearance of conventional historical movements and the emergence of looser categories of practice such as Performance, Installation, Video and Relational art. The course compares and contrasts the earlier discourse of “the postmodern” and the more recent discourse of “the contemporary” as accounts of art after modernism. Particular attention is paid to the multifarious, increasingly globalized nature of art since the 1960s and the methodological challenges this presents to the discipline.

This course explores the relationships between science, technology, and democracy, and the changing role of the State in science and technology (S&T) in our societies. The Covid-19 crisis and responses to it illustrate how crucial these relationships are. It explores key science and technology policy issues and look at wider challenges, such as efforts to improve public engagement in decisions about science and technology, initiatives to encourage more responsible research and innovation, and debates about the apparent rise in fraud and misconduct in science and concerns on the part of some scientists that many published scientific findings may be false.