University of Manchester

This course explores the creation, evolution, and subsequent disintegration of the Soviet Union, as well as the emergence of a new Russia from the wreckage of the world’s first socialist state. Emphasis is placed on key political, social, and cultural developments, seen within the context of Soviet, post-Soviet and, more broadly, European history.

This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of the history and culture of Pharaonic Egypt from the Neolithic and the formation of the Egyptian state at the end of the Predynastic through to the arrival of Alexander the Great and the incorporation of Egypt into the Hellenistic World. Alongside the historical overview, students study aspects of Pharaonic culture such as royal iconography, mortuary, and sacred landscapes as well as modern reception of the Egyptian civilization in a series of seminars built around specific textual sources or scholarly articles providing a starting point for discussion and debate. 

This course defines how endocrine and brain circuits control sexual, affiliative, and aggressive behavior. Students are introduced to comparative examples from the animal kingdom and underlying genetic mechanisms, as well as neuroendocrine circuits and peptide relays in the brain. Where possible, examples are drawn from the medical literature to indicate the common nature of these processes in our own species, and governing our behavior.