University of Sussex

This course introduces students to psychological theories of prejudice, discrimination, and intergroup relations, with a strong emphasis on applying these theories to multi-ethnic and racial contexts in various parts of the world (e.g., the UK, US, Turkey). Students consider key issues in the study of intergroup relations in reference to perceptions and experiences of majority and minority group members as well as classic and contemporary theory and research on prejudice and intergroup relations. The applications of such theory and research to pressing social issues (e.g., racism, sexism, ageism) are also discussed.

In this course, students employ the Dirac notation and algebraic methods (for example, spin and the harmonic oscillator), are introduced to basic approximation methods, such as perturbation theory and WKB, and look at scattering theory. 

This course introduces students to several fundamental principles of biochemistry and metabolism. Students study the structure and function of major classes of biomolecules, including proteins, lipids and carbohydrates; the role of enzymes and enzyme kinetics in biological reactions; and the biochemistry of processes which support life, including cellular metabolism and its control. Students also explore the theory and practical use of commonly used biochemical lab techniques.

In this course, students examine how institutions, including structures of governance, bureaucracies and political parties, adapt to changing circumstances. Students explore how they respond to demands from interest groups while dealing with the ongoing pressures of social and economic development in India. The course is divided into two main parts. Part one covers India’s political history and independence, with a focus on analyzing the institutional mechanisms of governance. Students investigate the design of the Indian constitution, including its key features such as federalism, secularism, and political and electoral system. Part two explores the main instruments of governance in India: legislatures, bureaucracy, judiciary, army, and election commission. The course considers how these institutions operate in a complex political and social environment, focusing on relationships between politics and economy, politics and society, and politics and conflict. 

What is neoliberalism? How is power organized in the contemporary political economy and who are the winners and losers from this process? How do struggles from below challenge neoliberalism? Students consider issues such as corporate power, the way debt has transformed everyday life, the changing fortunes of labor, and struggles from the Global South against neoliberalism. 

In this course, students get an introduction to common methods of theoretical physics. The course focuses on classical mechanics while including relativity and some electrodynamics, including covariant formulation. Students are introduced to and apply mathematical concepts such as Lagrangians, least-action principle, four-vectors, and tensors.

Phenomenology is a philosophical tradition that began in the 20th century with thinkers like Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. It is also a method focused on describing and analyzing conscious experience. In this course, students examine claims about the methodology of phenomenology and explore topics that have been central to phenomenology, which may include perception, time-consciousness, the lived body, moods and intersubjectivity.

In this course, students study autism spectrum disorder, a neurodevelopmental condition, across all stages of the lifespan – from early childhood into old age. The course focuses on cognition, while contextualizing the condition at different stages of development. Students explore areas in childhood and adolescence, including memory, language, learning, the "self," mental health, and transgender issues. Students also examine adulthood topics including Bayesian theories of perception, maternal autism, memory, sensory, and emotional processing. The course finishes with addressing some of the consequences of ageing in autism.

Monte Carlo simulations are a powerful computational technique for probabilistic and deterministic problems with applications to various fields including computer science, finance, economics, engineering, mathematics, and physics. The initial part of the course is about computer-simulated randomness and begins with pseudo-random generators and simulating one-dimensional random variables. From the moment that we can simulate one random variable, we can simulate a whole discrete process, such as Markov chains and use the simulations to extract statistical results of their equilibria. The course also explores applications in Physics via the Ising model and in Statistics via the goodness of fit tests. The course is a mixture of coding with probability theory, and students use the R software for the simulations.

In this course, students discuss the psychology of inequality. The course begins by focusing on the consequences of the overall level of economic inequality within a society; first placing the current level in historical context and then discussing its consequences for health and well-being. It then shifts to focusing on the consequences of occupying a specific position within an unequal society by discussing the psychological consequences of social class, education, poverty, wealth, and power. The course then discusses the consequences of inequality for groups, including the stereotypes associated with high or low status groups, the psychological processes associated with gender inequality, and the strategies low-status groups use to cope with their position.