University of London, Queen Mary

This course requires students to put theory into practice by cultivating a sense of the history and theory of documentary alongside the chance to make a short documentary film. The first part of the course requires students to produce a short documentary film. The second part of the course charts the historical development of documentary filmmaking through the examination of a number of case studies ranging from the early 20th century to the present day, giving further opportunity to examine the inter-relatedness of theory and practice in the work of well-known documentarists.

This course examines cutting edge research into some of the hottest topics and most rapidly advancing areas in biology. Focusing on functional genomics and epigenetics in the context on development, cellular differentiation, disease, non-model organisms and gene-environment interactions. Emphasis on molecular mechanisms and state-of-the-art genomic technologies are underpinned by an understanding of the importance of computational biology in delineating genome function.

This course provides an introduction to applied medical ethics and law related to the development of new products in the field of bioengineering. It provides knowledge of the regulatory mechanisms of approval of products for clinical use in the UK, the EU and the US, risk management, and design processes.

Volcanic eruptions can influence earth systems on a number of scales, from individual landforms to landscape development and global climatic change. Volcanic hazards can have global-scale social impacts and directly threaten the approximately 800 million people that live within 100 km of an active volcano. This course provides students with knowledge about volcanic environments, the hazards they pose on many scales, and potential benefits to societies.

This course provides a broad overview of the key marketing concepts that underpin marketing practice. The course introduces students to buyer behaviour, marketing research, segmentation, targeting and positioning through marketing mix activities. Along the way, the social consequences of marketing practice are considered.

This course interrogates the resilient power of racism in American history from the founding of the United States to the recent past. Students survey African American history from slavery through the Civil Rights era, broadly defined, and to more contemporary struggles. Students embed this history in the larger sweep of American history, covering topics such as plantation slavery, abolitionism and emancipation, Reconstruction, Jim Crow segregation, the "New Negro," the long Civil Rights Movement, and the age of recent presidents. Students discuss the legacy of prominent African-American thinkers, activists, and political leaders, as well as the perspectives of ordinary black men and women. 

We live in a world profoundly shaped by science and technology. Yet few are equipped to analyse these aspects of the modern world, understand how they arose historically, and construct and assess arguments concerning the problems they raise. This course gives students the intellectual tools to do so — to live in and contribute to such a world as a historian and citizen. Accessible to students with no science background, each topic begins from a familiar controversy, newsworthy problem, or challenge in today’s world. Topics are drawn from controversy over the environment, animal rights, science and religion, race in science, modern sexuality, climate change, sustainability, IQ testing, technological disaster, eugenics, automation and robotics (in the workplace, medicine, and war), human experimentation, clinical trials in Africa and Asia, scientific experts in democratic societies, population and famine, intellectual property and biopiracy, what counts as a disease. The course introduces students to history of science, technology and medicine (STM) and their reciprocal relations with society, politics, government, economy, and culture.