University of London, Royal Holloway

The course covers the principles of protein structure, including secondary structure, motifs and domains, and protein folding in vivo. Methods for separation, purification, detection, structural and functional analysis of proteins are considered. The course also covers protein-protein interactions, and the principles of protein engineering and design, as well as the mechanisms of enzyme catalysis and regulation. Students gain experience using fundamental techniques in protein separation and analysis such as SDS-PAGE and Western blotting. Further coursework involves the structure and function prediction of an unknown protein sequence using bioinformatics tools.

This course examines the ideas that both audiences and filmmakers commonly use to discuss documentaries. Each week students examine a single film whose construction highlights a particular issue, and discuss it in conjunction with a selected written text. The ideas examined fall into three related groups. The first is that of the development of documentary: What is documentary? How have the ideals of documentary changed over its history? What has been the role of technology in the development of documentary? The second is that of the filming process: What are the limits of what can be filmed? What happens when people know they are being filmed? What kinds of performance are acceptable and even necessary? Can truthfulness ever be established? The third is that of our own experience and expectations as audiences: What kinds of construction or even manipulation do we want in order to make factual footage comprehensible? Can we cope with ambiguities? What do we want from photographs, moving images, and recorded sounds? What happens when we see and hear exceptional or traumatic events through documentary? On the way students meet hopeless alcoholics, gangster rappers, London firemen, and reactions to 9/11.

This course critically engages with theoretical, historical, and contemporary debates around "race," racism, and ethnicity. It examines the historical, social, and political context of race relations in contemporary societies. The primary focus is upon Britain, however international comparisons are made where relevant, including with the United States. Students develop an awareness of the ways in which "race," ethnicity, and racism interact with other social divisions and inequalities, and the ability to critically analyze the extent to which "race" and ethnicity are central to how society is organized and structured. Students also develop a knowledge of empirical and scholarly studies into "race" and ethnicity, and their relevance within a theoretical context.

This course introduces students to reading, writing, and thinking as a critic. Students develop the abilities and skills of literary criticism and are introduced to the concepts, theories, ideas, and histories that are central to the discipline of English. This course encourages students to think of themselves as active readers and literary critics involved in developing their own interpretations and judgments, rather than passive learners.

Drawing on influences from theater and the visual arts, Live Art does not conform to any single form of making but is rather wildly interdisciplinary, experimental and provocative. Concerned with experience and the potential of live encounter for public intervention, radical politics and formal innovation, this course introduces the Idea of Live Art and its artistic, social and political ambitions. Exploring examples of experimental practice by key practitioners –  indicatively Marina Abramović, Franko B, Chris Burden, Song Dong, Tehching Hsieh, Yves Klein, Santiago Sierra, Valie Export and others – this course also engages with contemporary events happening in London simultaneously with seminars. Students explore institutions, including the Live Art Development Agency (LADA) and the Institute for Contemporary Arts (London), which have framed, supported and made space for Live Art, and make the most of opportunities offered by the Department’s three-year partnership with Tate Modern. Students explore key ideas for theater and performance to do with liveness, embodiment, spectatorship, duration, ephemerality and documentation, and investigate how live art has embraced, challenged, and extended debates regarding the representation of ideas and identities, as well as what might count as performance.

 

This course explores knowledge relating to the analysis of foreign policy from a comparative perspective. The course enables students to critically evaluate contending perspectives on foreign policy analysis, with respect to the foreign policies of key countries and IGOs. It prepares students for critical engagement with key themes surrounding foreign policy by asking them to apply theory to practice through the analysis of both primary and secondary literature. The course provides structured opportunities for students to develop and test their own hypotheses. By drawing on literature in the UK in particular, this course examines foreign policy from a comparative perspective. The course focuses on theories of foreign policy, followed by in-depth investigation of foreign policy in key countries and IGOs.

This course applies the techniques and formulae of mathematical analysis (in particular the use of vectors and calculus) to solve problems in classical mechanics, including statics, dynamics, and kinematics as applied to linear and rigid body rotational dynamics. The course also covers first principles and the derivation of standard formulae in classical mechanics.

This course examines key actors shaping the global economy, namely Multinational Enterprises (MNEs), states, civil society, and inter-governmental institutions. Using the concept of global production networks (GPNs), the course explores the nature and developments in the following industries: extractive, agro-food, garment, automobile, and finance. While globalization has brought enormous economic benefits to MNEs and some sections of society, it has also produced negative social and environmental consequences, for which MNEs are increasingly held responsible. This course also considers key responsibility issues businesses face and discusses various governance mechanisms to deal with challenges arising from globalization.

This course analyzes the creative/media industries from a business perspective. Three main sectors of the creative industries are covered: film, television, and digital media. The course examines the operation of these different industries through the lens of a number of interconnecting issues: economics and finance; policy and regulation; copyright and global trade; ratings and audience measurement; branding, marketing, and production cultures. Students are introduced to a number of important industrially oriented research skills such as interviewing, market/demographic analysis, locating and interpreting legal documents, and archival research.

The course examines advanced theoretical and practical skills to analyze the social media segment of choice. Students explore its main principles (analysis of existing campaign), and create a piece of digital /social media (campaign), combining the ability to conceive and create a project plan and budget (plan), and realize a piece of digital media communications. Students cultivate an awareness of the aesthetic cultural and practical possibilities of non-linear narrative forms and make an argument for the creative and technical choices they have made having regard to their understanding of digital culture and the socioeconomic, cultura, and regulatory forces that shape online experiences.