United Kingdom - England

This course takes a geographical approach to some of the world’s most complex moral issues. It gives students the chance to explore a range of moral questions from a geographical perspective. Arguably a geographical perspective, which embraces knowledge from other disciplines and not only its own, is well-placed to "join the dots" and grapple with the complexity of the world as it is, not how we want it to be. It explores these complex issues using a multi-scalar, place-sensitive approach, embracing not only key geographical thinkers, but also philosophers, political scientists, sociologists, psychologists, and economists. 

This course builds on the methods and designs covered in the introduction to Research Methods 1, 2, and 3. Students learn about advanced experimental, quasi-experimental, and survey designs along with the statistical techniques appropriate to analyze data produced by these approaches.

In this course, students explore the origins of Western philosophy by examining the thoughts and ideas of ancient Greek thinkers. In the first part of the course, the main ideas and theories of pre-Socratic philosophers regarding the natures of reality, soul, and knowledge are  discussed. During the next two parts of the course, the main ideas of Plato and Aristotle are discussed in more detail. Through analysis of some of their major works, students examine their views on some of the most important issues in metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. Most of the reading materials of the course are from primary sources whose translations are available in English.

Almost from its origins, the novel has been thought of as a form of literature which both documents and celebrates human subjectivity. This course will read the emergence of the novel form alongside questions of human cognition and consciousness to ask why the association between minds and fiction first emerged, and what has happened to this association since. Some of the questions students discuss include: Just why has the novel been so persistent as a form? What are its historical, cultural and aesthetic origins? What can the rise and development of the novel tell us about the lives of the people who read it? And has its time passed? Particular attention will be paid to the social and cultural history of the form, and how these intersect with philosophical and political questions pertaining to human consciousness and identity.   

This course explores the complex relationships between development, poverty, and the environment. It covers a range of important natural resource and environmental issues, and provides students with the necessary tools to critically evaluate how these issues have been addressed by different stakeholders and at different levels of governance. Using concepts and analytical tools grounded in political ecology and critical development studies, the course examines several topics, including the politics of sustainable development, environmental governance and tenure, and critical resource issues.

This core course examines contemporary approaches to the past through a critical examination of current literature, case studies – mainly British, European and imperial/colonial – and fieldwork excursions in and around London. The course explores the complex relationships between past and present, promotes an understanding of the nature of history as a discipline, and investigates the social and public functions of historical research. 

This course introduces psychology to students from diverse biomedical backgrounds. The course covers a wide range of topics, spanning all core perspectives within psychology (biological, cognitive, social, developmental and individual differences). It introduces key theories, experimental findings, and research methods. There will be weekly core lectures, followed by lectures focusing on special topics, such as synaesthesia, addiction, false memories and hypnosis. 

The course provides an introduction to eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell biology, cell signaling, and virology. Topics include membrane structure and function, cellular organelles, cytoskeleton, cell signaling, cell division, cell physiology, bacterial cell biology, and basic principles of virology.

This course gives students a thorough introduction to the field of behavioral organizational economics. The course discusses seminal as well as current research papers in the field, featuring empirical studies as well as lab and field experiments. The goal of the course is to transfer research findings to real-world applications in organizations. Students study employment relationships between workers and organizations and get to know key factors that shape them in a positive way. Students focus on the two concepts of motivation and selection, and they learn about how to detect discrimination in the hiring process.

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.