United Kingdom - England

The course emphasizes the global importance of French language and French speaking culture and is intended for beginner learners. It develops the ability of students to operate practically and effectively in the target language. The challenge of learning a language develops the greater cultural and political awareness, which is a crucial aspect of being an educated global citizen. Students develop a foundation in French language alongside an ability to communicate in a confident and competent manner. 

This course offers a dynamic and comprehensive introduction to the systems and politics of global health in low and middle-income countries. Students examine critical challenges, including pandemics, ageing populations, pharmaceutical innovation, and the climate crisis, alongside the key determinants of health and their consequences for development. Students explore policies designed to improve health and development, the barriers to their implementation, and practical strategies to overcome these obstacles. Topics include global health governance, universal health coverage, health system strengthening, and the politics of disease burdens. The course also considers the impacts of migration, conflict, and climate change on health.

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 covers the history of war from as far back as the 13th century right up to the height of large-scale, industrialized warfare in World War Two and the global, colonial violence of the 20th century. It does not strive to provide what would end up inevitably being a superficial coverage of all wars in all regions of the world. Rather, different, select periods or conflicts are considered as illustrations to help us explore the central theme of escalation over time and the emergence globally of modern war and violence. This is the fall-only version of the course.

This course introduces students to theories and practices involved in the management of diversity and inclusion, and equips students with the knowledge and skills to build and sustain diverse and inclusive workplaces. In the first half of the course, students explore the sociological and psychological theories that underpin the notions of diversity and inclusion. The course focuses on key dimensions of inequality including race, age, disability, gender, and sex, and situates this discussion within the wider context of intersectionality. In the second half of the course, the course moves on to explore organizational policies, practices, leadership styles, behaviors, and cultures that serve to promote or, conversely, inhibit, diversity and inclusion. 

What makes planet Earth so remarkable? Our planet is shaped by many interacting environmental systems operating from atomic through to global scales. Understanding the science of these systems is central to developing an advanced knowledge of the physical environment. This course explores fundamental Earth surface systems (e.g. tectonics, atmosphere & oceans, landscape development, climate change), focusing on core concepts, processes, their significance within a broader environmental context and their relevance to the human species.