United Kingdom - England

This course examines Anglo-American relations from 1939-1991 and analyses the nature of the special relationship from historical and political perspectives. Set within the rich historiography of this subject, the course considers how US and UK governments responded to major events in world history from 1939 to 1991. Throughout, particular reference are made to Anglo-American relations in the political, diplomatic, economic, defense, and intelligence arenas and to the importance of personalities in strengthening and weakening the alliance. Students reflect on UK and US social, cultural, and political values in the context of international relations, and develop an understanding of ethical and political issues arising from modes of representation.

This course offers students unfamiliar with life in Britain an opportunity to explore key aspects of literature, art, and culture in Contemporary Britain (20-21st century) as revealed in plays, novels, poems, films, and scholarly texts. The course is topic-based, with a range of related topics covered under the themes of feminism and multi-culturalism. Each topic is introduced through formal lectures and the use of audio and visual materials. The course facilitates the development of intercultural competence within a diverse cohort in terms of nationality, and students consider frameworks for discussing intercultural competence. The course also includes an external trip related to the themes of the course, for example to a play or exhibition. 

This course explores the development of ancient science and technology and its interrelation with Greco-Roman societies and the environment. The course encompasses the ancient Mediterranean area and the Near and Middle East and range from the Bronze age to the early Middle Ages, with a focus on the Roman period. It takes a wide view of technology, ranging from primitive tools and agriculture to automata (robots), aquaducts, and catapults. The course uses texts and archaeological evidence, and incorporates field and museum learning experiences as well as explaining the latest scientific advances.

This course examines how environmental challenges have been, and continue to be, shaped by empire. These impacts affect how Earth's history, the biosphere, and the climate are known, and extend to both extractive technologies and financial relationships that enable extraction. But the effects of empire run deeper, to the very way the environment is understood. Using London as a launchpad for field trips and firsthand encounters, this course challenges students to rethink how ideas of the planet’s past, present, and future are shaped by empire. Students examine how empire has shaped, and continues to shape, environmental knowledge; explore sites and spaces of empire, such as where the material markers of scientific knowledge persist in advancing ways of knowing and relating to the environment today; investigate how contemporary modes of extraction maintain links to the legacies of empire, such as in and through financial activities; are provided with concrete analytical skills for situating contemporary challenges in historical context; and are encouraged to engage critically and thoughtfully with how environmental thought, and baselines for assessing environmental impacts, have been influenced by the data collected through empire.

This course explores revolutionary thought and practice from the early 20th century to the present day. Reading the cultural production of anticolonial, anti-caste, feminist, indigenous, and anti-capitalist activism, students critically examine the relationship between revolutionary social movements and the autobiographies, essays, poetry, and music they produced.  Students consider the theoretical work of these revolutionary movements as essential to the development of a Marxist tradition that is rooted in praxis. The course also includes a self-organized reading group component to encourage students to extend their engagement with these ideas beyond the university.

This course is broadly equivalent to A1 Basic User, Breakthrough Level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. 

Through laboratory work, the course introduces students to the chemistry and physical properties of minerals; morphological elements of crystallography; the optical properties of minerals, introduced in conjunction with use of the petrographic microscope; the physical, chemical, and optical properties of the major rock-forming mineral groups; and the intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks and clastic and chemical sedimentary rocks.

This course offers students an opportunity to put theory into practice, cultivating a sense of the history and theory of documentary film alongside the chance to make their own short non-fiction film. The theory part of the course charts the historical development of documentary through the examination of films ranging from the early 20th century to the present day, with the focus on issues of truth, ethics, technique, and creativity. The practical part of the course supports them to create and complete their own short documentary film. Four key issues are central to the course: 1) locating the truth one wants to convey; 2) adherence to an ethical code during film production; 3) engaging with storytelling, exposition, visual, and structuring techniques, including considering how meaning is made in post-production, and 4) exploring creative formal approaches appropriate to the film.

This module evaluates global political questions emanating from the Coronavirus pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the response to climate change. These crises paradigmatically shift the political agenda; alter the reception to dominant political ideologies; modify the behavior of political actors; challenge political governance; and oppose the credibility of abstract theoretical concepts. Additionally, the response to crisis events provides the greatest challenge to the resilience of the global political system. Students explore these questions from the perspective of Political Science and Political Theory, understand the implications of the Politics of Crisis, and attempt to articulate viable responses to these problems.