United Kingdom - England

In this course students study the determinants of economic growth, as well as explanations for the current wide disparity of income levels across countries.

This course examines the power relations of theatre and performance, focusing on how artists engage with the politics of representation and identity formation. Discussions and readings will draw from key academic and political debates, which could include queer theory, post-colonial studies, critical race theory, feminism, disability studies, Marxism, etc. Through study of a wide range of play texts and performance traditions, students will examine how formal and aesthetic innovations in theatre relate to the social and economic conditions from which they emerge.

This course examines attention research and theory from an individual differences perceptive. Students learn about a wide range of factors that can influence the ability to focus and maintain attention. Topics covered include the relationship between IQ, cognitive control and attention; attentional effects of individual differences in perception; age-related changes in attention; mind wandering; attentional biases associated with depression, addiction, and anxiety; clinical syndromes associated with attention problems (e.g. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). This course also covers key measures and methods used, and provides training in the critical analysis of research studies in the field.

This course  introduces students to contemporary European cinema. It explores some of the "blockbusters" of recent years against the backdrop of national film industries and develops the distinct and common features of a variety of films made in Europe between 1990 and the present. The following general issues are addressed: what makes a film a blockbuster; what are the dominant themes; what are the implications of filmmaking in Europe; and how does the film language differ from American blockbusters. Films to be studied may include: Boyle: TRAINSPOTTING (1996), Tykwer: RUN LOLA RUN (1998), Noe: IRREVERSIBLE (2002), Hirschbiegel: DOWNFALL (2004), Leigh: VERA DRAKE (2005), Almodovar: JULIETA (2016), Loach: I, DANIEL BLAKE (2016).

After its total defeat in World War II, a divided Germany developed differing forms of socio-political organizations in an attempt to find a sustainable response to the challenges posed by modern industrial society. While the East experimented with state socialism, the West implemented a liberal democracy. Yet despite their political division, the two German states remained deeply interconnected through economic linkages, a shared cultural heritage, and similar ambitions to redefine their nationhood and global position. This course explores their special relationship against the backdrop of the global Cold War. Topics include political consolidation, East and West European integration, consumption and identity, the role of the cultural institutions, social movements and dissent, immigration and ethnic diversity, holocaust memory and foreign policy, the collapse of communism and reunification. It engages critically with the attempts of both German states to deal with their problematic history, and the way history was used to legitimize the different regimes. 

The last few years have seen a remarkable increase in our understanding of the basic biological mechanisms underlying human neurodegenerative diseases. Identification of mutations in a variety of genes found to encode proteins present in neuro-pathological inclusions, has suggested that a common feature of all these diseases might be the intracellular accumulation of fibrous protein aggregates within neurons, resulting in neuronal cell death. This course will discuss this hypothesis in the light of contemporary research and provide a foundation for our current understanding of neurodegenerative diseases. It will focus on the genetics, cellular and molecular biology of Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, Motor Neuron Disease and Prion diseases, with the main emphasis on the mechanisms leading to cell death. 

Data analytics addresses methods for collecting, managing, interpreting, and visualizing large datasets. An understanding of basic statistical reasoning is an essential requirement across professional spaces such as an economist, as is the ability to manipulate data using specialized computer software. This course introduces rigorous statistical data analysis and provides training in the use of MATLAB, which is an excellent tool for understanding basic statistical calculations. The course lays out the perceptual and cognitive foundation of how practitioners understand and perceive stories, data graphics, and, ultimately, visual storytelling. In this London-based module, the students take advantage of studying in one of the world’s great financial capitals as well as top destinations for overseas students. The course introduces broad classes of techniques and tools for analyzing and visualizing data at scale while teaching the scientific process of transforming data into insights for making better business decisions. It emphasizes how to combine computation and visualization to perform effective analysis and storytelling. The course covers methods from each side and hybrid ones that combine the best of both worlds.

This course provides a foundation knowledge and understanding of the principles and practices of financial reporting and of the role of accounting information within its broader economic, social, and organizational context. It offers broad coverage of the core financial statements presented and considers the capacity for accounting information to develop in response to changing economic and social needs. 

This course is a challenging introductory course and is specifically for non-History of Art students. It examines early modern European art from the 13th to the 16th century, focusing on objects in London's galleries and museums and taught predominantly in front of works in these collections. The specific content of this course changes each year but the aim is to introduce students to key issues in Italian Renaissance and northern European art, focusing on paintings, sculpture, and the decorative arts in London institutions such as the National Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum. 

This course offers an introduction into the core concepts of the digital age, drawing on a rich variety of disciplines. Students examine a number of concepts, including, but not limited to: technicity, affective turn, digital subjectivity and extended mind, creative expression and participation in the digital era, amateur production, Free Software, fun and politics, self-organization, media archeology, and sonic architectures.