United Kingdom - England

This course investigates the development of the Egyptian understanding of the Afterlife and the Gods. It discusses the role of the temple both as a religious and economic institution, and the creating of an industry based around the creation of funerary objects and tombs. It covers topics such as mummification, the development of private tomb architecture, the role of the Offering Cult and focus on sites of particular significance such as Abydos. The course as a whole provides the students with a comprehensive overview of how the Egyptians – both elite and non-elite – interacted with their Gods, understood their mythology and prepared themselves for Eternity.

Data science and machine learning are exciting new areas that combine scientific inquiry, statistical knowledge, substantive expertise, and computer programming. One of the main challenges for businesses and policy makers when using big data is to find people with the appropriate skills. Good data science requires experts that combine substantive knowledge with data analytical skills, which makes it a prime area for social scientists with an interest in quantitative methods. This course extends the foundation of probability and statistics with an introduction to the most important concepts in applied machine learning, with social science examples. It covers the main analytical methods from this field with hands-on applications using example datasets, so that students gain experience with and confidence in using the methods covered. 

Eukaryotic cells are characterized by the presence of intracellular organelles. Membrane trafficking is the essential process of maintaining these organelles and allowing the transport of proteins and lipids from one compartment to another and to the correct destination. This course introduces students to the world-leading research in this area taking place at UCL, and focuses on presenting a data-led accumulation of knowledge. Students will learn how to critically analyze research papers and gain experience in scientific writing and presentation.

This course introduces students to Aristotle’s wonderfully rich but intricate philosophical writings by focusing on some of the most prominent topics in Aristotle’s philosophy. Students learn how to read, how to criticize, and how to make sense of Aristotle and benefit from the wealth of Aristotle’s thought. In the early part of the course students explore some of the basic themes of Aristotle’s epistemology, metaphysics and philosophy of nature. Students then focus on key topics from his psychology and ethics, perhaps of all his wide-ranging enquiries the areas that continue to provide the greatest stimulus for contemporary thinkers.

 In this course, students examine the contributions of geographers to the theorizing and study of migration. Taking a main focus on Britain and our former colonies to understand migration patterns and processes, there are options to investigate other examples of global migration across the course and assessment. To critically engage with the geographies of migration students draw on theories of post-colonialism and anti-racism strategies, with reflection on ethnicity and religion, and reflect on the important contributions of feminist and intersectional approaches. For instance the course considers the interconnections between areas of Pakistan and Manchester in the textile and garment industry, that continue today. In the second half of the course students deepen their knowledge of key concepts of transnationalism, mobilities, encounter, integration, assimilation, statelessness, citizenship and belonging.  

This course complicates our understanding of North American cities.  It takes us through the histories and geographies of the emergence of the first North American cities.  Both Canada and the US are examples of settler colonialism – where European settlers evicted through violence those on whose land the two nation’s cities were built.  And the labor of slaves from inside and outside of Canada and the US was used to build these cities. The  course builds upon critical understandings of the two nations and their cities. It examines the changing ways in which North American cities have been governed and their changing position in American and Canadian societies, particularly with the emergence of suburbanization from the late 1940s and the gentrification-driven-renaissance of some of their downtown from the late 1980s. 

The course explores the individual, the social context of behavior, and the relationship between the two. It encourages students to think in an interdisciplinary way by linking social psychology to other subject domains in psychology, and in particular to topics in other social science disciplines (particularly sociology). Students are presented with key theories, methods (including experimental work), concepts as well as new developments in the field of social psychology. Examples of key topics include attitudes and attitude change, social constructionism, social cognition, the self and social identity, group behavior, social influence, violence and aggression, prosocial behavior, prejudice and discrimination, and interpersonal relationships.

In this course, students study films from the Franco regime in Spain and into the Transition to democracy. The films selected in different ways either express or subvert the ideology and iconography of Francoism. The films offer a combination of commercial and art-house cinema. Students explore issues such as the representation of gender, family, nationhood and religion, issues of censorship, ideology, iconography, and the dynamics of spectatorship. 

This course provides a unique combination of theory and practice. Based on the understanding of the need for global citizens to be competent in more than one language, the course presents the main language learning theories, as well as different approaches to the teaching and learning of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Students have the opportunity to apply this theoretical knowledge to their own experience of language learning. They undertake six hours of studying a new language of their choice, and are ask to reflect on and analyze this experience in their own language learning case study.

The contemporary world is characterized by both interconnectedness and disconnectedness. Some people, ideas, and capital move between different parts of the world with ease, speed, and frequency: companies exist in multiple countries simultaneously; new technologies enable us to connect with people all around the world; environmental change creates new challenges to be faced by all. Other people, ideas, and cultures are entrenched in their own isolation, shut off from these global flows: people find comfort in local attachments, political space is increasingly fragmented, and cultural boundaries reinforced. How do academics understand these experiences, and how might they challenge some of the core assumptions of sociology? This course examines some of the key ways in which the contemporary world is evolving. By investigating specific social spheres such as migration, religion, culture and risk, the course considers both the potential and limits of globalization.