University College London

The course provide an introduction to concepts and principles of remote sensing. It will include 3 components: 1) radiometric principles underlying remote sensing: electromagnetic radiation; basic laws of electromagnetic radiation; absorption, reflection and emission; atmospheric effects; radiation interactions with the surface, radiative transfer; 2) assumptions and trade-offs for particular applications: orbital mechanics and choices; spatial, spectral, temporal, angular and radiometric resolution; data pre-processing; scanners; and 3) time- resolved remote sensing including: RADAR principles; the RADAR equation; RADAR resolution; phase information and SAR interferometry; and LIDAR remote sensing, the LIDAR equation and applications.

The course introduces engineers and technologists to some of the techniques of foresight and scenario planning, including some of the many reasons why those techniques can fail. It is to give a rounded and nuanced view of the business environment into which technologies are introduced and some of the associated governance issues. This advanced course covers complex topics which are not suited to students with no prior knowledge of subjects related to the field.

 

The course provides an introduction to modern materials chemistry, covering both inorganic materials and organic polymers. Models of bonding and structure in the solid state are developed and linked to functionality of the materials themselves. Synthetic and characterization methods are discussed. Students learn about current challenges in materials chemistry, and how to design materials to overcome them.

This course offers students a broad introduction to political philosophy. Readings are mostly drawn from Contemporary Anglophone political philosophy (so-called “analytic” philosophy): in particular, Rawls and some of his interlocutors (Nozick, Cohen, Moller-Okin, et. al). Yet students may also occasionally read figures from the history of political thought (Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, Locke, Mill) and some modern European theorists (so-called “continental” philosophers) as well (Habermas, Honneth, Forst). Questions treated in the course are likely to include the following: What is the source of the state’s authority and what could render it legitimate? What is liberty, and what are its limits? Why is property valuable, and how should it be distributed? Is there a trade-off between equality and freedom? Are there any natural rights or are they all conventional? What is justice? Throughout students are concerned with how these questions are treated in different frameworks: liberal, libertarian, socialist, feminist, utilitarian, and anarchist.  

This course is an introduction to the theoretical concepts required for subsequent computer science courses. However, the course also provides a stand-alone introduction for students interested in the theory of computation and its links with logic and language theory. The first part of the course focuses on mathematical logic and the second part addresses the fundamentals of computation, automata, and language theory.

In this course, students explore German history from the Reformation to the present day. The course covers major events in early modern times, including the Reformation and the Enlightenment, but the main focus is on the 19th and 20th centuries. Students engage with a variety of topics, including nationalism and nation-building, revolution and reaction, industrialization and urbanization, changing gender roles and social structures, empire at home and abroad, mass politics and culture, Germans’ roles and experiences in two world wars, Nazi racism and genocide, and Cold War division and unification. The common threads throughout are Germans’ persistent experimentation with defining "Germany" and the consequences for those variously included and excluded according to gender, class, religion, race, politics, and other categories. 

This course is designed to deal with a variety of topics in epistemology – the philosophical study of knowledge. The curriculum varies from year to year. Topics include theories of knowledge; theories of justification or warrant; skepticism; contextualism; and sources of knowledge: perception, memory, introspection, testimony.

This course provides students with a thorough understanding of core techniques of quantitative economics and econometrics and their application to test economic theories and measure magnitudes relevant for economic policy and other decisions, as a foundation for subsequent study of quantitative topics, and as one of the key elements in the professional training of an economist.

This course deals with some important metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical questions by looking to philosophers from the ancient Greek tradition. 

The Nordic countries have often been regarded as model societies, famous for their high levels of economic prosperity, social equality, and political stability. Students discuss the historical roots of this distinctive Nordic experience and how it has changed since the end of the Cold War, as the Nordic countries have needed to adopt to new regional, Europewide, and global developments. The historical introduction is followed by a thematic examination of contemporary Nordic societies in a comparative perspective, looking at the varied legacies of the Nordic model. Topics include Nordic foreign and security policy, domestic politics and the rise of the populist right, immigration and integration, crime and justice, gender equality, environmentalism and Nordic co-operation. It should be noted that a focus on the Nordic countries also provides a new perspective on some of the most important developments affecting the whole of Europe over the last 30 years.