University College London

This interdisciplinary course examines the representation of London in a variety of cultural outputs from the Victorian to the contemporary period. In particular, it analyzes how writers and artists have expressed their perception of the city as a dark site of social tensions, mystery, crime, and detective work. Alongside representative literary texts (from Dickens and Conan Doyle to Ackroyd), the course makes room for a significant amount of visual material such as illustrations (Doré, Cruikshank), films (Hitchcock, Reed), television dramas (Ripper Street, Sherlock), and documentaries (Keiller, Ackroyd). It is also supplemented by visits to UCL Collections and other London Museums.

This course uses London to explore how contemporary cities are being theorized, experienced, and understood. Consideration is given to how cities are conceptualized in and through the context of globalization. The concept of "global cities" is to be contrasted with perspectives that emphasize the "ordinary" quality of cities, to allow students to engage analytically and critically with the complexities and diversities of urban life and experiences. A range of interdisciplinary themes within urban studies are employed to explore the diverse socio-spatial and cultural dynamics and practices both with respect to London and to students' home cities.

This course examines the history of Palestine and Israel from the 19th century until the present. Rather than studying Israeli and Palestinian history in isolation, the course explores the relationship between the two national groups and the emergence of the Israeli state alongside the prolonged statelessness of Palestinians. Some of the topics include: contrasting narratives of Palestinian and Israeli history, the constituents of identity in late Ottoman Palestine and the formation of Palestinian and Israeli nationalism, Hebrew culture and the Arab encounter with Zionism, the impact of the Mandate period, the Arab revolt of 1936-39, the 1948 War and the birth of the Palestinian refugee problem, the political disappearance of the Palestinian question in Israel’s early decades, the rebuilding of Palestinian identity and institutions, and the fate of the two state solution.

The course explores the ethical basis of economics, with special reference to applied microeconomics and environmental policy analysis. Key skills developed include critical thinking (in understanding the theory), active listening (in lectures and tutorial classes), written materials (through the essays), information skills (in preparing essays), and oral/visual presentation (in tutorial classes).