University College London

The course examines the relations between Europe’s different religious groups – the various Christian denominations chiefly, but also Christians and Jews – in the centuries between the Reformation and the French Revolution. With the Reformation, a once-united western Christendom split into hostile, warring camps. Despite the ideals of toleration and religious freedom championed by some thinkers, actual social relations between the groups remained intensely problematic to the very end of the early modern period.

This course examines core themes and debates in contemporary metaphysics. Topics may vary slightly year to year but include objects and properties; possibility and necessity; causation; space and time; and the nature of truth. 

This course focuses on art works exhibited in London collections and temporary exhibitions, discussing, and theorizing the evolution of the modern art object from the 19th century to present. Through a series of seminars and gallery-based classes, the course closely scrutinizes a broad range of art objects, including painting, sculpture, photography, and video, to consider how the development of visual technologies, materials and techniques are negotiated by artists and have impacted on the critical methodologies developed by art historians. Each week takes a different thematic category to foreground discussion, helping to address changing cultural, social, and historical contexts in the making of visual art and its relationship to current sites of exhibition and mechanism of display

There are more than 750 million people living on islands, from the densely populated urban centers of the Philippines and Hawaii’s to the atolls and archipelagos of the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, and Indian Ocean. Climate change is a global challenge that requires locally designed interventions and action. Islands are at the front line of the effects of climate change. Key challenges: rising temperature and sea levels, lack of fresh water supply, plastic pollution, sewage blockages, high number of tourists in season time, and dependence on fossil fuels imports and high prices. This course provides an understanding of the relationships between human needs and resource use under different climatic scenarios with focus on islands. Students draw on practical case studies, analyze possible solutions, and explore ways to inform decision-makers and the general public.

This course considers the role that law plays in society, with a particular focus on the ways in which lawyers can achieve social change. The course rooted broadly in law and social sciences and is richly interdisciplinary in its approach. It introduces students to conceptions of social justice and to the lawyer-client relationship. Thereafter, students consider the role of charities and NGOs in advocating and campaigning on social welfare and human rights. They critically reflect on practical scenarios and real life campaigns and are challenged to think about the law, and its limitations, in responding to social need.