Paris was THE capital of the nineteenth century, according to Walter Benjamin.  This module explores the city’s changing spaces and considers its residents, both bourgeois and avant-garde, who witnessed its exciting transformation into a modern capital.  It will examine how Parisians became a ‘spectacular’ society through the process of creating a city that was self-consciously modern.

This module examines the vibrant artistic culture of the Renaissance court, paying particular attention to gender. We will primarily study Italian courts and artists, though comparative material will include courts in Burgundy, France, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire

As part of this module you have the opportunity to go on a 7-10 day study trip to a European City during which you will visit museums, key building and cultural sites in the city to see art from the Renaissance to the present. The School provide a subsidy for Art History students for this trip, but you will be responsible for covering any additional costs outside of this. Any students not on an Art History or ISC course will be required to cover their own costs. Costs will differ each year depending on the destination and details for the trip.

This third art and ideas module deepens your existing thematic and historiographical knowledge building on Art and Ideas II. In this module, we will familiarise ourselves with some of the most influential and insightful theoretical approaches to art in the 20th and 21st Century.

This module aims at an understanding the problem of naturalism in Baroque art by seeing it in relation to broader transformations in the culture of Europe in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. We will study the work of major artists – including Caravaggio, Bernini, Velázquez, Poussin, Rubens, Rembrandt, and Vermeer - as well as others less well known. Topics examined through the lens of art and its relationship to nature will include: how artists negotiated the new demands placed on art by the Council of Trent; debates about the relative merits of naturalism and classicism; the evolving social status of the artist; theories of imitation and originality; the emergent art market in the Protestant Netherlands; the visual culture of the triumphant Catholic Church in Baroque Rome; the role of artists in the construction of a ruling identity.

As part of this module you have the opportunity to go on a 7-10 day study trip to a European City during which you will visit museums, key building and cultural sites in the city to see art from the Renaissance to the present. The School provide a subsidy for Art History and ISC students for this trip, but you will be responsible for covering any additional costs outside of this. Any students not on an Art History or ISC course will be required to cover their own costs. Costs will differ each year depending on the destination and details for the trip.

Develop your legal knowledge by studying Partnership Law, followed by various aspects of Company Law (including professional negligence), together with the rules of Agency, Insolvency principles, the offence of Insider Dealing and Employment Law.

This module looks to deconstruct what accounting and regulation is, and the role of international standard setters and politics in standard setting. You will look at accounting theory which forms the foundations for the approaches to accounting that are currently taken in society, we will look at the way that this forms the conceptual framework and the discuss the measurement approaches that are taken. It continues with a more in-depth look at corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting, including discussions about recent initiatives as well as academic findings. You’ll then look at fair value accounting in terms of its valuation measurements, its strengths and weaknesses in comparison with historical cost accounting and its relationship with the global financial crisis. Other issues covered are of foreign currency translation - to compare the different methods which can be used to account for it. And issues related to Off-balance Sheet accounting with a particular focus on lease contracts and the role that these tools have played in encouraging opportunistic behaviours that lead to the bankruptcy of global companies and to the recent global financial crisis. Finally, you’ll discuss the accounting treatment of goodwill and other intangible assets.

Management accounting serves the purpose of identifying, measuring and communicating economic information to permit management and workforce make informed judgements and decisions. Investigate the technical issues in cost management and performance measurement systems, and wider issues concerning the role of management accounting in shaping management structures and decisions in manufacturing and service contexts.

What are the key concepts and issues in auditing? You are introduced to the role of the auditor, followed by an analysis and evaluation of the two main audit approaches: audit risk-based auditing and business risk-based auditing. You then discover key auditing concepts such as the true and fair view, evidence and independence.

In this module, you evaluate contemporary developments and research in the field of management accounting, using real-life business case studies. You explore management accounting within economic, political, social and cultural contexts, exploring issues such as deregulation, globalisation and increasing customer demands. You examine strategic issues such as cost management, performance measurement and management controls and explore how organisational and technological changes are impacting the discipline both nationally and internationally.

Understanding tax is key to the work of most accountants, whether your client is a self-employed sole trader or a huge multi-national organisation. In this module you will use the UK tax system as the framework to develop your skills in this area and you’ll critically reflect on the impact of taxation to individual taxpayers, government and society.

This module develops your understanding of how modern financial management techniques work in practice and how they can be used to support corporate decision making. We explore the nature and purpose of financial management, the role of financial institutions and the money market and how stakeholders affect corporate objectives. You explore the technical aspects of financial management and explore techniques used for business and asset valuation, investment appraisal and managing capital.

In this module you study the derivative market, in particular, futures and options markets. You explore various futures markets including the stock index, FX, commodities and interest rate contracts, how they are priced and hedged, and different trading strategies; as well as considering different option positions, the relationship between call and put option prices, and trading strategies.

Master the necessary skills to conduct econometric research. You consider the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method and time series analysis, the conditions under which OLS is employable, the pitfalls and caveats when using OLS and performing analyses on time series data using any estimation method, and prediction and forecasting.

Explore the links between money, financial intermediaries, financial markets and the policies that affect them. In particular, you examine the effects of monetary policy on financial markets and on the economy as a whole. Gain an understanding of how interest rates, money supply and central bank actions affect the decisions of economic agents, financial markets and prices.

An increasingly important sector, the cultural industries are distinctive both in terms of their political economy and their organizational forms, management systems and labour processes. You consider what is distinctive about culture as an economic product, and what this distinctiveness means for the structure of the industries.

This module explores enterprise-based development models within the developing world and examines their impact upon sustainable development and poverty alleviation. Using case studies from across Africa, India, and the UK, you learn about a range of social purpose business models, such as social enterprises, not for profit, green for profit and fair trade. You learn about the role of the informal economy, areas such as social exclusion and debates around social enterprises.

Discover the psychology of organising. You investigate the role of the individual in the organisation, the construction of meaning, bureaucratic and technological consciousness, organisational socialisation and secondary adjustments, and the significance of organising principles such as time, gender and motive. Use film and video material to explore the issues raised and to provide contextual support for the ideas, including feature films such as GI Jane, She Stood Alone and Vertigo.

This module explores the future of management and work in light of contemporary social theory and social, political and economic changes. You look at new organisational forms, such as management consultancy, symbolic analysis and affective labour, as well as new forms of exchange, such as Open Source software. You explore resistance to social-economic change, such as neo-Luddism, culture-jamming, alternative media, anti-globalization and popular movements against precarious labour. By comparison, you also examine more conventional forms of organisation, including sweatshops, fast food, retail, call centres, mining and agriculture.

Gain an insight into the relationship between management, the innovation process and the development, application, and use of new technologies. You focus primarily on process innovations, building upon your knowledge of operations management and the process of producing and delivering goods and services.

This module builds on your understanding of management and organisation by considering the ethics of business activity. You are introduced to the origins, practice and theory of business ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR). You consider a range of perspectives and use business literature to critically examine organisational ethics and analyse its constraints.

Explore the fascinating world of brands in our contemporary cultures, and investigate the consequences for contemporary marketing practices and for organisational practices more generally. You examine the notion of brand identity, brand image, the issues of brand development and extension, and the consumption of brands. You are also introduced to managerial and marketing issues central to brand management.

Marketing is part of our everyday lives, embedded into all spheres of society. Marketing techniques are not only used by corporations to promote their products and services. Governments, charities, social movements and protest groups also use these techniques to seek to shape our norms, lifestyles and culture. This module explores a range of contemporary marketing discourses and critically examines their impact on marketing practices and on society.

The way in which an organisation is perceived by various publics and interacts with different constituents is of strategic importance for many organisations from small businesses and non-profit charities to large global corporations. Corporate marketing is a new emerging field in marketing that helps you to better understand and master organisational challenges such as corporate identity, corporate reputation and corporate brand management and communication.

Gain a thorough understanding of the basic international arbitrage relationships of some basic models of exchange rate determination. You then explore topics in economics such as models of currency crisis, and the South American and East Asian Crisis, and investigate international markets from the perspective of a multinational firm, where topics such as the international cost of capital and foreign direct investment are covered.

The (mis)use of financial derivatives can potentially have catastrophic consequences for those who acquire them. And yet in recent years derivatives have become increasingly important, both for the financial sector and for the wider economy. On this course you discover how risk can be managed with the use of derivative instruments.

This module explores the nature, functions and strategic drivers of international banking institutions and markets. You examine the different types of global banking institutions, including commercial, investment, retail, private and offshore financial centres. Topics include international banking activities and services (such as trade finance, loans sales and securitisation), international banking regulation, failures and crises and comparative banking. You also explore current trends and risks affecting international banks.

The purpose of this module is to introduce you to the principles of alternative investments. We provide a detailed analysis of various classes of alternative investments in the financial markets. Specifically, these classes include commodities, hedge funds, mutual funds, private equity/venture capital and real estate investment trusts (REITS). The theoretical part of the module aims at deepening your understanding of each given investment category, while the practical part focuses on formulating and implementing various active and passive investment strategies, as well as quantifying the risks associated with them.

Corporate and Investment banking includes a heterogeneous set of activities. The module aims at analysing the major corporate and investment banking services, related to mergers and acquisitions, capital markets services (as private equity, venture capital, structure financial products and initial public offerings) and credit market services (as securitization and non-performing loans management).

This module will give you the critical and transferable skills associated with the creation and management of new and entrepreneurial organisations. The module focuses on the development process of new ventures (new small businesses spin-offs from large firms, and social enterprises) and their management. It covers essential processes, including: a) Critical start-up issues and themes that all prospective entrepreneurs have to focus attention on, including, self-assessment, opportunity identification, self-efficacy, ideas generation. b) New and early-stage enterprise functions and processes such as networking, marketing, financial, and behavioural aspects in different environments. c) Work towards the setting up of new ventures through a series of practical workshops organised by the University's Innovation Centre. The module is a mix of theoretical insights and practical application. It is concerned with enabling you to critically examine and organise different forms of learning, develop skills and capabilities for a better understanding and application of the strategic and functional aspects of creating and managing new and entrepreneurial ventures.

This module offers final year students a unique opportunity to work together in an interdisciplinary team on a real-world project for a local partner organisation. It enables you to use the knowledge and skills you’ve acquired during your degree to address a real-world challenge, while sharing and developing your creative, organisational and practical abilities. By doing so, this module will prepare you for entering the graduate labour market or going on to post-graduate study.

Is Montaigne right to wonder whether Westerners are worse off morally than tribes who practice cannibalism? What kind of writing does George Orwell champion? What did Marx and Engels achieve with ‘The Communist Manifesto’? Examine the ‘dangerous ideas’ presented in a range of subversive essays and manifestos. Study how they challenge and satirise existing ideas and social arrangements. Experiment with writing, thus broadening the approach of your own essays.

Is Montaigne right to wonder whether Westerners are worse off morally than tribes who practice cannibalism? What kind of writing does George Orwell champion? What did Marx and Engels achieve with ‘The Communist Manifesto’? Examine the ‘dangerous ideas’ presented in a range of subversive essays and manifestos. Study how they challenge and satirise existing ideas and social arrangements. Experiment with writing, thus broadening the approach of your own essays.

Is Montaigne right to wonder whether Westerners are worse off morally than tribes who practice cannibalism? What kind of writing does George Orwell champion? What did Marx and Engels achieve with ‘The Communist Manifesto’? Examine the ‘dangerous ideas’ presented in a range of subversive essays and manifestos. Study how they challenge and satirise existing ideas and social arrangements. Experiment with writing, thus broadening the approach of your own essays.

Access to water is one of the most urgent global challenges facing us today. Vital for health and well-being, as well as integral to indigenous cultures and industrial processes, water is a threatened commons and contested commodity. In this module, we will explore global and local case studies that highlight challenges of scarcity, contamination, privatization, and climate change, and the cultural importance of bodies of water for diverse communities. We will examine water-related problems, such as economic and urban development, grassroots activism, political conflict, community relations, heritage and public health.

The CS831 Dissertation Seminar is compulsory for ISC students who have chosen to do a final year BA dissertation. This workshop module enables you to pace your research and writing and to present your work to the co-ordinator and your peers. By doing so it helps you to keep on track and receive valuable feedback and guidance while you write your dissertation.

In this module, you will focus on the economic history of economic growth and technical change centred on the 'second industrial revolution' and stemming from the advances in the latter part of the 19th century. Beginning with an overview of global patterns of growth to the early 21st century, you’ll be introduced to macroeconomic approaches to long-run growth, in particular accounting for technological change. You’ll focus on case studies of key sectors contributing to technical progress, including electricity, chemicals, in the late 19th century through to Information and Communications Technology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

This module introduces students to the field of behavioural economics which combines economic analysis with insights from psychology to understand human behaviour. This module is offered at second year undergraduate, and at third year undergraduate. While the content is the same for both levels, the learning outcomes assessed in the modules are slightly different.

Which institutions control international trade? How are they organised? What are their objectives? And why are some of their activities deemed controversial? Study the world trading system since World War Two, learning about the most important issues in international trade policy and deepening your knowledge of the global economy.

What economic issues do computing firms face today? What about the pharmaceutical industry? Or telecommunication organisations? How does new technological knowledge allow these firms to keep a competitive edge? Using real-life case studies, learn how economics model-building methodology helps with the challenges of managing new technology in the modern world.

How are firms organised? What impact does this have on their environment? Or their competitive strategies? Using real-life case studies, understand the economic principles behind different organisational arrangements. Apply economic analysis to address issues about decision making within different firms.

Gain a rich background in the concepts and techniques of game theory, its uses, limitations and issues. The course is also applied, focussing on several important cases of strategic interaction, including auctions, interactions between rival firms, moral hazard and adverse selection, and the theory of the firm. Upon completion of the course, you will be able to evaluate the impact the strategic considerations in the analysis of interactions among decision-makers, and you will have learned how to apply game theory to issues in microeconomics.

This module develops the material started in Intermediate Macroeconomics and aims to give students an understanding of the main types of economic data; how those data are collected, constructed and used and Key ideas in the module will be illustrated with reference to recent events and current policy debates. Upon successful completion of this module, you will be able to approach macroeconomic data critically, and to evaluate the strength of empirical evidence for macroeconomic theories and macroeconomic policy positions.

This module examines the distinctive features of less developed economies and introduces you to the literature that attempts to explain the persistence of poverty in those economies. We start with a historical analysis of the growth process to examine why there has been a divergence in the performances between the developed and the developing countries. The module will then elaborate on the role of institutions and incentives in shaping long run economic development. In particular, we shall examine the role of market imperfections, non-market institutions (such as social norms) and governance institutions.

Expand on the mathematical techniques you developed in Mathematical Methods in Economics. You’ll learn how to use additional mathematical tools, which will enable you to analyse a larger, richer, and more interesting set of economic models. The main focus of the course is on methods for studying dynamic economic problems. Rather than concentrating exclusively on mathematical techniques, intuition for how and why these techniques work will be developed through application to specific economic problems.

In this module you will explore a range of methods used in the modern application of econometric techniques to economic and financial data. The course will enable you to practise the relevant methods, rather than to derive estimators or tests, or to prove the theorems upon which these are based.

Analyse the economics rationale for ‘collective choice’ in a market economy in this applied module. Explore social welfare, equity and efficiency, and evaluate the government’s ability to identify and achieve ‘better’ outcomes. By analysing actual programmes in areas of poverty reduction, education, and health, you will be able to apply your knowledge of broad empirical patterns and institutions to real-life situations in the UK and abroad.

How have labour markets changed over time? Why is there an increased inequality of wages? In this module, you will investigate the determination of labour market outcomes, and discuss why and how differences across individuals occur. Using practical examples throughout, you will develop vital analytical tools needed to understand wage and employment foundation and trends, and will discuss what makes the labour market so important.

How does a monopolist make decisions? And what impact do such decisions have? How can regulators control this behaviour? Build your understanding of monopoly industries, starting with the sources, creation and exercise of monopoly power. Critically assess the principles and practices of monopoly regulation, using real-world examples from industry.

How do firms make decisions? And how do these decisions impact on the prices you pay? What role does game theory play? Understand strategic interaction among firms, using theoretical tools to examine real-world examples. Analyse the main economic forces behind firm behaviour, adapting economic models to study particular challenges.

Despite all the talk about the “death of distance”, geography matters more than ever. This course is a journey through the current economic landscape. We will try to understand the economic forces driving trends in wages, productivity and innovation across cities and regions. These are the forces that will define the geography of future jobs and will shape the economic destiny of local communities around the world.

How do foreign exchange markets determine trade? Understand the economic role that international currency markets play. Study models to interpret exchange rate movements and how this links to key macroeconomic variables. Analyse real-life policies that respond to events in the international monetary system.

How do economic theories determine asset prices? Can you apply analytical reasoning to asset pricing problems? Understand capital markets and explore the predictability of asset price changes. Learn to build simple models of asset markets and how to interpret the mathematics of such models in economic terms.

How do you apply economic reasoning to the markets for bonds, futures contracts and financial options? Study the distinctive characteristics of bonds as financial assets. Gain an understanding of derivatives markets, focusing on futures and options. Explore theories of financial intermediation and learn to evaluate models of price determination.

Can economic analysis be applied to environmental issues? And to environmental policies? Understand the strengths and weaknesses of economic analysis when applied to the environment. Learn to design policies that result in positive environmental outcomes in the modern world.

Why does the government play such an important role in the health care sector? How does the patients’ lack of information affect medical prices? Can we use economics modules to understand the rationale for risky behaviours, such as smoking? These are some of the questions you will try to answer during this module, building on your insights of microeconomic theory, and covering a broad range of concepts, theories, and topics related to the economics of healthcare.

Experimental Economics has become a very popular method to address questions that are hard to answer with field data. Laboratory experiments are used to investigate individual choice behaviours such as giving to charities, or behaviour in strategic interactions such as financial markets and collective decision making. The experiments are also used to analyse firm behaviour and assess policies such as anti-trust legislation or even monetary policy. In this module, we will critically evaluate whether these experimental methods provide answers for policy makers and private sector decision makers.

What interests you? Design and implement your own research project, under the guidance and supervision of our world-leading academic staff. Demonstrate your knowledge of economic ideas in greater depth, building your professional research skills and developing further understanding of a topic that fascinates you.

Is torture ever morally justified? Should pornography be banned? Should prostitution be legalised? Take part in the intellectual search for the moral principles that should govern how we answer these questions and others in governing public policy.

Understand how different statistical and experimental methods can be used to answer questions about political phenomena. You evaluate the assumptions of standard statistical tests and the linear regression model, consider alternatives to those, and learn about causal inference.

Examine how people reason about voting and politics, and why people vote the way that they do. You consider the effects of institutions such as the electoral system or the number of political parties on voting behaviour, using case studies from elections in Britain and other advanced democracies.

How do interest groups influence the trajectory of a country's foreign policy? Who benefits and gains from globalisation and how does this affect their political beliefs? In this module, we will explore how domestic politics and interests influence government's decisions in the international arena, and how international politics affect domestic politics.

In this module you will examine corruption, a global problem that is present in dictatorships as well as democracies, in developing and more developed societies alike. In particular, you'll focus on the impact of corruption on democratic regimes. At the extreme, corruption hampers economic development, reinforces social inequality, and undermines democratic development generally. You will start by defining corruption and discuss alternative tools to evaluate the extent of corruption within a given polity. You'll then examine the causes and consequence of corruption (both political and bureaucratic). Last, but not least, you'll evaluate existing strategies to contain and control this problem.

Explore German politics against the backdrop of the country’s troubled history, investigating its institutions forming a ‘militant democracy’, an adaptive party system and active social movements as the main channels for participation, and the challenging societal, cultural and economic transformation after World War II and reunification into the current ‘Berlin Republic’

This module aims to provide students with a detailed knowledge of how the UK Parliament works (in both theory and practice). Subject to validation, this module is co-taught by staff at the Houses of Parliament and has the support of The Speaker and the Clerk of the House in the House of Commons, and the Lord Speaker and the Clerk of the Parliaments in the House of Lords. The module content is delivered collaboratively by the Houses of Parliament and the University of Essex, with the University providing academic and theoretical content and Parliament providing practical and vocational teaching about the work, processes and business of Parliament.

Explore German politics against the backdrop of the country’s troubled history, investigating its institutions forming a ‘militant democracy’, an adaptive party system and active social movements as the main channels for participation, and the challenging societal, cultural and economic transformation after World War II and reunification into the current ‘Berlin Republic’.

Politics is about people. Everything – angry tweeting, constitutional design, environmental lobbying, states going to war – boils down to the opinions, decisions and behaviour of individuals, and understanding those is the territory of psychology. Political psychology is a growing and thriving subfield, to which this module provides a wide-ranging introduction.

The field of security studies has become increasingly important over the last decade. While old conflicts are reigniting and new ones are emerging, scholars and decision-makers debate about changes to the concepts of security, the redundancy of military force, and the centrality of the state in order to face these ever-important issues.

War narratives and studies of political violence have traditionally focused on the roles and actions of men. Women have typically been framed as innocent bystanders and victims. Yet, women often actively participate in civil wars and in terrorist campaigns, either as civilian supporters of these groups or as armed fighters. In addition to acknowledging the profound impact that civil conflicts have on women, this course explores the many important roles that women often play in terrorist and rebel organizations and examines women's potential contributions to post-war peace building and conflict resolution. The objective of the course is that you will gain a better understanding of the roles women play in the production and resolution of political violence and the manner in which gender and gender attitudes influence war and armed conflict.

In this module, you’ll gain an introduction to the domestic politics of Israel in a comparative perspective, including issues of internal cultural diversity, religion and politics, fragmentation of the political party system, and coalition governance. You’ll explore political institutions, parties, and voting behaviour in Israel, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the state of Israel as a democratic country, understand the Israeli political structure, and discuss the electoral arena.

This module explores the relation between gender and political theory by focusing on the work of feminist theorists, the critiques they have developed of mainstream understandings of key political concepts, and how they have sought to 'en-gender' those concepts. Themes may include the public/private divide, equality, intersectionality, democracy, power, rights, justice.

Theories of justice are still being worked on and developed today. You question contemporary theories of justice through applying them to some of the most controversial issues dominating contemporary politics.

This module explores the nature and foundations of international obligations. It asks what we owe to people in other countries, and what they can demand of us as a matter of right. Questions to be addressed include the following: Who owes what to the very poor? Are citizens of affluent countries complicit in the creation and maintenance of world poverty? Does justice demand the elimination of global inequality? Is the promotion of human rights a form of western cultural imperialism? When is international trade unfair? Do states have a right to close their borders to outsiders? Under what conditions (if any) is it permissible to wage war? We will address these questions by considering the answers that they have received in important recent works of normative political theory.

Study one of the most important contemporary aspects of political action: the natural environment. You consider the state of the environment and possible paths along which it might change, before exploring environmental policies from the level of individual values to the environmental movement to political parties, and finally to the level of international affairs.

This course is about how representative democracy works in Europe. We will examine several topics within the European context, including: public opinion, political participation, political parties, electoral systems, party competition, and how to evaluate democracies. We will also develop specific knowledge about several European countries, by learning how the political institutions (several are mentioned above) function within them. The course also provides an accessible introduction to research design and methods that political scientists have used to address these topics.

Prepare an 8,000 word dissertation which researches the political topic you are most passionate about.

Britain underwent profound transformations between 1830 and 1950. It became the first indisputably modern, industrial capitalist society in the world. Not only was the environment turned upside down, but the lives and identities of the British people were altered fundamentally. You’ll explore this process in a thematic as well as a chronological manner, and study labour, class, gender, the state, democracy, imperialism, culture, and poverty.

The reign of Henry was a seminal period in English history which saw massive religious and cultural change in England. It was also a period of significant change in the history of Ireland, with the beginning of English attempts to conquer the entire island. Understandably a period of such transformative change is and was the subject of intense debate. Henry VIII, the monarch at the centre of these debates, also remains a figure of considerable significance and complexity in popular culture down to the present day. This module will examine the changes occurred in England and Ireland under Henry. It will also examine the goals of the king and his success or failure in achieving them. It will compare Henry VIII to rival kings and assess his challenges and achievements in comparison to their challenges and achievements. The major event of Henry VIII's reign was the break with Rome and his becoming Supreme Head of the English Church; this module will analyse how and why this happened and the consequences of these events. And it will look at the dark closing years of the reign as Henry VIII plunged his kingdom into debt fighting foreign wars and while rival nobles watched the dying king and schemed for their futures in the reign of his son. The module will conclude by examining the importance of Henry VIII's, especially on English religion and politics and by looking at Henry VIII's role in popular culture throughout the centuries. (Henry VIII is one of the very few monarchs in English history whose picture is recognised by nearly everyone; this module will explain how and why this happened). Henry VIII was many things but he was not dull. Fascinating people interacted with him: Anne Boleyn and Katherine of Aragon, Thomas Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell and Thomas More. The king, his friends and enemies, his achievements and failures have inspired playwrights, novelists and artists for five hundred years. If you take this module you will start to learn why. The readings in this module will consist of both primary and secondary sources for each lecture.

The majority of the 12 million enslaved Africans deported to the Americas during the 16th to the 19th centuries ended up working on plantations in Brazil and the Caribbean. Sugar, cacao, indigo, tobacco, cotton and coffee were the main commodities produced for the rapidly expanding European markets. Slavery in the Americas contributed to the making of the modern world. You’ll examine the different plantation societies in Brazil, British Jamaica, the French Caribbean, and the Spanish colonies (Venezuela and Cuba).

Gain an in-depth understanding of the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War and the profound impact this conflict had on American politics and political culture. You’ll examine the history of the war and will focus on the different ways in which the war has been understood. The module encompasses not just international and military, but also cultural, history. Combining these approaches will help you understand the enormous effect that the war has had on American public life.

The module aims to provide students with a broad historical understanding of the history of the first 50 years of the People’s Republic of China. You will work with a variety of primary and secondary sources in the English language in order to develop specific skills of documentary analysis and historical interpretation. Readings will be complemented with the use of visual image, including film and political posters. You will examine some of the key themes and debates in modern Chinese culture and society as represented by Chinese and Western historians, as well as in contemporary accounts of China, and through these they will establish a critical understanding about the major political, economic and social changes between Mao's China and 1992.

This module is to help you refine and consolidate the skill and strategies learned in the 1st and 2nd year of the course: public speaking, specialised translation, consecutive and bilateral interpreting. You will be experiencing a systematic approach to note taking for interpreting, alongside further aspect of Pragmatics and Interpreting ethics applied to business and public service scenarios. Introduction to technologies of translation to enhance and speed up the translation process will also be part of this module. In the AU term you will also be introduced to aspects of Audiovisual Translation and learn the foundations of subtitling skills. In the practical, language specific seminar classes, students will be discussing and finding solutions for the translation of technical as well as literary texts, they will be practicing note taking for interpreting in business and public service setting as well as practicing consecutive and dialogic interpreting. The translation and interpreting tasks will be quite specialised and therefore this module will be drawing on perspectives borrowed from multiple disciplines to find a transdisciplinary framework that helps to compare cultures: frameworks in psychology, anthropology, international business, applied linguistics and discourse studies.

The aim of this module is to provide you with comprehensive practical experience of translating different kinds of texts both from the source language into English and from English into a target language. You will look at a range of texts from news and business correspondence, to manuals, advertising and newspaper clips and develop your ability to reflect on context, purpose, target audience and style, analysing and discussing different alternatives, all relevant for making good choices on translation. It will also introduce you to interpreting and subtitling skills.

What fascinates you? Want to undertake independent study on one or more of your languages? Produce a dissertation, in a foreign language, on a topic of your choice. Remember your dissertation could take the form of a treatise, a translation with commentary, or a piece of video subtitling with commentary.

Are you ready to study abroad? How will it improve your French? Prepare for your period abroad by examining how your language skills will develop, alongside topics related to French gastronomy, music, and suburban life. Study literature, with a focus on creative writing and participate in assessed filmed role-plays.

Want Final Honours level competence in French? Wish to deal quickly and precisely with any written or spoken document? Refine your knowledge of French grammar and vocabulary to near-native level comprehension. Undertake collaborative research into topical issues, and consolidate your understanding of French culture.

Want to improve your German? Study a variety of topics, including the environment and German history, to build your vocabulary and knowledge. Learn to interact in everyday situations, as well as in discussions on more specialised topics. Become familiar with more complex grammar, while developing your oral and written skills.

Want Final Honours level competence in German? Wish to deal quickly and precisely with any written or spoken document? Refine your knowledge of German grammar and vocabulary to near-native level comprehension. Undertake collaborative research into topical issues, and consolidate your understanding of German culture.

Want to improve your Portuguese? Study topics within Brazilian and Portuguese culture and society to build your vocabulary and knowledge. Learn to interact in everyday situations, as well as in discussions on more specialised topics. Become familiar with more complex grammar, while developing your oral and written skills.

Want near-native level competence in Portuguese? Wish to deal quickly and precisely with written or spoken documents? Refine your knowledge of Portuguese grammar and vocabulary by studying different texts. Practice your writing with essays and reports, and take part in discussions to practice expressing yourself clearly in complex situations.

Want to improve your Spanish? Study topics related to social and historical events in Spanish-speaking societies to build your vocabulary and knowledge. Learn to interact in everyday situations, as well as in discussions on more specialised topics. Become familiar with more complex grammar, while developing your oral and written skills.

Want near-native level competence in Spanish? Wish to deal quickly and precisely with written or spoken documents? Refine your knowledge of Spanish grammar and vocabulary by studying different texts. Practice your writing with essays and reports, and learn to express yourself clearly in complex situations.

Want to improve your Italian? Study il giallo italiano detective stories to build your vocabulary and knowledge. Learn to interact in everyday situations, as well as in discussions on more specialised topics. Become familiar with more complex grammar, while developing your oral and written skills.

Want near-native level competence in Italian? Wish to deal quickly and precisely with written or spoken documents? Refine your knowledge of Italian grammar and vocabulary by studying different texts. Practice your writing with essays and reports, and take part in debates to build confidence in arguing a point in Italian.

The module looks at variation in the English Language as it is spoken in the British Isles (England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland), and discusses associated historical and sociolinguistic issues. The focus is on phonological variation, although salient syntactic, morphological and lexical features are also covered, illustrating with recordings wherever possible

This module looks at varieties of English in North America (USA and Canada), the Southern Hemisphere (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa), and the Caribbean. The module covers the historical development of these varieties and discusses their salient features. The focus is on phonological variation, although syntactic, morphological and lexical features are also considered.

This module builds on notions and topics approached and developed in psycholinguistics modules in Years 1 and 2. Now that you have an understanding of key concepts and processes, we will focus on current trends and recent research published on a range of aspects in the field. Resolutely driven by current research, the module focuses on how empirical study can advance theories on how language is stored and processed in the mind, how language is learned and how language is used. This will contribute to a more precise grasp of theories of language processing, representation, learning and use.

This module explores syntax from a cross-linguistic perspective and provides students with a deeper understanding of syntactic variation. We examine key concepts of grammatical organization as it is exhibited in the languages of the world. We look at syntactic variation, as well as the limits which seem to operate on this variation. We will explore a number of categories and concepts which are challenged when data from a broader range of languages is taken into consideration.

This module acquaints you with the fundamental principles and practices associated with new technologies in second language learning and teaching. It helps you explore the connection between second language acquisition theories and implementing different technologies in second language learning, teaching and socialisation. The module will also provide you with opportunities to examine how technology can support the development of linguistic and communicative competencies as learners engage in acquiring another language in and/or beyond institutionalised educational settings. In this module, you will also develop some basic skills in selecting, creating, evaluating and using technological resources/tools for second language teaching, with an understanding of how technology can be integrated into the language curriculum in theoretically and pedagogically sound ways.

Forensic Linguistics explores the ways in which linguistics intersects with public life. Topics include how linguistic knowledge is used in legal settings, such as analysing courtroom discourse, determining authenticity, or using linguistic analysis to determine a person's country of origin, a person's identity, or the authorship of a text. This module may also cover how linguistic discrimination effects individuals, and the legal rights granted to specific languages and language users, and how important information is communicated to minority language users.

This module presents you with a thorough survey of the interface between human language and computing. It covers both the history of language technology and the processing and generation of natural language by computers, and current major applications of linguistics in computer science and software development: e.g., automatic speech recognition, sentiment analysis, machine translation, and automated dialogue/chat systems.

This module introduces final-year undergraduate students from across the social sciences to the fundamental theories and analytical methods that underpin effective communication within various professional environments. The course aims to demonstrate how language can be strategically employed to achieve diverse objectives and will likely be of particular interest to students interested in going into careers in management and marketing. Key concepts such as discourse, influence, authority, emotion, and cross-cultural communication will be explored to provide insights into the factors that impact professional interactions and the tactics that can be utilised to enhance communication effectiveness. Throughout the module, you will not only develop a solid understanding of these theoretical concepts but will also have numerous opportunities to refine their own professional communication skills and techniques. Practical application of these skills will be encouraged across a variety of scenarios and settings, ensuring that you are well-equipped to excel in your future careers in management and marketing.

This module will equip you with an overview of variationist sociolinguistic theory and findings, you’ll focus on exploring social and linguistic constraints on variation and addressing contemporary variationist theoretical challenges.

This module offers an introduction to the discipline of cognitive linguistics and its application to second (L2) language learning and teaching. It focuses on cognitive linguistics views on the nature of language and language learning with specific reference to the L2 context. Cognitive linguistics sees meaning as the core of language both in relation to lexical items and grammar. Meaning is seen as closely related to general knowledge; grammar as shaped and constrained by general cognitive processes, by the needs of speakers in interaction, and by frequency of use. The module covers key concepts in the field, such as conceptualisation and construal, radial networks, encyclopaedic knowledge and its role in language comprehension and production, metaphor and metonymy, and embodied cognition.

How do we bring off the everyday miracle of having a conversation? This introduction to Conversation Analysis (CA) will examine the mechanics of interaction, showing us with how verbal and non-verbal actions are coordinated in time.

How do you select literature for a language class? What are the distinctive features of literature for classroom use? What practical activities can language teachers undertake using literature? Learn to incorporate literature into the language classroom. Examine novels, poetry and drama, and understand how to use drama in the classroom.

What fascinates you about linguistics? Work independently on an extended project of your choosing within linguistics, with supervision from our expert staff. Build your subject knowledge, as well as your research skills and project management abilities.

The group project is a research project that acts as a capstone to studies in English language and linguistics at undergraduate level. You will work in a small group (approx. 5 students) with a supervisor. You will be provided with a list of topic options from which you can choose; it will also be possible for you to propose your own topic and present this to a supervisor with relevant expertise. A topic proposal developed by you will need to be sufficiently focused for it to be agreed on between you and supervisor in a single meeting. You are tasked with putting together a multi-media creative assignment that tackles a topic within the area of language linguistics. This could include but is not limited to producing a podcast, blog, short video, animated comic, or pedagogical materials. You will then present your product (10 minutes) at the end of the module. You work together with other students but everyone will receive an individual mark.

How has the American identity and purpose changed since World War Two? And how is this reflected in literature? Gain answers to these questions via a range of American texts. Analyse these works using a variety of critical approaches, considering social, political and cultural contexts since the Second World War.

Possible Worlds is a module on speculative fiction in its many guises. Encompassing science fiction, apocalyptic fiction, graphic novels, and alternate histories, the literature and cinema of possible worlds is concerned with the precarious routes leading to and from our own present, and is characterised by an acute sense of the volatility and contingency of history. These novels and films typically take as their starting point a hypothetical alteration in the course of events or a change in social or technological dynamics. From there, they extrapolate lines of development leading towards one or more possible worlds. In doing so, they serve to estrange us from the world as we find it and reawaken us to the variability and open-endedness of the human situation. After an introductory session on the history of science fiction, we will go on to look at nine major examples of the literature and cinema of possible worlds, drawing on a diverse group of modern and contemporary writers and filmmakers: from the pioneering work of H. G. Wells at the end of the Victorian period through the work of key twentieth-century figures such as Philip K. Dick and Ursula Le Guin to recent science fiction cinema. Topics and themes addressed on the module include, but are not limited to: time travel, alien encounters, evolution, alternate histories, superheroes, science fiction as philosophy, feminist science fiction, utopias and dystopias, and speculative treatments of race, gender, and sexuality.

How powerful is Hollywood? How do directors construct an image of the USA? Examine how directors have created America in the popular imagination. Study Hollywood auteurs (such as Chaplin, Hawks, Hitchcock, Welles and Ford) alongside others (such as Scorsese, Allen and Lee) while covering the breadth of US film history.

Are you an experienced writer or beginner? Interested in writing stories or poetry? Science fiction or detective fiction? We offer something for all! Explore the theory and practice of creative writing through the unique work of the Oulipo Workshop of Potential Literature, founded by Raymond Queneau in 1960.

Science fiction has experimented with speculation about other worlds by means of time travels in time and space and other ways of living and being by crossing boundaries of different kinds including species and the human/machine. Some science fiction has imagined oppressive regimes, hierarchical societies characterised by brutality and enslavement. Other science fiction has used the speculative aspects of the genre to create radically new, imagined transformations of body and society brought about by scientific and technological inventions. This diversity of treatment in science fiction makes it a versatile genre which has appealed to feminist, postcolonial and Afrofuturist as much as to conservative approaches. The module focuses on a specific theme--what it means to be human--by exploring the robot, the cyborg and clone as well as the automaton and the vampire. The fears and desires are intense in the treatment of the human/animal/machine and when associated with reproduction and the figure of the alien in the world of the science fiction novel.

To what degree are Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth and Othello tragedies? How useful is this term in understanding them? Undertake a close reading of Shakespeare’s four great tragedies. Critically discuss recent issues about each, in groups and in your own work. Gain an understanding of their enduring and/or present significance.

How do US writers imagine and represent the Caribbean? And vice versa? Deepen knowledge of American literature by examining poetic, fictional, nonfictional and dramatic works in a broader context. Investigate contemporary issues like the American Dream, what it means to be from the Americas, migration, and the question of language.

Investigate the myths surrounding the founding of the United States. Crossing disciplines of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and cinematic and theatrical texts, you compare the classic Western against a range of counter-narratives from black, Hispanic, latino, and aboriginal storytellers. This module interrogates the concept of a 'national literature', explores the relationship between folklore and contemporary society, and investigates the relationship between the Western as a narrative form, and the history of colonialism in the U.S.A.

This module will examine the interrelationship between law and literature from a variety of perspectives. The module reflects research interests of staff in the Law School and Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies. There is increasing academic interest in interdisciplinary study in law, and there is an established body of scholarship examining the relationship between law and literature from a variety of perspectives. The perspectives examined in the module will include, but not be confined to, the representation of law in literature, legal texts as literature and how techniques of literary interpretation can inform the study and understanding of law. The module will also present the opportunity for students to examine the nature of interdisciplinary work, exemplified by the study of law and literature.

This module aims to consider the significance, history, culture and impact of video games. It fosters critical thinking by inviting students to consider issues central to the historical, theoretical and aesthetical dimensions of computer games and computer game theory. In this digital age of Web 2.0 gaming and interactive media is ubiquitous and consistently redefines our relationship to games and other external players. Gaming is constantly evolving, and as new consoles emerge other platforms and experiences of gaming become obsolete. How do we keep up with this constant change and where does this leave older games and players? Why is gaming and rule-based environments significant to culture? – chess for example dates back to the 15th century and is still widely enjoyed today, reformed in gaming apps bringing together global players to a rule-based environment played out on a screen. This module explores different historical and contemporary ideas of gaming from debates about interactive fiction and storytelling to phenomenological ideas of the game’s controller and avatar and how they extend players into virtual spaces. It will consider a range of topics including: gender, ethnicity, violence, capital, contemporary art, while turning a critical eye inwards to discussions on ludology, immersion, procedural rhetoric, cyber-individualism, embodiment, avatars and ludonarrative dissonance. Through a close consideration of video game theory, students will reflect on how gaming has evolved to become an even larger industry than that of film.

This module is intended to provide you with a broad understanding the main theoretical frameworks of media and journalism to develop their critical appraisal of the interconnected communication world of today. This module is intended to provide you with a broad understanding the main theoretical frameworks of media and journalism to develop their critical appraisal of the interconnected communication world of today. It is aimed primarily at students looking to develop a research career in journalism or media studies as well as those students looking to acquire a critical approach to journalistic practice. It will also be interesting to students of Government and Sociology who are interested in understanding the big debates around the media and the relationships with politics and society. Each week a current event will be discussed in the seminar as well. The module will equip students with the knowledge, theoretical frameworks, and critical tools to unpack the complexities of contemporary networked newsrooms. It will provide the conceptual framework required to analyze and comprehend our interconnected communication sphere. The module will be open to students from LIFTS who want to critically reflect on the professional practice and to students from Government and Sociology who would be eager to acquire analytical tools that would support their interdisciplinary research.

Number theory encompasses some of the most classical and important topics in mathematics, stemming from the study of integers, Diophantine equations, prime numbers and modular arithmetic. As well as introducing each of these, in this module it will be demonstrated how techniques from a range of mathematical disciplines such as algebra and geometry can be brought to bear.

How do you apply an algorithm or numerical method to a problem? What are the advantages? And the limitations? Understand the theory and application of nonlinear programming. Learn the principles of good modelling and know how to design algorithms and numerical methods. Critically assess issues regarding computational algorithms.

In this module you will learn techniques underpinning algorithms for studying integer-valued systems, and apply these algorithms to solve integer and mixed integer problems with cutting-plane algorithms.

The subject of Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) is a very important and fascinating branch of mathematics. These equations describe many phenomena, for instance in physics, biology, engineering, chemistry, finance and neuroscience and elsewhere. This module will introduce you to advanced topics in ODEs and dynamical systems.

How do you formulate financial decision problems mathematically? And how do you identify an appropriate method of solution? Understand the basic models and mathematical methods underlying modern portfolio management. Assess the limitations of these models and learn to correctly interpret your results from calculations.

Examine key definitions, proofs and proof techniques in graph theory. Gain experience of problems connected with chromatic number. Understand external graph theory, Ramsey theory and the theory of random graphs.

How do standard coding techniques in computer security work? And how does RSA cryptography work? Examine the principles of cryptography and the mathematical principles of discrete coding. Analyse the concepts of error detection and correction. Understand the algebra and number theory used in modern cryptography and coding schemes.

" Commutative algebra is the cornerstone established by Hilbert to give a formal backing to intuitive arguments in geometry. This module will provide you with a solid foundation of commutative rings and module theory, and will develop foundational notions used in other areas such as number theory, algebraic geometry and homological algebra. Examples will be key, and many will be made visual thanks to Hilbert’s Nullstellensatz.

Can you calculate confidence intervals for parameters and prediction intervals for future observations? Represent a linear model in matrix form? Or adapt a model to fit growth curves? Learn to apply linear models to analyse data. Discuss underlying assumptions and standard approaches. Understand methods to design and analyse experiments.

This module will enable you to expand your knowledge on multiple statistical methods. You will learn the concepts of decision theory and how to apply them, have the chance to explore Monte Carlo simulation, and develop an understanding of Bayesian inference, and the basic concepts of a generalised linear model.

Ever considered becoming an Actuary? This module covers the required material for the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries CT4 and CT6 syllabus. It explores the stochastic process and principles of actuarial modelling alongside time series models and analysis.

Why are arbitrage arguments important in modern finance? How can a binomial model evaluate derivatives? What are the main models for interest rates? Understand the mathematical techniques underlying the modelling of derivative pricing. Acquire skills in the development of pricing and risk management. Explore stochastic methods and credit risk.

In this module, you will study three application areas of statistics - multivariate methods, demography and epidemiology, and sampling, and how to apply and assess these methods in a variety of situations.

This module focuses on Bayesian and computational statistics. You will develop your understanding of Bayes’ theorem and Bayesian statistical modelling, and Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation, by developing algorithms for simple probability distributions.

This module will cover partial differential equations (PDEs), which can describe a wide array of physical processes and phenomena. You will learn the properties of first and second order PDEs, the concepts behind them and the methods for solving such equations.

What do you know about depth psychology? How do psychoanalysis and analytical psychology provide new understanding of society, culture and politics? Build your knowledge about depth psychology - psychological thinking that introduces the concept of a deep unconscious. Understand Freud’s theories and their significance in social and cultural analysis.

What do you know about depth psychology? How do psychoanalysis and analytical psychology provide new understanding of society, culture and politics? Build your knowledge about depth psychology - psychological thinking that introduces the concept of a deep unconscious. Understand Jung’s theories and their significance in social and cultural analysis.

Examine how culture shapes cognition, perception, motivation, and emotion in this advanced module on culture and psychology. You will learn about culture and health, cross-cultural difference in ideas of the self, personality, interpersonal behaviour, and group processes, and will discuss how culture impacts individuals, and interpersonal and intergroup processes.

This module is concerned with the study of emotional behaviour and experience from a scientific point of view. The emphasis throughout the module is on how emotions arise and are manifest as patterns of bodily response and mental activity. Theories of emotion from psychodynamic, introspective, and constructionist positions will not form a major component of the module, although some of the important insights which these approaches have offered will be considered. You will examine theories of both normal and abnormal emotion. The former will receive the lion's share of our attention, but the case studies on particular emotions (eg sadness) include discussion of their pathological extensions (depression).

Be introduced to the key concepts of animal behaviour from an ethological and comparative cognition viewpoint. By taking a critical look at published work and research and identifying the frameworks that underlie animal behaviour, you will become familiar with aspects such as the evolution of behaviour and the cognitive capabilities of different species.

You’ll be introduced to the key concepts of evolutionary theory as pertaining to human psychology, and will engage with current literature in this rapidly advancing area of science. You will develop your understanding of the relevance of evolution to the scientific study of human behaviour and cognition. You’ll also identify the basic concepts and frameworks that underlie evolutionary approaches to psychology, as well as the major findings and fields within evolutionary psychology.

How do we remember? Why do we forget? In this module, we will answer these questions through both lectures and experimental self-discovery. We will learn that we are surprisingly poor at recalling even very small numbers of words, objects, and events that we can nevertheless easily recognise. Through practical workshop classes that supplement lectures, you will see these limitations for yourselves, allowing you to better evaluate whether these limitations are best understood as evidence for limited-capacity short-term or working memory store(s), and /or as a result of the interaction between encoding and retrieval processes.

Discover the neuroscience behind key elements of human nature. These include, understanding the faces and bodies of others, how we copy body language to show empathy and the processes that drive motivation and emotion. You will also investigate autism and schizophrenia which occur when these processes aren’t working effectively.

Develop knowledge gained in the second year module, Brain and Behaviour, and deepen your understanding of how the brain affects behaviour, and the link it has with the workings of the body. You will learn from a range of experts, covering aspects from basic bodily functions to high-order existential concerns, such as psychopharmacology, diet and wellbeing, epigenetics, physical and social pain, and existential neuroscience, to ultimately gain a deep understanding of the way the brain and body interact to control behaviour.

What happens to our psychology as we get older? Explore three major themes in the psychology of ageing: mind, brain, and behaviour in this module, which covers the cognitive, social, and emotional aspects of ageing. You will investigate decision-making in older age, how older adults interact with their social environment, and how emotional processing changes with age, as well as the physiology of ageing, the neurological changes that occur, and how these affect aspects of cognition and emotion.

You will examine the causes of psychopathology from the perspective of different disciplines (genetics, neuroscience, behavioural, and social sciences), with the aim of understanding the potential interplay between biological, psychological, social, and environmental factors. You will learn how to critically distinguish individual differences in behaviour and the different ways of classifying psychopathologies.

You will gain a greater understanding of the relation between brain development and the development of skills in infants and children, and of how neuroscience can inform educational practices. Topics may include: prenatal brain development, the development of the sense of self and self control, infant and children attachment and social skills, neuro-developmental disorders and applied neuroscience.

These are only some of the questions we will address: Why do people indulge in magical thinking? What happens in our brains during hypnosis and meditation? How easy is to implant a false memory? How powerful is the effect of an inert drug when we believe it does have a healing action? We will first set out the levels of interpretations, the lens through which we will discuss mind, brain, and behavioural correlates of suggestion- and belief-laden phenomena. You will be asked to reflect on the learning material by creating connections between the different themes, everyday life and other aspects of social life, including your own experience. This integrative approach will aim to spark comprehensive understanding of the general mechanisms governing the human mind. Your active role and reflective approach to learning will contribute to a transformative learning experience and personal growth, whether you believe it or not!

The use of Bayesian statistics is increasingly common in psychology. This module aims to introduce you to these tools, and how to use R (a popular, open source statistical software package) to analyse and visualise data. It will also give you an overview of how the human brain deals with uncertainty and probabilities, and how the media often misrepresents statistical issues. Throughout the module, you will gain familiarity with working with large datasets, identifying patterns and presenting data. These skills are useful not only for further postgraduate study, but also are increasingly valuable in graduate jobs outside academia.

Romantic relationships are a fundamental part of the human experience. This module will take a scientific approach to understanding relationships. We will examine how relationships form, what binds them together, and what might lead to their dissolution. We will discuss how much of "me" we bring into our relationships compared to how much relationships change our sense of self. Finally, we will discuss what makes relationships such an important area of study: how they impact and influence our lives.

Can psychology help make better decisions? Yes! From curbing climate change to selecting the best candidate for the job, decision-making science has many important insights to offer, which is why it is becoming increasingly popular in education, politics, business, economics and health. Governments, businesses and charities all understand the value of identifying decision pitfalls (eg social and cognitive biases) and using strategies to overcome these. In this module, you will learn about decision-making theories and gain the skills to understand, predict and improve people's decisions for real-world issues (eg "how can we help doctors better diagnose patients?", "how do we motivate people to exercise more often?", "how can we encourage people to be more prosocial?").

So-called pop science, and in particular "self-help" sections in book stores are growing at fast pace. But is the information provided always grounded in psychological theory and supported by enough empirical evidence? This module combines all areas of psychology to explore research around psychological (self)-improvement. Utilising Essex Psychology staff expertise, we will unravel popular topics around improvement by exploring the theories and empirical evidence underlying popular beliefs. We will cover the breadth of the discipline to address questions such as: Why do we procrastinate and how do we stop? What causes insomnia and how do we sleep better? Why is it so difficult to break bad habits and how can we achieve it nevertheless? How can I improve my self-esteem? What causes anxiety and what are techniques to calm our mind? Why are stereotyping and prejudice so prevalent and how can we help to reduce them? Different personalities, different behaviours – how do you identify what your individual needs are? Questions such as these will be addressed by critically examining underlying research evidence and carefully looking at tools that have been proposed to be useful to answer these questions in the public and clinical domain. To help strengthen your ability to translate psychological research into real-world practices, you will also be provided with a work-based learning opportunity by critically appraising existing practices in organisations.

This module closely links to the Department's mission to foster an "Understanding of our place in the world". It will feature a range of state-of-the-art psychological research as conducted by Essex based researchers and demonstrate what and how their area of research has contributed to society. It will outline how principles of psychological science are relevant to everyday life and will address questions such as "How has cognitive psychology started today's AI revolution", "What are the therapeutic uses of virtual reality for the treatment phobias and anxiety", "Does training people where to look improve performance", "What role does sensory processing play in the understanding and treatment of migraines", "Who is taking drugs and what interventions can psychology provide", "What gestures can be useful for clinicians", "What can psychologists contribute to information design", or "Can psychology tell us anything about how we search for our keys, or find milk at the supermarket"? Questions such as these will be addressed by critically examining "what the problem is" and what research evidence we can use to answer these questions to have an impact beyond academia. As part of your assessment, you will work on a "real-life" problem, i.e. a problem that an existing company or organisation is facing and you will contribute to them addressing the issue basing your advice on content learned throughout the module. This focus on "real-life" problems will be beneficial for you in future employment where it may be relevant to translate your existing knowledge into company specific strategies.

This module will explore the intricate relationship between human behaviour and environmental sustainability, delving into the psychological factors that influence individuals, groups, and societies in their pursuit of sustainable practices. We will employ an interdisciplinary approach that will help us bridge the gap between traditional environmental studies and the understanding of human cognition, attitudes, experiences, and behaviour. The module will explore questions such as: “How are environmental attitudes and values shaped”; “How can we overcome misperceptions and avoid defensive responding to sustainability messages?” “What are the impact of social, cultural, and cognitive factors (e.g., social influence, perception of risk) on sustainable behaviour?”, and “How can we bridge the gap between pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours?”. Lectures will provide foundational knowledge and we will include case studies and real-world examples to illustrate the practical applications of psychological principles in sustainability initiatives. Interactive discussions and group activities will help you critically analyse and apply psychological concepts to real-world scenarios.

In many crime dramas, both contemporary and classic, psychology is often depicted as providing the key to solving the case. From criminal profiling techniques that unlock the secrets of offenders to quick, on the fly assessments that allow investigators to connect behaviour and criminal activity. Psychology also provides novel insights into how guilt is determined both in the courtroom, and also in wider society. In this module we will explore questions such as: What can psychology really contribute to forensics and solving crimes? What factors influence the accuracy of eyewitness accounts? How do we determine responsibility? How does society treat offenders and victims? Is it really possible to tell whether someone is lying? How do psychopathic traits link to criminal behaviour? Are some people hard-wired to become criminals? Or does criminality develop as we grow, and how might we prevent this? What psychological processes are involved in cybercrime, and how do these differ from other crimes? From profiling to investigative strategies, to real-life case studies, this module offers a captivating journey into the psychology underlying criminal behaviour and legal responsibility.

What is politics (is it about justice or power)? How does political philosophy relate to real politics? What are competing approaches in contemporary philosophy? What are the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches?

Develop your research and written skills through writing a dissertation on a philosophical topic studied in either your second year or the autumn term of your final year.

This module examines the relationships between faith and reason, religion and philosophy. We shall approach these topics, historically, by considering how they were discussed by some key figures in nineteenth-century European philosophy.

Discover the philosophical questions that are raised by everyday medical practice and recent developments in medical science. You consider topics including reproductive ethics, resource allocation, the ethics of enhancement, and biopolitics.

“Analytic Philosophy” is a (sometimes controversial) term commonly used to describe the dominant philosophical tradition in the English-speaking world from the early 20th century to present day. We will explore prominent themes and authors within this tradition. The focus will vary year-on-year; examples include topics from analytic philosophy of mind and metaphysics (the mind-body problem; personal identity; consciousness and “qualia”…) and topics from analytic philosophy of language (what is meaning? How do names and descriptions refer to objects? Does context make a difference to the meaning of what we say, and does what we say shape the context in return?...)

Discover Ancient Greek philosophy and read some of the most influential works in the history of Western Philosophy. In this module we focus on Plato and Aristotle, exploring how ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics and psychology are all intertwined. The course begins with an overview of philosophy before Socrates and ends with a short exploration of the philosophical schools that flourished in the Roman empire.

Existentialism encompasses a variety of different thinkers unified by a) the belief that human existence cannot be fully understood using the categories provided by the philosophical tradition or the natural sciences, and b) a commitment to taking seriously the first-person quality of experience as it is lived. For this reason Existentialism has close ties to Phenomenology, which is a philosophical methodology defined by its insistence on examining meaning as it is experienced first-personally in order to uncover the structures governing the possibility of those meaningful experiences. We will address the key Existentialist question: How do you become who you are? We will make use of figures from both within and outside of the phenomenological tradition when addressing this question.

This module introduces students to different traditions of “Critical Theory”. Critical Theory, a tradition associated with the Frankfurt School but also embodied by wider radical traditions, aims to reflect critically and holistically on society and the role of the theorist within it in order to tackle oppressions and the ideological forms of thought that underpin them, and thus to contribute to projects of emancipation.

Kant's Critique of Pure Reason initiates a new 'critical' method in philosophy which has been highly influential in both continental and analytic philosophy. His critical method establishes a new way of thinking about the relation in which we stand to the world, and the role played by knowledge and judgement within that world.

How do you understand contemporary society? What role do key topics like modernity, post-modernity, feminism and capitalism play? And what do contemporary theorists like Foucault and Bourdieu say? Learn why philosophical knowledge is vital for sociological understanding, while deepening your own awareness of the subject.

In the popular imagination and, to a large degree, in criminology itself, crime is associated with the poor and powerless. However, it is clear that the most serious and harmful crimes are actually committed by apparently legitimate states, corporations and the political economies that they support. These crimes include torture, mass murder and rape of civilians, as well as large-scale financial crimes committed and facilitated by global corporations and financial institutions, and the destruction of the planet. This module will examine these crimes of the powerful, focusing specifically on organisations, their extraordinary power in the contemporary world, and their relative immunity to sanction.

What effect does globalisation have on crime and justice? How do we deal with global crime issues, like terrorism or illegal migration? Can we prevent large-scale crime, such as genocide? Study the changing nature of criminology, looking at contemporary developments, alongside the problem of balancing human rights with human security.

What effect does globalisation have on crime and justice? How do we deal with global crime issues, like terrorism or illegal migration? Can we prevent large-scale crime, such as genocide? Study the changing nature of criminology, looking at contemporary developments, alongside the problem of balancing human rights with human security.

In this module, we want to enable you to critically assess contemporary thinking and research on the relationships between crime, media and culture. These relationships have long been the subject of intense debate and this option offers an account of crime stories in the media that is more interested in their social character: the ways they are produced, circulated and read. In doing so it will also move beyond their symbolic meaning – by emphasising the work such stories perform in the wider social order, how they alter over time, shape political processes and clarify moral boundaries.

This module provides an introduction to theoretical, historical and contemporary debates around race, ethnicity and migration. It will engage you with substantive topics but will also practically illustrate the inner workings of research in the field through a practical ‘Getting a feel for research’ embedded in the module design. We focus on the deep implications that these notions carry for thinking about identity, culture, and social hierarchy; but also for studying ethnic tensions, prejudice and political mobilization.

Discover how questions of childhood and youth have driven wider debates in criminology and sociology. Ask why, how, and with what, effects children and young people have been constructed as subjects with rights, relational citizens with needs, offenders to be reformed or punished, and victims to be protected. Explore children and young people’s experiences of (il)legal youth cultures, systems of youth justice, education, child protection, family intervention and other efforts to counter social exclusion.

How has the concept of mental health been developed by psychiatrists? What role do genetic, psychological, social and cultural factors play in causing mental illness? How has mental health treatment developed? Critically examine mental illness, psychiatric thinking and practice, and mental health services, using real-life examples in your debates.

This module gives students an opportunity to apply social science to address key issues facing society at the local, national and global level. For example, what is the impact of the war in Yemen or in Syria? What is the impact of Brexit? How does global warming affect us? What are the major challenges in the 21st century? This module will tackle a different theme each term to better understand how Social Science can be used to understand the big issues.

What is it to be an American Indian today? Has the slavery legacy contributed to contemporary debates on criminal justice? What are the politics for a Latino presence? Examine social, political and economic encounters between European settlers, American Indians, African-Americans and Latinos that shaped the USA, from colonisation to today.

What is it to be an American Indian today? Has the slavery legacy contributed to contemporary debates on criminal justice? What are the politics for a Latino presence? Examine social, political and economic encounters between European settlers, American Indians, African-Americans and Latinos that shaped the USA, from colonisation to today.

What is it to be an American Indian today? Has the slavery legacy contributed to contemporary debates on criminal justice? What are the politics for a Latino presence? Examine social, political and economic encounters between European settlers, American Indians, African-Americans and Latinos that shaped the USA, from colonisation to today.

This module examines how photography and other forms of visual art provide meanings and interpretations of societies.

What impact has the printed press had on our social and cultural life? What about radio, cinema, TV and recorded music? And how important is all this in the light of new technological advancements? Examine the development of our mass media culture, from the nineteenth century to the present day.

What impact has the printed press had on our social and cultural life? What about radio, cinema, TV and recorded music? And how important is all this in the light of new technological advancements? Examine the development of our mass media culture, from the nineteenth century to the present day.

What impact has the printed press had on our social and cultural life? What about radio, cinema, TV and recorded music? And how important is all this in the light of new technological advancements? Examine the development of our mass media culture, from the nineteenth century to the present day.

Should criminal justice systems only manage offenders and victims? What wider role could they play in securing social justice? Explore the history of criminal justice and examine key theories within an international dimension. Find out how our current criminal justice policies are framed, funded and fought out.

The first term of the module begins with simple OLS regression and provides a framework for modelling strategy and variable selection. Students are then taken through extensions to the basic OLS model, with categorical predictors, interactions and non-linear terms. Next, we introduce models for categorical outcomes: binary logistic and multinomial logit. The term concludes with a discussion of practical topics in data analysis - how to deal with complex sample designs, weighting and non-response adjustments.

The first term of the module begins with simple OLS regression and provides a framework for modelling strategy and variable selection. Students are then taken through extensions to the basic OLS model, with categorical predictors, interactions and non-linear terms. Next, we introduce models for categorical outcomes: binary logistic and multinomial logit. The term concludes with a discussion of practical topics in data analysis - how to deal with complex sample designs, weighting and non-response adjustments.

What is ‘trauma’ and how is its history connected to that of war in the modern age? How have stories of trauma become a feature of contemporary society, and why? This module traces the history of trauma in the age of ‘total war’, from the two World Wars, through the Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan conflicts, to the present, linking the history and sociology of medicine to the cultural and social history of modern warfare.

What is ‘trauma’ and how is its history connected to that of war in the modern age? How have stories of trauma become a feature of contemporary society, and why? This module traces the history of trauma in the age of ‘total war’, from the two World Wars, through the Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan conflicts, to the present, linking the history and sociology of medicine to the cultural and social history of modern warfare.

What is ‘trauma’ and how is its history connected to that of war in the modern age? How have stories of trauma become a feature of contemporary society, and why? This module traces the history of trauma in the age of ‘total war’, from the two World Wars, through the Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan conflicts, to the present, linking the history and sociology of medicine to the cultural and social history of modern warfare.