BSc (Hons), 4 years, UCAS: NN1F
Typical A level offer: AAB-ABB
Subject overview
Why business and management?
How is the world of work and business changing? How do global markets operate, how can we make use of them and what do ethical business and entrepreneurship really mean? These are some of the key questions you investigate when studying business and management, which involve the application of both practical and conceptual knowledge. As organisations seek to meet business challenges, their futures will increasingly depend on the abilities of their staff. Gaining a business and management qualification opens doors to new opportunities.
Why business and management at Sussex?
- With our interdisciplinary approach to study and the flexible structure of our courses, you have the opportunity to specialise in your chosen field and shape your degree to fit with your growing ambitions. Each of our courses encourages innovative and strategic thinking and allows you to move beyond theory into practice.
- We provide an extensive career development programme, preparing students for employment with organisations such as Ernst and Young, Royal Bank of Canada and the UK Ministry of Justice. Our graduates are highly employable, with 88 per cent in work or further study six months after graduation (Destination of Leavers of Higher Education Survey 2013/14).
- All of our degrees are available with a professional placement year, taken between your second and final years of study. Taking a placement is proven to substantially improve your employment prospects, providing valuable work experience and giving you a significant advantage in the job market on graduation. Recent employers who have taken on our students include American Express, GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) and L’Oréal.
Daniel's student perspective
![Daniel d'Souza](../../../images/profiles/perspectives/danieldsouza.jpg)
‘As part of my degree, I have a placement in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) with Virgin Holidays. I’ve been given a lot of responsibility managing campaigns – selecting imagery, writing copy, liaising with third parties, building campaigns, and then evaluating.
‘My first- and second-year modules Introduction to Marketing and Marketing Research really helped in this role, particularly with benchmarking and report writing. My placement year has enhanced my marketing knowledge quite noticeably. I didn’t really know what career I wanted to pursue before I started the placement, but working at Virgin has helped me realise that I definitely want to pursue a career in marketing when I graduate.
‘I spent a lot time researching the company before I applied. There’s no point applying to hundreds of companies with a generic application. Pick four or five and really research them. It will be obvious in the interview if you have done your research and have a genuine interest in working for the company.
‘To stand out for a creative position like this, you need to offer something unique and different. I feel my previous work experience as a treasurer of the award-winning Ukulele Society really helped me.’
Daniel d'Souza
BSc in Marketing and Management (with a professional placement year)
Dagmara's faculty perspective
![Dr Dagmara Weckowska](../../../images/profiles/perspectives/dagmaraweckowska.jpg)
‘With a few short breaks, I’ve been at Sussex since 2006 – first I enjoyed my postgraduate studies here and after obtaining a PhD in Innovation and Technology Management, I became a lecturer in the young and dynamic Department of Business and Management.
‘My research interests include innovation, organisational change and learning, and knowledge and intellectual property management. I’m particularly interested in inter- and intra- organisational knowledge-sharing practices that affect the emergence of science-based innovation. ‘Students taking the Business and Management Studies degree will benefit from the extensive knowledge and enthusiasm of our esteemed faculty, comprising research-active academics and high- calibre business practitioners.
‘We provide our students with opportunities to develop not only an understanding of business and management practices but also with personal skills that will make them effective managers and leaders of tomorrow.’
Dr Dagmara Weckowska
Convenor of the BSc in Business and Management Studies, University of Sussex
Course content
This broad-based course is ideal for you if you wish to develop the skills to work across a range of managerial contexts. The availability of languages, such as Arabic, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese, as electives, is a particularly attractive feature.
You will gain a solid foundation in business, management, marketing, economics and finance, as well an understanding of managing innovation and projects, corporate social responsibility, strategy and other specialist areas. Additionally, you have the opportunity to pursue interests in particular areas by selecting options according to your existing and emerging ambitions.
Successful students will develop an excellent understanding of management and business theory, business strategies and practices as well as practical transferable skills, including the ability to recognise business and management problems and address them with appropriate analytical tools.
We continue to develop and update our modules for 2016 entry to ensure you have the best student experience. In addition to the course structure below, you may find it helpful to refer to the Modules tab.
- How will I learn?
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We take an interactive approach to your learning. Your modules will be taught through a variety of lectures, workshops, case studies and informal discussions, as well as your own independent study time. During seminars, you will be encouraged to think critically and present in a group setting, helping you to build valuable confidence in communicating your ideas to others.
For information on teaching methods and learning resources, visit Studying at Sussex
- What will I achieve?
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- A clear sense of the organisational environment in the 21st century and readiness to take on employment in a management position.
- In-depth knowledge of modern approaches to business and management, and an understanding of the relationship between people, organisations and business and management in different organisational structures.
- An understanding of business within the broader societal context that provides the foundation for effective leadership in a global environment.
Sussex Choice
Broaden your studies, develop your interests and gain a valuable career edge with Sussex Choice. Find out about the opportunities your course offers in the accompanying tabs.
Core content
Year 1
Prior to specialising in Year 2, Year 1 gives you a solid grounding in diverse aspects of management, offering an understanding of the context within which business is conducted, the tools and principles of accounting, an understanding of corporate finance and financial markets, and a range of analytical techniques that you will find useful throughout your course.
The core modules introduce concepts, issues and methods to help you develop a critical approach to management in organisations. You examine cases and contemporary issues in management, including insights from business law and marketing. Two electives give you the opportunity to broaden your studies beyond business and management.
Year 2
You study modules relevant to your chosen specialism alongside a core of shared modules. You investigate and become familiar with the core processes of management. Modules cover and analyse the different aspects of these processes and how they constitute and shape organisations. Your analytical skills are further developed by the research methods teaching in preparation for your final-year project.
Professional placement year
Visit Department of Business and Management: Placements
Final year
There is a wide choice of modules and scope for independent study and research. Through your choice of options, you consolidate and extend your conceptual and practical knowledge of management.
You are able to draw on your knowledge and skills developed during the course (including any placement) to investigate some business and management topics in depth during your final-year project.
Visit Course types: single honours, joint honours, major/minor
Please note that these are the modules running in 2015.
Year 1
Core modules
Year 2
Core modules
- Information Systems
- Management of Innovation
- Operations Management
- Project Management
- Research Methods for Managers
Options
Year 4
Core modules
- Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics
- Developing Leadership
- Public and Nonprofit Management and Social Entrepreneurship
- Strategy
Options
- Business Strategy Report
- Critical Perspectives on Management and Organisations
- Entrepreneurship and Small Firms
- Innovation Systems
- Knowledge, work and organisations
- Law of Business Organisations
- Managing Change
- New Venture Creation and Business Planning
- Research Project
- Strategic Human Resource Management
Introduction to Accounting
15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 1
This module is designed as an introduction to accounting and financial management for managers.
The module introduces accounting and financial management topics gradually, examining basic principles and underlying concepts before demonstrating how accounting statements and financial information can be used to improve business decision-making.
The module focus is for students of business and management as decision-makers and users of financial information.
Introduction to Business and Management
15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 1
Introduction to Business and Management is an introductory study of contemporary organisations and their management. It explores the types of purposes of organisations, their stakeholders (CSR) and changing environments together with their key managerial processes – entrepreneurship, organisational structure, leading, strategic planning and change.
The focus throughout is on helping you achieve a critical and reflective approach, and learning to apply relevant concepts, tools and models.
The coursework component of assessment requires you to choose an organisation that is of interest to you and to explore, critically, the way in which it handles a process of your choice. You are supported in this by the submission of a structured proposal on which formative feedback is given.
Seminar activities are participative and require preparatory work which is signposted though downloads and links on Study Direct well in advance.
Lectures are interactive, employing the use of quizzes and featuring clips from YouTube, such as Dragons' Den excerpts.
An unseen examination completes the assessment profile and you tackle a case study (which revisits keys concepts) in the final seminar as a formative exercise.
The module provides a platform for later study by encouraging skills in critical thinking, academic writing, concept acquisition and research. Introduction to Business and Management aims to facilitate the transition to university-level learning smoothly, meaningfully and enjoyably.
Introduction to Business Law
15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 1
This module aims to develop knowledge and skills in the understanding of the general legal framework, and of specific legal areas relating to business.
The module is divided into four parts:
- the English legal system
- contractual obligations
- tortious liability; and
- the contract of employment.
Introduction to Economics
15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 1
This module provides an introduction to the fundamental principles of economics. The first half of the module deals with micro-economic issues, including the behaviour of individuals and firms, their interaction in markets and the role of government. The second half of the module is devoted to macroeconomics and examines the determinants of aggregate economic variables, such as national income, inflation, and the balance of payments, and the relationships between them.
Introduction to Marketing
15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 1
Introduction to Marketing explores various aspects of the marketing process, including environmental scanning (assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threat analysis, and competitor analysis), strategic development options, marketing mix (traditional and new media), customer relationship management (CRM), sales management and supplier management.
Through case study analysis and practical application, you will develop an appreciation of the practical applications of various marketing concepts and techniques, and learn to critically evaluate and select strategic and operational options available to marketing decision-makers to build a sustainable competitive position.
The objective of this module is to provide you with a clear and comprehensive understanding of the key foundational principles of marketing.
Principles of Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management
15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 1
This module explores the causes and effects of human interaction in an organisation and how humans at individual, group and organisational level influence organisations. Organisational performance depends on appropriate incentives to individuals, developing effective teams, designing an attractive job environment and managing organisational structure.
Focusing on these issues, the module is divided into four themes based on the level of analysis:
- individual – we will look at the individual's contribution to organisation and the factors affecting their behaviour
- group – the nature and significance of groups in organisations will be discussed and the range of skills required for effective team work and factors affecting working in groups will also be explored
- organisational – organisational design and culture, inspiring workers through norms, beliefs and behaviour, and management in the work place will be explained
- human resource management – we will examine the aspects of developing human capital through recruitment, training, development and reward, which will create a sustainable commitment to organisational goals and to ensure high performance.
There will be two forms of assessment for this module with an equal weighting for coursework and an unseen exam. The coursework component will invovle a Group Report analysing concepts of human resource management and organisational behaviour in a chosen organisation. Formative feedback for this assessment will be provided by peers and tutors on the work-in-progress presentation of this report in seminars.
An unseen exam at the end of the term will cover the remaining assessment. You will participate in a role playing game in your final seminar analysing and discussing the concepts taught during the lecture as a formative exercise.
Information Systems
15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2
The module introduces you to the application and management of information systems in an organisational environment. It adopts a management perspective to appreciate the identification, analysis, development, organisation and impact of appropriate information systems. Foundations of intra- and inter-organisational systems are examined along with their economic, social and organisational impacts.
Management of Innovation
15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2
This module aims to equip you with the knowledge to understand and the skills to manage innovation at the operational level.
The management of innovation is inherently interdisciplinary and multi-functional, so we will provide an integrative approach to the management of innovation, and how this influnces and is influnced by business models and value propositions. Specifically, we aim to integrate the management of market, technological and organizational change to improve the competitiveness of firms and effectiveness of other organizations.
You will see that the process of innovation management is essentially generic, although organizational, technological and market-specific factors will constrain choices and actions. The module explores:
- process-, product/service-, postion- and pradigm-based innovations
- the management of innovation and the management required for innovation to happen in the first place
- new product- and service-based approaches
- social and green innovation
- innovation commericalistion, diffusion and networks and innovation forcasting from a managerial and organisational perspective.
Operations Management
15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 2
This module provides you with an understanding of how the fundamental principles of operations management can support the improvement of management performance in both public and private organisations. During the module, you will apply these principles to both manufacturing and service operations.
You will gain an understanding of the systemic and interactive nature of operations management problems and their relationship to the external environment. In addition, the module will allow you to develop quantitative and qualitative analytical skills, through guided problem-based activities and case study analysis.
The content of the module covers:
- Operations strategy
- Designing operations
- Organisation design
- Planning and control
- Lean operations
- Project management
- Managing quality and continous process/product improvement
- Managing the supply chain and future direction of travel for operations management.
Project Management
15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 2
The aim of this module is to introduce students to the concept of project management as a way of managing. The role of project management as a key resource in the process of managing at the strategic level and the management of change in general will be examined and developed. Project Management concepts, the roles and responsibilities of project managers, organisational structures within which project management operates, project implementation, project teams, project leadership, project communication, relationships with clients, end-users and funding bodies, client briefing and network analysis will all be scrutinised. Qualitative and quantitative aspects and approaches will also be introduced and critically examined and developed.
Research Methods for Managers
15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 2
This module introduces you to the nature of business and management research and the tools often used managers. The module prepares you for applying their respective dissertations in an organisational or industry context; and for undertaking management interventions in the workplace.
Outline of topic areas:
1. Nature of business and management research what is it and who cares?
2. Formulating research aim(s) and objectives to solve business and managerial problems
3. Overview of the philosophy of thinking and claims which can be made;
4. Research designs and methodologies (case study, survey, etc.): paying particular attention to the interplay between research questions, analytical approaches and methods of data collection;
5. Sampling strategies and their implications for design choices contextualised for students studying business and management;
6. Data collection and analysis: sources of information; questionnaires, interviews, literature reviews, policy documents, observations, measurement, statistical techniques; qualitative data analysis; sources of bias and error; reporting research, etc., contextualised for business and management problem solving
7. Research ethics and project planning for business professionals
Accounting for Managers
15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2
Emerging Issues in Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations
15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2
The purpose of this module is to introduce you to emerging issues in the practice and theory of human resource management and industrial relations. It aims to keep you up to date with challenging and leading edge issues facing organisations and through detailed discussion of these, develop your abilities in critical thinking.
The content of the module will change as new challenges emerge, however lectures will initially include issues such as what combination of HRM practices produce effective performance, comparing managers across international spaces and the impact of high performance workplaces in the organisation.
International Business Environment
15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2
This module examines the nature of the operating environment for international business today. You will review the scale, scope and trends in international business activity and evaluate the various methods that firms can use to assess, enter and develop non-domestic markets. You will consider the relevance of factors such as culture, psychic distance, host and home country perspectives and 'green' issues on the organisation and management of international business.
Throughout the module emphasis is placed on the business environment in key regions of the world, notably the European Union, North America, East and SE Asia and the transition economies of East and Central Europe. Finally, you will examine the impact of the evolving world economy, regional integration and globalisation on today's international firm.
Managing Change
15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 4
This module will provide you with detailed theoretical and practical knowledge of how to manage change in a variety of contexts. You will examine the principles of managing change at a number of levels, building progressively throughout the module from looking at individual change, to team change, and organisational change up to complex change at the meso-macro level in complex economic systems (eg large projects of regional, or even national importance).
Within this continuum, topics to be addressed include: cognitive and psychodynamic theories of change, the constitution of teams and their dynamics, models and approaches to organisational change (including cultural change, restructuring, and mergers/acquisitions). The application of specific tools for change will also be a key feature of the course, including tools for planning and project management, as well as team member/stakeholder engagement techniques.
You will engage with theoretical concepts and real-life, empircal case material. These will form the main focus of the interactive seminars, which will employ diverse methods (role-plays, debates, presentations, team-based problem solving) to discuss case studies and to help you gain practical skills from applying tools for managing change.
An assessed feasibility study project will provide an opportunity to operationalise course learning towards practical tasks as well as demonstrating your understanding and process ahead of the unseen exam. The Lecture titles are:
- Understanding Change in the Individual
- Change in Teams and Teams for Change
- From Ad hoc to Scientific Management (the Classical School)
- From Certainty to Contingency
- In search of new paradigms
- Critical perspectives on organisational theory - postmodernism, realism and complexity theory
- Culture, Power Politics and Choice
- Planned and Emergent Change
- A Framework for Change
- Manging Change, Managing Choice
- Technological transitions
- Technological revolutions
Statistics and Introductory Econometrics
15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 2
This module provides an introduction to the statistical techniques used in economics, and includes computer-based applications.
Topics covered include:
- summarising and plotting data
- basic probability theory
- hypothesis testing
- correlation analysis; and
- bivariate and multiple regression analysis.
You are introduced in greater detail to the EXCEL spreadsheet package, which you will use for your assessed modulework.
Professional Placement Year
120 credits
Autumn & spring teaching, Year 3
This module augments and amplifies all the relevant programme aims (section 26 PAT) and is designed to improve your employability.
Taylor (2003) describes the main goal of organisations participating in graduate recruitment as, 'reaching that elusive creature - the well-qualified, well-motivated, intelligent, energetic, mobile graduate with management potential'. This module forms the critical component of the degree in contextualising learning, developing and applying new skills and generating the opportunity of subsequent employment while contributing to your personal development into the 4th year of the programme and beyond. From the employers perspective we combine the promise of qualification with evident motivation, applied intelligence and energy over a period of 48 weeks after which an option of subsequent employment may be created.
Wherever possible (and especially in the cases of Marketing, Accountancy and Human Resources Management) and where appropriate you will be encouraged to become student members of a relevant professional institute and will incorporate aspects of professional development within their learning experience.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics
15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 4
The module aims to provide an investigation of the relationship between organisations and their stakeholder groups, and the social accountability and responsibilities that a corporation holds towards different stakeholders.
The module will introduce you to concepts of corporate governance, socially responsible investment and ethical issues relevant to contemporary business. It will be contemporary, interesting, stretching and relevant, and should build on and integrate with other modules that you have taken and/or are taking.
Developing Leadership
15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 4
Organisations have traditionally conceived of leadership as a heroic attribute, appointing the few 'real' leaders to high-level senior positions in order to get them through the hard times. Many observers within organisations are questioning this approach and are beginning to think about the need to recognise and utilise a wider range of leadership practices. Leadership, they argue, needs to be conceived of as something that happens across functions and levels, and that is closely connected with social, cognitive and communicative skills such as those employed in negotiation and decision-making. New concepts and frameworks are needed in order to embrace this more inclusive understanding. This module adopts a systems approach, which focuses on method, people, context, and need. As such, the module offers a perspective that links the two dimensions of people and situation with two additional dimensions of process and content (methods and outcomes).
Public and Nonprofit Management and Social Entrepreneurship
15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 4
This module provides an introduction to organization and management in the public and nonprofit sectors. It combines perspectives from organization studies, management, economics, sociology, political science, and public policy. The first part of the module aims to develop insights into why public action is needed and how it is implemented including the governance of courses and projects, their budgeting and management, and the demonstration of their effectiveness. The second part of the module will examine the nonprofit sector. In addition to comparing the scope of activity, means of delivery and approaches to evaluation in this sector with the public sector, the second part of the module will examine the problems of mobilising support for nonprofit activities including fundraising, the enrolment of volunteers, and the role of professional staff. Seminars will develop more deeply the topics treated during the lectures by considering specific experience in both Anglo-American and more international contexts.
Strategy
15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 4
This is a final-year integrative module in strategy, which develops your understanding and skills as a prospective future manager, specifically for formulating an organisation's overall strategic direction.
The module will help you to develop an understanding of the different approaches to strategy: how choices are made between different possible approaches; the content in which choices are made; and how strategies and structures are designed and implemented.
This module will complement and build on the various management skills already developed through earlier business and management modules.
Business Strategy Report
15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 4
This module provides the opportunity for you to prepare a report on the strategic position of a business or organisation (governmental or not-for-profit) of your choice. You will have the chance to integrate the skills you have developed in your previous modules into one extended research project.
The project requires you to research the strategic position (including market environment, resources and cababilities) of an organisation. Based on this analysis, you will propose a strategy for the organisation over the next five years.
The final report should reflect your research skills and understanding of previous course material. During the first two weeks of the module, you will receive research methods training, supplementing the Research Methods module in the second year.
Critical Perspectives on Management and Organisations
15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 4
This module aims to introduce you to a number of advanced topics in the field of organisation and management studies. It draws upon contemporary research and adopts a critical and analytical perspective to study complex issues that surround the management of organisations today.
Some of the topics that will be covered are:
- Organising in post-modernity
- Unpacking the foundations of institutions
- The turn to (theory and strategy of) Practice
- Managing boundaries
- Organisational identity & Organising Identity
- Sense making in organisations and organisational learning
- Power/Knowledge, Resistance and Politics in organisations
- Management fads & fashions
Entrepreneurship and Small Firms
15 credits
Autumn teaching, Year 4
The module provides you with a comprehensive understanding of the entrepreneurial process and the development of new ventures. Entrepreneurship is viewed as a process to provide sustainable economic, social and institutional change. Module content is limited to entrepreneurship in a small business context.
Innovation Systems
15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 4
Science, technology and innovation (STI) play fundamental roles in our societies. STI are pervasive in our lifestyles and our social organisation and crucial for economic growth. However, until a few years ago science and technology had been regarded as external factors that social actors used at convenience without inquiring how they were created.
In this module we will explore how science and technology are shaped by social forces and how science and technology shape social phenomena. The processes by which socio-economic and technological phenomena shape each other are complex and dependent on historical circumstances. In order to try to see through this complexity we will adopt systemic approaches taking on economic and sociological perspectives.
Innovation system and network approaches look into how various socio-economic actors (university, small spin-off firms, large corporations, governmental agencies, activist organisations and the wider public) interact with each other. For example, these interactions may lead to knowledge transfer, may result in the construction of new regulatory regimes or may lead to political conflicts.
This module aims to 'open up' the black box of how science, technology and innovation (STI) to understand their emergence and show that STI can be created, directed and managed for diverse purposes, encouraging critical views on past and current STI uses.
Knowledge, work and organisations
15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 4
This module looks at the pivotal role that knowledge workers play in the creation, application and diffusion of knowledge within and between firms.
You will consider new approaches to managing learning processes in the firm, including developments such as knowledge management and communities of practice, and the novel organisational structures that have emerged to coordinate knowledge-work activity.
You will explore the diffusion of knowledge between firms through different types of knowledge-worker communities and networks, as well as the role of labour mobility. You will also consider how certain skills are emerging to play a critical role in the knowledge economy - for example, consulting services and knowledge brokering. Finally, you will consider how labour market institutions that impact careers, skills and training of knowledge workers, shape different approaches to knowledge generation.
Law of Business Organisations
15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 4
This module aims to develop knowledge and skills in relation to the law of business organisations including the formation and constitution of business organisations, the financing of companies and the management, administration and regulation of companies.
New Venture Creation and Business Planning
15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 4
This module delivers a systematic understanding of the integrated component parts that constitute a start-up enterprise. It begins with an overview of the entrepreneurial attributes that underpin the development and implementation of an enterprise. Theoretical perspectives of entrepreneurship and models for assessing added value will form the basis of analysis of the process of start-ups. The module assists students in understanding strategic issues using appropriate frameworks to critically evaluate how entrepreneurs undertake the development of functional processes and to make informed strategic decisions. The theoretical underpinnings will also facilitate analysis of start-ups in a global market environment. Leading on from this, students will develop a critical understanding of the key processes involved in start-ups including web design, marketing, customer relationships, security and legal and ethical issues. The academic rigour of the module is enhanced by the linking application with the use of theory as presented in business models, and business plans.
Outline content
The business planning process
Idea generation / development / evaluation
Market identification including exposure to market players
Researching the resources required including equipment, people, funding, seed corn, angle funds,
Segmentation / positioning & differentiation / targeting
Developing the marketing mix (7 P's),
Use of technology to enable the business
Financial planning leading to development of financial statements and realistic related assumptions
Government, Regional and professional organisations/body support systems
Research Project
30 credits
Autumn & spring teaching, Year 4
This module provides the opportunity for you to undertake a significant and independent research project. This may be a dissertation in the form of a literature-based analysis of a research problem, or a dissertation in which some primary empirical data is collected and synthesised by you. In BOTH cases, the dissertation is expected to address clear research questions. The research project provides you with the opportunity to integrate and apply knowledge from the degree programme, and to develop research skills. During the first four weeks of the course you will receive research methods training, supplementing the research skills acquired in their first year. Thereafter, you will meet twice a term with an assigned project supervisor.
Strategic Human Resource Management
15 credits
Spring teaching, Year 4
At Sussex, subjects across the arts, sciences and social sciences offer electives in other subjects that are not necessarily related to your main subject.
As a student on most single-honours courses, you can broaden and enrich your studies by choosing to spend up to 25 per cent of your time in Years 1 and 2 of your course on electives, exploring other subject areas.
Electives do not have specific entry requirements and are open to students on most single-honours courses, unless professional-body requirements do not provide sufficient space in the curriculum.
Please note that these are the electives running in 2015.
Year 1
Term 1
- A Sociology of 21st Century Britain
- American Identities
- Applying Psychology to Everyday Problems
- Arabic Ab initio A
- Art and Artists
- British Political History
- British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 1
- Chinese Ab initio A
- Education for Development: Aid, Policy and the Global Agenda
- Education, Education, Education; Theory, Practice and Politics
- English for Business and Professional Purposes Intermediate
- English Language Accuracy and Academic Practice
- English Language Teaching 1A
- Ethnographic Film
- Film Analysis (E)
- French Ab initio A
- French For Professional Purposes 1A
- French Intermediate A Year 1
- Gender Equality
- German Ab initio A
- Global Cultures, Local Lives
- Global Issues
- International Business Environment
- Introduction to Economics (Elective)
- Introduction to Human Rights
- Introduction to Music Studies (E)
- Italian Ab initio A
- Japanese Ab initio A
- Leadership Foundations
- Mathematics Demystified
- Our Place in the Universe(s)
- Papyrus to Pixel: Language and technology
- Paradox and Argument
- Principles of Finance (Elective)
- Questioning the Media E
- Reading as a Creative and Critical Writer
- Religion and Culture in the Middle East and North Africa 1700-2000
- Spanish Ab initio A
- Spanish for Professional Purposes 1A
- Spanish Intermediate A Year 1
- The Making of Modern Europe
- The Natural World (Elective)
- The Politics of Language
- Thinking Like a Criminologist
- Truth and Morality: The Meaning of Life
- Understanding Law
- Westerns and the History of Ideas
- What is Cultural Studies? (E)
Term 2
- Arabic Ab initio B
- British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 2
- Chinese Ab initio B
- Comedy
- Cross Cultural Perspectives on Teaching, Learning and Assessment
- Culture in Global Contexts: Debating the Postcolonial
- Debates in Media Studies E
- Early Modern Philosophy
- English for Business and Professional Purposes Post-Intermediate
- English Language Accuracy and Academic Practice
- English Language Teaching 1B
- Environmental Risks and Hazards (Elective)
- Everyday Life: Ordinary and Extraordinary (E)
- Foundations of International Relations (pathway elective)
- French Ab initio B
- French For Professional Purposes 1B
- French Intermediate B Year 1
- From Quarks to the Cosmos
- Gender Across Cultures
- Gender and the Life Course
- German Ab initio B
- Global Politics of the Environment
- Historical Controversy
- Inter-cultural Encounters
- International Business Strategy (Elective)
- Introduction to English Language Teaching and Learning
- Introduction to the European Union
- Issues in Global Cinema E
- Italian Ab initio B
- Japanese Ab initio B
- Justice, Equality and Society
- Justice, Equality and Society
- Language, Mind and Brain
- Leading Groups and Teams
- Microeconomics 1 (Elective)
- Music and Site Specific Art (E)
- Music and Society (E)
- Objects of Art
- Philosophy, Politics and the Middle East
- Psychology Now: Contemporary Approaches to Understanding Behaviour
- Society, State and Humanity
- Spanish Ab initio B
- Spanish for Professional Purposes 1B
- Spanish Intermediate B Year 1
- The Anthropology of Exchange, Money and Markets (Elective)
- The Look of America
- The World Economy Since 1945
- Theory of Investments (Elective)
- Understanding the Criminal Justice System
Year 2
Term 1
- A Sociology of 21st Century Britain
- American Identities
- Applying Psychology to Everyday Problems
- Arabic Advanced A
- Arabic Intermediate A
- Art and Artists
- Before Modern Art (circa 27BC - circa AD1700)
- British Political History
- British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 3
- Chinese Advanced A
- Chinese Intermediate A
- Cities and Urban Lives
- Contemporary Debates in Social Policy: Theory and Practice
- Crime and Criminal Justice
- Criminology in Theory and Perspective
- Economic Crisis and World Politcs
- English for Business and Professional Purposes Intermediate
- English Language Accuracy and Academic Practice
- English Language Teaching 2A
- Ethnographic Film
- Film Analysis (E)
- French Advanced A
- French Advanced A (B)
- French for Professional Purposes 2A
- French for Professional Purposes 2A (B)
- French Intermediate A
- German Advanced A
- German Intermediate A
- Ideas of History
- Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in Education
- International Marketing (Elective)
- Introduction to Sustainability
- Italian Intermediate A
- Japanese Advanced A
- Japanese Intermediate A
- Mathematics Demystified
- Migrant and Refugee Well-Being: Theory and Practice
- Our Place in the Universe(s)
- Papyrus to Pixel: Language and technology
- Paradox and Argument
- Philosophy of Religion
- Political and Social Change in Contemporary Europe
- Psychology of Forensic Analysis and Investigation
- Reading as a Creative and Critical Writer
- Religion and Culture in the Middle East and North Africa 1700-2000
- Short Period: The Middle East and North Africa since 1908
- Spanish Advanced A
- Spanish Advanced A (B)
- Spanish for Professional Purposes 2A
- Spanish for Professional Purposes 2A (B)
- Spanish Intermediate A
- The African American Experience
- The Making of Modern Europe
- The Politics of Language
- Theories of Language Learning
- Theory, Taste and Trash (E)
- Truth and Morality: The Meaning of Life
- Westerns and the History of Ideas
- What is Cultural Studies? (E)
Term 2
- Advertising (E)
- American Cities: New York City
- Arabic Advanced B
- Arabic Intermediate B
- Art of the Modern Era (c1700 - the present)
- British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 4
- Chinese Advanced B
- Chinese Intermediate B
- Comedy
- Contemporary Issues in Law
- Culture in Global Contexts: Debating the Postcolonial
- Early Modern Philosophy
- English for Business and Professional Purposes Post-Intermediate
- English Language Accuracy and Academic Practice
- English Language Teaching 2B
- Ethnography of the Middle East and Central Asia
- Europe in the International Economic Order
- Everyday Life: Ordinary and Extraordinary (E)
- French Advanced B
- French Advanced B (B)
- French for Professional Purposes 2B
- French for Professional Purposes 2B (B)
- French Intermediate B
- From Quarks to the Cosmos
- Gender Across Cultures
- Gender and the Life Course
- Gender, Space and Culture (E)
- Gender: Rethinking Politics
- German Advanced B
- German Intermediate B
- Global History 1500-2000: Trade, Science, Environment and Empire
- Global Politics of the Environment
- Historical Controversy
- Inter-cultural Encounters
- International Human Resource Management (Elective)
- Introduction to Energy Transitions
- Introduction to English Language Teaching and Learning
- Introduction to the European Union
- Issues in Global Cinema E
- Italian Intermediate B
- Japanese Advanced B
- Japanese Intermediate B
- Knowledge and Society; Education, Identity and The (late) Modern State
- Language, Mind and Brain
- Music and Site Specific Art (E)
- Narrating Lives: Theory and Practice
- Objects of Art
- Perspectives on Global English
- Philosophy of Science
- Philosophy, Politics and the Middle East
- Postcolonial Africa
- Psychology Now: Contemporary Approaches to Understanding Behaviour
- Punishment and Penology
- Society, State and Humanity
- Spanish Advanced B
- Spanish Advanced B (B)
- Spanish for Professional Purposes 2B
- Spanish for Professional Purposes 2B (B)
- Spanish Intermediate B
- The Anthropology of Sexuality
- The Far Right and the Politics of Immigration
- The Look of America
- The Transformation of Contemporary Europe
- Understanding Education: UK, European and Global Perspectives
- Understanding Global Migration
A Sociology of 21st Century Britain
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
A Sociology of 21st Century Britain will use Britain today as an empirical base for exploring wider sociological perspectives and the insights that social science can bring into key problems and debates about contemporary life.
During the module you will explore the relationship between empirical research and theory using examples from recent sociological work, drawing from studies no older than 5 years, to look at a range of issues in 21st century Britain, including work and employment, family, sport, intimacy, life online, nationalism, death and wealth.
The module is designed to demonstrate the capacity of sociology to explore the social world in interesting, challenging and critical ways, but will be relevant to anyone who wishes to learn more about contemporary Britain, from the perspective of insider or outsider.
American Identities
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
'What is an American?' Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur asked in the 18th century, when the American colonies were on the verge of revolution. That question has never really gone away. Whether as a self-proclaimed Republic, a slave-holding society, a 'nation of immigrants' or an imperial world power, America has had to invent and re-invent its national identity time and time again, from colonial times to the present.
On this module we study how Americans in different periods and different regions have thought, written, debated and talked about themselves in relation to their country in autobiography, poetry, fiction, and film. We ask how race, gender, and sexuality impact on notions of American citizenship, and we find out how to become an American, now and in the past. We will come across contradictory conceptions of American identity that may surprise us, as well as stereotypes and familiar tropes of optimism, individualism, and the right to bear arms.
Applying Psychology to Everyday Problems
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module introduces you to a variety of ways in which psychological knowledge is applied to everyday problems. It covers topics such as understanding mental health problems and how they can be treated, how psychology can be used to influence health and well-being, the role of psychology in the workplace, the relevance of psychology to educational practice – including understanding why ‘bullying’ occurs and how we can prevent it, and how psychological knowledge about face recognition can be used to aid criminal investigations.
You will learn about some of the research and theories that support these applications of psychology to everyday problems and will be introduced to the areas of professional applied psychology that underpin them.
Arabic Ab initio A
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This stage 1 module is an introduction to the foreign language for students with little or no prior knowledge of the target language (TL). The module aims to:
- enable students to understand basic information and to communicate effectively in the TL, in everyday situations at an elementary level
- provide opportunities across a variety of general topics for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an elementary level
- introduce fundamental elements of the TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, and provide a solid foundation for progression in the TL
- introduce the background culture of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level A1 (Basic User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages.
Art and Artists
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This is a twelve-week level-one module taught in the autumn term. It deals with one of the issues central to art history: how did ‘great artists’ gain their reputation both during their lifetime and subsequently? Some artists’ reputations have waxed and waned, while others have been admired for very different reasons at different times.
This lecture series looks at a variety of cases presenting different ‘histories’ of the artist, from the ancient world to the Renaissance. We will focus on a particular set of issues surrounding the conceptualization of the artist and artistic creativity in the classical, Byzantine and/or mediaeval periods: the issue of anonymity, the artist versus the craftsman, and related issues of historiography.
The module may cover painters, printmakers and sculptors as well as artists whose achievements were in the applied arts. It complements, but is not a pre-requisite for, Art and Artists II.
British Political History
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module will give you an overview of the key questions, concepts and controversies in modern British political history, with a particular emphasis on the period since 1945.
You will gain an understanding of both academic and political debates on topics such as the postwar 'consensus', Thatcherism and New Labour, and will also be introduced to some of the ways in which politicians throughout this period have presented their own interpretations of British political history.
British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 1
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
Chinese Ab initio A
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This stage 1 module is an introduction to the foreign language for students with little or no prior knowledge of the target language (TL).
The module aims to:
- enable students to understand basic information and to communicate effectively in the TL, in everyday situations at an elementary level
- provide opportunities across a variety of general topics for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an elementary level
- introduce fundamental elements of the TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, and provide a solid foundation for progression in the TL
- introduce the background culture of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level A1 (Basic User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages.
Education for Development: Aid, Policy and the Global Agenda
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
Education, Education, Education; Theory, Practice and Politics
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
English for Business and Professional Purposes Intermediate
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module offers training in all the communication skills required to undertake academic business and professional studies and to participate or interact in business and other working environments. It will focus on the extended reading and writing skills required in essays, reports, assignments, and general business and professional communication. It will also offer training in the listening and speaking skills required to understand and contribute to seminars, tutorials and lectures on business and professional subjects and to prepare you for oral communication in business and professional practice.
Pre-requisite – You will not have English as your first language
English Language Accuracy and Academic Practice
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
The module aims are twofold: to enable you to further improve your language, and to provide further practice and development in your academic skills.
In the language, you will extend your range of vocabulary and grammar structures and develop your formal accuracy. In the academic skills, you will work on tasks to develop your written and oral communication skills within the context of your own disciplines, and integrate reading and listening skills to these tasks.
Pre-requisite – You will not have English as your first language
English Language Teaching 1A
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module will provide students with an introduction to the social, political, linguistic and pedagogic issues involved in the teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages and the principles and practice of a range of methods and approaches.
Ethnographic Film
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
Film Analysis (E)
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module draws upon both 20th-century and contemporary film texts to explore the diverse uses filmmakers have made of such key techniques of cinematic expression as narrative, cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, sound, and special effects. We consider not simply how such techniques are accomplished (ie the creative choices available to filmmakers) but also the potential they have for generating meaning and pleasure when combined together to produce filmic texts. The module also examines links between technological change and film aesthetics.
French Ab initio A
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This stage module is designed for:
- beginners, assuming no previous knowledge
- false beginners with prior experience of the language at an elementary level, including those who have up to grade C at GCSE
The module aims to:
- enable students to understand basic information and to communicate effectively in the TL, in everyday situations at an elementary level
- provide opportunities across a variety of general topics for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an elementary level
- introduce fundamental elements of the TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, and provide a solid foundation for progression in the TL
- introduce the background culture of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level A1 (Basic User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages.
French For Professional Purposes 1A
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module is designed for advanced learners who have a good A level pass, or equivalent.
The module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts;
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, including common professional themes, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level;
- introduce and develop the range of complex elements of TL language structures, syntax, and vocabulary to allow continued progression in the TL;
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, professional, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Your classes will consist of a variety of activities to develop your practical skill in all four communicative competencies (SLRW), and to encourage autonomous use of the TL. These will include presentations and discussion, text handling and writing activities such as summarising and reporting etc., based on themes, grammatical structures and language skills. Working individually and in groups, you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding of TL countries, society, and community through both authentic and specially prepared textual and audio-visual materials.
Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study, and will make use of Study Direct and other technologies.
This module is at level B1-B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
French Intermediate A Year 1
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This stage 3 module is for students with some basic knowledge and experience of the target language (TL). Building on existing levels of proficiency at level A2 (Basic User) of the Common European Framework of Reference [CEFR] the module aims to:
- enable you to understand key information and to communicate effectively in the TL, sometimes spontaneously, in less routine situations, at a standard level
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a standard level
- consolidate and develop the range of key elements of TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, to allow progression in the TL
- present the background culture and society of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, e.g. text; audio; audio-visual; digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level A2-B1 (Basic-Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Gender Equality
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module provides an introduction to the relationship between law and gender. It will explore different areas where law interacts with, and regulates, gender relations while also providing a basic introduction to feminist legal theory. Substantive areas of study will include issues such as reproductive rights (abortion, surrogacy, new reproductive technologies), sexual violence, body image and pornography, prostitution, parity democracy, and maternity rights.
German Ab initio A
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This stage 1 module is an introduction to the foreign language for students with little or no prior knowledge of the target language (TL). The module aims to:
- enable students to understand basic information and to communicate effectively in the TL, in everyday situations at an elementary level
- provide opportunities across a variety of general topics for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an elementary level
- introduce fundamental elements of the TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, and provide a solid foundation for progression in the TL
- introduce the background culture of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level A1 (Basic User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages.
Global Cultures, Local Lives
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module explores anthropology as an exciting, 'living' subject, alive to the concerns of different communities and populations living across the globe, and as cutting edge in terms of the research conducted by anthropologists at Sussex as they actively engage with issues of social, cultural and global transformation. This is accomplished through a module structure which revolves around 5 core themes considered central to the subject that capture anthropological thinking on the subjects of culture, identity and representation: kinship; self and body; economy as culture; religion and politics; and work on the global-local interface.
Global Issues
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
The module aims to introduce you to the study of global politics and global political economy. To do so, we will examine problems, issues and dynamics that have come to shape contemporary political life at the international, transnational and global levels. This introduction will set the scene for later modules that offer an in-depth analysis of these issues, as well as a thorough examination of the theoretical and conceptual tools used by scholars.
International Business Environment
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
Introduction to Economics (Elective)
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module provides an introduction to the fundamental principles of economics. The first half of the module deals with micro-economic issues including the behaviour of individuals and firms, their interaction in markets and the role of government. The second half of the module is devoted to macroeconomics and examines the determinants of aggregate economic variables, such as national income, inflation, and the balance of payments, and the relationships between them.
Introduction to Human Rights
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module will introduce you to the diversity of human rights issues and the different approaches that disciplines take in this field. Each week, a member of faculty drawn from one of a number of departments (including law, anthropology, politics and history) will consider a different human rights theme in which they have specific expertise. Subjects may include human rights and immigration, reproductive rights, rights to sexual orientation, genocide, women's rights, children's rights, minority rights and the United Nations human rights institutions.
Introduction to Music Studies (E)
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module relates repertoires and areas of study in music to compositions and performances across many styles and periods, connecting contemporary insights with historical studies. You will discover and develop a command of issues in contemporary musicology, and also learn to evaluate and compare sources and texts. Many questions relevant to musicians working today are opened up and debated during our seminars.
You will be taught how to interpret and connect examples of music ranging from the 12th century to today. You will demonstrate your command of the ideas and techniques inscribed in these examples through practical exercises and an essay.
Italian Ab initio A
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This stage 1 module is an introduction to the foreign language for students with little or no prior knowledge of the target language (TL). The module aims to:
- enable students to understand basic information and to communicate effectively in the TL, in everyday situations at an elementary level
- provide opportunities across a variety of general topics for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an elementary level
- introduce fundamental elements of the TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, and provide a solid foundation for progression in the TL
- introduce the background culture of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level A1 (Basic User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages.
Japanese Ab initio A
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This stage 1 module is an introduction to the foreign language for students with little or no prior knowledge of the target language (TL). The module aims to:
- enable students to understand basic information and to communicate effectively in the TL, in everyday situations at an elementary level
- provide opportunities across a variety of general topics for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an elementary level
- introduce fundamental elements of the TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, and provide a solid foundation for progression in the TL
- introduce the background culture of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level A1 (Basic User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages.
Leadership Foundations
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
Mathematics Demystified
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
What makes the world work? Logic, algorithms, connected graphs (the London Underground), elementary number theory, encryption, error correction.
This module is suitable for anyone with GCSE-level maths and an interest in graphs and numbers.
Our Place in the Universe(s)
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
Astronomy, the study of space and its contents beyond the earth, is both the oldest science, and one in which new discoveries are being made on a daily basis. It is used to explain such familiar phenomena as the tides, eclipses and meteor showers, as well as much more exotic objects such as black holes and exoplanets. The observable universe also provides a laboratory for testing physical theories at extreme energies that are unachievable on earth.
This elective will provide non-science students with a broad, non-mathematical understanding of astronomy from our solar system, via stars and galaxies, to the universe as a whole, all to appreciate our place in the universe(s).
Papyrus to Pixel: Language and technology
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module will start by looking at the very beginnings of written language on stone and slate, examining how the move from ephemeral to permanent language allowed the human race to begin the development of culture and art. It will follow the progress of written language of scribes using ink on paper and the dependence on a small minority of literate people to spread information as well as entertainment.
The advent of the printing press will be addressed, examining the huge impact of spreading literacy and allowing new sections of the population to not only read what others wrote, but ultimately to write and publish themselves.The impact on literature, society (politics) and the language itself will be examined.
Finally, the module will come right up to date, looking at the new technologies. The impact of text, email etc. on everyday language is examined as well as how the world of literature has been affected. And with a final twist we will look at whether the rapid rise of MP3 audio books is taking us full circle back to the days of the story teller.
Paradox and Argument
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
Principles of Finance (Elective)
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module provides an introduction to financial markets, instruments and concepts, and is designed for students with no previous knowledge of finance.
It begins with an overview of different financial institutions, and the products that they commonly provide and trade. Major historical events in the financial markets are also discussed, illustrating their importance in the wider economy. Reference will also be made, where appropriate, to skills and products contributing to personal financial literacy.
Topics include:
- concepts relating to equity
- loan and bond markets
- beginning with interest rates
- returns
- time value of money
- discounting
- present value.
Questioning the Media E
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module introduces the study of media forms, texts and systems and their contribution to social life. You will begin to explore the breadth of media studies through attention to the ways in which media matter. In what ways, and how significant are the media in the formation of individual identities and in the practices of everyday life? In the more public world, to what extent are media key to providing knowledge and enabling the debate necessary to the practices of democracy? The module enables you to build on your own experiences of media as a consumer and user. But it also encourages critical attention to how the field of media studies has historically been forged: through argument and contestation between different academic approaches and disciplines.
Reading as a Creative and Critical Writer
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module invites you to explore how critical and imaginative thinking work productively together. In regular workshops, you develop your own writing, both of essays and creative texts.
The module is divided into three units. In the first, `Close Reading and Creativity', you are introduced to writing that describes and performs the experience of reading, looking at work by authors such as Ali Smith, Marcel Proust, John Ruskin, and William Wordsworth. This unit encourages you to examine what is meant by `close reading', and to explore links between reading and creativity.
In the second unit, `Intertextuality and Creative Writing', we consider literary influence, examining works that are shaped by earlier texts. You will study texts by authors such as Angela Carter, Hélène Cixous, J. M. Coetzee, Nalo Hopkinson, Alice Walker and/or Virginia Woolf. From both a practical and theoretical point of view, we consider what these writers can teach us about the use of reading to create new works.
In the third unit, `The Critic as Writer', you will study writers for whom acts of critical reading and writing overlap and co-habit with creative work. We consider writers such as Sigmund Freud, Denise Riley, Salman Rushdie, Edmund Spenser and/or W. B. Yeats. The creative potential of critical forms (such as the essay and biography) will be explored.
The three units help you develop key skills as a reader and writer of literary texts, building up to the creative-critical portfolio which you will produce by the end of the module. Each week you will have a lecture, followed by a seminar-workshop in which you discuss your critical thinking and creative practice in small groups.
Religion and Culture in the Middle East and North Africa 1700-2000
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
Spanish Ab initio A
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This stage course is designed for:
- beginners, assuming no previous knowledge
- false beginners with prior experience of the language at an elementary level, including those who have up to grade C at GCSE
The course aims to:
- enable students to understand basic information and to communicate effectively in the TL, in everyday situations at an elementary level
- provide opportunities across a variety of general topics for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an elementary level
- introduce fundamental elements of the TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, and provide a solid foundation for progression in the TL
- introduce the background culture of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the course is equivalent to level A1 (Basic User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages.
Spanish for Professional Purposes 1A
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module is designed for advanced learners who have a good A level pass, or equivalent.
The module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts;
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, including common professional themes, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level;
- introduce and develop the range of complex elements of TL language structures, syntax, and vocabulary to allow continued progression in the TL;
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, professional, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Your classes will consist of a variety of activities to develop your practical skill in all four communicative competencies (SLRW), and to encourage autonomous use of the TL. These will include presentations and discussion, text handling and writing activities such as summarising and reporting etc., based on themes, grammatical structures and language skills. Working individually and in groups, you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding of TL countries, society, and community through both authentic and specially prepared textual and audio-visual materials.
Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study, and will make use of Study Direct and other technologies.
This module is at level B1-B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Spanish Intermediate A Year 1
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module is designed for:
- lower-intermediate learners who have a recent grade A/B at GCSE, or a D/E pass at AS-Level, or equivalent
- intermediate learners who have a good AS grade, or perhaps a low D/E pass at A-Level, or equivalent
The module aims to:
- enable you to understand key information and to communicate effectively in Spanish, sometimes spontaneously, in less routine situations at a standard level
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in Spanish using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a standard level
- consolidate and develop the range of key elements of the structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation of Spanish, to allow progression
- present the background culture and society of the Spanish-speaking world through a variety of contextualised activities and materials in a range of media, eg text, audio, audiovisual, and digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level A2-B1 (Basic-Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
The Making of Modern Europe
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module provides you with an understanding of the historical development of the idea of Europe as it has evolved from the middle ages until the present day. In particular we shall trace the relationship between, on the one hand, ideas and ideals of European cooperation, integration and unity and, on the other, the realities of European economic, political and social development and conflict.
The module explains the different dimensions of the idea of Europe and places them in their contemporary context, highlighting aspects of continuity and change. It further examines the inherent tension between unity and diversity in European history and explores how this tension has been manifest in the political struggles and the philosophical arguments which have characterised Europe over time.
The first half of the module considers the development of Europe as idea and reality over the long run while the second half examines how these aspects have interacted in the 20th and 21st centuries.
The Natural World (Elective)
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This interdisciplinary module provides you with a foundation for studying physical geography and ecology. After introducing systems theory and major evolutionary and ecological questions, it considers geology (Earth's structure and composition, continental drift, plate tectonics, geological time), setting a framework for studying macro-evolution (patterns and processes, history of life, major extinctions and radiations, historical biogeography). This is followed by an introduction to earth system science, focusing on the hydrosphere and biosphere, and leads into macro-ecology, where we discuss local to global patterns of biodiversity, factors controlling species distribution and abundance, and biogeography.
The Politics of Language
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
Thinking Like a Criminologist
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This modules aims to introduce students to the key skills involved in thinking like a criminologist. It places a joint emphasis on gaining both a theoretical and practical understanding of criminology as a discipline.
You will develop skills in interpreting crime statistics, critically assessing definitions of crime and engaging with media debates about crime and justice. These will be informed by introductory criminological theory to provide a foundation, including positivism and classicism, Durkheim and the Chicago School.
Key topics will include:
- What is crime?
- Who is a criminal?
- How can we use crime statistics?
- The history of crime
- Media representations of crime
- The use of official reports and policy documents.
Truth and Morality: The Meaning of Life
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module is concerned with central issues of morality, examining both the kinds of considerations which might be appealed to in moral arguments, and the status of moral arguments themselves.
What should we bear in mind when deciding whether to eat meat, or whether to help someone, or whether to fight a war? In what sense are the decisions we make right? How can a moral argument be a good argument? Are some people wiser than others? Is there any truth in moral relativism? These and related issues will be tackled from a range of theoretical positions.
Understanding Law
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module introduces students to English law by exploring the way in which law is made, interpreted and applied within the broader context of human rights and EU law. It also provides you with an opportunity to critically examine the structures and personnel of the English legal system.
Westerns and the History of Ideas
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module provides an introduction to one of the most enduring genres in American cultural history: the Western.
In both film and literature, the genre has transformed the experience of the 19th-century American ‘Old West’ into a crucible for remarkable and often abstract treatments of some of the most controversial ideas in modern cultural, social and political life. Above all, it has been the most important modern vehicle for one of the oldest and most troubling of American cultural myths: the myth of the frontier.
The module introduces you to the ideas behind the Western by surveying the development of the genre and setting it in historical and cultural context. In addition to viewing 6 or more feature films, we will study some of the pre-cinematic sources of Western themes and images (novels, paintings), and trace the history of the Western in the American literary tradition.
As the title of this module suggests, however, this module is equally concerned with placing the genre of the Western back into its historical and intellectual contexts. The module will allow you to grasp the political, historical, and cultural forces that shaped the development of the Western film genre. We will focus on the role of allegory and metaphor, and explore the importance of themes of law, justice, gender, race, immigration, imperialism, and environmental degradation. It will conclude by exploring the continuing legacy and appeal of the Western in unexpected literary forms, in global cinema, and as a still contested symbol for American’s global dominance.
What is Cultural Studies? (E)
15 credits
Year 1, Term 1
This module introduces the relevance and excitement of using cultural studies approaches to explore pertinent aspects of life in the globalised world of the 21st century. The first few weeks are devoted to describing, debating and historicising key areas of cultural life: home, work, leaisure, city. In the second half of the term you are introduced to cultural concepts that are fundamentally contested within society. Concepts such as taste, individualism, and humanity will be discussed and debated, and you will use your crosscultural and historical skills (developed in the first half of the module) to explore issues pertinent to these concepts. You will be guided to undertake focused interdisciplinary study through carefully directed research tasks and reading on these topics. Teaching and learning will involve a mix of lectures, seminars, workshops, screenings, individual and group work.
Arabic Ab initio B
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This stage 2 module is a post-beginner module for students with basic prior knowledge of the target language (TL). Building on existing levels of proficiency at level A1 (Basic User) of the Common European Framework of Reference [CEFR] the course aims to:
- enable you to understand basic information and to communicate effectively in the TL in everyday situations, at a simple level
- provide opportunities across a variety of general topics for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a basic level
- introduce fundamental elements of the TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, and continue to provide a solid foundation for progression in the TL
- present the background culture of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, e.g. text; audio; audio-visual; digital.
Successful completion of the module is at least equivalent to level A2 (Basic User) of the CEFR for languages.
British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 2
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
Chinese Ab initio B
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module builds on the basic grammatical structures taught in Foundation Chinese 1A to improve grammatical accuracy, oral and written fluency, lexis, and listening and reading comprehension in a variety of everyday situations. You will gain an insight into the culture and society of China appropriate to the framework of your language studies and, wherever possible, through authentic materials.
Comedy
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module considers the nature and reception of comic texts, focusing particularly on the effects such texts produce on their readers. The module is not limited to comedy as a dramatic genre, but will consider a range of comic forms, which may include physical theatre practices, novels, television sitcoms and films.
While a historical profile of comedy and its reception will emerge, the module will not adhere to a chronological structure. Instead, the module is organised thematically around critical issues which affect the interpretation and reception of comic works. Central to this will be a consideration of key theories of humour, such as those developed by Kant, Freud and Bergson, among others, who have shaped our understanding of how comic texts function. You will also be introduced to a range of critical and theoretical frameworks through which to explore the social value of comic texts, which often exceeds that of simple pleasure or entertainment.
Cross Cultural Perspectives on Teaching, Learning and Assessment
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module is a 15 credit undergraduate module to be offered to Year 1 students in term 2, either as part of an Education 60 credit Pathway or an International Education & Development 60 credit Pathway.
The module aims to introduce theoretical and conceptual approaches to the curriculum, pedagogy and assessment while encouraging you to critically reflect on your own learning and to know and usefully compare how different countries draw up their curricula, how they teach it and how they assess student learning.
The module begins by focusing in on how you learn, making direct links to the previous module and situating that learning in your own context. Theories of learning will frame the module. From here, the module explores pedagogical models originating from theories of learning within the UK, Europe and internationally. The following two sessions focus on assessment, discussing your own experiences of being assessed at school and in higher education and drawing in, and critiquing, international comparisons of student learning from surveys such as Progress in Student Assessment (PISA) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS).
The module will then look more closely at how the curriculum is constructed, bringing in political economy, politics, culture and history and will look internationally at different curriculum models in upper, middle and low-income countries. A third session on the curriculum will provide a critical look at alternative curricula for learning such as those in Montessori and Steiner schools, at Free Schools in the UK, and at Complementary Education Programmes for marginalised children in low-income countries. The module will examine who is included in the curriculum and who is excluded, in the UK and in low-income countries.
The module concludes by looking at global policy drivers for the curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.
The module will cover:
- How do you learn? (Re)Visiting theories of learning
- Pedagogical practices in the UK: now and then
- Critical pedagogies for social transformation
- Pedagogical practices internationally: From Finland to India
- Measuring what you have learnt: formative and summative assessment
- International comparisons of student learning and their implications for the UK and beyond
- Who decides what you learn, when, how & why? Foundations of curriculum construction
- Evaluating curriculum models in developed and developing countries
- Breaking the rules: alternative curricula in the UK and globally
- Meeting the needs of individuals in the curriculum in the UK
- International comparison of inclusion and exclusion in developing countries
- Global policy drivers for curriculum, pedagogy and assessment
Culture in Global Contexts: Debating the Postcolonial
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This elective will introduce you to some of the key debates in postcolonial studies by studying a selection of short texts across a range of genres including visual images (painting, film and photography), poetry, short stories, essays, music, journalism and interviews. Drawing on a range of theoretical essays (Fanon, Said, Spivak, Lazarus, Mohanty, Gilroy, among others), it will explore the varied ways in which contemporary culture continues to be shaped by colonial history in volatile and complex ways.
Topics include: 'race', the autobiographical, tourism, eco-criticism, language, sport, resistance and cultures of consumption.
Debates in Media Studies E
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
In this module the stress is on different theoretical approaches to the study of media and the debates circulating around those approaches. Media can be analysed as ritual, (global) industry, meaning-maker, technology, dreamworld, everyday life, work place, or sensual pleasure machine. Focus can switch from media production and organisation, to analysis of media output, to exploration of consumption and use, to the bigger issue of media in society.
Early Modern Philosophy
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module introduces some assumptions, arguments and ideas from the following major philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries that ground the empiricist and rationalist traditions: Descartes, Locke, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, Spinoza.
The module will examine these assumptions, arguments and ideas in the context of contemporary discussions of the issues, in order to promote understanding both of the concerns which lie at the heart of much contemporary philosophy and of the history of those concerns.
English for Business and Professional Purposes Post-Intermediate
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
The English for Business and Professional Purposes module offers training in all the communication skills required to undertake academic business and professional studies and to participate or interact in business and other working environments. It will focus on the extended reading and writing skills required in essays, reports, assignments, and general business and professional communication. It will also offer training in the listening and speaking skills required to understand and contribute to seminars, tutorials and lectures on business and professional subjects and to prepare you for oral communication in business and professional practice, at a post-intermediate level of English language competence.
English Language Accuracy and Academic Practice
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
The module aims are twofold: to enable you to further improve your language, and to provide further practice and development in your academic skills. In the language, you will extend your range of vocabulary and grammar structures and develop your formal accuracy. In the academic skills, you will work on tasks to develop your written and oral communication skills within the context of your own disciplines, and integrate reading and listening skills to these tasks.
Pre-requisite - You will not have English as your first language
English Language Teaching 1B
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module will focus primarily on supervised lesson planning and teaching practice. A small number of plenary sessions will further address the evaluation and selection of teaching materials and the principles of lesson planning as well as generally exploring issues arising out of the teaching practice classes. You will be invited to reflect on and evaluate their own classroom practice and that of their peers.
Environmental Risks and Hazards (Elective)
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module introduces the risks and hazards associated with the Earth's natural environments. It considers the timescales, magnitudes and frequencies of the associated processes, and the assessment and management of resultant risks and hazards. These are illustrated from a number of case studies, which may include hazards arising from tectonic, mass movement, climate, ice and snow, atmospheric and sea-level processes. A particular focus of the module will be on hazards and risks in cold regions, where environmental change is particularly rapid and where there are growing pressures from resource exploration and extraction.
Everyday Life: Ordinary and Extraordinary (E)
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
Everyday life is something we take for granted. The phrase tends to refer to the ordinary and unremarkable, to the bedrock activities constitutive of how we live but which are often regarded as tedious or a chore. This module opens up this notion offering an understanding of the everyday as simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary, localised and tied into the bigger dynamics of capitalism and globalisation.
Introducing you to the interdisciplinary perspectives of cultural studies, you will explore everyday life through a series of case studies. These may include dressing or exercising the body, food, car culture, 'going green', love, 'living through media', and shopping. Each case study variously explores the historical development of everyday life, its textures and experiences, hardships and highs. If the emphasis is so-called modern everyday life in the rich global north, you will be encouraged to understand the ways our everyday life is tied to and impacts on the everyday lives of those in the much poorer global south.
Emphasis is placed on the ways everyday life practices may be conservative (reproducing gender relations for example) or utopian – in their creativity suggesting other ways of living beyond the constraints of neoliberal capitalism. What happens in the everyday – its struggles and its changes – is integral to a bigger global politics.
This module gives you opportunity to reflect on your own lives and those of others. It encourages you to develop an anthropological eye and feel for the details of everyday life, to collect media and other material that speaks about everyday life, and above all to be self-reflective and critical about the specificity of your own ways of doing things. Assessment is through an illustrated learning diary, which allows you to demonstrate your creative as well as academic skills.
Foundations of International Relations (pathway elective)
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module introduces you to the conceptual history of international relations and outlines the specific characteristics of International Relations (IR) as a distinct scholarly discipline. We will consider what constitutes its core conceptual and methodological coordinates at the present time by looking at historical development of IR through a series of conceptual and methodological debates which will allow you to theoretically frame the global issues discussed in the first semester. Classically these debates are conceived of as tracing a path from idealism via realism to a pluralist methodological position. Understanding these debates, the circumstances that have given rise to them, and the methods they have generated will give you a good basic orientation in the disciplinary terrain of IR.
French Ab initio B
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module builds on the basic grammatical structures taught in Foundation French 1A to improve grammatical accuracy, oral and written fluency, lexis, and listening and reading comprehension in a variety of everyday situations. You will gain an insight into the culture and society of France within the framework of your language studies and, wherever possible, through authentic materials.
French For Professional Purposes 1B
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module is designed for advanced learners who have completed French for Professional Purposes 1A.
Building on existing levels of proficiency, the module aims to:
- enable you to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in French with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity in a variety of contexts;
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, including common professional themes, for practice of understanding and communication in French, using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- consolidate and develop the range of complex structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary in French to allow further accuracy and control in use
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, professional, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio,visual, digital.
Your classes will consist of a variety of activities to develop your practical skill in all four communicative competencies (speaking, listening, reading and writing), and to encourage autonomous use of French. These will include presentations and discussion, text-handling and writing activities such as summarising and reporting, based on themes, grammatical structures and language skills.
Working individually and in groups, you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding of Francophone countries, society, and communities, through both authentic and specially prepared textual and audiovisual materials. In this module you will have the opportunity to focus on a topic or text of special interest to you.
Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study, and will make use of Study Direct and other technologies.
This module is at level B2 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
French Intermediate B Year 1
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module is desigend for intermediate learners who have completed an intermediate A module.
The module aims to:
- enable you to understand key information and to communicate effectively in French, sometimes spontaneously, in less routine situations at a standard level
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in French, using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a standard level
- consolidate and develop the range of key elements of structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation of French, to allow continued progression
- present the background culture and society of French and the Francophone world through a variety of contextualised activities and materials in a range of media, eg text, audio, audiovisual, and digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level B1 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
From Quarks to the Cosmos
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This elective provides an overview of state-of-the-art research in fundamental physics for non-physicists, covering:
- Physics of the quantum world
- Particle physics and the search for the fundamental constituents of matter
- Cosmology and the large-scale structure of our world
- The quest for the fundamental forces of nature.
The elective is non-mathematical and suitable for non-scientists as well as scientists from other disciplines.
Gender Across Cultures
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module focuses on the centrality of gender as a factor structuring, ultimately, all social relations.
The module will therefore explore:
1. Relationships between men and women, men and men, women and women, as personal and sexual relations, within the household, the labour market, the state
2. How gender relations and practices are performed in different cultures
3. The role of gender in processes of social transformation
4. The impact of industrialisation and migration on gender relations
Gender and the Life Course
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
Students taking this elective will learn to think critically about inequalities in our societies as they emerge across the life course, especially those relating to gender. Through engaging with key moments in the life course (including birth and the ascription of gender identity; childhood and education; sexual reproduction, parenting and families; paid and unpaid work; illness and health; old age) students will build on their own experiences and observations to develop new perspectives and insights on this key issue in contemporary society.
Throughout the module, we will explore key theoretical frameworks as well as a series of concrete cases and problems in which researchers apply such theories to gender issues in social policy, health, education and psychology. By the end of the module you should have gained an understanding of gender and the concept of inequality and be able to provide critical accounts of the links between gendered social relations, cultural settings and individual behaviour and experiences.
German Ab initio B
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
You build on the basic grammatical structures taught in part one to improve grammatical accuracy, oral and written fluency, lexis and listening and reading comprehension in a variety of everyday situations. You will gain an insight into the culture and society of Germany within the framework of your language studies and, wherever possible, through authentic materials.
Global Politics of the Environment
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
The question of whether current forms of economic and political organisation in international society are capable of responding to the challenge of sustainable development is more pertinent than ever before. Questions are being asked about how development can be redefined to accommodate ecological challenges or whether we need to fundamentally rethink notions of growth and progress.
This module takes a critical look at the actors and issues implicated in the emerging global debate on sustainable development. It engages with competing theoretical perspectives about the drivers of environmental change and how best to explain the nature of international cooperation on the environment and its limits, but also aims to provide you with a detailed understanding of the defining issues and tensions that constitute the struggle to define future notions of development.
The module will address empirical case studies such as climate change, biodiversity and biotechnology and deforestation, as well as the relationship between trade and the environment, finance and the environment and production and the environment in a context of globalisation. You will gain an understanding of the key actors in these debates from governments and international institutions to civil society organisations and corporations and the ways their power and influence can best be understood.
The module begins with an overview of the shifting nature of the relationship between environment and development in world politics before looking at the key actors in global debates about sustainable development. From there it sets out a range of theoretical tools for understanding the global politics of these issues, before focusing in on a range of issue areas (listed above). It concludes with reflection on prospects for change and the viability of alternative proposals for better addressing the environment and development in world politics.
Historical Controversy
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
Inter-cultural Encounters
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module seeks to promote cultural awareness and intercultural comprehension. You will define what is meant by 'culture' and analyse your own cultural backgrounds and attitudes. You will consider how and why cultural characteristics arise and whether generalisations (such as national or cultural stereotypes) are ever valid. In particular you will reflect upon the ways in which culture and language are linked, and on how cultural values and attitudes are encoded in language. You will sample various theoretical approaches to these issues by way of original lectures, prepared seminar questions, academic essays and a range of audiovisual sources.
International Business Strategy (Elective)
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
Introduction to English Language Teaching and Learning
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module will provide you with an introduction to the social, political, linguistic and pedagogic issues involved in English language teaching and learning, and will explore the principles and practice of a range of methods and approaches.
Introduction to the European Union
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module will provide an introduction to the origins, institutions and main policies of the European Union, including the introduction of European citizenship and attempts by EU institutions to forge a European identity.
Issues in Global Cinema E
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module looks at international film of the last five decades. A range of films will be studied in order to explore: genre and art cinema; post-colonialism and political cinema; gender and feminist cinema; and globalisation and popular cinema.
We will study important movements in post-war film culture, including Third Cinema from Brazil and political cinema from Senegal. We will address the relationship between gender, history, allegory and national cinema (examples may include films from Tunisia, Iran and Argentina). We will also examine the aesthetics and economics of the blockbuster in a global film culture (case studies may include contemporary films from South Korea, China, India and Australia).
Italian Ab initio B
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This course builds on the basic grammatical structures taught in part one to improve your grammatical accuracy, oral and written fluency, lexis, and listening and reading comprehension in a variety of everyday situations. You will gain an insight into the culture and society of Italy appropriate to the framework of your language studies and, wherever possible, through authentic materials.
Japanese Ab initio B
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
The module builds on the basic grammatical structures taught in part one to improve grammatical accuracy, oral and written fluency, lexis, and listening and reading comprehension in a variety of everyday situations. You will work in Hiragana and Katakana and begin studying Kanji characters. You will gain an insight into the culture and society of Japan within the framework of your language studies, and, wherever possible, through authentic materials. An essential part of the module is independent work carried out in the Language Learning Centre.
Justice, Equality and Society
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
Justice, Equality and Society
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
In this module, special attention is given to justice, equality and rights. You will be introduced to theory, which is then explored though a number of case studies focusing in particular on the development of non-discrimination and equality law in English Law. The module will encourage you to think about contemporary issues from the perspectives of justice, equality and rights.
Language, Mind and Brain
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module focuses on linguistic ability as a unique quality of humans. How does human language differ from animal communication systems? How is the human body, particularly the brain, adapted for language? Is language a special kind of cognition, or the product of general higher cognitive abilities?
We further investigate how humans understand and produce speech in such a speedy and efficient way, using a variety of evidence to evaluate theories of how the mind is structured for speech. We'll ask questions like: How are words stored in the mind so that we can find them? Why are grammatical sentences like 'The horse raced past the barn fell' actually very difficult to comprehend? Why are words sometimes 'on the tip of the tongue'?
Leading Groups and Teams
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
Microeconomics 1 (Elective)
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module develops consumer and producer theory, examining such topics as consumer surplus, labour supply, production and costs of the firm, alternative market structures and factor markets. It explores the application of these concepts to public policy, making use of real-world examples to illustrate the usefulness of the theory.
Music and Site Specific Art (E)
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This is a practice-based module that will engage you in the making of site-specific performance in public spaces. You will explore through lectures and practical workshops the relation of space, place and sound, and the social meanings of specific locations. The module will examine a range of contemporary artistic approaches and theoretical ideas, as well as introducing you to practical methods for making site-specific work with music.
Music and Society (E)
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
Music does not exist in isolation from society. Many cultures in the world have no word for music conceived as an entity distinct from the contexts in which it takes place, contexts such as social or religious ritual, dance or performance. Only in modern western culture has the idea of art music as something autonomous and removed from the everyday world evolved.
Why is music meaningful to us, and how can we understand how music has meaning at all? What is the function of art music in cultures dominated by commercial values? How can we grasp the relationships between the multiplicity of musical forms that are available in a modern globalised culture? How can we evaluate the impact of the different media and technologies by which music is disseminated and consumed? These are some of the questions that this module seeks to address.
The module also aims to introduce you to different intellectual approaches to these questions, and to broaden your engagement with the issues through independent research. The module charts recent musical history both in terms of technical innovation and social and aesthetic concerns of the composers involved. The aim of the module is to stimulate awareness of recent musical thinking and also to use that awareness to re-examine more conventional musical views and habits.
Objects of Art
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module introduces you to a vital skill in the analysis and understanding of art history: how to engage with a single work of art or piece of material culture in great detail.
Each lecture is based on very specific object – for example, a picture, a sculpture, a photograph, or a piece of ceramics – and builds outwards from them. You will consider a series of key issues, including the materials used, the subject represented, decisions made by the producer of the object, the different contexts in which it has been displayed, the functions it may have performed, and questions of meaning.
Philosophy, Politics and the Middle East
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
Contemporary Middle Eastern politics raises many intricate philosophical questions. The aim of this course is to address some of them. Topics to be studied include:
- jihad and just war theory
- liberalism vs Islam
- democracy and freedom of speech
- freedom of belief
- what, if anything, is wrong with extremist beliefs?
- what, if anything, is wrong with conspiracy theories?
- democracy and religion
- patriotism and personal identity
- the ethics of immigration.
Psychology Now: Contemporary Approaches to Understanding Behaviour
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module introduces you to a wide range of research themes in contemporary psychology. Internationally recognised researchers will help you learn about work at the cutting edge of this dynamically changing discipline, covering topics such as the psychology of gender differences, the effects of drugs on our thinking and behaviour, the mechanisms involved in hypnosis, and the role of psychology in environmental issues.
You will evaluate diverse approaches to understanding human behaviour, from comparative perspectives that help us revisit assumptions about the human-animal divide, through to social psychological explanations of why we interact with other people in the ways that we do. This module does not require any prior knowledge of psychology – all are welcome.
Society, State and Humanity
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
The module surveys a number of fundamental answers given by Western thinkers to the question 'what is society?', exploring them in conjunction with answers to the questions 'what is the state?' and 'what is a human being?'. There will be a particular focus on the question of whether humans can be said to exist prior to society or only as constituted by it. Conceptions of society, state and humanity studied may include those of Plato, Aristotle, St. Paul, Hobbes, Smith, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Durkheim, Freud, and feminist and postmodern critiques of these.
Please note: this module has some overlap in content with the second year module 'Modern Political Thought', which is a core module for students studying Politics.
Spanish Ab initio B
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module is designed for for post-beginners who have completed the ab-initio A module.
The course aims to:
- enable you to understand basic information and to communicate effectively in Spanish in everyday situations, at a simple level
- provide opportunities across a variety of general topics for practice of understanding and communication in Spanish using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a basic level
- introduce fundamental elements of the structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation of Spanish, and continue to provide a solid foundation for progression
- present the background culture of Spanish and the Spanish-speaking world through a variety of contextualised activities and materials in a range of media, eg text, audio, audiovisual, and digital.
Successful completion of the course is at least equivalent to level A2 (Basic User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Spanish for Professional Purposes 1B
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module is designed for advanced learners who have completed Advanced for Professional Purposes 1A.
Building on existing levels of proficiency the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in Spanish with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, including common professional themes, for practice of understanding and communication in Spanish using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- consolidate and develop the range of complex the structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary in Spanish to allow further accuracy and control in use
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, professional, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials in a range of media, eg text, audio, audiovisual, and digital.
Your classes will consist of a variety of activities to develop your practical skill in all four communicative competencies (speaking, listening, reading and writing) and to encourage autonomous use of Spanish. These will include presentations and discussion, text-handling and writing activities such as summarising and reporting, based on themes, grammatical structures and language skills.
Working individually and in groups, you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding of Spanish-speaking countries, society, and community through both authentic and specially prepared textual and audiovisual materials. In this module you will have the opportunity to focus on a topic or text of special interest to you.
Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study, and will make use of Study Direct and other technologies.
This module is at level B2 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Spanish Intermediate B Year 1
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module is desigend for intermediate learners who have completed an intermediate A module.
The module aims to:
- enable you to understand key information and to communicate effectively in Spanish, sometimes spontaneously, in less routine situations at a standard level
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in Spanish using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a standard level
- consolidate and develop the range of key elements of the structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation of Spanish, to allow continued progression
- present the background culture and society of the Spanish-speaking world through a variety of contextualised activities and materials in a range of media, eg text, audio, audiovisual, and digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level B1 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
The Anthropology of Exchange, Money and Markets (Elective)
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
The study of human relatedness and kinship has been central to the history of British social anthropology. This module introduces you to classic and new debates in kinship studies drawing upon material from a wide range of ethnographic contexts to examine the ways in which societies organise and conceptualise human relationships. It is concerned with the transformation of social structures and processes as well as the connections between kin organisations and power in developing and post-industrial societies. The module considers both accepted and more novel ways in thinking about human kinship: how we become related through 'substance', emotion, place and technology, for example. It covers both historical ground as well as the contemporary debates in the study of human relatedness.
The Look of America
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
This module takes as its premise the notion that ever since the explosion of mass media and mass society in the industrial age, the United States has taken an increasingly dominant place in the global visual imagination. This process reached its peak at the beginning of the 20th century, America henceforth generating for the world innumerable iconic and hegemonic visual representations of its own cultural narratives.
The task of the module will be to investigate and deconstruct some of the products of this visual field, along with the ideologies and narratives that sustain and refract them. Hence we begin by introducting you to visual theory, especially as it applies to the American context, and provide you with the critical tools necessary for the module. We then locate the period under scrutiny (1860-2001) within a broader visual and cultural prehistory, illuminating the roots of the modern world and its visual scene. After this, the module concentrates more particularly on the culture of the late-19th and 20th centuries.
Following a more or less thematic pattern, the module examines the issues that emerge over the course of the 20th century, referring forwards and backwards in order to generate connections where appropriate (for example, linking the Farm Security Administration projects to Matthew Brady's Civil War photographs). The intention here is to introduce you to aspects of visual culture and its criticism, as well as to defamiliarise and explore some of the more familiar American iconography surrounding us.
The World Economy Since 1945
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
Theory of Investments (Elective)
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
Understanding the Criminal Justice System
15 credits
Year 1, Term 2
A Sociology of 21st Century Britain
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
A Sociology of 21st Century Britain will use Britain today as an empirical base for exploring wider sociological perspectives and the insights that social science can bring into key problems and debates about contemporary life.
During the module you will explore the relationship between empirical research and theory using examples from recent sociological work, drawing from studies no older than 5 years, to look at a range of issues in 21st century Britain, including work and employment, family, sport, intimacy, life online, nationalism, death and wealth.
The module is designed to demonstrate the capacity of sociology to explore the social world in interesting, challenging and critical ways, but will be relevant to anyone who wishes to learn more about contemporary Britain, from the perspective of insider or outsider.
American Identities
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
'What is an American?' Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur asked in the 18th century, when the American colonies were on the verge of revolution. That question has never really gone away. Whether as a self-proclaimed Republic, a slave-holding society, a 'nation of immigrants' or an imperial world power, America has had to invent and re-invent its national identity time and time again, from colonial times to the present.
On this module we study how Americans in different periods and different regions have thought, written, debated and talked about themselves in relation to their country in autobiography, poetry, fiction, and film. We ask how race, gender, and sexuality impact on notions of American citizenship, and we find out how to become an American, now and in the past. We will come across contradictory conceptions of American identity that may surprise us, as well as stereotypes and familiar tropes of optimism, individualism, and the right to bear arms.
Applying Psychology to Everyday Problems
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module introduces you to a variety of ways in which psychological knowledge is applied to everyday problems. It covers topics such as understanding mental health problems and how they can be treated, how psychology can be used to influence health and well-being, the role of psychology in the workplace, the relevance of psychology to educational practice – including understanding why ‘bullying’ occurs and how we can prevent it, and how psychological knowledge about face recognition can be used to aid criminal investigations.
You will learn about some of the research and theories that support these applications of psychology to everyday problems and will be introduced to the areas of professional applied psychology that underpin them.
Arabic Advanced A
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This stage 5 advanced module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with some autonomy in the target language (TL).
Building on existing levels of proficiency at level B1 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- introduce and develop the range of complex elements of TL language structures, syntax, and vocabulary to allow continued progression in the TL
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media – eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level B1-B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Arabic Intermediate A
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This stage 3 module is for students with some basic knowledge and experience of the target language (TL). Building on existing levels of proficiency at level A2 (Basic User) of the Common European Framework of Reference [CEFR] the module aims to:
- enable students to understand key information and to communicate effectively in the TL, sometimes spontaneously, in less routine situations, at a standard level
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a standard level
- consolidate and develop the range of key elements of TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, to allow progression in the TL
- present the background culture and society of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level A2-B1 (Basic-Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Art and Artists
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This is a twelve-week level-one module taught in the autumn term. It deals with one of the issues central to art history: how did ‘great artists’ gain their reputation both during their lifetime and subsequently? Some artists’ reputations have waxed and waned, while others have been admired for very different reasons at different times.
This lecture series looks at a variety of cases presenting different ‘histories’ of the artist, from the ancient world to the Renaissance. We will focus on a particular set of issues surrounding the conceptualization of the artist and artistic creativity in the classical, Byzantine and/or mediaeval periods: the issue of anonymity, the artist versus the craftsman, and related issues of historiography.
The module may cover painters, printmakers and sculptors as well as artists whose achievements were in the applied arts. It complements, but is not a pre-requisite for, Art and Artists II.
Before Modern Art (circa 27BC - circa AD1700)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module considers artistic production over the period 27BC–AD1700. It explores the role of art within society, raising questions about the nature and function of images and art objects within their social, political, economic and historical contexts, and dealing with a variety of theoretical and conceptual issues about the production and perception of art in this period, such as gender, class and imperialism.
British Political History
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module will give you an overview of the key questions, concepts and controversies in modern British political history, with a particular emphasis on the period since 1945.
You will gain an understanding of both academic and political debates on topics such as the postwar 'consensus', Thatcherism and New Labour, and will also be introduced to some of the ways in which politicians throughout this period have presented their own interpretations of British political history.
British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 3
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
Chinese Advanced A
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This stage 5 advanced module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with some autonomy in the target language (TL). Building on existing levels of proficiency at level B1 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- introduce and develop the range of complex elements of TL language structures, syntax, and vocabulary to allow continued progression in the TL
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media – eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level B1-B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Chinese Intermediate A
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This stage 3 module is for students with some basic knowledge and experience of the target language (TL). Building on existing levels of proficiency at level A2 (Basic User) of the Common European Framework of Reference [CEFR] the module aims to:
- enable students to understand basic information and to communicate effectively in the TL, in everyday situations at an elementary level
- provide opportunities across a variety of general topics for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an elementary level
- consolidate and develop the range of key elements of TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, to allow progression in the TL
- present the background culture and society of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level A2-B1 (Basic-Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Cities and Urban Lives
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
The module introduces you to literature and debates in the fields of urban anthropology and anthropology of the city. It explores historical processes of urbanization, focusing on the spatial, cultural, political and social characteristics of the modern cities, as well as on the experiences of everyday urban life in cities across the world. A comparative analysis of the diversity of urban forms and experiences based on specific case studies is deployed to engage with theories ascribing universal characteristics to modern urban society and culture.
Topics covered in this module include:
- Urban anthropology and anthropology of the city: methodological and epistemological challenges
- From nomadism to modern city: the long march of urbanization
- Pre-modern cities: spiritual economies and cosmopolitan spaces
- The colonial and the colonised city: the spatialization of hierarchies
- Capitalism, (de)industrialization and the modern city: urban economies
- Modern urban cultures: from street corner society to urban gangs
- Modern urban politics: revolutions, revolts and protests
- Globalisation, neo-liberalism and the city: the (re)making of class privilege and exclusion
- Post-modern cityscapes: skyscrapers, shopping malls and slums
- Materialities of urban life-worlds: crowds, traffic, leisure, etc.
Contemporary Debates in Social Policy: Theory and Practice
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
Crime and Criminal Justice
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
Criminology in Theory and Perspective
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module will familiarise you with the main theories, perspectives and concepts associated with major traditions in sociological criminology. It builds on two first year modules, Thinking Like a Criminologist and Criminological Classics, which are prerequisites.
You will examine a range of criminological perspectives, from those prevalent in the mid twentieth-century to contemporary, cutting edge theories. You will be encouraged to take a critical approach to these perspectives and to situate them within their wider social and political contexts.
In particular, the module will cover the following:
- Strain Theory
- Labelling Theory
- Radical and Critical Criminology
- Left Realism
- Right Realism
- Feminist Criminology
- Masculinities and Crime
- Psycho-Social Approaches
- Cultural Criminology, and
- Green Criminology.
Economic Crisis and World Politcs
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
The module focuses on the impact of the current economic crisis on the global distribution of power and wealth.
First, it examines the nature of the current economic crisis that started with the subprime crisis in the US in 2007. We examine a number of different explanations, including national economic policies in systemically important economies, global imbalances, macro-historical explanations related to the nature of capitalism, financialisation, geopolitics, and cultural political economy explanations. We also assess the complementary and competing aspects of these explanations. Finally, we analyse the Eurozone crisis and the austerity vs. growth debate.
Second, the module focuses on the geopolitical impact of the crisis. Here we examine how the economic crisis challenges and changes the traditional relations between the ‘global North’ and the ‘global South’. We discuss the new ‘global politics of debt’, the resilience demonstrated by the BRIC economies, the global implications of the Eurozone crisis, and the potential impact that the US economic recovery on emerging economies and international economic stability.
Third, we assess the impact of the crisis on the global economic governance, especially in the areas of trade and investments. The objective of the module is to generate sound knowledge about the causes and the nature of the global economic crisis and its multiple and diverse impact on world politics.
No prior knowledge of economics is required.
English for Business and Professional Purposes Intermediate
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module offers training in all the communication skills required to undertake academic business and professional studies and to participate or interact in business and other working environments. It will focus on the extended reading and writing skills required in essays, reports, assignments, and general business and professional communication. It will also offer training in the listening and speaking skills required to understand and contribute to seminars, tutorials and lectures on business and professional subjects and to prepare you for oral communication in business and professional practice.
Pre-requisite – You will not have English as your first language
English Language Accuracy and Academic Practice
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
The module aims are twofold: to enable you to further improve your language, and to provide further practice and development in your academic skills.
In the language, you will extend your range of vocabulary and grammar structures and develop your formal accuracy. In the academic skills, you will work on tasks to develop your written and oral communication skills within the context of your own disciplines, and integrate reading and listening skills to these tasks.
Pre-requisite – You will not have English as your first language
English Language Teaching 2A
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module will build on and further develop knowledge and awareness of lexical, grammatical, functional and phonological issues in the teaching and learning of English, and will explore the formal and informal assessment of language knowledge and language skills. The module will also review and further explore principles and best practice in lesson and module planning and delivery in a variety of teaching contexts.
Ethnographic Film
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
Film Analysis (E)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module draws upon both 20th-century and contemporary film texts to explore the diverse uses filmmakers have made of such key techniques of cinematic expression as narrative, cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, sound, and special effects. We consider not simply how such techniques are accomplished (ie the creative choices available to filmmakers) but also the potential they have for generating meaning and pleasure when combined together to produce filmic texts. The module also examines links between technological change and film aesthetics.
French Advanced A
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module is designed for students who have completed both intermediate A and B modules.
The module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- introduce and develop the range of complex elements of TL language structures, syntax, and vocabulary to allow continued progression in the TL
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level B1-B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
French Advanced A (B)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This Stage 5 module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with some autonomy in the target language (TL) at level B1 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Building on existing levels of proficiency at level the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- introduce and develop the range of complex elements of TL language structures, syntax, and vocabulary to allow continued progression in the TL
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media – eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Your classes will consist of a variety of activities to develop your practical skill in all four communicative competencies (SLRW), and to encourage autonomous use of the TL. These will include presentations and discussion, text handling and writing activities, such as summarising and reporting, based on themes, grammatical structures and language skills.
Working individually and in groups, you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding of TL countries, society, and community through both authentic and specially prepared textual and audio-visual materials. Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study, and will make use of Study Direct and other technologies.
This module is at level B1-B1+ (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
French for Professional Purposes 2A
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module is designed for advanced learners who have completed Advanced for Professional Purposes 1B.
Building on existing levels of proficiency the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a range of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a proficient level
- consolidate and develop the range of complex TL language structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary to allow consistent accuracy and control in use of the TL
- facilitate the analysis of important aspects of the general social and cultural background of the language in a professional context, through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Your classes will consist of a variety of activities to develop your practical skill in all four communicative competencies (SLRW), and to encourage autonomous use of the TL. These will include subject-specific presentations and discussion, text handling and analysis, writing activities such as letter-writing, summarising and reporting, etc. Working individually and in groups, you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding of TL countries, society, and community through both authentic and specially prepared textual and audio-visual materials. In this module you will have the opportunity to focus on your employment profile and/or workplace simulation activities.
Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study, and will make use of Study Direct and other technologies.
This module is at level B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
French for Professional Purposes 2A (B)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This Stage 7 module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with autonomy in the target language (TL) at level B2 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
Building on existing levels of proficiency the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a range of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a proficient level
- consolidate and develop the range of complex TL language structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary to allow consistent accuracy and control in use of the TL
- facilitate the analysis of important aspects of the general social and cultural background of the language in a professional context, through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Your classes will consist of a variety of activities to develop your practical skill in all four communicative competencies (SLRW), and to encourage autonomous use of the TL. These will include subject-specific presentations and discussion, text handling and analysis, writing activities, such as letter-writing, summarising and reporting. Working individually and in groups, you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding of TL countries, society, and community through both authentic and specially prepared textual and audio-visual materials. In this module you will have the opportunity to focus on your employment profile and/or workplace simulation activities.
Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study, and will make use of Study Direct and other technologies.
This module is at level B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
French Intermediate A
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module is designed for:
- lower intermediate learners who have a recent grade A/B at GCSE, or a D/E pass at AS level, or equivalent
- intermediate learners who have a good AS grade, or perhaps a low D/E pass at A level, or equivalent.
The module aims to:
- enable students to understand key information and to communicate effectively in the TL, sometimes spontaneously, in less routine situations, at a standard level
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a standard level
- consolidate and develop the range of key elements of TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, to allow progression in the TL
- present the background culture and society of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level A2-B1 (Basic-Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
German Advanced A
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This stage 5 advanced module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with some autonomy in the target language (TL). Building on existing levels of proficiency at level B1 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- introduce and develop the range of complex elements of TL language structures, syntax, and vocabulary to allow continued progression in the TL
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media – eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level B1-B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
German Intermediate A
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This stage 3 module is for students with some basic knowledge and experience of the target language (TL). Building on existing levels of proficiency at level A2 (Basic User) of the Common European Framework of Reference [CEFR] the module aims to:
- enable students to understand key information and to communicate effectively in the TL, sometimes spontaneously, in less routine situations, at a standard level
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a standard level
- consolidate and develop the range of key elements of TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, to allow progression in the TL
- present the background culture and society of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level A2-B1 (Basic-Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Ideas of History
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This core module is taken by all second year students on the History degree. It offers an introduction to key analytical concepts, schools of historiography, and influential historians through the centuries, and explores the major theories, methods, and historical interpretations that characterize historical scholarship.
The module is an essential intellectual pivot in your degree. On the one hand, it picks up themes rehearsed in the first-year Historical Controversies modules, where the nature of an individual instance of historical disputation was explored; equally, it looks forward to the third-year Special Subjects, with their accompanying dissertations, where a sound grasp of historiographical context is essential. The module is taught by means of lectures and seminar readings designed to illuminate not simply different schools of historical thought, but also the social, cultural and intellectual environments that produced them. By the end of the module you should have an understanding of both the philosophy of history and the way the practice of historical enquiry has developed over the centuries.
Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in Education
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module is a 15 credit undergraduate module to be offered to Year 2 students in term 1, as part of an Education 60 credit Pathway. The module provides an opportunity to explore what is meant by inclusion and exclusion and the implications of these concepts for education policies, systems and practices in England and internationally. The module will include an in-depth focus on how constructions of gender, ‘race’, social class, poverty, disability sexuality and behavioural norms contribute to the inclusion and/or exclusion of particular groups of young people. Each session will adopt a case study approach and provide an overview of the key issues involved in ensuring equality of access, provision and learning. There will be a strong focus on the evidence relating to each case and approaches at practice level.
The module will be assessed by a case study, providing an opportunity for students to apply their understanding of issues relating to the inclusion and/or exclusion to ao a group and context which they consider to be of particular interest. The case study will include a discussion of strategies used to promote inclusion and evidence of their effectiveness drawn from a range of secondary sources and conclude with recommendations for policy and practice drawn from the evidence presented.
Module content by week
- Introduction to the module and to key concepts: inclusion, diversity and equity
- The power of ‘the norm’
- Who is vulnerable – and to what?
- Including girls – excluding boys?
- Ethnicity and exclusion
- Sexuality
- Barriers to the inclusion of parents and carers
- SEND
- Maximising the impact of teaching assistants
- Learning outside mainstream contexts: models of inclusion?
- Global perspectives on inclusion: overcoming barriers in context
- Developing inclusive educational systems: implications for future policy and practice
International Marketing (Elective)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module represents an introduction to international marketing and aims to develop knowledge of the international environment and international marketing. The increased scope, risk and complexity faced by the international marketer is due to the increased level of uncertainty from operating in diverse and less understood environments. Emphasis is placed on the identification of challenges presented by international marketing to equip you to deal with differences, opportunities and threats emerging from diverse economic, demographic, political/legal, cultural, technical and competitive environments. The impact of international issues is related during the module to the marketing decision-making task at three levels; the macro level at which country selection decisions are made; national level at which market entry decisions are made; and market level where marketing mix decisions are made.
Introduction to Sustainability
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
Italian Intermediate A
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This stage 3 module is for students with some basic knowledge and experience of the target language (TL). Building on existing levels of proficiency at level A2 (Basic User) of the Common European Framework of Reference [CEFR] the module aims to:
- enable students to understand key information and to communicate effectively in the TL, sometimes spontaneously, in less routine situations, at a standard level
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a standard level
- consolidate and develop the range of key elements of TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, to allow progression in the TL
- present the background culture and society of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level A2-B1 (Basic-Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Japanese Advanced A
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This stage 5 advanced module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with some autonomy in the target language (TL). Building on existing levels of proficiency at level B1 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- introduce and develop the range of complex elements of TL language structures, syntax, and vocabulary to allow continued progression in the TL
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media – eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level B1-B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Japanese Intermediate A
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This stage 3 module is for students with some basic knowledge and experience of the target language (TL). Building on existing levels of proficiency at level A2 (Basic User) of the Common European Framework of Reference [CEFR] the module aims to:
- enable students to understand key information and to communicate effectively in the TL, sometimes spontaneously, in less routine situations, at a standard level
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a standard level
- consolidate and develop the range of key elements of TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, to allow progression in the TL
- present the background culture and society of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level A2-B1 (Basic-Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Mathematics Demystified
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
What makes the world work? Logic, algorithms, connected graphs (the London Underground), elementary number theory, encryption, error correction.
This module is suitable for anyone with GCSE-level maths and an interest in graphs and numbers.
Migrant and Refugee Well-Being: Theory and Practice
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module offers students the opportunity to examine the well-being of migrants and refugees. Well-being is defined as multidimensional and incorporates the political, economic, health, environment and social contexts in which migrants and refugees exist.
In the module students examine the historical and political contexts in which different groups of migrants are placed, including the specific situations of asylum seekers and refugees. These are shown to have distinct impacts on the health and social care services migrants receive, and on particular issues of entitlement and access. The welfare contexts of different receiving societies are examined including the impact of current debates on welfare provision for migrants and refugees across the globe. Within these contexts contemporary services for migrants and refugees are examined, including the roles played by central government, local authorities and NGOs. Models of good practice in health and social care are examined as are the prospects for the transfer of good practice across countries.
Our Place in the Universe(s)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
Astronomy, the study of space and its contents beyond the earth, is both the oldest science, and one in which new discoveries are being made on a daily basis. It is used to explain such familiar phenomena as the tides, eclipses and meteor showers, as well as much more exotic objects such as black holes and exoplanets. The observable universe also provides a laboratory for testing physical theories at extreme energies that are unachievable on earth.
This elective will provide non-science students with a broad, non-mathematical understanding of astronomy from our solar system, via stars and galaxies, to the universe as a whole, all to appreciate our place in the universe(s).
Papyrus to Pixel: Language and technology
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module will start by looking at the very beginnings of written language on stone and slate, examining how the move from ephemeral to permanent language allowed the human race to begin the development of culture and art. It will follow the progress of written language of scribes using ink on paper and the dependence on a small minority of literate people to spread information as well as entertainment.
The advent of the printing press will be addressed, examining the huge impact of spreading literacy and allowing new sections of the population to not only read what others wrote, but ultimately to write and publish themselves.The impact on literature, society (politics) and the language itself will be examined.
Finally, the module will come right up to date, looking at the new technologies. The impact of text, email etc. on everyday language is examined as well as how the world of literature has been affected. And with a final twist we will look at whether the rapid rise of MP3 audio books is taking us full circle back to the days of the story teller.
Paradox and Argument
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
Philosophy of Religion
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
Political and Social Change in Contemporary Europe
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module analyses the broad social changes which have occurred in Western Europe since 1945, and in postcommunist European countries since the collapse of communism. It does this by using the social scientist's notion of 'cleavages', to explore divisions in society derived from factors such as religion, class, gender and ethnicity, and their impact on political behaviour. It also looks at the role played by nationalism, populism, regionalism and postmaterialism in driving social change and political affiliation. We also consider recent demographic trends such as declining birth rates and ageing populations, and the impact of these trends on social and political behaviour.
Whilst the module has a theoretical underpinning in social science, it is taught in a way which is accessible to students from any discipline. It is particularly enriched by the participation of students from a wide range of nationalities and cultures, and visiting and exchange students are most welcome on this module.
Psychology of Forensic Analysis and Investigation
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module is concerned with the application of psychological theory and research to criminological and forensic contexts. You will learn about how psychology can be used to understand and enhance aspects of criminological and security investigations, such as eyewitness testimony and the identification of suspects. In addition, you will learn to evaluate connections between crime and mental illness. The kinds of specific questions you will encounter during the module include:
- What is wrong with current face recall systems such as Photofit, Identikit and E-fit?
- How reliable are eyewitnesses’ accounts of what they have seen, and their identifications of faces they have encountered?
- Why is that faces of other races are more likely to be misidentified in police lineups?
- Can people be recognised reliably from ID cards, passports and CCTV?
- Do children make reliable witnesses, or is their testimony not to be trusted?
- How is memory affected by stress, and why do some individuals develop post-traumatic stress disorder?
- How can deception be detected by investigators?
- What kinds of biases and errors affect investigators of serious crimes?
- What is the relationship between mental illness and crime?
- To what extent does the media portrayal of ‘psychopathy’ have any basis in psychological research?
Reading as a Creative and Critical Writer
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module invites you to explore how critical and imaginative thinking work productively together. In regular workshops, you develop your own writing, both of essays and creative texts.
The module is divided into three units. In the first, `Close Reading and Creativity', you are introduced to writing that describes and performs the experience of reading, looking at work by authors such as Ali Smith, Marcel Proust, John Ruskin, and William Wordsworth. This unit encourages you to examine what is meant by `close reading', and to explore links between reading and creativity.
In the second unit, `Intertextuality and Creative Writing', we consider literary influence, examining works that are shaped by earlier texts. You will study texts by authors such as Angela Carter, Hélène Cixous, J. M. Coetzee, Nalo Hopkinson, Alice Walker and/or Virginia Woolf. From both a practical and theoretical point of view, we consider what these writers can teach us about the use of reading to create new works.
In the third unit, `The Critic as Writer', you will study writers for whom acts of critical reading and writing overlap and co-habit with creative work. We consider writers such as Sigmund Freud, Denise Riley, Salman Rushdie, Edmund Spenser and/or W. B. Yeats. The creative potential of critical forms (such as the essay and biography) will be explored.
The three units help you develop key skills as a reader and writer of literary texts, building up to the creative-critical portfolio which you will produce by the end of the module. Each week you will have a lecture, followed by a seminar-workshop in which you discuss your critical thinking and creative practice in small groups.
Religion and Culture in the Middle East and North Africa 1700-2000
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
Short Period: The Middle East and North Africa since 1908
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This course will examine the key political, social, cultural and economic themes in Middle Eastern and North African history since 1908.
- The politics of reformism
- The impact of World War One
- The rise of pan-Arab nationalism
- The impact of World War Two
- The foundation of Israel
- The end of British and French Empires
- Suez and the politics of pan-Arabism
- The rise of political Islam
- Social tensions – women
- Social tensions – youth
- The ‘Arab Spring’
Spanish Advanced A
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module is designed for studens who have completed both intermediate A and B modules.
The module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- introduce and develop the range of complex elements of TL language structures, syntax, and vocabulary to allow continued progression in the TL
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level B1-B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Spanish Advanced A (B)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This Stage 5 module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with some autonomy in the target language (TL) at level B1 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
Building on existing levels of proficiency at level the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- introduce and develop the range of complex elements of TL language structures, syntax, and vocabulary to allow continued progression in the TL
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media – eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Your classes will consist of a variety of activities to develop your practical skill in all four communicative competencies (SLRW), and to encourage autonomous use of the TL. These will include presentations and discussion, text handling and writing activities, such as summarising and reporting, based on themes, grammatical structures and language skills. Working individually and in groups, you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding of TL countries, society, and community through both authentic and specially prepared textual and audio-visual materials.
Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study and will make use of Study Direct and other technologies.
This module is at level B1-B1+ (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Spanish for Professional Purposes 2A
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module is designed for advanced learners who have completed Advanced for Professional Purposes 1B.
Building on existing levels of proficiency the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts;
- provide opportunities, across a range of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a proficient level;
- consolidate and develop the range of complex TL language structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary to allow consistent accuracy and control in use of the TL;
- facilitate the analysis of important aspects of the general social and cultural background of the language in a professional context, through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, e.g. text; audio; audio-visual; digital.
Your classes will consist of a variety of activities to develop your practical skill in all four communicative competencies (SLRW), and to encourage autonomous use of the TL. These will include subject-specific presentations and discussion, text handling and analysis, writing activities such as letter-writing, summarising and reporting etc. Working individually and in groups, you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding of TL countries, society, and community through both authentic and specially prepared textual and audio-visual materials. In this module you will have the opportunity to focus on your employment profile and/or workplace simulation activities.
Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study, and will make use of Study Direct and other technologies. This module is at level B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Spanish for Professional Purposes 2A (B)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This Stage 7 module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with autonomy in the target language (TL) at level B2 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
Building on existing levels of proficiency the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a range of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a proficient level
- consolidate and develop the range of complex TL language structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary to allow consistent accuracy and control in use of the TL
- facilitate the analysis of important aspects of the general social and cultural background of the language in a professional context, through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media – eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Your classes will consist of a variety of activities to develop your practical skill in all four communicative competencies (SLRW) and to encourage autonomous use of the TL. These will include subject-specific presentations and discussion, text handling and analysis, writing activities, such as letter-writing, summarising and reporting. Working individually and in groups, you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding of TL countries, society, and community through both authentic and specially prepared textual and audio-visual materials. In this module you will have the opportunity to focus on your employment profile and/or workplace simulation activities.
Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study and will make use of Study Direct and other technologies.
This module is at level B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Spanish Intermediate A
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module is designed for:
- lower intermediate learners who have a recent grade A/B at GCSE, or a D/E pass at AS level, or equivalent
- intermediate learners who have a good AS grade, or perhaps a low D/E pass at A level, or equivalent.
The module aims to:
- enable students to understand key information and to communicate effectively in the TL, sometimes spontaneously, in less routine situations, at a standard level
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a standard level
- consolidate and develop the range of key elements of TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, to allow progression in the TL
- present the background culture and society of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level A2-B1 (Basic-Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
The African American Experience
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module examines the history of African-American political, cultural, and social developments from 1863 onwards. You will become famaliar with the debates that African Americans have had among themselves between emancipation and the present day, thus establishing a deep historical understanding of the ongoing freedom struggle in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. You will assess intraracial arguments over the relationship of blacks to the US government in war and peace, over racial and class identities, and over diverse tactics and strategies for the advancement of the race.
Although particular attention is given to the longrunning campaign to destroy de jure segregation in the southern states (culminating in the successful nonviolent direct action campaigns of the 1960s), the module takes as its foundation the fact that racial prejudice was a national not a regional phenomenon. Through lectures and seminars, you will examine the connections between African-American history and culture. Emphasis is given to well-known black leaders like Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, and Martin Luther King, as well as to female activists and the unsung black masses themselves, who also receive close attention.
The Making of Modern Europe
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module provides you with an understanding of the historical development of the idea of Europe as it has evolved from the middle ages until the present day. In particular we shall trace the relationship between, on the one hand, ideas and ideals of European cooperation, integration and unity and, on the other, the realities of European economic, political and social development and conflict.
The module explains the different dimensions of the idea of Europe and places them in their contemporary context, highlighting aspects of continuity and change. It further examines the inherent tension between unity and diversity in European history and explores how this tension has been manifest in the political struggles and the philosophical arguments which have characterised Europe over time.
The first half of the module considers the development of Europe as idea and reality over the long run while the second half examines how these aspects have interacted in the 20th and 21st centuries.
The Politics of Language
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
Theories of Language Learning
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This elective module offers an overview of various perspectives on how second or foreign languages are learnt. Linguistic, psychological and social models of second language acquisition (SLA) are examined, along with some of the implications for our broader understanding of the nature of language and communication. Applications for language teaching and learning are considered, in both naturalistic contexts and classroom settings.
Theory, Taste and Trash (E)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
Truth and Morality: The Meaning of Life
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module is concerned with central issues of morality, examining both the kinds of considerations which might be appealed to in moral arguments, and the status of moral arguments themselves.
What should we bear in mind when deciding whether to eat meat, or whether to help someone, or whether to fight a war? In what sense are the decisions we make right? How can a moral argument be a good argument? Are some people wiser than others? Is there any truth in moral relativism? These and related issues will be tackled from a range of theoretical positions.
Westerns and the History of Ideas
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module provides an introduction to one of the most enduring genres in American cultural history: the Western.
In both film and literature, the genre has transformed the experience of the 19th-century American ‘Old West’ into a crucible for remarkable and often abstract treatments of some of the most controversial ideas in modern cultural, social and political life. Above all, it has been the most important modern vehicle for one of the oldest and most troubling of American cultural myths: the myth of the frontier.
The module introduces you to the ideas behind the Western by surveying the development of the genre and setting it in historical and cultural context. In addition to viewing 6 or more feature films, we will study some of the pre-cinematic sources of Western themes and images (novels, paintings), and trace the history of the Western in the American literary tradition.
As the title of this module suggests, however, this module is equally concerned with placing the genre of the Western back into its historical and intellectual contexts. The module will allow you to grasp the political, historical, and cultural forces that shaped the development of the Western film genre. We will focus on the role of allegory and metaphor, and explore the importance of themes of law, justice, gender, race, immigration, imperialism, and environmental degradation. It will conclude by exploring the continuing legacy and appeal of the Western in unexpected literary forms, in global cinema, and as a still contested symbol for American’s global dominance.
What is Cultural Studies? (E)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 1
This module introduces the relevance and excitement of using cultural studies approaches to explore pertinent aspects of life in the globalised world of the 21st century. The first few weeks are devoted to describing, debating and historicising key areas of cultural life: home, work, leaisure, city. In the second half of the term you are introduced to cultural concepts that are fundamentally contested within society. Concepts such as taste, individualism, and humanity will be discussed and debated, and you will use your crosscultural and historical skills (developed in the first half of the module) to explore issues pertinent to these concepts. You will be guided to undertake focused interdisciplinary study through carefully directed research tasks and reading on these topics. Teaching and learning will involve a mix of lectures, seminars, workshops, screenings, individual and group work.
Advertising (E)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module engages with the historical development of advertising and opens up a critical understanding of its contemporary place within the media (and its economies), culture and society.
In the 21st century advertising has been transformed by the rise of branding, the maturing of the internet and the emergence of new media forms like social media. Traditional advertising forms and the funding model for media which advertising has provided are now under threat.
This module will introduce you to current thinking about advertising and demonstrate various approaches to the analysis of its many forms.
American Cities: New York City
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
From New Amsterdam to 9/11 and beyond, New York has always been iconic. We experience the Big Apple through the sight and sounds that came before us: the movies, the music, the literature, the songs. But what goes on behind these images of ceaseless activity and glamour?
Now the hub of global finance, New York was also a haven for immigrants, with Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty sitting right there in its harbour. As a result of its diversity of population and ever-changing urban development, in this module we will be looking at the city from many perspectives, and find that to study its history and culture is to discover that the city that never sleeps never ceases to pose questions either.
Arabic Advanced B
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This stage 6 advanced module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with some autonomy in the target language (TL). Building on existing levels of proficiency at level B1 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- consolidate and develop the range of complex TL language structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary to allow further accuracy and control in use of the TL
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media – eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Arabic Intermediate B
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This stage 4 intermediate module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with some independence in the target language (TL). Building on existing levels of proficiency at level A2-B1 (Basic/Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference [CEFR] the module aims to:
- enable you to understand key information and to communicate effectively in the TL, sometimes spontaneously, in less routine situations, at a standard level
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a standard level
- consolidate and develop the range of key elements of TL language structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation, to allow continued progression in the TL
- present the background culture and society of the TL through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, e.g. text; audio; audio-visual; digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level B1 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Art of the Modern Era (c1700 - the present)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module considers artistic production over the period 1700–the present. It explores the role of art within society, raising questions about the nature and function of images and art objects within their social, political, economic and historical contexts, and dealing with a variety of theoretical and conceptual issues about the production and perception of art in this period, such as gender, class and imperialism.
British Sign Language and Deaf Culture 4
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
Chinese Advanced B
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This stage 6 advanced module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with some autonomy in the target language (TL). Building on existing levels of proficiency at level B1 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- consolidate and develop the range of complex TL language structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary to allow further accuracy and control in use of the TL
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Chinese Intermediate B
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module will build on the skills and structures studied in part 2A. Your aim is to improve elementary/intermediate skills inreading, writing, speaking and listening. You study Chinese characters, Pinyin and grammatical functions in more depth. Essential elements of cultural awareness in Chinese society are studied within the framework of the language module and using authentic materials. This part of the module will involve more independent learning.
Comedy
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module considers the nature and reception of comic texts, focusing particularly on the effects such texts produce on their readers. The module is not limited to comedy as a dramatic genre, but will consider a range of comic forms, which may include physical theatre practices, novels, television sitcoms and films.
While a historical profile of comedy and its reception will emerge, the module will not adhere to a chronological structure. Instead, the module is organised thematically around critical issues which affect the interpretation and reception of comic works. Central to this will be a consideration of key theories of humour, such as those developed by Kant, Freud and Bergson, among others, who have shaped our understanding of how comic texts function. You will also be introduced to a range of critical and theoretical frameworks through which to explore the social value of comic texts, which often exceeds that of simple pleasure or entertainment.
Contemporary Issues in Law
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
Culture in Global Contexts: Debating the Postcolonial
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This elective will introduce you to some of the key debates in postcolonial studies by studying a selection of short texts across a range of genres including visual images (painting, film and photography), poetry, short stories, essays, music, journalism and interviews. Drawing on a range of theoretical essays (Fanon, Said, Spivak, Lazarus, Mohanty, Gilroy, among others), it will explore the varied ways in which contemporary culture continues to be shaped by colonial history in volatile and complex ways.
Topics include: 'race', the autobiographical, tourism, eco-criticism, language, sport, resistance and cultures of consumption.
Early Modern Philosophy
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module introduces some assumptions, arguments and ideas from the following major philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries that ground the empiricist and rationalist traditions: Descartes, Locke, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, Spinoza.
The module will examine these assumptions, arguments and ideas in the context of contemporary discussions of the issues, in order to promote understanding both of the concerns which lie at the heart of much contemporary philosophy and of the history of those concerns.
English for Business and Professional Purposes Post-Intermediate
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
The English for Business and Professional Purposes module offers training in all the communication skills required to undertake academic business and professional studies and to participate or interact in business and other working environments. It will focus on the extended reading and writing skills required in essays, reports, assignments, and general business and professional communication. It will also offer training in the listening and speaking skills required to understand and contribute to seminars, tutorials and lectures on business and professional subjects and to prepare you for oral communication in business and professional practice, at a post-intermediate level of English language competence.
English Language Accuracy and Academic Practice
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
The module aims are twofold: to enable you to further improve your language, and to provide further practice and development in your academic skills. In the language, you will extend your range of vocabulary and grammar structures and develop your formal accuracy. In the academic skills, you will work on tasks to develop your written and oral communication skills within the context of your own disciplines, and integrate reading and listening skills to these tasks.
Pre-requisite - You will not have English as your first language
English Language Teaching 2B
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module will focus primarily on lesson planning and teaching practice. Plenary sessions will cover the evaluation, selection and use of published teaching materials and the principles of lesson and module planning, as well as addressing key issues in teaching and learning arising from their classes. You will be required to reflect on and critically evaluate their own classroom practice and that of their peers.
Ethnography of the Middle East and Central Asia
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
Europe in the International Economic Order
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module introduces you to main developments in the world economy and its governance arrangements since 1945 as they affect Europe, including its relations with the US and the developing world. Debates on globalisation, the role of multinational firms and the role of the World Trade Organisation will be covered, and we will follow the evolving international financial crisis.
Everyday Life: Ordinary and Extraordinary (E)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
Everyday life is something we take for granted. The phrase tends to refer to the ordinary and unremarkable, to the bedrock activities constitutive of how we live but which are often regarded as tedious or a chore. This module opens up this notion offering an understanding of the everyday as simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary, localised and tied into the bigger dynamics of capitalism and globalisation.
Introducing you to the interdisciplinary perspectives of cultural studies, you will explore everyday life through a series of case studies. These may include dressing or exercising the body, food, car culture, 'going green', love, 'living through media', and shopping. Each case study variously explores the historical development of everyday life, its textures and experiences, hardships and highs. If the emphasis is so-called modern everyday life in the rich global north, you will be encouraged to understand the ways our everyday life is tied to and impacts on the everyday lives of those in the much poorer global south.
Emphasis is placed on the ways everyday life practices may be conservative (reproducing gender relations for example) or utopian – in their creativity suggesting other ways of living beyond the constraints of neoliberal capitalism. What happens in the everyday – its struggles and its changes – is integral to a bigger global politics.
This module gives you opportunity to reflect on your own lives and those of others. It encourages you to develop an anthropological eye and feel for the details of everyday life, to collect media and other material that speaks about everyday life, and above all to be self-reflective and critical about the specificity of your own ways of doing things. Assessment is through an illustrated learning diary, which allows you to demonstrate your creative as well as academic skills.
French Advanced B
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module is designed for students who have completed and advanced A module.
The module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in French, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in French, using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- consolidate and develop the range of complex structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary of French to allow further accuracy and control in use
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, political and/or cultural background of French and the Francophone world through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, eg text, audio, audiovisual, digital.
Successful completion of the course is equivalent to level B2 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
French Advanced B (B)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This Stage 6 module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with some autonomy in the target language (TL) at level B1+ (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
Building on existing levels of proficiency at level the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- consolidate and develop the range of complex TL language structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary to allow further accuracy and control in use of the TL
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media – eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Your classes will consist of a variety of activities to develop your practical skill in all four communicative competencies (SLRW), and to encourage autonomous use of the TL. These will include presentations and discussion, text handling and writing activities, such as summarising and reporting, based on themes, grammatical structures and language skills.
Working individually and in groups, you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding of TL countries, society, and community through both authentic and specially prepared textual and audio-visual materials. In this module you will have the opportunity to focus on a topic of special interest to you.
Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study, and will make use of Study Direct and other technologies.
This module is at level B1+-B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
French for Professional Purposes 2B
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module is designed for advanced learners who have completed Advanced for Professional Purposes 2A.
Building on existing levels of proficiency, this module aims to:
- enable you to understand the main ideas and detail within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in French with fluency, confidence and spontaneity in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a range of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in French using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a proficient level
- consolidate and develop the range of complex structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary in French to allow consistent accuracy and control in use
- facilitate the analysis of important aspects of the general social and cultural background of the language in a professional context through a variety of contextualised activities and materials in a range of media, eg text, audio, audiovisual, and digital.
Your classes will consist of a variety of activities to develop your practical skill in all four communicative competencies (speaking, listening, reading and writing) and to promote autonomous use of French. These will include subject-specific presentations and discussion, text-handling and analysis, writing activities such as letter-writing, summarising and reporting, based on themes, grammatical structures and language skills.
Working individually and in groups, you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding of Francophone countries, society, and community through both authentic and specially prepared textual and audiovisual materials. In this module you will have the opportunity to specialise and report on professional matters or on topics in your field of expertise.
Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study, and will make use of Study Direct and other technologies.
This module is at level B2-C1 (Independent-Proficient User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
French for Professional Purposes 2B (B)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This Stage 8 module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with autonomy in the target language (TL) at level B2 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
Building on existing levels of proficiency the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas and detail within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a range of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a proficient level
- consolidate and develop the range of complex TL language structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary to allow consistent accuracy and control in use of the TL
- facilitate the analysis of important aspects of the general social and cultural background of the language in a professional context, through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media – eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Your classes will consist of a variety of activities to develop your practical skill in all four communicative competencies (SLRW), and to promote autonomous use of the TL. These will include subject-specific presentations and discussion, text handling and analysis, writing activities, such as letter-writing, summarising and reporting, based on themes, grammatical structures and language skills. Working individually and in groups, you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding of TL countries, society, and community through both authentic and specially prepared textual and audio-visual materials. In this module you will have the opportunity to specialise and report on professional matters or on topics in your field of expertise.
Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study, and will make use of Study Direct and other technologies.
This module is at level B2-C1 (Independent-Proficient User) of the CEFR for languages.
French Intermediate B
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
From Quarks to the Cosmos
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This elective provides an overview of state-of-the-art research in fundamental physics for non-physicists, covering:
- Physics of the quantum world
- Particle physics and the search for the fundamental constituents of matter
- Cosmology and the large-scale structure of our world
- The quest for the fundamental forces of nature.
The elective is non-mathematical and suitable for non-scientists as well as scientists from other disciplines.
Gender Across Cultures
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module focuses on the centrality of gender as a factor structuring, ultimately, all social relations.
The module will therefore explore:
1. Relationships between men and women, men and men, women and women, as personal and sexual relations, within the household, the labour market, the state
2. How gender relations and practices are performed in different cultures
3. The role of gender in processes of social transformation
4. The impact of industrialisation and migration on gender relations
Gender and the Life Course
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
Students taking this elective will learn to think critically about inequalities in our societies as they emerge across the life course, especially those relating to gender. Through engaging with key moments in the life course (including birth and the ascription of gender identity; childhood and education; sexual reproduction, parenting and families; paid and unpaid work; illness and health; old age) students will build on their own experiences and observations to develop new perspectives and insights on this key issue in contemporary society.
Throughout the module, we will explore key theoretical frameworks as well as a series of concrete cases and problems in which researchers apply such theories to gender issues in social policy, health, education and psychology. By the end of the module you should have gained an understanding of gender and the concept of inequality and be able to provide critical accounts of the links between gendered social relations, cultural settings and individual behaviour and experiences.
Gender, Space and Culture (E)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
Gender: Rethinking Politics
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module interrogates how an understanding of gender helps us ask critical questions about the spaces and practices of politics, indeed about the nature and emergence of ‘the political’. In order to achieve this, it examines a number of theories of gender, including:
- biological
- psychological
- social constructivist.
Moreover, it surveys the historical evolution of feminism as critical theory and practice and the theorization of masculinity.
From such theoretical bases it then examines the gendered nature of central political institutions, such as:
- ‘the state’
- law
- democracy
- citizenship
as well as political practices:
- war
- security
- the extension of human rights
- development.
This module is assessed by a 3000-word essay.
German Advanced B
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This stage 6 advanced module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with some autonomy in the target language (TL). Building on existing levels of proficiency at level B1 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- consolidate and develop the range of complex TL language structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary to allow further accuracy and control in use of the TL
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media – eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
German Intermediate B
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
You will be introduced to more complex grammatical structures. You will improve grammatical accuracy, oral and written fluency, lexis, and listening and reading comprehension through the study of a variety of topics and integrated grammar. There is an emphasis on the summarising and handling of authentic texts and a chance to study the literature, culture and society of Germany.
Global History 1500-2000: Trade, Science, Environment and Empire
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
Global history has emerged as an innovative and powerful approach to understanding the past and its implications for the present and future. Global history is a history of connections. It addresses the contexts and the structures through which societies and communities interacted with one another. The overarching theme of global history is the emergence of an ever-more integrated global society, but the field looks to explain and understand particular circumtances as well as universal experiences.
The topics of global history transcend any particular national or local history. You study a theme for between two and three weeks, and lectures support the thematic concerns of the topics. The module looks at several topics in detail:
- communication and war
- race, slavery and anti-slavery
- colonial encounters and environments
- civil and human rights
- global order and disorder
- empire, science, trade and environment.
Alongside these themes the course addresses particular questions such as the emergence of the 'great divergence': the widening gap in the 19th century between living standards in the Atlantic basin and those in the rest of the world and the global expansion of European empires.
Global Politics of the Environment
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
The question of whether current forms of economic and political organisation in international society are capable of responding to the challenge of sustainable development is more pertinent than ever before. Questions are being asked about how development can be redefined to accommodate ecological challenges or whether we need to fundamentally rethink notions of growth and progress.
This module takes a critical look at the actors and issues implicated in the emerging global debate on sustainable development. It engages with competing theoretical perspectives about the drivers of environmental change and how best to explain the nature of international cooperation on the environment and its limits, but also aims to provide you with a detailed understanding of the defining issues and tensions that constitute the struggle to define future notions of development.
The module will address empirical case studies such as climate change, biodiversity and biotechnology and deforestation, as well as the relationship between trade and the environment, finance and the environment and production and the environment in a context of globalisation. You will gain an understanding of the key actors in these debates from governments and international institutions to civil society organisations and corporations and the ways their power and influence can best be understood.
The module begins with an overview of the shifting nature of the relationship between environment and development in world politics before looking at the key actors in global debates about sustainable development. From there it sets out a range of theoretical tools for understanding the global politics of these issues, before focusing in on a range of issue areas (listed above). It concludes with reflection on prospects for change and the viability of alternative proposals for better addressing the environment and development in world politics.
Historical Controversy
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
Inter-cultural Encounters
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module seeks to promote cultural awareness and intercultural comprehension. You will define what is meant by 'culture' and analyse your own cultural backgrounds and attitudes. You will consider how and why cultural characteristics arise and whether generalisations (such as national or cultural stereotypes) are ever valid. In particular you will reflect upon the ways in which culture and language are linked, and on how cultural values and attitudes are encoded in language. You will sample various theoretical approaches to these issues by way of original lectures, prepared seminar questions, academic essays and a range of audiovisual sources.
International Human Resource Management (Elective)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
The purpose of this module is to introduce students to an analytical and critical approach to international aspects of HRM. Therefore, the module will examine inter alia: how power and politics are implicated in the internal dynamics of multinational corporations, how the ‘ideal worker’ as construed by strategic IHRM practices informs the expectations from workers, and if corporate social responsibility can possibly suffice to ensure a fair employment relationship in the absence of a transnational regulator.
Topics include:
- Introduction to the Course and Overview
- Comparative Human Resource Management: Convergence or Resilient Differences?
- International Human Resource Management Strategy: Global Integration vs. Local Responsiveness
- Managing Across Borders I: Culture’s Consequences
- Managing Across Borders II: Global Staffing and International Assignments
- Global Talent Management
- Institutions, Actors and Micropolitics
- IHRM and Organizational Flux: Mergers, Acquisitions and Offshoring
- Gender and IHRM
- Global Diversity Management
- Global Labour Regulation, Corporate Social Responsibility and IHRM
- Summary and Review
Introduction to Energy Transitions
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
Introduction to English Language Teaching and Learning
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module will provide you with an introduction to the social, political, linguistic and pedagogic issues involved in English language teaching and learning, and will explore the principles and practice of a range of methods and approaches.
Introduction to the European Union
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module will provide an introduction to the origins, institutions and main policies of the European Union, including the introduction of European citizenship and attempts by EU institutions to forge a European identity.
Issues in Global Cinema E
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module looks at international film of the last five decades. A range of films will be studied in order to explore: genre and art cinema; post-colonialism and political cinema; gender and feminist cinema; and globalisation and popular cinema.
We will study important movements in post-war film culture, including Third Cinema from Brazil and political cinema from Senegal. We will address the relationship between gender, history, allegory and national cinema (examples may include films from Tunisia, Iran and Argentina). We will also examine the aesthetics and economics of the blockbuster in a global film culture (case studies may include contemporary films from South Korea, China, India and Australia).
Italian Intermediate B
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
Japanese Advanced B
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This stage 6 advanced module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with some autonomy in the target language (TL). Building on existing levels of proficiency at level B1 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- consolidate and develop the range of complex TL language structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary to allow further accuracy and control in use of the TL
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media, e.g. text; audio; audio-visual; digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Japanese Intermediate B
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module will build on the skills and structures studied in part 2A, aiming to improve elementary/intermediate skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening. You study Japanese characters in more depth and grammatical functions are studied in greater detail in this part. Essential elements of cultural awareness in Japanese society are studied within the framework of the language module and using authentic materials.
Knowledge and Society; Education, Identity and The (late) Modern State
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module forms part of the Education Pathway and allows you to critically engage through a variety of theoretical perspectives with the development of institutionalised education in modern times. It explores how this is associated with the forging of the nation state. It uses the English state as an example, indicating how this was underpinned initially by the ideals of Western Enlightenment thought, and latterly by neoliberal ideologies and the increasing imperative in contemporary globalised societies for education to serve economic ends. It effectively traces the move from a welfare to a post-welfare state and notes how these different formations were contextualised by imperialism, industrialisation and latterly by globalised economic relations of exchange and competition. This leads to questions about the positioning of education as a state institution within these different political and moral economies.
In particular the module introduces a range of social theorists to consider education in post-welfare societies, addressing both contexts of schooling and higher education. It takes a particular interest in the problematic relationship of institutionalised education and issues of social justice and equity across different education sectors from primary through to higher education. This includes an introduction to the equation of rationality with bourgeois masculinity, enabling a critical understanding of how other identities are often excluded within modern thought, producing deficit accounts of black, female and working class subjects. Reversing this pathological gaze, the module explores the reproduction of gender, race and social class inequalities in contemporary education systems in terms of power relations and the vested interests at stake in maintaining this account.
Indicative topics
- Education and the Modern State
- Education Policy and Politics
- Progressive Education and Social Reproduction
- The Politics of the Curriculum – the post-war social democratic consensus and its exclusion
- Structures of Knowledge – reason and its exclusions
- The politics of the curriculum – neoliberal instrumentalisms and the curriculum of the dead
- Education and the Economy
- Contemporary education and the reproduction of social inequalities: Intersections of race, class and gender.
- The reconstruction of initial teacher education and its knowledge structure
- Widening participation, meritocracy and fair access to higher education
- Moral panics and absent presences: the construction of gender in schooling and higher education
- Education and citizenship – revisiting the relationship of education and the nation state
Language, Mind and Brain
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module focuses on linguistic ability as a unique quality of humans. How does human language differ from animal communication systems? How is the human body, particularly the brain, adapted for language? Is language a special kind of cognition, or the product of general higher cognitive abilities?
We further investigate how humans understand and produce speech in such a speedy and efficient way, using a variety of evidence to evaluate theories of how the mind is structured for speech. We'll ask questions like: How are words stored in the mind so that we can find them? Why are grammatical sentences like 'The horse raced past the barn fell' actually very difficult to comprehend? Why are words sometimes 'on the tip of the tongue'?
Music and Site Specific Art (E)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This is a practice-based module that will engage you in the making of site-specific performance in public spaces. You will explore through lectures and practical workshops the relation of space, place and sound, and the social meanings of specific locations. The module will examine a range of contemporary artistic approaches and theoretical ideas, as well as introducing you to practical methods for making site-specific work with music.
Narrating Lives: Theory and Practice
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module will explore contemporary cultural practice and history-telling. You will analyse classic and contemporary true lives in historical context and as they have been discovered, interpreted, shaped and debated.
You will explore:
- autobiographies
- biographies
- letters
- diaries
- audio/visual portraits
- digital lives
- microhistories, and
- oral histories
through themes of:
- self
- identity
- agency
- memory
- time
- secrets
- truth
- inheritance
- narrative, and
- ethics.
We look especially at how to relate an individual to collective story, at narrative elements of selfhood and at the art of non fiction. We will be locating life narratives in their specific historical periods and within a sense of the evolution of self-writing.
These themes are introduced in historical perspective, from the rise of life writing in the 17th century to today’s interest in stories of turning points and traumas. We will consider the effects of philosophical scepticism about self and identity on the representation of individual lives, and new paradigms that consider the self as formed through relationships with others. We will also explore the autobiography and discuss the social uses of life narrative, from legal testimony to medical case history, and the pervasive ethical dilemmas that arise from a form of narrative that is so often implicated in personal relationship.
Module texts may include Aubrey’s Brief Lives, 18th century criminal mugshots, Virginia Woolf’s Moments of Being, 19th century working class autobiography, excerpts from Mass Observation diaries in the University’s Special Collections as well as recent classics, such as Jenny Diski’s Skating to Antarctica, Gillian Wearing’s video portraits, Grayson Perry’s portrait pots, the online game Second Life, the digital resource London Lives and oral history collections at The British Library.
The module will include opportunities to produce and discuss one’s own life narrative, whether in autobiographical or biographical mode, or a mix of the two, as part of the creative exercise to be submitted in a portfolio at the end of the module. You may choose to do this in written form, or to explore edited or curated letters or diaries, oral historical interview, portraiture or digital representation, within the technological capacities available. This creative exercise will allow further exploring, through practice, the challenges of narrating and interpreting lives including the historiographical, ethical and formal demands involved, as well as the contracts involved in producing and consuming autobiography, biography and other life narrative genres.
Objects of Art
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module introduces you to a vital skill in the analysis and understanding of art history: how to engage with a single work of art or piece of material culture in great detail.
Each lecture is based on very specific object – for example, a picture, a sculpture, a photograph, or a piece of ceramics – and builds outwards from them. You will consider a series of key issues, including the materials used, the subject represented, decisions made by the producer of the object, the different contexts in which it has been displayed, the functions it may have performed, and questions of meaning.
Perspectives on Global English
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This elective module addresses current issues concerning the spread and use of English in various forms and for diverse purposes around the world. The increasingly international profile of the language, its learners and teachers are reflected in higher education, business and research, and raises challenging questions. Linguistic issues of standards, variation and models are considered, as well as more sociocultural aspects relating to language and identity, lingua franca communication, multilingualism, intercultural competence, technology and language education policy.
Philosophy of Science
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
The philosophy of science explores, among other things, the distinctive character of scientific investigation and of how science progresses, the nature of scientific explanation, laws and evidence, and realism/anti-realism about the entities posited by scientific theories. This module will introduce you to these issues and some of the central arguments involved. It will also explore notions integral to science and the study of it: evidence, induction, falsification, underdetermination, evolution, and different conceptions of space and time.
Philosophy, Politics and the Middle East
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
Contemporary Middle Eastern politics raises many intricate philosophical questions. The aim of this course is to address some of them. Topics to be studied include:
- jihad and just war theory
- liberalism vs Islam
- democracy and freedom of speech
- freedom of belief
- what, if anything, is wrong with extremist beliefs?
- what, if anything, is wrong with conspiracy theories?
- democracy and religion
- patriotism and personal identity
- the ethics of immigration.
Postcolonial Africa
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
The module explores debates over key postcolonial political, economic and sociocultural dynamics in sub-Saharan Africa. It encourages you to think critically about dominant representations of the subcontinent in the West, and to understand different, often conflicting accounts of postcolonial continuities and transformations.
Topics include debates over some of the following:
- the character of the postcolonial state and governance, nationalism and ethnicity
- borders
- the politics of land and natural resources
- processes of urbanisation
- mobility and new forms of transnational connection between Africa, Europe and China.
Psychology Now: Contemporary Approaches to Understanding Behaviour
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module introduces you to a wide range of research themes in contemporary psychology. Internationally recognised researchers will help you learn about work at the cutting edge of this dynamically changing discipline, covering topics such as the psychology of gender differences, the effects of drugs on our thinking and behaviour, the mechanisms involved in hypnosis, and the role of psychology in environmental issues.
You will evaluate diverse approaches to understanding human behaviour, from comparative perspectives that help us revisit assumptions about the human-animal divide, through to social psychological explanations of why we interact with other people in the ways that we do. This module does not require any prior knowledge of psychology – all are welcome.
Punishment and Penology
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module will examine both the theory and practice of punishment, and will encourage you to take a critical approach to analysing these. The focus will mainly be on England and Wales, but comparison will be drawn with other countries, such as those in Europe, North America and Australasia, where relevant.
After exploring a range of theoretical approaches in relation to the justifications for and purposes of punishment, you will consider a range of empirical examples. The latter will be largely contemporary, but historical examples will also be used.
Topics will include:
- justifications for punishment
- Durkhemian, Marxist and Foucauldian perspectives on punishment
- Garland's (2001) culture of control and the new penology (Feeley and Simon, 1992)
- contemporary imprisonment
- women in prison
- children and young people in custody
- immigration detention centres
- alternatives to imprisonment
- radical critiques, such as abolitionism and feminist jurisprudence.
Society, State and Humanity
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
The module surveys a number of fundamental answers given by Western thinkers to the question 'what is society?', exploring them in conjunction with answers to the questions 'what is the state?' and 'what is a human being?'. There will be a particular focus on the question of whether humans can be said to exist prior to society or only as constituted by it. Conceptions of society, state and humanity studied may include those of Plato, Aristotle, St. Paul, Hobbes, Smith, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Durkheim, Freud, and feminist and postmodern critiques of these.
Please note: this module has some overlap in content with the second year module 'Modern Political Thought', which is a core module for students studying Politics.
Spanish Advanced B
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module is designed for students who have completed and advanced A module.
The module aims to:
- enable you to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in Spanish with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in Spanish using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- consolidate and develop the range of the complex structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary in Spanish to allow further accuracy and control in use
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials in a range of media, eg text, audio, audiovisual, digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level B2 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Spanish Advanced B (B)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This Stage 6 module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with some autonomy in the target language (TL) at level B1+ (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
Building on existing levels of proficiency at level the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with increasing fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at an advanced level
- consolidate and develop the range of complex TL language structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary to allow further accuracy and control in use of the TL
- facilitate the analysis of some aspects of the general social, political and/or cultural background of the language through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media – eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Your classes will consist of a variety of activities to develop your practical skill in all four communicative competencies (SLRW), and to encourage autonomous use of the TL. These will include presentations and discussion, text handling and writing activities, such as summarising and reporting, based on themes, grammatical structures and language skills. Working individually and in groups, you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding of TL countries, society, and community through both authentic and specially prepared textual and audio-visual materials. In this module you will have the opportunity to focus on a topic of special interest to you.
Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study, and will make use of Study Direct and other technologies.
This module is at level B1+-B2 (Independent User) of the CEFR for languages.
Spanish for Professional Purposes 2B
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module is designed for advanced learners who have completed Advanced for Professional Purposes 2A.
Building on existing levels of proficiency the module aims to:
- enable you to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in Spanish with fluency, confidence and spontaneity in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a range of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in Spanish using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a proficient level
- consolidate and develop the range of complex structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary in Spanish to allow consistent accuracy and control in use
- facilitate the analysis of important aspects of the general social and cultural background of the language in a professional context through a variety of contextualised activities and materials in a range of media, eg text, audio, audiovisual, and digital.
Your classes will consist of a variety of activities to develop your practical skill in all four communicative competencies (speaking, learning, reading and writing) and to encourage autonomous use of Spanish. These will include subject-specific presentations and discussion, text-handling and analysis, writing activities such as letter-writing, summarising and reporting.
Working individually and in groups, you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding of Spanish-speaking countries, society, and communities through both authentic and specially prepared textual and audiovisual materials. In this module you will have the opportunity to focus on your employment profile and/or workplace simulation activities.
Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study, and will make use of Study Direct and other technologies.
This module is at level B2 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Spanish for Professional Purposes 2B (B)
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This Stage 8 module is for students who have already acquired the capacity to function with autonomy in the target language (TL) at level B2 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
Building on existing levels of proficiency the module aims to:
- enable students to understand the main ideas within extended discourse and to communicate effectively in the TL, with fluency, confidence and spontaneity, in a variety of contexts
- provide opportunities, across a range of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in the TL using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a proficient level
- consolidate and develop the range of complex TL language structures, syntax, and specialised vocabulary to allow consistent accuracy and control in use of the TL
- facilitate the analysis of important aspects of the general social and cultural background of the language in a professional context, through a variety of contextualised activities and materials, in a range of media – eg text, audio, audio-visual, digital.
Your classes will consist of a variety of activities to develop your practical skill in all four communicative competencies (SLRW) and to promote autonomous use of the TL. These will include subject-specific presentations and discussion, text handling and analysis, writing activities, such as letter-writing, summarising and reporting, based on themes, grammatical structures and language skills. Working individually and in groups, you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and understanding of TL countries, society, and community through both authentic and specially prepared textual and audio-visual materials. In this module you will have the opportunity to specialise and report on professional matters or on topics in your field of expertise.
Seminar activities are complemented by guided independent study, and will make use of Study Direct and other technologies.
This module is at level B2-C1 (Independent-Proficient User) of the CEFR for languages.
Spanish Intermediate B
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module is desigend for intermediate learners who have completed an intermediate A module
The module aims to:
- enable you to understand key information and to communicate effectively in Spanish, sometimes spontaneously, in less routine situations at a standard level
- provide opportunities, across a variety of topics, for practice of understanding and communication in Spanish using the four language skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing, at a standard level
- consolidate and develop the range of key elements of the structures, vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation of Spanish, to allow continued progression
- present the background culture and society of the Spanish-speaking world through a variety of contextualised activities and materials in a range of media, eg text, audio, audiovisual, and digital.
Successful completion of the module is equivalent to level B1 (Independent User) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
The Anthropology of Sexuality
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
The module will familiarise you with anthropological work on sexuality, and will develop your understanding of this in respect to themes such as gender, health, heteronormativity and social change. The module will examine the history of sexuality as a contested subject within anthropology, and also in terms of new and emerging scholarship in the field. In particular the module will seek to widen your understanding of sexuality as implicated in a wide range of social issues – beyond the biology of sexuality per se, and as relevant to core anthropological/social scientific concepts, such as culture, kinship, globalisation and political economy.
Teaching will be organised in respect of the following subject matter:
- 1. Sex, Sexuality and Anthropology
- This section will examine key themes and module content, eg social constructionism and sexuality, emphasis on and denial of sexuality in anthropology, and the history of sexuality.
- 2. Researching the Sexual
- This section will locate anthropological debates on sexuality within wider research. The section will cover critical sexuality studies and research methods.
- 3. Sexuality, Subjectivity and Embodiment
- You will be introduced to theories of sexual identity and sexual acts. You will learn about phenomenology and theories of sexual subjectivity, exploring ways of conceptually engaging with ‘the body’ and ‘the sexual’.
- 4. Sexuality, Globalisation and Neo-liberalism
- You will explore sexuality as associated with modernity and social changes and will consider why changes in socio-sexual values are so accented in studies of globalisation. Associations between sexual individualism and modernity will be questioned.
- 5. Development and Sexual Rights
- The promotion of sexuality in development work will be explored, as connected to gender and development and feminism. International mechanisms for the promotion of sexual rights will be critically explored with an emphasis on women’s sexualities as subjects of development discourses and an examination of ‘sex workers’ rights’.
- 6. Governance, Bio-politics and Sexuality
- This section will consider sexualities as linked to forms of surveillance in society both new and old. You will examine sexuality as related to moral control and ‘technologies of self’.
- 7. Sexuality, Kinship and Care
- This section will examine intimate connections between, and transgressions beyond, kinship and sexuality. We will consider whether anthropology has tended to ignore sexuality in favour of kinship. You will examine ‘non-heteronormative’ analyses of kinship and their implications for anthropological theories of care and relatedness.
- 8. Same-sex sexualities
- You will examine ethnographic material pertaining to the study of same-sex sexual subjectivities and practices and will consider the broader relevance of this literature. We will explore new discourses of homophobia (eg in Uganda) along with new and positive changes in laws and rights pertaining to same-sex sexualities globally.
- 9. Religion, Morality and Sexuality
- This section will examine the relationship between sexuality and moral crises in past and contemporary societies, particularly those associated with religious belief. You will examine ways in which normative and ‘alternative’ sexualities have complex relations to practical contexts of religious morality.
- 10. Media, sexuality, and social change
- This final section will ask whether globalising and democratising media are changing attitudes toward sexualities. You will examine whether exploring and charting changes in beliefs and attitudes regarding sexuality may offer wider and productive insights into the enduring and changing characteristic of cultures and societies.
The Far Right and the Politics of Immigration
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module explores the far right and the increasingly contested politics of immigration in liberal democracies. The module begins by looking at the rise of the far right political parties in contemporary Europe and their relationship to public opinion, mainstream parties and immigration policies. It then examines a number of cases including countries in which the far right has been more and less successful. You will gain an understanding of the causes and consequences of the rise of far right parties and an understanding of their impact on immigration politics and policies.
The Look of America
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module takes as its premise the notion that ever since the explosion of mass media and mass society in the industrial age, the United States has taken an increasingly dominant place in the global visual imagination. This process reached its peak at the beginning of the 20th century, America henceforth generating for the world innumerable iconic and hegemonic visual representations of its own cultural narratives.
The task of the module will be to investigate and deconstruct some of the products of this visual field, along with the ideologies and narratives that sustain and refract them. Hence we begin by introducting you to visual theory, especially as it applies to the American context, and provide you with the critical tools necessary for the module. We then locate the period under scrutiny (1860-2001) within a broader visual and cultural prehistory, illuminating the roots of the modern world and its visual scene. After this, the module concentrates more particularly on the culture of the late-19th and 20th centuries.
Following a more or less thematic pattern, the module examines the issues that emerge over the course of the 20th century, referring forwards and backwards in order to generate connections where appropriate (for example, linking the Farm Security Administration projects to Matthew Brady's Civil War photographs). The intention here is to introduce you to aspects of visual culture and its criticism, as well as to defamiliarise and explore some of the more familiar American iconography surrounding us.
The Transformation of Contemporary Europe
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This module examines the changes in the political and economic systems of Europe, East and West, since 1945, with particular reference to the impact of the Cold War and its aftermath.
Understanding Education: UK, European and Global Perspectives
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
Understanding Global Migration
15 credits
Year 2, Term 2
This interdisciplinary module focuses on the profound impact of human migration on the world we live in. You explore a range of geographical, economic, political, social and cultural issues surrounding migration. The module introduces the key theories, concepts and ideas used to define and understand migration, and covers the main types, causes and consequences of migration. Following a roughly chronological sequence in order to foster a sense of historical continuity and change, you covers topics such as labour migration, refugees, irregular migration, integration and exclusion, migration and development, and the impact of gender on the migration process.
On most single-honours courses, you may choose to study a pathway – a coherent programme of study in a single subject – taking up 25 per cent of your time in Years 1 and 2 of your course. Once you have successfully completed a pathway, this is recorded on your degree certificate, allowing you to stand out from the crowd.
Pathways are delivered over the first two years of a course so you can explore your interests early on in your studies, while allowing you to focus on your core subject in the final year.
Pathways do not have specific entry requirements and are open to students on most single-honours courses, unless professional-body requirements do not provide sufficient space in the curriculum.
- American Studies Pathway
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This pathway introduces you to key topics in American studies. You gain in-depth knowledge of African-American history and American visual culture. You also analyse the complex ways in which Americans define their racial and cultural identities. You have the opportunity to study New York City in an interdisciplinary manner, ‘reading’ the city as a site of politics, art, music and literature.
To learn how to 'do' American studies is to gain experience in working with scholarly materials in an interdisciplinary way. You might study both the history of slavery and the Black Power movement; or read American visual culture by analysing Andy Warhol's silkscreens, Dorothea Lange's photographs of migrant workers, and the iconography of the Brooklyn Bridge. This pattern, combining depth and diversity of intellectual interests, recognises that areas of knowledge are interdependent and mutually illuminating.
What will I achieve?
This pathway ensures that you become aware, critically, of how film speaks to music speaks to poetry speaks to history. With this in mind, you learn to interpret American literary and historical texts, images, and film rigorously and sensitively, all the while sharpening your ability to communicate orally and in writing with your peers and tutors.
- Anthropology Pathway (starts in September 2015)
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This pathway familiarises you with anthropological studies of societies around the world – from Africa and Asia to Latin America and Europe. It introduces you to anthropological debates concerning exchange, religion and ritual, and everyday culture and performance. You gain expertise in understanding similarities and differences between human societies, and learn how to critically analyse social practices, norms and values. You join a vibrant community of anthropologists who are engaged in research and public debates about real-world problems.
What will I achieve?
In following the pathway you will achieve a substantial understanding of theoretical debates in Anthropology and be familiar with a range of anthropological perspectives on culture and society. You will have knowledge of some of the core fields of the discipline as well as its main methodological approach of ethnographic field research. You will also be equipped to make sense of contemporary processes of social transformation, and obtain a range of transferable skills, including critical thinking/analysis and personal questioning of current social issues and debates.
Career paths
The pathway will enhance your employability by introducing you to a core social science and enhancing your ability for critical thought and analytical skills that are transferable to a range of employment contexts. The pathway will not only provide candidates with empirical knowledge of a number of regions around the world, but also with a critical understanding of social and cultural differences, and with the ability to apply such understanding in particular employment contexts. You may want to go on to a career in international NGOs, charities, policy-making and the media, or pursue postgraduate study in anthropology (e.g. the MA Social Anthropology of the Global Economy at Sussex).
- Art and Heritage Pathway (starts in September 2015)
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This pathway focuses on the objects, monuments and institutions that make up cultural heritage, and considers the issues in presenting and exhibiting heritage. It looks at material from the past and also at relatively recent objects and monuments. Heritage now occupies a significant part of our cultural industries and familiarity with the scope and problems of heritage increases your opportunities for employment in various aspects of the heritage industry.
- British Sign Language Pathway
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This pathway enables you to study BSL and Deaf Culture alongside your main discipline for up to six terms in many single honours degree programmes.
The pathway comprises two strands: for the BSL strand there are up to six stages of study – from Beginner to Advanced (A1 to B1+/B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference [CEFR]). All students will start at ab initio level and must begin in term 1 of year 1. Alongside this, for the second strand, you study aspects of Deaf culture, developing an awareness and greater understanding of the Deaf community. There will be opportunities to observe and engage with a local Deaf community and the final stage of the pathway will allow you to carry out a project in relation to British Sign Language and Deaf Culture, potentially also linked to your major discipline.
You are taught in small seminar groups by experienced users of the language. Each term you have two classes for four hours per week. Additionally, you study independently for an average of a further four to six hours per week. This may entail working in groups outside the classes to prepare for assessed coursework tasks. Thus you build close working relationships with other students as you progress in your pathway studies.
You practise, and are assessed on, your productive and receptive skills in BSL, and aspects of Deaf culture and theory. The course makes use of visual-medium resources on the virtual learning platform (Study Direct), and you are encouraged to make use of the Language Learning Centre and the Language Café.
What will I achieve?
In addition to learning to use and understand another language, you develop your communication skills and your intercultural awareness. An understanding of at least one other language also enriches your understanding of your first language and develops your confidence.
Career paths
Language competence is a transferable skill and knowledge of a language even at beginner level will enhance any employment profile. Students who have studied a language are confident communicators and valued by employers.
BSL has been a recognised language in the UK since 2003, serving a thriving and increasingly autonomous deaf community. Having an understanding of its culture, and a practical competence or proficiency in BSL will prepare graduates to communicate with this community within a diverse range of professional settings such as education, advocacy, social work, care, or policy, health, media, or international events. Additionally, the similarities between BSL and other signed languages offer a route of access to the international Deaf community.
- Business and Management Pathway (starts in September 2015)
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This pathway introduces you to the field of business and management vital to many careers today. You will gain a strong understanding of the business world, including the roles of key institutions, the variety of products and instruments, and the many risks faced daily by companies and individuals. You will learn to dissect business problems and implement practical solutions to help make decisions under uncertainty. You will also gain some perspective on the history of business and management, an ability to interpret and evaluate current business and management news and data, and their implications on the global economy.
The pathway focuses on a series of core modules to cover the fundamentals of business and management.
Career paths
An understanding of the business world is crucial to be successful in a variety of careers (eg banking, marketing research, public relations, sales). By taking this pathway you will be well equipped for a wide variety of careers in the business sector. In addition to the value of the general knowledge of how businesses run and operate, you will also develop transferable skills in problem solving and critical thinking, and the ability to construct, communicate and present rigorous arguments to evaluate ideas. Finally, additional skills in reading and understanding business news and data will further enhance your employability.
- Climate Change Pathway (starts in September 2015)
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Climate change represents a fundamental challenge for society this century. The reach of climate impacts will be felt within all facets of life from disaster preparedness, transport, agriculture, industry to health. This pathway provides a structured approach to the critical understanding of the causes of climate change and to how change will affect human society and the natural world in the future, giving you valuable skills and a knowledge base to enhance your future employability.
- Criminology Pathway
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This pathway – taught in the interdisciplinary School of Law, Politics and Sociology – introduces you to the main concepts and theories in criminology, including historical and contemporary perspectives. It enables you to ‘think like a criminologist’ in relation to important key themes and ideas. You learn about the structure of the criminal justice system and also address issues in relation to punishment, social control and deviance, together with a variety of contemporary criminological perspectives that explore the relationship between crime and society.
What will I achieve?
This pathway gives you a well-developed understanding of recent debates in criminology and a good overview of the type of research that criminologists carry out. In addition to equipping you with a sound knowledge of theories of crime and punishment and the workings of the criminal justice system, the pathway helps you develop a range of transferable skills, such as critical thinking and analysis, and teaches you how to bring a questioning perspective to significant social issues. During seminars, you learn how to work effectively with others during discussion and group presentations. You also learn to work independently and to plan your own work.
Career paths
The pathway is a great way to signal to employers that you are interested in careers in the criminal justice system (such as the police, probation work, prisons, youth justice). You may decide to pursue criminology at postgraduate level here at Sussex.
- Culture and Society Studies Pathway (starts in September 2015)
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This pathway offers you a chance to study contemporary culture in a changing, global world. You will learn about popular culture as well as high art, digital media and everyday life, community and behaviour. You will understand how power operates through culture and identities, including gender, ethnicity, class and sexuality, and the surprising ways that everything from taste to time are culturally constructed.
There are lots of chances to apply these to contemporary issues and we combine disciplinary frameworks so you can examine culture from different perspectives, whether humanities, social sciences, business or economics. Studying culture at Sussex is ideal for you if you wish to develop a critical, political understanding of the history and theory of culture, heritage, performance, policy and practice.
What will I achieve?
Through the use of learning activities such as case studies, observation, public speaking, visual and narrative methods, we equip you with relevant skills to work effectively with people, to critically analyse texts, images, performances and the world around you, and constructively narrate and curate your own interpretations. Most importantly, this pathway aims to help you develop confidence and imagination, areas which can help you maximise your potential as a cultural critic, interpreter, curator or maker.
Career paths
Understanding the social operation of culture is vital for working in a globalised, mediated world. This pathway allows you to gain complementary skills from an area that is outside your honours course, helping you become a more viable candidate in a competitive job market. Sussex Cultural Studies graduates have previously found employment in fields such as heritage, community development, arts administration, teaching, the creative industries, design, journalism, public relations, the charity and NGO sector and teaching.
- Economics Pathway (starts in September 2015)
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Following this pathway will give you a basic grounding in Economics to go alongside your major course. The focus will be on Microeconomics (concerning the behaviour of firms and individuals), starting with the basic theory before moving on later in the pathway to some applications. Your study will teach how to ‘think like an economist’ – focussing on the essentials of a problem and using a relevant economic model to analyse it. If you continue into the final year of the pathway you will apply your knowledge to global markets and find out about how the new field of behavioural economics provides new insights into everyday problems.
Please note that due to the time available to the pathway we do not cover Macroeconomics (issues such as inflation and unemployment).
What will I achieve?
Depending upon your major, this pathway can challenge the way in which you think about your own discipline and what it is saying about the world.
Career paths
The knowledge that you gain on this pathway might prove useful in your future career, even if that is based around your major subject. Economic concepts, such as scarcity of resources and opportunity cost, can be applied to a wide range of phenomena.
- Education Pathway
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This pathway – offered by the School of Education and Social Work – provides a historical, political and theoretical background to current educational policy and practice in the UK. It introduces you to how curricula are constructed, and to how teaching, assessment and learner identity are framed by this. The pathway also critically looks at how schools and other educational institutions include and exclude particular groups of children and youth. Seminal educational theories and philosophies are discussed. The pathway allows you to follow, understand and critically assess what is happening at primary, secondary and tertiary level in the UK today and how you as a student have been and are affected by educational policy and practice.
The Department of Education at Sussex has been a pioneer of school-based teacher education and educational research for over 40 years. We continue to work closely with primary and secondary schools in the region through cutting-edge research and training programmes. Our provision was graded ‘outstanding’ in primary and ‘good’ in secondary in our 2014 Ofsted inspection. All this informs our scholarship and teaching, which foregrounds a social justice approach to education.
Our well-known professors and lecturers are also great teachers excited about offering this wide-ranging academic pathway relevant to undergraduate students from many disciplines and backgrounds.
What will I achieve?
This pathway provides you with knowledge and understanding of different education systems, the ability to discuss and critically assess policy and practice, to reflect on your own learning and to use research to back up your opinions.
Career paths
The Education Pathway helps you start your career in teaching at either primary or secondary level, in counselling, youth work, educational psychology or in educational environments such as charities, Children’s Services or Children’s Rights in the UK or overseas.
- English Language Teaching Pathway
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This pathway – offered by the Sussex Centre for Language Studies – provides a comprehensive and rigorous introduction to the principles of effective language teaching. You explore the principles of second language acquisition and gain a wide range of practical skills for teaching English to adults. You also receive valuable hands-on teaching experience in live classes with volunteer adult learners as an integral part of the pathway, working closely with your peers under the guidance of an experienced tutor to deliver a coherent series of lessons. Observation and feedback of both peers and experienced tutors within the Sussex Centre for Language Studies are key components of the pathway, providing an ongoing opportunity to relate theory to the realities of the classroom and facilitating reflective practice. In addition, you experience language learning from the learner’s perspective through a series of lessons in an unknown natural language delivered in the first term.
The pathway is taught by practising teachers and trainers in the Centre for Language Studies who, between them, have decades of experience teaching English in a wide range of contexts in the UK and overseas.
What will I achieve?
On successful completion of the pathway, you are eligible for the award of a widely recognised professional ELT qualification: the Trinity College London Level 5 Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (Trinity Cert TESOL). This is recognised by the British Council as an initial qualification for teaching for accredited language course providers in the UK, and is widely recognised overseas as evidence of competence to practise. It is a qualification typically required by organisations such as the British Council and International House for teaching in their affiliates overseas.
Career paths
This pathway will appeal to students with an interest in language and teaching, and a desire to work in a people-centred profession where opportunities for creativity and variety are almost limitless.
Professional training in ELT can lead to a number of career options. For many, their qualification provides a ‘licence to travel’, allowing them to travel to and work in destinations such as South America or the Far East. Others may seek employment as language teachers closer to home, or move into materials writing, ELT publishing or marketing. Alternatively, further experience and qualifications may lead to a career in teacher training or academic management.
- Finance Pathway (starts in September 2015)
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This pathway introduces you to the field of finance, the modern financial markets, and the core financial skills vital to many careers today. You will gain a strong understanding of the global financial markets, including the roles of key institutions, the variety of products or instruments, and the many risks faced daily by companies or individuals, as well as the important tools and quantitative techniques needed to manage such risks.
What will I achieve?
You will develop the ability to dissect complex finance problems and implement practical solutions to help make decisions under uncertainty, ranging from company financing or hedging to investment management or portfolio allocation. You will also gain some perspective on the history of finance, and an ability to interpret and evaluate current financial market news and data, including their implications on the global economy. Finally, you will gain transferable skills in problem solving and critical thinking, and the ability to construct, compare and present rigorous arguments to evaluate ideas or modeling frameworks.
Career paths
Knowledge of finance and an appreciation of financial risks is crucial to the successful operation and development of all companies in today’s highly interconnected business world. Students on this pathway will therefore be well equipped for a wide variety of careers both in the financial sector itself and in finance roles within other industries, as well as possible careers in regulatory bodies, governments or non-profit organisations.
- Film Studies Pathway (starts in September 2015)
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As one of the most pervasive and diverse of contemporary media, film provides a unique window onto all aspects of social life and enriches our understanding of global cultures, past and present. The pathway in Film Studies introduces you to a range of critical perspectives in cinematic study that will equip you with a well-rounded understanding of films – both past and present and from diverse cinematic cultures. You will be introduced to skills in textual analysis and film criticism and film texts from Hollywood, Britain and global cinema.
What will I achieve?
The pathway in Film Studies allows you to study this exciting and enduring medium from a variety of perspectives. You will engage with films from the US, Europe and various global cinemas, exploring diverse possibilities for film as an art form and as a cultural form. You will be able to interrogate, in depth, the relations between film texts, socio-cultural contexts and representational processes. This pathway will be of interest to students who are fascinated not just by the power and diversity of film as a medium but also by the intellectual challenges and rewards of film study at university level. You will also gain valuable experience of transferable skills in critical thinking and research within the framework of an academically coherent pathway of study.
Career paths
Whether as entertainment, art, documentary or propaganda, film has shaped how we see ourselves and others, and how we understand the world in which we live. A critical understanding of this highly influential medium is vital for anyone working in our contemporary mediated world. Coupled with the highly disciplined approach to learning within the subject, such flexibility of thought encourages students to develop imaginative yet focussed ways of negotiating problems that will prove an asset to a wide range of work-career paths. Recent graduates have taken up posts within such fields as PR, teaching, film festivals, film production companies and film promotions.
- Gender Studies Pathway (starts in September 2015)
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The pathway in gender studies brings the study of feminist/gender/queer theory together with a number of perspectives drawing upon the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, law and media and cultural studies. It looks at questions of power, politics, violence, representation, space and identity with a view to exploring issues of gender (in)equality and gender justice within different societies.
What will I achieve?
In following the pathway students will achieve a deep understanding of feminist/gender/queer theory and the ways in which this is applied in different spheres of the social sciences and arts and humanities. Students will learn about the regulation of gender relations through institutional and societal mechanisms and will gain insights into key areas of everyday life such as reproduction, childhood and education, parenting and families, sexual violence, body image, sex work, paid and unpaid work, illness and health and old age. Students will be encouraged to build upon their own experiences and observations to develop new perspectives on the issue of gender equality in contemporary societies.
Career paths
The pathway in gender studies is designed for those seeking to develop a research interest or a career in which issues of gender play an important role, and those who wish to explore a broad range of issues concerning gender. Graduates taking the pathway may wish to go on to careers as researchers, lawyers, activists, policy-makers, administrators and communications officers for charities and NGOs. Students may also go on to postgraduate studies at Sussex (such as the MA in Gender Studies).
- Human Rights Pathway (starts in September 2015)
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The Human Rights pathway will introduce you to the principles and practice of human rights in an international context. It examines how human rights are understood and promoted by different kinds of organisations, from social movements to international agencies like those of the United Nations. Applying these understandings to equality and non-discrimination, migration and health the pathway will explore the role of the state, law and people’s own sense of morality and justice at the local level, to enable students to understand how human rights work at the national and international levels. You will join a vibrant inter-disciplinary human rights research community that draws on faculty expertise from law, anthropology, international relations and social work/social care.
What will I achieve?
You will achieve a substantial understanding of key theoretical debates in the field of human rights, including children’s rights, women’s rights, the right to protest, minority rights, migrant rights, equality rights, the relationship between human rights and business and human rights and mass atrocity (genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity). You will achieve an advanced knowledge of the structure of the international human rights regime including the United Nations human rights monitoring system and regional systems (Africa and Europe). You will also acquire knowledge of the way that different disciplines research and analyze human rights, and be equipped with a range of transferable skills, including critical thinking/analysis and personal questioning of current social issues and debates.
Career paths
The pathway in Human Rights will enhance your employability by introducing you to a theme that is ubiquitous in contemporary national and international society. Not only will you be equipped with an advanced knowledge of human rights, but the inter-disciplinary nature of the pathway means that this knowledge could be applied in a wide variety of employment contexts including law, social care, business, local and national government, the charitable sector. The pathway will also provide an excellent basis for postgraduate study (e.g. MA Human Rights and LLM International Human Rights Law at Sussex).
- International Business Pathway
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This pathway aims to provide you with an understanding of the international business environment and to introduce strategies managers can use to seek opportunities and deal with challenges in overseas environments.
Sussex is a great place to study this pathway:
- our faculty in the field of international business are passionate about their subject and and highly research active
- our diverse student community acts as a practical laboratory for this pathway. Throughout your studies, you can apply concepts while communicating with others from different backgrounds and learn to adjust to cultural differences as a first step to becoming a successful international business manager
- our Library provides access to a wide variety of books, academic and non-academic journals, newspapers, magazines and online databases to help you gain a solid understanding of international business.
What will I achieve?
The global business content is continuously developing and this pathway aims to equip you with skills such as critical thinking, analysis and evaluation. You develop:
- qualitative skills from the analysis of specific country and company cases discussed during lectures and seminars
- quantitative skills from statistical analysis of data that can be used to showcase new trends and patterns.
Career paths
This pathway enables you to understand the vagaries of doing business in an international context. It exposes you to political and economic developments in international environments that pose opportunities and challenges for international business. It also enables you to understand differences in culture that act as barriers in communicating and negotiating with managers from foreign countries and firms.
Our graduates start their careers well equipped with knowledge about the global business context and can take informed decisions while working as managers in multinational companies, or as international entrepreneurs.
- International Education and Development Pathway (starts in September 2015)
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This pathway provides you with the knowledge to understand the issues faced by governments in the Global South in getting all children to access, stay in and learn in school, and in achieving through education the social and economic development of the individual, their families and society. It provides an excellent introduction to the major institutions that direct aid and influence policy and practice, such as UNESCO and the World Bank.
We look at how curricula are constructed and how this frames teaching and assessment as well as learner identity. We explore which group of children gain access to schools, which are ‘silently excluded’ and who drops out, such as girls, pastoralist children, those in extreme poverty, children with disabilities and those from linguistic and ethnic minorities. The final module looks at the role of education in conflict and post-conflict affected regions and countries.
These modules are assessed via a Portfolio, Learning Diary, Policy Brief and Essay.
On this pathway, you will explore the difference education can make to individuals, their families and their societies, and the national and international structures that can prevent or contribute to education. You will also gain skills in analysing and interpreting statistics, tables and figures central to education in developing countries; the ability to present, argue and collaborate with students from different disciplines; and the ability to write in forms other than essays, such as policy briefs and concept notes.
Career Paths
The International Education & Development pathway supports students who may wish to work in teaching at either primary or secondary level in the UK, perhaps with the aim of gaining productive skills that can be transferred to Global South contexts; who would like to work in educational environments, such as charities, international NGOs (e.g. Save the Children or Oxfam), Children’s Services or Children’s Rights in the UK or overseas; or who want work in politics and policy-making around education and development in the Global South.
- International Relations Pathway (starts in September 2015)
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The pathway in International Relations is an ideal complement to undergraduate studies in all disciplines, particularly those that have or would benefit from a global dimension, most notably business studies, social sciences and humanities. The pathway offers a cross-disciplinary introduction to world politics and global affairs. It covers a full range of analytical approaches that help us make sense of the world and understand better the challenges and opportunities of global politics.
The department of International Relations is recognised for the quality of its research in the recent Research Excellence Framework. Its scholars generate innovative research on a range of highly relevant topics such as the politics of debt and the international political economy, the role of religion in world politics, the dilemmas of armed interventions and contemporary warfare, the role of international organisations in global governance, the power of social movements and many more.
What will I achieve?
By taking this pathway you will gain knowledge about current international affairs and understand the major concepts of international relations such as power, the international system, hegemony, conflict and cooperation, globalisation, development and sustainability, international political economy, intervention and war, peace and security. You will be able to identify and understand the workings of key actors like states, the UN and other international organisations, non-governmental organisations and other non-state actors. You will also understand the opportunities and risks associated with globalisation and its effects on all aspects of our daily life.
Career paths
This pathway will prepare you for employment in any area of global affairs whether in business, the media, international organisations, charity organizations, the civil service among many others. It will give you the knowledge and skills to understand the complexities of the global economy, and of world politics and society and, hence, an additional ‘plus’ to your main degree.
- Language Pathway
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This pathway enables you to study the same language for two or three years and so develop a deeper understanding and grasp of that language and its associated cultures.
At Sussex you can choose from Arabic, BSL (British Sign Language), Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, or Spanish.
There are three entry points to a language pathway: Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced. You can start each language from beginner level or – for French and Spanish – at intermediate or advanced level if you have prior knowledge.
You are taught in small seminar groups by experienced native or near-native speakers of the language. You practise, and are assessed on, your spoken and written production and understanding of your chosen language. You build close working relationships with other students on your pathway as you progress in your studies.
Each term you have two classes for three or four hours per week. Additionally, you study independently for an average of a further four to six hours per week. This may entail working in groups outside the classes to prepare for assessed coursework tasks. You are encouraged to make use of the virtual learning platform (Study Direct), the Language Learning Centre and the Language Café.
What will I achieve?
In addition to learning to speak and understand another language, you develop your communication skills and your intercultural awareness. An understanding of at least one other language also enriches your understanding of your first language and develops your confidence.
Through Sussex Choice, you can explore further opportunities to develop their language skills in opting for a Study Abroad Year or perhaps a Placement Year.
Upon completion of a two-year pathway you earn the award of ‘... with proficiency in (a language)’ at intermediate or advanced level, or ‘with (a language)’ for a three-year pathway. These are recorded in the title of your degree as, for example:
- BA (Hons) in International Relations with proficiency in Arabic (Intermediate) [2yr]
- BA (Hons) in Film Studies with Spanish for Professional Purposes [2yr]
- BSc (Hons) in Business and Management Studies with Mandarin Chinese (Advanced) [3yr]
- BA (Hons) in Psychology with French (CEFR C1) [3yr]
Career paths
Language competence is a transferable skill and knowledge of a language – even at beginner level – enhances any employment profile. Students who have studied a language are confident communicators and valued by employers. They find seasonal and part-time work in fields such as charity work, communications, entertainment, marketing and sales, sporting events, travel and tourism.
Graduates can use their language skills in numerous occupations in business, the care industries, event management, finance, import and export, distribution, information technologies, the media, public services, web design and optimisation, and many others.
- Legal Studies Pathway
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This pathway – offered by the School of Law, Politics and Sociology – offers an exciting opportunity for you to learn about the law and its effect and importance to society. It introduces you to the English legal system and aspects of international law, and the relationship between law, morality and politics.
The pathway will appeal to those interested in exploring the big questions of how we order society and the importance of the role of law in society, and to those who wish to boost their employability.
What will I achieve?
The pathway provides you with important skills such as being able to analyse key cases and statutes. It also helps you develop your ability to construct an argument and present your opinions. All of these skills are incredibly attractive to prospective employers. In addition, knowledge of the law and how it works is of interest to a wide range of employers in fields such as business, public relations, human resources, broadcast media, policy development or politics.
Career paths
The study of law is an enriching, stimulating and fascinating experience, whether you wish to become a lawyer or not: graduates embark on a huge range of different careers.
The Legal Studies Pathway provides an excellent introduction to the law for those considering pursuing the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL), a one-year graduate course you can take to pursue a legal career after your first degree, at Sussex or elsewhere.
- Media Pathway (starts in September 2015)
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The media pathway provides you with insight into key debates, issues and approaches to the study of media within society. It will provide theoretical and methodological tools enabling you to analyse a broad range of media-making, media objects and forms, and the consumption of media in everyday life. It also enables you to understand the interconnected and changing relationships between media developments and social, cultural, economic, political and technological processes.
What will I achieve?
In the media pathway, your first year modules offer a breadth of study in relation to the media, providing the underpinning for focus in year two on more specific areas and more in-depth engagement with particular topics and themes. Over the two years you will develop your skills in data collection and research, critical analysis and oral and written communication of ideas and arguments within the wide-ranging field of the media.
Career paths
In a globalised and mediated world we live in the media impacts and is integral to professional employment in a wide range of industries and institutions.. An informed, in-depth media knowledge and understanding, together with the particular critical skills developed over the course of the pathway, will be an asset to a wide range of career paths. Combined with the single honours degree, a pathway in media widens your employment options and enhances your suitability for, and ability to excel in, a wider range of occupations.
- Middle East Studies Pathway
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This pathway offers you the opportunity to study the modern Middle East, including its history, culture, politics and religion. It aims to significantly expand your understanding by challenging media stereotypes and by introducing you to the complexities of the region.
The pathway looks at the core of the Middle East – the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire – as well as Israel and North Africa. It also includes consideration of Islam and its relationship to other religious traditions represented in the region, as well as the social and cultural dynamics that underlie the politics of the region.
As a student on this pathway, you are part of a dynamic community of world-leading scholars studying the Middle East and related regions from within a wide range of academic disciplines.
What will I achieve?
This pathway furthers your awareness of other cultures, a skill highly valued by employers.
- Music Pathway (starts in September 2015)
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This 60-credit pathway in Music Studies will, through its four 15-credit modules, create an academically coherent pathway of study and a staged progression. Beginning with an overview of current approaches to the study of music and recent developments in musicology, we move in the spring term of the first year to Music and Society, which is a signature module of Sussex music teaching in its appraisal and thought-provoking critique of existing practices in music and how they reflect and sometimes change society. The second year introduces film music through the study of its origins in opera – a fascinating story which gives insight into the construction of musical repertoires in the nineteenth century and how they were then mined by the pioneers of film music in the early and mid-twentieth century. The second year concludes with a module in American Popular Music which surveys the music of America from cultural, historical and formal perspectives.
What will I achieve?
Our teaching encompasses analyses of a range of musical texts, ranging from the 13th century to the present day. These modules, taken together, equip you with a broad overview of music and musical practices in the West over the last nine hundred years. Whilst these modules require you to understand and reflect on music’s inner workings and its social and historical functions, they do not require musical literacy. The pathway builds on the expertise of the Music faculty, who have designed the modules, meaning that you can be sure that you are working with innovative scholars and practitioners fully engaged in musical research.
- Philosophy Pathway
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This pathway gives you a grounding in philosophical thinking, introduces you to major historical philosophers and enables you to examine key questions in four major and complementary areas: human nature, politics, religion and science. On this pathway, you learn to think and argue clearly, which is highly valued by employers and will help you in your future career.
- Organisational Leadership Pathway
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The Organisational Leadership pathway will provide you with the necessary skills and knowledge to become effective leaders across a variety of contexts. The pathway begins by providing an overview of leadership theories, while helping you to understand the strengths and limitations of your own leadership styles. You will develop an understanding of the dynamics of interpersonal influence and social power, and will learn how to leverage your power to effectively manage groups and teams. Finally, you will learn how to harness the power of social networks, optimise human capital, and increase individual, small group, and organisational performance.
What will I achieve?
You will achieve the goal of becoming more rational and effective decision-makers. You will also learn how to motivate, inspire, and influence others in the service of advancing your own vision and ideas, as well as improving the functioning of the organisation. Finally, you will learn to become better negotiators and mediators, and to effectively manage high-performing, innovative groups and teams.
Career paths
By teaching the essentials of leadership and management, this pathway will prepare you for a variety of careers in private industry, government, and the non-profit sector. The ability to lead groups of people in organisations is a skill that is useful for students of all academic backgrounds.
- Psychology Pathway (starts in September 2015)
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This pathway will engage you in a wide-ranging and lively examination of psychological research that illuminates human behaviour, cognition, emotion, and social relationships. The first module examines the application of psychology to real-world issues and everyday problems, covering topics such as workplace dynamics, mental health, and education. The second module then introduces you to cutting-edge debates in psychology across a wide variety of topics, from gender differences to hypnosis and drug use, using these as a springboard for exploring different ways of understanding behaviour. In the second year of the pathway, you will have the choice of either investigating applications of psychological knowledge to the domain of forensic analysis and investigation or learning about psychological factors in safety and design. The final module of the pathway will address the key area of mental health and well-being in contemporary society, and the role of clinical psychology in helping and supporting those who are experiencing mental health difficulties.
What will I achieve?
The pathway has been designed from the outset to introduce you to the applications of psychology to diverse ‘real-world’ issues, from mental health difficulties through to forensic investigation. You will be exposed to a variety of theoretical, methodological, and analytical frameworks, and taking the modules will enable you to develop skills in understanding, analysing, and evaluating scientific approaches to human behaviour and psychological functioning.
Career paths
Studying a pathway in psychology will provide you with a systematic understanding of human behaviour in different social contexts, as well as a range of skills that all employers value, such as effective communication, critical thinking, and rigorous analysis. As well as in the field of psychology, our pathway is likely to be highly valued within media, advertising, market research, human resources, and business and management.
- Trading Pathway
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This pathway looks at financial markets trading. It focuses on the processes that form the trade lifecycle and helps you develop key skills such as technical analysis. Sussex is the only university in the UK to offer such a pathway and you are taught by expert faculty with leading industry status. This makes the pathway a very attractive choice compared to high-cost intern training offered by third-party professional institutions. This pathway could lead you into employment in financial institutions such as investment banks, execution-only brokers, advisory brokers, hedge funds, exchanges and clearing houses.
Professional placements
All students taking a four-year degree with a professional placement in their third year will receive support from our dedicated placements team, from finding a placement employer to help with interview preparation. Students on corresponding three-year degrees may also opt to undertake a placement year and transfer to the four-year version of their course in Year 2 (subject to availability). We have strong links with the likes of American Express, GSK (GlaxoSmithKline), IBM, L’Oréal, Microsoft, PwC (PriceWaterhouseCoopers), Rolls Royce, Virgin Holidays, Pfizer and UBS, all of whom have provided placements for our students.
Key facts
- Enhance your employability: more than 80 per cent of employers surveyed said they actively sought graduates who had studied abroad (QS Global Employer Survey Report 2011)
- One of the best-supported study abroad programmes in the UK
- Develop an international perspective at an overseas university in Asia, Australia, Europe or North, Central and South America
Career benefits of studying abroad
Studying abroad makes you stand out from other students when entering the job market. Following a period living and studying abroad, you will return with increased confidence and independence, adept at problemsolving and decision-making. You will have made a new network of friends and may have improved your current language skills or learnt a new language. Employers highly rate these skills as they can be applied in today’s global career paths.
Sussex recognises the value of language skills in preparing its students to become global citizens: as well as our dual-language courses (vist the Languages subject area), we offer students in most subjects the opportunity to take language electives as part of their single-honours courses (visit Sussex Choice: make the most of your course).
After studying abroad, some of our graduates have gone on to careers as translators • sales and marketing professionals • international recruitment consultants • Refugee Projects co-ordinator for the British Red Cross abroad • a CNN presenter • international mortgage administrators • teachers of English in Venezuela, Spain, Germany, Japan and France.
We offer a huge range of destinations across Asia, Australia, Europe, and North, Central and South America.
Erasmus+
We offer one of the best-supported European study abroad programmes of any UK university. Pioneered independently by Sussex in the 1960s, our study abroad scheme is supported by the European Commission through Erasmus+. Students on this programme usually benefit from nonmeans- tested grants.
Visit British Council: Erasmus
Study abroad duration and destinations
If you are taking a course with an American Studies component, a dual-language course, or one of our joint courses involving a language, you spend Year 3 of your four-year course abroad. Students from most other courses can apply to do a study-abroad period during their degree.
View our course listings at Undergraduate study
American Studies students study at one of a range of universities across North America. Language-degree students study at a university in Europe (or La Réunion or Québec, Canada, for French, and Latin America for Spanish) where their language of study is spoken. Language students can also apply to the language assistant scheme managed by the British Council for their year abroad.
Visit British Council: Language assistants
A growing number of overseas universities now have courses taught in English, which enables Sussex students without the necessary language skills to study abroad. Students can also take Erasmus Intensive Language Courses in-country before their term starts.
The University is increasing the opportunities for students to go on short-term non-credit-bearing Summer Schools overseas. In 2013, a number of students benefitted from summer programmes in China and Hong Kong.
For more information on study abroad opportunities, email sussexabroad@sussex.ac.uk
Entry requirements
Sussex welcomes applications from students of all ages who show evidence of the academic maturity and broad educational background that suggests readiness to study at degree level. For most students, this will mean formal public examinations; details of some of the most common qualifications we accept are shown below. If you are an overseas student, refer to Applicants from outside the UK.
All teaching at Sussex is in the English language. If your first language is not English, you will also need to demonstrate that you meet our English language requirements.
Please note: We do not consider applications for direct entry into the 2nd year of any of our Business & Management degrees involving a professional placement year, but we will consider applications for 2nd year entry to our 3 year degrees.
- A level
Typical offer: AAB-ABB
Specific entry requirements: Successful applicants will also need GCSE (or equivalent) Mathematics, with at least grade C.
- International Baccalaureate
Typical offer: 34 points overall
For more information refer to International Baccalaureate.
- Access to HE Diploma
Typical offer: Pass the Access to HE Diploma with at least 45 credits at Level 3, of which 30 credits must be at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit or higher.
Specific entry requirements: The Access to HE Diploma would preferably be in Business Studies or include a Business pathway. If not it should be in the humanities or social sciences and applicants may be asked to write a Business-based essay as part of the selection process. Successful applicants will also need GCSE (or equivalent) Mathematics, with at least grade C.
For more information refer to Access to HE Diploma.
- Advanced Diploma
Typical offer: Pass with grade B in the Diploma and A in the Additional and Specialist Learning
Specific entry requirements: The Additional and Specialist Learning must be an A-level (ideally in a humanities or social science subject). Successful applicants will also need GCSE (or equivalent) Mathematics, with at least grade C.
For more information refer to Advanced Diploma.
- BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma
Typical offer: DDD-DDM
Specific entry requirements: The BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma would normally be in Business (although applicants in other subject areas can be considered). Successful applicants will also need GCSE (or equivalent) Mathematics, with at least grade C.
For more information refer to BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma.
- European Baccalaureate
Typical offer: Overall result of at least 77%
For more information refer to European Baccalaureate.
- Finnish Ylioppilastutkinto
Typical offer: Overall average result in the final matriculation examinations of at least 6.0
- French Baccalauréat
Typical offer: Overall final result of at least 13/20
- German Abitur
Typical offer: Overall result of 2.0 or better
- Irish Leaving Certificate (Higher level)
Typical offer: AAAABB-AABBBB
Specific entry requirements: Successful applicants will need to have evidence of good ability in Mathematics
- Italian Diploma di Maturità or Diploma Pass di Esame di Stato
Typical offer: Final Diploma mark of at least 81/100
- Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers
Typical offer: AAABB-AABBB
Specific entry requirements: Successful applicants will also need Mathematics at Standard Grade, grade 1 or 2
For more information refer to Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers.
- Spanish Titulo de Bachillerato (LOGSE)
Typical offer: Overall average result of at least 8.0
- Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Diploma
Typical offer: Pass the Core plus AB in two A-levels
Specific entry requirements: Successful applicants will also need GCSE (or equivalent) Mathematics, with at least grade C.
For more information refer to Welsh Baccalaureate.
English language requirements
IELTS 6.5 overall, with not less than 6.0 in each section. Pearson's Test of English (Academic) with 62 overall with at least 56 in all four skills.
For more information, refer to alternative English language requirements.
For more information about the admissions process at Sussex, contact:
Undergraduate Admissions,
Sussex House,
University of Sussex, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9RH, UK
T +44 (0)1273 678416
F +44 (0)1273 678545
E ug.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk
Related subjects
Fees and funding
Fees
Home/EU students: £9,000 per year1
Channel Island and Isle of Man students: £9,000 per year2
Overseas students: £14,450 per year3
1
The fee shown is for the academic year 2015.
2
The fee shown is for the academic year 2015.
3
The fee shown is for the academic year 2015.
Scholarships
The scholarships listed below are for the subject area you are viewing and may not apply to all degrees listed within it. Please check the description of the individual funding source to make sure it is relevant to your chosen degree.
Visit Undergraduate scholarships 2016
Sussex Excellence Scholarships (2016)
Region: UK, Europe (Non UK), International (Non UK/EU)
Level: UG
A merit-based award recognising, and rewarding, undergraduate students.
Careers and profiles
Our courses prepare you for employment in fields such as management consultancy, marketing and retail management, social enterprise, human resources and chartered accountancy.
Recent graduates have taken up a wide range of posts with employers including: platform analyst, Legal & General • marketing assistant, Roche Diagnostics • assistant director, Explore Learning • commercial manager, Marks & Spencer • programme manager, Hewlett Packard • human resource manager, Accenture • managing director, Links Creative • human resource officer, BAE Systems • business developer, Innovation Stream • stockbroker, Cusaru Capital • managing director, Spyder Security Systems Limited • new business executive, eBay • operations and franchise manager, Apex • recruitment consultant, European Recruitment • graduate trainee, John Lewis • sales and research consultant, Chapman Black.
Specific employer destinations listed are taken from recent Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education surveys, which are produced annually by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
Careers and employability
For employers, it’s not so much what you know, but what you can do with your knowledge that counts. The experience and skills you’ll acquire during and beyond your studies will make you an attractive prospect. Initiatives such as SussexPlus, delivered by the Careers and Employability Centre, help you turn your skills to your career advantage. It’s good to know that 92 per cent of our graduates are in work or further study (Which? University).
Life in our School
School of Business, Management and Economics
The School of Business, Management and Economics is a unique, research-focused business school, which takes a strong policy-directed view on business practices while also developing the underlying core disciplines.
Our School comprises the Department of Business and Management, Department of Economics and SPRU - Science and Technology Policy Research.
Contact us
Department of Business and Management,
Jubilee Building,
University of Sussex, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9SL, UK
E ug-bam@sussex.ac.uk
T +44 (0)1273 872668
Visit us
Open Days
Saturday 5 September 2015
Saturday 3 October 2015
Open Days offer you the chance to speak one to one with our world-leading academic staff, find out more about our courses, tour specialist facilities, explore campus, visit student accommodation, and much more. Booking is required.
Campus tours
Not able to attend one of our Open Days? Book on to one of our weekly guided campus tours.
Mature-student information session
If you are 21 or over, and thinking about starting an undergraduate degree at Sussex, you may want to attend one of our mature- student information sessions. Running between October and December, they include guidance on how to approach your application, finance and welfare advice, plus a guided campus tour with one of our current mature students.
Self-guided visits
If you are unable to make any of the visit opportunities listed, drop in Monday to Friday, year round, and collect a self-guided tour pack from Sussex House reception.
Book your place at Visit us and Open Days
Overseas visits
Meet with Sussex staff in your country at exhibitions, visits to schools and universities, and at a wide range of other events. Forthcoming visits are planned all over the world:
Bahrain • Brazil • Brunei • Canada • China • Colombia • France • Germany • Ghana • Greece • Hong Kong • India • Indonesia • Iraq • Italy • Japan • Kenya • Kuwait • Malaysia • Mexico • Nigeria • Norway • Pakistan • Qatar • Saudi Arabia • Singapore • South Korea • Spain • Sri Lanka • Taiwan • Thailand • Turkey • UAE • USA • Vietnam.
In-country representatives
In the International Office, we manage a network of overseas representatives who have been trained to support international students with their application to study at the University. Services representatives provide can include pre-departure information, support in submitting your housing application and advice regarding applying for a UK Student Visa.
Find out more about our overseas visits and in-country representatives