Liberal Arts (Accelerated)
BA (Hons)

Reason, Evidence, Argument (Core )

This module will introduce the key skills needed for studying at university. This includes generic skills (note-taking, using the library, using the internet wisely, compiling a bibliography, referencing etc), as well as critical thinking and problem-solving skills, including analysis of an argument into argumentative schemes using formal logic. You will learn to structure arguments and essays, and identify some of the more common logical fallacies across the Humanities.

• Credits: 20

Rethinking Modernity and the Liberal Arts (Core)

Many of the disciplines in the Arts and Humanities have been structured by the concept of ‘modernity’. The idea structures how we organise our understandings of human societies, cultures and political structures. Terms such as the ‘Pre-Modern’, ‘Early- Modern’, ‘Modern’ and ‘Post-Modern’ frame our periodisation, while the term ‘modern’ can appear as both a desirable goal (in so far as ‘modernity’ is equated with ‘progress’) and a term of abuse (for example, in the context of critiques of ‘modernist architecture’).  

This module will introduce you to the arguments and judgments that can be made about what we term ‘modernity’ and, inevitably, ‘postmodernity’. In doing so, you will consider the different ways in which disciplines in the Arts and Humanities construct knowledge. 

• Credits: 20

The Public Role of the Arts and Humanities (Core)

Module description coming soon.

• Credits: 20

Aesthetics (Optional (Summer School, also counts towards film and screen media major))

Aesthetics within philosophy is centrally, though not exclusively, concerned with art and concepts like imitation and beauty. Yet it also includes broader debate about the politics of definition, cultural boundaries and ideas of ownership. You will study basic concepts in aesthetics e.g.  form; boundaries and definitions; aesthetics and ethics and interpretation. You will undertake a field trip, during which time you will attempt to answer some of the most fundamental questions in aesthetics. Your portfolio work will be based on this trip. 

• Credits: 20

Renaissance London (Optional (Summer School, also counts towards English major & History major))

You will undertake an interdisciplinary study of London’s society and culture, between 1500 and 1640, from the establishment of the Tudors to the beginning of the Civil War. You will engage with a variety of different literary and historical sources to consider the culture and society of the period from a wide range of perspectives. Where relevant, you will undertake visits to a range of London based attractions relevant to the period (such as Shakespeare’s Globe) and think about the physical and spatial legacies and fragments of this period in the context of the present day city.

• Credits: 20

Popular Culture and the Arts and Humanities (Optional (Summer Schoo, also counts towards film and screen media major & creative writing majorl))

You will study conventional distinctions between popular culture, on the one hand; and the arts and humanities, on the other. Perspectives from aesthetics, cultural studies and sociology of culture are utilised to question the distinction between these cultural categories, particularly in relation to cultural value and historical context.

• Credits: 20

From Enlightenment to Romanticism (Optional (Summer School, also counts towards history major, English major & creative writing major))

This interdisciplinary module has at its heart the exploration of a pivotal moment in the cultural, intellectual and political development of Western Europe.

You will explore developments through the close analysis of key texts in the Enlightenment and Romantic traditions, seeking to develop a nuanced and complex understanding of their place within the changing cultural landscape of the period.

• Credits: 20

Voices in Contemporary Fiction (Optional (Creative Writing))

Through the study of contemporary fiction, this module will extend your range of reading and writing skills. The module will ask you to produce your own work by experimenting with contemporary narrative voices. You will read challenging works of fiction by living authors and develop fluent discussion of contemporary narrative craft. Works of fiction produced in the last decade will be considered in historical and cultural contexts. This course will help to establish the contemporary contexts by which your practice will be assessed at each stage in the course.

Writing Short Fiction (Optional (Creative Writing))

The aim of this module is to provide you with an introduction to the key issues, concerns and problems associated with thinking about and writing short stories. The module will concentrate on fundamental components of fiction writing including narrative structure, characterisation, point of view, genre, dialogue and rewriting and editing. Workshop sessions will be a key aspect of the unit, serving both as a means for you to develop your own work as well as your editorial skills through measured and constructive critiquing of the work of your peers.

Foundations of Literary Study: Tragedy (Optional (English))

You will survey the West’s most important literary tradition, from ancient Greece to the present day taking in works by Sophocles, Shakespeare, Thomas Hardy and Ibsen along the way.

Introduction to Critical Theory (Optional (English))

The module introduces critical theory and its application to the reading of literary texts. Beginning with classical descriptions of form and unity, the module traces the major developments in critical theory to the present day.

Contemporary International Theatre (Optional (English))

The aim of this module is to introduce you to contemporary theatre outside of London and internationally. This module will introduce you to developments in theatre world-wide, so that you can compare international practice with traditional and innovative theatre in London.

Contemporary Fiction (Optional (English))

Classes revolve around five or six novels written in the past three decades. The module expands on the Critical Theory module to pose questions about the politics and pleasures of reading. Recent texts considered have been: The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes; Atonement by Ian McEwan; White Teeth by Zadie Smith; and All the Birds Singing, by Evie Wyld. We also often ask our resident authors Christie Watson and Jonathan Gibbs to come in and talk about their books.

Poetry in the Modern World (Optional (English))

This module continues the work of the Practical Criticism module of the first semester in developing your skills in close reading. It introduces you to the advanced techniques necessary to the study of poetry, and to the work of some major poets writing in English since 1945.

Film, Style and Form (Optional (Film and Screen Media))

This module introduces you to film and television style. Beginning with a consideration of the variety of forms and approaches to the moving image, you will consider the micro elements of cinema such as mise en scène, cinematography, editing, sound, montage and special effects. You will also consider the macro structures such as narrative and genre, with a focus also on the identities of the producers, performers and audiences for screen industries.

Digital Cultures (Optional (Film and Screen Media))

This module considers the role of digital and social media in 21st-century life.

It will examine some ways of viewing digital media in terms of technological developments, the politics and economy of media, social media, participation and online communities, and the remediation of previous media forms through digital platforms. It also engages you with the ethical and political issues involved in contemporary media production and consumption.

Media History (Optional (Film and Screen Media))

This module will examine media products and institutions in light of technological and historical developments. By studying the origins of film and broadcasting industries, you will examine how cinema and visual culture has developed historically. This module will examine key areas of media production and practice and how this might be understood commercially as well as culturally and politically. It will also case study significant mediated forms of popular entertainment and their historical and social context, such as sport and the media, television comedy and popular music. The module will develop your understanding of public and private broadcasting, film standardisation, TV scheduling, press regulation, and the commercial imperatives of film and television production, distribution and exhibition.

Digital Production (Optional (Film and Screen Media))

This module will introduce a range of concepts relating to the creation, production and editing of digital short films. Whilst taking this module, you will begin to explore filmmaking both as a technical endeavour, and as a creative discipline.

Every step of the process of taking a script idea to the end result of a completed film will be discussed, performed and reflected upon within the lectures and workshops, and in the practical production and the development portfolio.

British Film and TV (Optional (Film and Screen Media))

This module will explore the key issues in analysing British film and television, as well as social changes that have transformed representations of Britishness in the media concerned. A variety of approaches will be taken, including close attention to particular auteurs in film and television as well as a more general discussion of important film and television genres.

Harry Potter and… (Optional (Film and Screen Media))

The Harry Potter series has become a popular cultural phenomenon that has inspired people across the globe. This module will draw upon the ideas and themes within the stories and use them as entry points into a wide range of debates and case studies. From Harry and Ron’s first hello, to Jason Isaac’s gothic performance as Lucius Malfoy, and beyond into gaming, merchandising and themed environments, this module will contextualise the world of Harry Potter as a modern media text.

Writing Short Fiction (Optional (Film and Screen Media))

The aim of this module is to provide you with an introduction to the key issues, concerns and problems associated with thinking about and writing short stories. The module will concentrate on fundamental components of fiction writing including narrative structure, characterisation, point of view, genre, dialogue and rewriting and editing. Workshop sessions will be a key aspect of the unit, serving both as a means for you to develop your own work as well as your editorial skills through measured and constructive critiquing of the work of your peers.

Doing History (Optional (History))

In this module you will think about the kind of work that historians do – why they write history in the ways that they do, why they ask particular types of questions, what assumptions they bring to their work, what historians think about other people’s ways of producing accounts about the past, and the role of historical knowledge in contemporary culture.

Transatlantic Histories of Slavery (Optional (History))

In this module you will study histories of transatlantic slavery, from the period of around 1600 to the end of the 19th century. The module examines the development of systems of slavery around the Atlantic, the construction of race and difference in order to support slavery, and the experiences of enslaved peoples as they were involuntarily moved around the Atlantic.

It pays specific attention to sources that tell these stories: you will read slave narratives, learn how to extract information from large online databases, and find and examine sources online and in archives.

War and Society (Optional (History))

War has shaped, and continues to shape, the course of human history. Wars are fought for a variety of reasons - for territory and resources, in the name of ideologies, on humanitarian grounds to prevent human suffering and for simple hatred. The changing nature of warfare has profoundly affected the development of societies and shaped human experience. This module will explore the transformative impact of warfare through a series of case studies, starting with the rise of ‘modern’ warfare during the military revolution, through to the ‘barbarization’ of war during the Holocaust and the impact of nuclear weapons in WWII.

These case studies will focus on key areas of historiographical debate within the History of War, offering you a broad-based narrative of how war has changed across the Early-Modern and Modern periods, as well as considering key thematic questions in comparative perspective. You will consider the interaction between war and state building, the nature of soldiering and its relationship to gender, the validity of distinctions between western and non-western forms of warfare and the experience of violence amongst soldiers and civilians.

The Mediterranean World (Optional (History))

This module explores the significance of the Mediterranean as a site of social and commercial transaction, political interaction and conflict in the development of late medieval and Renaissance Europe.

Revolutions and Rebellions (Optional (History))

In this module you will examine a series of world revolutions and major rebellions against political authority. The module’s content covers two principal fields – different ways of conceptualising revolutions and rebellion, and specific examples of revolutions and rebellions that have occurred across four continents. The module begins by examining ideas and ideologies of revolutions, providing you with a vocabulary and conceptual repertoire that you can use to discuss revolutionary activities throughout the remainder of the module. The specific examples of revolutions and rebellions that we cover are located in a period that runs from the mid-18th to the early 21st Centuries.

Art and Power (Optional (History))

On this module, you will explore how and why art and architecture have been used by individuals, states and groups to justify their claims to authority. It explores the role that these art objects play in legitimising narratives.

It focuses on how portraits, posters, performances, wall art, buildings, gardens and other artistic objects have promoted or contested the power of particular groups or individuals. The module also considers the way in which art and architecture help to construct or imagine group identities. Lastly, it will explore how art is used by various groups to challenge hegemonic discourse, colonial occupation and oppression, as well as dominant state institutions and elites.

What is Politics? (Optional (Political Science))

What makes a topic, theory or decision a political one? Who should care about political events, and about the academic study of politics? What methods or approaches are used to study politics? This module introduces you to key questions, theories and concepts in the study of politics at undergraduate level. You will investigate a selection of central political concepts from a range of perspectives.

Comparative Politics (Optional (Political Science))

This module aims to highlight and analyse key differences between the political systems and institutions of a variety of regions and time periods. You will gain insight into how and why the political landscape differs from one case to the next, and begin to apply this knowledge in understanding particular cases.

Introduction to International Relations (Optional (Political Science))

International relations is the academic discipline that tries to provide a theoretical and conceptual framework for understanding and analysing international politics. This module will familiarise you with the origins and evolution of the discipline and show how different schools of thought have emerged, and how they can help us understand the nature of the international system.

Introduction to Political Economy (Optional (Political Science))

Political economy examines the role and particular ensemble of policies, structures, and institutions, as well as how they are regulated, within a specified economy. If standard economics is about what individuals do, then political economy is about social classes, states, and correlations of social forces. The module introduces you to the major concepts and traditions in political economy, and applies them to contemporary debates, national and international case studies, including some recent financial crises.

British Politics (Optional (Political Science))

This module is concerned with what might be called the political identity of Britain and British society. This module introduces you to the key institutions and mechanisms of British parliamentary democracy; broad trends in British politics from the post-war years to the present; changes in British politics and society over that period; and it considers what we might expect from the coming decade or so, in terms of challenges and developments. The module covers key theoretical frameworks, which you will be encouraged to apply to specific cases.

Foundations in Biblical Interpretation (Optional (Theology))

This module provides a foundation of the variety of approaches to the interpretation of the Bible today which are in play in scholarly and popular discourse. It will look at ways in which biblical texts can be interpreted in their ancient contexts and how the history of their interpretation can be understood. It allows you to reflect on your own and others’ reading of the Bible thoughtfully, critically and creatively.

Key Concepts in World Religions (Optional (Theology))

This module will introduce you to a variety of religious thought from around the world. It will begin with the Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It will then turn to the East and explore Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, before finally exploring Daoism and Confucianism. It will study both the practices and beliefs of each tradition. Each week it will examine either a pre-eminent thinker or a central concept within each tradition in particular detail.

Fundamentals of Systematic Theology (Optional (Theology))

The module introduces you to the central themes of Christian theology. It analyses each theme in its Scriptural foundations and doctrinal bases, before introducing an important contemporary discussions drawing on recent theology.

This approach provides an overview of the history of each theme, as well as equipping you with the fundamental terminology of systematic theology and some awareness of its contemporary relevance.

You will also be introduced to different modes of theological reasoning, enabling you to adopt and articulate your own positions on the matters studied. You are encouraged to engage with ongoing theological debates, and begin to engage critically with the interlocutors studied. The module provides a foundation and context for more specialised systematic theology modules of subsequent years.

The Nature of Religion (Optional (Theology))

The module offers a detailed exploration of the concept of religion, and the various ways in which leading scholars, both classic and contemporary, have tried to define it. You will be introduced to a foundational, theoretical debate in the study of religion.

The module will centre around the reading, interpreting, discussing, and critiquing a number of primary texts from within the sociology and anthropology of religion. Authors will include some or all of the following: Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Peter Clarke, Steve Bruce, Irena Borowik, Linda Woodhead, Timothy Fitzgerald, and Christian Smith.

Introduction to Ethics (Optional (Theology))

The module will introduce you to ethics. It will include an overview of the main value theories and normative ethical theories, both historical and modern. You will also be taught to think about the status itself of ethical claims and ethical language.

Working with the Liberal Arts (Core)

This module combines a work placement with field trips to various cultural institutions such as museums, art galleries and cultural centres, publishing houses, theatres, memorials, archives, and public spaces, predominantly in London but potentially in other cities too.

The intention is to witness first-hand how and why these various spaces engage with the themes that run through the liberal arts degree - including identity, power, representation, knowledge. More importantly the visits will provide opportunities to speak with those employed in different roles in these institutions (directors, curators, artists, conservators, technicians, editors, publicists, educationalists, archivists, for example) in order to find out more about potential careers in the liberal arts, but also to learn vocational skills relevant to careers in the field.

• Credits: 20

Researching the Liberal Arts (Core)

You will be encouraged to think about the different research methods associated with the Humanities and Liberal Arts, and work in a group to apply these methods to a defined problem.

You will be briefed on a specific problem, question or issue within the field of the Humanities, Liberal Arts or Creative Industries by a practitioner or researcher actively engaged with it. You'll then have a series of research skills workshops before choosing how you will apply a given research methodology to produce a report on the subject.

• Credits: 20

Liberal Arts Independent Project (Core (Summer School))

On this module you will complete a project demonstrating the varied and interdisciplinary learning you have undertaken during your studies. This may take the form of a dissertation, project work completed as part of an extended placement, or another output (e.g. film, audio output, website) as agreed with your supervisor. The project must make use of research at the forefront of the disciplines included within the programme.  

• Credits: 40

Rhetoric, Dialogue and the Art of Persuasion (Optional (Summer School))

In the first half of the module you will learn about rhetoric, and what is involved in composing a persuasive argument and in the second half you will engage in its (supposed) opposite: the philosophical dialogue. The aim of the module is to practice and reflect on different kinds of discourse and to consider their role in civic society.

• Credits: 20

In and Out of the Gothic (Optional (Summer School, also counts towards film and screen media major, English major, creative writing major & history major))

You will study the emergence of the Gothic revival through the arts and humanities; to its later reimagining in popular culture. Starting with its roots in Romantic aesthetics and culture, the module considers the Gothic novel, art and architecture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It then proceeds to a consideration of popular cultural Gothic, from film and television to music, subcultures and online.

• Credits: 20

Writing Genre Fiction (Optional (Creative Writing))

This module aims to combine the analytical and interpretive skills required to assess the creation of works within a particular genre of fiction with the creative skills involved in contributing to that genre. The module will consider both the aesthetic and commercial concerns and demands of writing within established genre categories and attempt to address questions of distinctions between popular and literary fiction.

Writing Lyrics and Poetry (Optional (Creative Writing))

This module aims to help you develop skills in the use of rhythm, rhyme, metre and the innovative application of language in relation to writing poetry and song lyrics. It aims to develop a practical knowledge of the creative process through various stages of analysis and drafting.

Writing Adaptations (Optional (Creative Writing))

The aim of this module is to offer an examination of the relationships between texts in different creative media, and specifically to develop your critical and creative skills in considering the relationship between the printed word and film/television, with particular emphasis upon the techniques and processes of adaptation. Source material for consideration in the module will include short stories, novels, comics and graphic novels, non-fiction and video or computer games. Adaptations from page-to-screen as well as from screen-to-page (novelisations, tie-ins, spin-offs, etc) will be examined.

Writing Children’s Fiction (Optional (Creative Writing))

The aim of this module is to provide you with a basic understanding of the range and scope of contemporary literature for children and young adults, and an introduction to creating marketable work for these readers. The module will examine the nature of current work, in fiction and non-fiction, written for different age groups in established publishing categories. The goal is to focus your thinking on the needs and expectations of the readers they are specifically writing for, as well as the publishers who cater to those readers. You will produce a short piece of children's writing as part of the unit.

Writing the Renaissance (Optional (English))

This module will introduce you to the cultural history of early modern England, and to the major theoretical and historiographical approaches thereto. The module resituates Shakespearean drama in a broader cultural context.

Eighteenth Century London: Writing the Metropolis 1700-1832 (Optional (English))

You will study the growth of the world’s first ‘mega city’ by looking at the writing produced in and about it during the long eighteenth century.

The module aims to enable you to read a number of literary works within the context of the metropolis as it was during the period 1700-1830, and to encourage you to reflect on the synthesis between historical and geographical environments and the texts that arise from them and come to define them.

Literature and the Unconscious (Optional (English))

Taking texts like Bram Stoker’s Dracula and R L Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde as examples, this module proposes a psychoanalytic approach to reading literature, and asks you to examine the literary text as an expression of those repressed anxieties and desires we call ‘the unconscious’.

Bob Dylan and the Lyricism of Protest (Optional (English))

Following the award of the Novel Prize for Literature in 2015, this module examines the work Bob Dylan, in particular within the context of the counterculture and social protest of the 1960s and 1970s.

New Voices: Twentieth-Century Literature (Optional (English))

Module description coming soon.

North American Cinema (Optional (Film and Screen Media))

This module explores the history of Hollywood as a dominant mode of production together with subordinate modes of production. Areas of study include the studio system and the Paramount decree; New Hollywood and independent cinema; key genres such as film noir, melodrama and action-adventure; classification and censorship; distribution, exhibition practices and film festivals; and African-American cinema.

Screen Theory and Criticism (Optional (Film and Screen Media))

The module outlines key film and media theories, including classical film theory; spectatorship and apparatus theory; ideology and Marxist criticism; postmodern theory; queer theory; affect theory; and postcolonialism. It also considers non-theoretical methodologies such as media industry studies and film criticism. Guest speakers will give an industry perspective on the interpretation of and writing about film and television.

Disney and Animation (Optional (Film and Screen Media))

This module will begin with an insight into the Disney theme parks and their relationship with the real America that surrounds them. You will then develop a thorough understanding of the historical evolution of animation, including the centrality of Disney to narrative and technological innovations in this mode of moving image, as well as an understanding of the varying aesthetic and formal qualities at play in other animation products.

The Beatles and the Counterculture (Optional (Film and Screen Media))

This module considers the output and cultural significance of The Beatles in terms of historical context, lyrical analysis, iconography and their presence in other media (film, television and online) as a transmedia phenomenon. Following a chronological order, the development of the group’s musical and visual styles, lyrical concerns and cultural contexts will be tracked in relation to cultural studies methodologies. 

Rhetoric, Dialogue and the Art of Persuasion (Optional (Film and Screen Media))

In the first half of the module you will learn about rhetoric, and what is involved in composing a persuasive argument and in the second half you will engage in its (supposed) opposite: the philosophical dialogue. The aim of the module is to practice and reflect on different kinds of discourse and to consider their role in civic society.

• Credits: 20

Liberty or Death: The French Revolution (Optional (History))

The French Revolution continues to shape our lives in innumerable ways, from the way we do politics to our art and literature. It gave birth to the modern nation-state and the modern restaurant, our concepts of left and right and the very idea of a national anthem. Yet the Revolution remains a subject of intense and passionate historical debate.

You will consider the historical significance of this period by examining the following questions: Why did the Revolution happen? What was new about the regime that emerged after 1789? What role did ordinary men and women play in events, and how did their lives change? Why, ultimately, did the Revolution lead to terror, war, and dictatorship?

Australia: Great Southern Land (Optional (History))

This module explores the political and cultural history of Australia from its earliest origins to the start of the 21st century.

Race and Ethnicity in the US (Optional (History))

This module will introduce you to the ways in which race and ethnicity have been defined in the US, and how these designations shaped political and social experiences from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries.

The module’s content brings together different ways of conceptualising race and ethnicity and examines specific details about how this shaped the politics, culture and society in the USA from the revolution until World War II. The module equips you with the necessary vocabulary and theoretical framework to understand how difference has been historically and culturally defined, which will allow you to explore specific case studies in some depth.

The module seeks to go beyond the ‘race binary’, and examines the way ideas about race and ethnicity contributed to political and social inequality structures, influenced public policy, mobilized protest and revolt, and shaped personal and group identity.

Popular Culture, Politics and History (Optional (History))

On this module, you will explore ways in which historians and others have written about popular cultural forms – principally film and popular music. For convenience’s sake, the topics are organised chronologically, from the 1950s to the 2000s.

The main point of working through these topics is to allow a number of important themes to recur in class discussions: modernism (more specifically that dimension of modernist practices that is future-oriented), activism (focused on immediate social and political concerns), historicism (consciously invoking a tradition), memory (directed towards pedagogy, commemoration, consolation and identity formation) and nostalgia (expressing a longing for things past).

The range of examples covered is wide and trans-national. By the end, you will have a better understanding of the critical importance of modernist and postmodernist popular culture.

Tudor Queenship (Optional (History))

This module explores the nature of Queenship in Tudor England in its international context, in the context of contemporary patriarchal theory and practice through modern feminist historiography of Queenship. The module focuses on the reigns of Mary I and Elizabeth I who will be studied comparatively and thematically.

The module examines gender and personality, patterns of government, legal authority, international relations and the political and cultural patronage of these two rulers. It also considers the public presentation of their female sovereignty.

Collective Memory and the Second World War (Optional (History))

This module examines the main ways in which various national and other group cultures have remembered (and forgotten), commemorated and represented aspects of the Second World War. It is organised around the concept of ‘collective memory’.

More specifically, this means thinking about: the intellectual and cultural traditions that frame representations of the past; the ‘memory makers’ who selectively adopt and manipulate these traditions; and memory consumers who use, ignore or transform the artefacts of memory for their own ends.

Civil Rights in the US (Optional (History))

This module encourages you to explore the origins, events and legacies of the Civil Rights movement in the US, from the Second World War through to the early 1990s. For the purposes of this module, the phrase ‘civil rights’ will be interpreted in the broadest sense, incorporating stories of radical labour activism, non-violent resistance, and militant challenges to the status quo of racial injustice.

The content of the module will be oriented around a series of autobiographies written by activists in the Civil Rights period. You will therefore read first-hand accounts alongside key historiographical debates, and will consider the ways in which life-writing shapes historical narratives.

Nations and Nationalisms (Optional (History))

Although we live in an age of globalisation, nation states and nationalist movements continue to shape our societies and our politics. This means that understanding nationalism is not only of historical importance, but vital to those considering careers in law, politics and government, journalism and the media, since it touches on anyone involved in advocacy, policy and media roles.

On this module, you will examine the nature of nationalism, considering the extent to which it should be considered a ‘modern phenomenon’, the difference between ‘civic’ and ‘ethnic’ nationalism, and the relationship between nationalism and other ideologies.

Historical case studies will then allow you to examine the political consequences of nationalist movements from the French Revolution to the present day, as well as the ways in which nationalism interacts with social class, gender, religion and the state. Although the focus will be primarily on Europe, some non-European material will be considered, especially in relation to decolonisation and the end of empire.

Theory, Practice and History of Diplomacy (Optional (Political Science))

Diplomacy is the way in which the representatives of states interact with one another. This module provides an outline of how diplomacy emerged. It shows how diplomacy can be traced back to the very earliest phases of human development, long before the emergence of modern states as we know them. It then outlines the development of diplomatic practice through the Medieval world, before looking at how diplomacy evolved in the modern era. It also explores the ways in which diplomacy is carried out in contemporary international affairs, and how diplomacy fits into the big picture of foreign policy. You will analyse the roles of specific diplomatic institutions, such as foreign ministries and embassies. Finally, the rules that shape diplomatic practice are analysed, as well as the different types of diplomacy, including the increasingly important role of public diplomacy.

EU Politics and Policy (Optional (Political Science))

The EU plays a crucial role across a wide range of policy areas. However, as recent debates have shown, few people understand how the EU operates. This module will provide you with a comprehensive overview of the origins and development of the EU, its primary structures and its decision-making procedures. The module will start by examining the origins and development of the EU, considering the importance of key treaties, such as Maastricht and Lisbon. It will then explore the role of the various EU institutions – including the Commission, Council, Parliament and Court of Justice – in the policy-making process. It will analyse how the EU makes policy over a range of areas, and finally its relationships with other non-EU countries.

Modern Slavery, Trafficking and Organised Crime (Optional (Political Science))

This module will enable you to develop your knowledge of international slavery from historical perspectives up to more recent accounts of modern slavery. It will introduce you to various disciplinary and inter-disciplinary approaches to the study of trafficking and slavery from sociology, criminology, law, economics, media and other relevant viewpoints. You will examine a range of sources including academic research, policy documents and statistical information to engage critically with received ideas and popular and policy discourses. Other representations of slavery and human trafficking will be examined and critiqued such as film texts, media reports and contemporary writings.

International Organisations (Optional (Political Science))

This module provides a comprehensive overview of how international and regional organisations shape and enhance political, economic, security and others forms of cooperation in the contemporary international system. It also examines the main criticisms levelled against them and the arguments for reform.

Theology and Culture (Optional (Theology))

Module description coming soon.

Religion and Politics (Optional (Theology))

Module description coming soon.

God in Christ (Optional (Theology))

This module involves a detailed study of the central Christian doctrines surrounding Christology and the Triune God, focusing particularly on intellectual developments in recent years. The first half of the module works from the Chalcedon Definition, and studies key tensions in Christology as they have affected important discussions in systematic theology, and the second half works from the Nicene Creed to the Doctrine of the Trinity in recent theology.

You learn about the complex theological dynamics involved when the understandings to fundamental doctrines change, and about the interplay with the historical and cultural contexts which stimulate such changes. You will also engage in critically evaluating these developments. The module uses visual theological aids throughout, to provide contextual and culturally-rich understandings of intellectual changes.

Religion and Reason (Optional (Theology))

This module will introduce you to the study of religion from the perspective of natural reason. The difference between natural theology and revealed theology will be explained. Key arguments both for and against the existence of God will be explored and you will learn how to critique and evaluate each argument.

Ecclesiology (Optional (Theology))

This module examines the historical origins of the Church and its Scriptural foundations. The different theological schools for understanding the significance and character of the Church are also studied, as they have developed in theological tradition. Different images for understanding the Church today are brought into discussion, to evaluate different ways of approaching the Church as a place of belonging for the contemporary believer.

The module also considers the trajectory and possibilities in the light of the culture in which we live at present, encouraging individual application of the module content to differing contexts.

Special Study for English (Optional)

An opportunity for final-year students to engage at an advanced level with the particular research interests of one of the programme team, gaining from that lecturer’s enthusiasm for and expertise on that subject. The module offers students the chance to engage with the current research of a professional academic, bridging the gap in modern academia between teaching and research, and asking students to work both independently and in collaboration with peers and their supervisor. The essay produced at the end of the module is a smaller piece of work than the dissertation, though still substantial, in which the student engages with a cutting-edge area of research in the appropriate discipline.

• Credits: 20