| Semester 1 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
AMS-30029 |
Social Thought and Social Movements in the US |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
For a nation conceived in revolution, radical social thought has always had a special cultural and political significance, in spite of the apparent dominance of liberal capitalism as the main mode of ordering political, socio-economic, and cultural relations. This module explores selected critical social movements and intellectual traditions in the US, using both primary and secondary sources. This will serve both as an introduction to the field of the history of ideas and as a means of understanding the main contributions American culture has made to traditions of Western social thought. |
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CRI-30042 |
Gender, History and Punishment 1486-1955 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is designed to allow students to gain a comprehensive and critical understanding of the gendered nature of criminal justice throughout history. As we embark upon this historical journey through the criminal justice system, links will also be made with the gendered nature of the modern system of punishment, as well as the wider culture within which it is situated. In this way, students will gain an understanding of the importance of history in tems of its influence on modern penal practices - both formal and informal.
While students taking this module will be presented with an overview of traditional (and hence andro-centric) theories on punishment, the module is designed to challenge such theories by employing a feminist perspective on punishment. This aim will be achieved - not only by demonstrating the contribution feminism has made to the development of alternative theories of punishment - but also by utilising feminist theory and method to critically assess conventional, gender-blind theoretical perspectives.
This critical assessment and evaluation will lead to a demonstration that there is no one 'true' account of history, that history is always a matter of interpretation and hence is always a potential site of contestation.
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CRI-30044 |
Prisons and Imprisonment |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module explores the central role which prisons play in society, both as institutions which dominate the contemporary punitive network, and as places which absorb our social and cultural imagination. We will do this by examining contemporary representations and conceptions of the role of prisons in policy and popular culture. Secondly, we reflect on the contested nature of power in prisons through an examination of everyday lived experience of prison from the perspectives of prisoners, staff, prisoners' families and prison activists. The third section explores the links between race, gender (masculinity and femininity) political consciousness and power and resistance in prison. Finally, we conclude by examining contemporary controversies about the future of imprisonment.
Assessment is by formative in-class presentation work followed by individual short commentary, and two essays.
Lecture outline:
Revisiting the prison crisis
1. The current state of our prisons
2. Popular and political representations of prisons
Prison community
3. Doing prison work
4. Surviving imprisonment
5. Legitimacy and coercion in prisons
6. Righteous outsiders: charities, prisoner support groups and activists
Prisons and inequality
7. The gendered pains of imprisonment
8. Race, ethnicity and imprisonment
9. Radicalisation and resistance
Penal futures
10. The penal-industrial complex
11. Imprisonment and globalisation?
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CRI-30045 |
Popular Culture and Crime |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module examines the possible relationships between popular culture and crime. It looks at the extent to which representations of crime have formed a key component of popular culture
throughout modernity. It goes on to examine the extent to which popular cultural representations of crime, and the 'popular' cultural practices of some sections of society, have themselves been
linked to crime and criminality. Late modernity has seen the rise of 'law and order' as an electoral issue, the emergence of 'true crime' as one of the fastest growing popular literary genres, a
significant increase in the number of films and television programming devoted to crime related issues and themes, increased interest in police procedure, forensic science, criminal psychology and related areas, and rapidly increasing demand for criminology as an undergraduate subject. This module concludes by considering what contemporary society's apparent preoccupation
with crime and criminality can tell us about the nature of identity formation and maintenance in late modernity.
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|
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CRI-30049 |
Drugs: High Crimes or Misdemeanours? |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Why do people take drugs? Who takes drugs? How is drug use understood within societies? and how do societies respond to drug use? These are just some of the questions that this exciting new third year module will introduce you to as we explore the key debates, theoretical perspectives and differing responses that surround drug misuse.
In recent decades drug use has become the subject of both official and media attentions. This module will begin by introducing students to the various ways in which drug use has been understood and responded to. We will begin by tracing the origins of drug use through an examination of how drugs and drug users were perceived during the 19th century to how they have come to be perceived in recent times. This examination will help us to understand the development of policy and, despite the fact that drugs are used across all sections of society, the recent focus on drug using offenders. Taking a multi-disciplinary approach will help us to understand drug misuse in the UK and elsewhere and will enable students to apply sociological, criminological, historical, psychological and cultural perspectives to the study of drug use, and policy responses to this ‘social problem’. |
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|
EDU-30064 |
The making of professionals: Education, Health and Social Work |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The role of professions and professionals such as doctors, lawyers, teachers and social workers has increasingly come under close scrutiny in terms of their standards of professional practice and contribution to society. This module explores what it means to be a professional and the ways in which professional identities are constructed. Students will engage with a range of innovative learning and teaching strategies and will, through discussion with teachers in training and other professionals in the making, examine the process of professional formation.
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EDU-30069 |
Inclusive Education |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Inclusive education has been positioned and promoted as a positive reaction to segregated schooling, inequality and prejudice. Inclusion, more generally, has permeated policy and social discourse in the last few decades as a concept and practice that attempts to include everyone into the local community. For example, community work rather than imprisonment, community housing rather than mental (health) institutions and not least of all, mainstream education is promoted for ALL pupils including those with a range of difficult learning needs. In the face of this, politicians and policy makers emphasise their commitment to issues of inclusion and social justice and in the process the meanings, policy and practice of inclusive education have been rethought - nowhere more so than in relation to special educational needs.
This module offers insights into many different aspects of inclusive education in relation specifically to special educational needs and learning difficulties, including critical and historical engagement with policy development and implementation, theoretical positions on inclusive education and exclusion, placement of inclusive education within an international context and research methods that highlight topics such as; parents and their engagement with inclusiveeducation and ethnographies of mainstream schools.
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ENG-30061 |
Sex, Scandal and Society: Eighteenth-Century Writing |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The eighteenth century saw the emergence of the English novel, the rapid rise of the periodical press, and the professionalisation of imaginative writing, as well as an upsurge in comedies of social manners on the stage, a healthy flow of erotic and pornographic texts, and poetry whose sexual and satiric energy is barely curbed by social decorum and convention. In short, men and women of letters were interested in society in fascinating new ways that were the result of the exponential growth of London, the financial revolution that helped erode old social hierarchies, changes in sexual relations and constructions of gender, celebrity culture, and the rise of personality-based politics. Perhaps it is not too much to say that our own society is the heir to changes that happened in the age of the four Georges (1714-1830), and this module is an opportunity to study the fiction, drama, poetry, and visual culture of this period. Authors studied may include: Daniel Defoe, Eliza Haywood, John Cleland, William Hogarth, William Congreve, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and Jane Austen. |
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ENG-30065 |
Dreams and Visions |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Writers are often visionaries. Their visions might be devices for exposing social evils. They might regard them as spiritual or occult experiences which have to be shared, however imperfectly, in verbal and visual form. Visionary writers might be thought of as the eccentrics, the crazies, or the people who escape from the herd mentaility to see things as they really are. It is a great tradition in English literature. In this module, we will study the work of Langland, Bunyan, Blake, Yeats and some contemporary writers to see how their visions work. We will also be looking at some other work on dreams and visions from the religious and the psychoanalytical traditions to see how we might account for their particular qualities. |
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ENG-30066 |
Miners, monetarism, and movements: literature, culture, and politics in the 1980s |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is most suitable for students who are taking the English Principal, English Major or EALS. The 1980s marked a turning point in British cultural politics. The Conservative election of 1979 broke the post-war consensus, yet the decade saw also widespread resistance to 'Thatcherism' and vigorous activity by a wide spectrum of political movements. 1989 saw the fall of the Berlin Wall and the beginnings of the collapse of Eastern Bloc Communism. This module looks at the decade in the context of its turbulent politics, through the fiction of Martin Amis, Angela Carter, and Jeanette Winterson, the films of Hanif Kureishi, and the 1980s groundbreaking television drama. |
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|
ENG-30066 |
Miners, monetarism, and movements: literature, culture, and politics in the 1980s |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is most suitable for students who are taking the English Principal, English Major or EALS. The 1980s marked a turning point in British cultural politics. The Conservative election of 1979 broke the post-war consensus, yet the decade saw also widespread resistance to 'Thatcherism' and vigorous activity by a wide spectrum of political movements. 1989 saw the fall of the Berlin Wall and the beginnings of the collapse of Eastern Bloc Communism. This module looks at the decade in the context of its turbulent politics, through the fiction of Martin Amis, Angela Carter, and Jeanette Winterson, the films of Hanif Kureishi, and the 1980s groundbreaking television drama. |
|
|
ENG-30067 |
The Writer As Psychologist - the Great Russian Realists |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The Russian realists - Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Chekhov - number among Russia&©s most profound influences on European culture. In the hands of such writers realism became a potent medium for social criticism and also for psychological analysis.
This module concentrates particularly on the latter function. As early as the 1840s we can see the contours of the psychological novel developing in Lermontov&©s idiosyncratically structured A Hero of Our Time, with its alienated hero or $ùsuperfluous man&©. By the 1860s Turgenev is able to elaborate this literary type into a proto-revolutionary hero in his novel Fathers and Children. Dostoevsky&©s celebrated Crime and Punishment explores the relationship between crime and guilt, a theme also central to Tolstoy&©s The Kreutzer Sonata. The Death of Ivan Ilyich, also by Tolstoy, revolves around an existential crisis precipitated by terminal illness. The Cherry Orchard, probably Chekhov&©s best known play, explores the tragedy of nostalgic self-delusion. All of these works anticipate and lay the foundations for the Freudian and existentialist revolutions which were to transform twentieth-century thought.
Russian realism was also radically concerned with female psychology. This module features remarkable gynocentric works which powerfully document women&©s varied reactions to their social predicament in nineteenth-century Russia: the assertive heroines of Turgenev&©s On the Eve and Khvoshchinskaya&©s Boarding-School Girl and, as the new century opens, Chekhov&©s Three Sisters dreaming of Moscow in their provincial backwater. |
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ENG-30070 |
Shakespeare on Film: Adaptation and Appropriation |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will introduce students to Shakespearean adaptation and appropriation via a detailed consideration of the phenomenon of Shakespeare on film. What is involved in the cinema&©s on-off love affair with Shakespeare and the Shakespearean? What kinds of audience are targeted by the makers of Shakespearean films? What happens when a theatrical text is transferred to the screen, or when the literary is transformed into the cinematic? What is the relationship between film adaptation and other forms of Shakespearean appropriation?
Film Shakespeare can be traditionalist or avant-garde, commercial or marginal. At one end of the spectrum, theatre productions are faithfully transferred to film; at the other, scraps of text or narrative survive in new contexts. We will examine Hollywood and art-house productions, silent and non-Anglophone films, films aimed at adults and children, films that utilise a variety of genres (film noir, horror, teen movies), and adaptations intended for film and television. We may also consider films that use Shakespeare or the Shakespearean without necessarily adapting any specific play, such as Shakespeare in Love or Theatre of Blood.
This module is designed for students who have successfully completed literature and/or film modules at Level 2. |
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|
ENG-30071 |
Dickens, Collins and Detection |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins are two of the most important Victorian novelists. They were also close friends, who influenced each other greatly and collaborated on a number of stories. This module will study in depth two major novels by Dickens, and three by Collins. The Dickens novels are Bleak House and the unfinished Mystery of Edwin Drood. Bleak House interweaves one of the earliest detective plots in fiction into a story of social and personal mystery, guilt and retribution. Edwin Drood is a strangely modern work, concerned with opium addition, hypnotism and the power of the unconscious. Wilkie Collins is seen as the $ùfather&© of detective fiction, and we will look at his two greatest achievements, The Woman in White and The Moonstone, texts full of mystery, suspense and strange states of mind. We will also look at an example of Collins&©s under-rated later fiction, The Law and the Lady, which puts at the centre of its plot perhaps the first ever female detective character.
These novels change in profound ways the history of the novel, and, through serialization and awareness of new modes of journalism, create new generic possibilities, forms of characterization and plot development. They contribute to the rise of the sensation novel, and experiment with very different depictions of femininity, sexuality and crime that seem to put them at odds with what are taken to be $ùVictorian&© norms. They are deeply concerned with imperial violence abroad and social transgression at home, and they respond to this disturbing material in formally innovative ways.
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FIL-30001 |
British Society through the Eyes of British Film: 1960s to the Present |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
For economic reasons British Cinema has had a chequered history, especially since the 1960s. At all times, however, British directors have sought engagement with social issues, and many leading directors have striven to cast a critical eye on contemporary social and political events.
This module will seek to track the development of British society as it has been reflected in the British movie over the last five decades. It begins with a concentration on the pioneering films and directors of the 1960s, before moving through later decades to focus on the most recent developments. Participants on this course will be introduced to key social themes: working class culture (Saturday Night &©s Blow-Up) and dystopian anxiety about the implications of social and cultural change (If ... and A Clockwork Orange). Later films will concentrate both on the depiction of the underside of British society in My Beautiful Laundrette, My Name is Joe and This Is England, while multicultural modern Britain will also feature in My Beautiful Laundrette, Secrets and Lies, East is East, Bend it Like Beckham, Dirty Pretty Things and It&©s a Free World. At the same time students will be introduced to the work of some of the most important directors working in Britain over the last 40 years, including Lindsay Anderson, Ken Loach, Stanley Kubrick, Mike Leigh, Stephen Frears and Shane Meadows.
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FRE-90003 |
French 3 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is designed for students who have successfully completed French 1 and 2 (or equivalent) at Keele, or who have completed other courses consisting of up to 4 years of taught French.
Set in France, The Units 10 to 14 of the course book "French Experience 1- BBC Publications" follow the experiences of a group of native speakers as they work, travel, socialise and visit other parts of the French-speaking world. Thoughtfully designed to introduce the complexities of more advanced forms of the language, the course also engages with francophone culture.
You will be involved in a variety of experiences through audio-material integrated with the course, enabling you to participate in conversations and situations.
The course exploits every aspect of language-learning methods, providing reinforcement of new ideas by carefully designed exercises and supporting material both from the coursebook and from the KLE.
The language level of this module corresponds to work leading to Level A2 of the European Common Framework for Languages (CEFR -A2).
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FRE-90005 |
French 5 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The course is designed for students with prior knowledge of French and will develop advanced communication skills in French in everyday situations such as talking about daily routine, socialising and food, family, the home as well as in more complex situations, such as discussing a range of topical issues in French or understanding the French media. To help you achieve this, the course-book, ''French Experience 2'' (BBC Publications) will provide you with an advanced vocabulary and plenty of practice. It also allows you to get a better understanding of the grammatical structure of the language.
By the end of this course you be able to understand extended vocabulary and complex phrases concerning a French speaking environment. You will understand complex sentences, for example those used in French speaking media. You will be able to interact in a more elaborate way with French people. You will be able to ask and answer a range of questions on familiar topics and discuss issues of contemporary France. You will be able to use complex phrases and sentences to describe your everyday life and life in your country. You will be able to write simple letters describing for instance a past holiday as well as longer texts in French.
In French 5, we continue from French 4 and you will both consolidate the skills you have acquired at that level and build on them by moving beyond the situations of everyday life to more challenging (and stimulating) topics like the media or politics. You will extend your vocabulary base and be introduced to the more complex grammatical structures characteristic of formal, written French.
Alongside the textbook, we will use audio,video and online material to consolidate vocabulary, grammatical structures and themes dealt with in class.
The language level of this module corresponds to work leading to Level B1 of the European Common Framework for Languages (CEFR -B1).
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FRE-90007 |
French 7 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The course is designed for students with an advanced knowledge of French and will develop their advanced communication skills in French in everyday situations as well as in more complex contexts, in particular in discussing a range of topical issues in French or understanding contemporary France.
By the end of this course you be able to understand extended vocabulary and complex phrases concerning a French speaking environment. You will understand complex sentences, for example those used in French speaking media. You will be able to interact in a more elaborate way with French people. You will be able to ask and answer a range of questions on familiar topics and discuss issues of contemporary France. You will be able to use complex phrases and sentences to describe your everyday life and life in your country. You will be able to write texts in French on issues such as the environment, health, the use of new technologies.
In French 7, we continue from French 6 and you will both consolidate the skills you have acquired at that level and build on them by moving beyond the situations of everyday life to more challenging (and stimulating) topics like the media or politics. You will extend your vocabulary base and be introduced to the more complex grammatical structures characteristic of formal, written French.
We will make an extensive use of French resources available on the Internet to consolidate vocabulary, grammatical structures and themes dealt with in class.
The language level of this module corresponds to work leading to Level B2 of the European Common Framework for Languages (CEFR -B2).
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FRE-90009 |
French 9 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This is a French post-advanced course designed for students who have a very good familiarity with the language and will develop their communication skills in French in everyday situations as well as in more complex contexts, in particular in developing arguments and discussions around a range of topical issues in French or understanding contemporary France.
By the end of this course you be able to understand extended vocabulary and complex phrases concerning a French speaking environment. You will understand complex sentences, for example those used in French speaking media. You will be able to interact in a very elaborate way with French people. You will be able to ask and answer a range of questions on familiar topics and discuss issues of contemporary France. You will be able to use complex phrases and sentences to describe your everyday life and life in your country. You will be able to write texts in French on a range of issues in the French speaking world. You will be able to summarize French texts in French and to develop your skills at essay writing in French. You will become more fluent in making an oral presentation in French and in the use of French online resources.
In French 9, we continue from French 8 and you will both consolidate the skills you have acquired at that level and build on them by moving beyond the situations of everyday life to more challenging (and stimulating) topics like the media, politics or technology. You will extend your vocabulary base and be introduced to the more complex grammatical structures characteristic of formal, written French.
We will make an extensive use of French resources available on the Internet to consolidate vocabulary, grammatical structures and themes dealt with in class.
The language level of this module corresponds to work leading to Level C1 of the European Common Framework for Languages (CEFR -C1).
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GER-90003 |
German 3 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The module will build on skills acquired in German 2 or the equivalent (e.g. CEFR Level A1, GCSE Grade C or lower)) and expand your vocabulary base and ability to interact in everyday situations in German. Topics include talking about family and friends, living conditions and travel plans. You will consolidate and broaden your knowledge of vocabulary and grammar in class, as well as practise your communicative skills.
Teaching will be based around the textbook and a DVD series for language learners which focuses on young people's lives and work in today's Berlin. Various aspects of contemporary German life will be discussed, based on the textbook and audiovisual material and thereby give you an insight into German culture and customs. There will be a variety of tasks and exercises in class time, such as partner exercises, listening comprehensions, role-play and reading and writing tasks. You will consolidate the skills acquired in class through further web-based self-study exercises.
The language level of this module corresponds to work leading to Level A2 in the European Common Framework for Languages (CEFR -A2) |
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GER-90005 |
German 5 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The module will build upon the competence acquired at German 4 or equivalent (e.g. CEFR level A2, GCSE grade A). In this module, students will become acquainted with aspects of German culture through the medium of German. Each week will be devoted to a different topic, which will include themes such as club life, the generation gap, travel, friendship, and German proverbs and nursery rhymes. The core skills - listening, speaking, reading and writing - will be expanded and communicative competence and awareness of grammar will be developed further. Teaching will be based around a course book which will be supplemented by a range of video material. There will be a variety of tasks and exercises during each class, such as discussion and role play; listening comprehension and reading and writing tasks and further, partly web-based, self-study tasks.
The language level of this module corresponds to work leading to Level B1 in the European Common Framework for Languages (CEFR -B1) |
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GER-90007 |
German 7 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is aimed at students with a good knowledge of German and will be taught predominantly in the target language. All basic skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing) will be practised in the contact hours, and your communicative skills, vocabulary base and knowledge of grammar will be consolidated and expanded. The course is based around a series of texts focussing on life in contemporary Germany which will afford you an insight into the cultural background of German society, dealing with issues such as education in Germany, and social and political problems.
You will move from being able to communicate in everyday situations to discussing more complex issues with a degree of confidence. This will be practised in the classroom situation in a variety of ways: pair work and debates, as well as listening comprehensions and audiovisual material that familiarises you with authentic linguistic features. In self-study time, these skills will be consolidated with the help of exercises on KLE, and German Internet sites that will expand your vocabulary base and further your understanding of German life and culture. The language learning process will be charted in the reflective diary and provide valuable tools to improve language acquisition. Feedback on formative and summative assessments will be provided at regular intervals.
The language level of this module corresponds to work leading to Level B2 in the European Common Framework for Languages (CEFR -B2) |
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GER-90009 |
German 9 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This course is designed for students with very advanced German language skills (German 8, A-level grade B or above) and will focus on systematically enhancing all four skills, whilst studying topics of relevance to modern-day Germany and Austria.
The course will be mainly based on authentic German texts and audio-visual materials such as films, TV recordings and web material, which will be exploited in class and self-study time.
By the end of the course you will be able to handle a variety of complex German sources, including newspaper articles and fictional texts, conduct your own searches of German websites and read and discuss factual and fictional texts with some confidence. Feedback on formative and summative assessments will be provided at regular intervals and emphasis will be placed on enabling you to become an efficient language learner after completion of the course.
The language level of this module corresponds to work leading to Level C1 in the European Common Framework for Languages (CEFR -C1) |
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HIS-30084 |
The French Revolution: Monarchy to Republic, 1789-1792 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The French Revolution is a world-historical event and its outbreak in 1789 is widely regarded as marking the beginning of modern history. It is a topic that continues to attract attention from scholars across the globe and its interpretation remains deeply controversial, not least because so many of our current political ideas and practices originated during this period. These days the Revolution is seen primarily from the perspective of political culture and this module will explore the significant transition from subjecthood to citizenship that occurred as absolute monarchy gave way first to constitutional monarchy after 1789, and then to a republic in 1792. Contemporaries were well aware that citizens needed to be made for the new order and that cultural change was required to accompany the construction of new political arrangements, all of which will be considered along with explanations for the collapse of the old regime in the late 1780s.
This module is linked to a second, The French Revolution: Terror and Dictatorship, 1793-1799, which follows on. It may also be linked to the disseration in History for which, as for these free-standing modules, there is a wealth of relevant material available in English, both at Keele and online. |
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HIS-30086 |
The English Civil War, c.1640-46 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The English civil war was one of the most dramatic events in English history, retaining its hold today over both popular and scholarly imaginations. Many issues of the period - such as the nature of the relationship between England, Scotland, and Ireland, the character of the political process, or what to do about the monarchy - find echoes today. This special subject will seek to explore the character and events of the first civil war in England from the collapse of the king&©s authority in 1640 to the end of the first civil war in 1646. Topics to be covered will include the causes of the war; the development of Royalist and Parliamentarian parties; the military course of the first civil war; the impact of the war on society; the diversity of religious beliefs; and the political fragmentation of the Parliamentarian cause.
This module is linked to the module, The World Turned Upside Down: the English Revolution, c.1646-53, which follows this. It may also be linked to the dissertation in History: there is a wealth of source material for a dissertation on the political, social, cultural, military or local history of mid seventeenth-century England available at Keele, including access to every book published in Britain in the period through Early English Books Online. |
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HIS-30094 |
Religion, Rebellion and the Raj : The Partition of India I |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
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|
In August 1947 British India was partitioned to create two independent countries, India and Pakistan. This partition resulted in an estimated one million deaths and the largest migration of people in modern history. What were the forces which led to the Partition of India in 1947: British policy; Muslim separatism or the unitary impulses of Indian nationalism? Based upon specific sources and documents, this course will explore why the end of British rule in India was accompanied by Partition and the creation of Pakistan and assess some of the consequences of Partition for the subcontinent after independence. |
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HIS-30096 |
Spirituality and Social Change in the Eleventh Century, I |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is a 'social history' of the eleventh century. This was a time of tremendous social, political and intellectual transformation, indeed a time, according to many historians, when European civilisation as we know it was created.
The course will open with a discussion of some classic and recent historiography. Primary sources revealing the exercise of power by the landed elite will then be considered in the context of radical changes in family structure such as the institution of primogeniture, a new concept of masculinity and the enforcement of incest taboos. A crucial question arising from these sources is the extent to which we can see the impact of the changes among the elite on the 'people'. Using sources describing peace of God movement, the persecution of heretics and the veneration of holy men and women, we will then look to assess the claim that 'crowd' enters European history during this period.
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HIS-30100 |
Sickness and Suffering? Health, illness and medicine 1628-1808 |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
What was it like to be sick or injured in England prior to the use of anaesthetics and antibiotics? How many sorts of medical practitioner could people call on, and what range of treatments was on offer? Medical history has thrived recently, in terms of the resources available for research, the questions tackled and the high profile of historical practitioners like the late Roy Porter. Therefore this module treats aspects of the social history of medicine in England, by considering the changes experienced by both medical practitioners and patients from Harvey&©s publication relating to the circulation of blood in 1628 up to the 1808 County Asylums Act (the first major intervention by government in the provision of healthcare). This was a period of relatively minor scientific change, but the same decades witnessed significant shifts in the ways doctors related to patients and the ways the sick conceptualized both their ailments and their medical attendants.
Topics may include childbirth and midwifery, the loss of the patient narrative, disease and mortality, the rise of institutional medical care, quackery and the medical market place, insanity, perceptions of medical practitioners in graphic satire, and ideas about death and burial.
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HIS-30102 |
The Art of Dying: Death and Society in Medieval and Early Modern Europe |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
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'Dying well' was a fundamental concern for all in the Medieval and Early Modern Europe, but what did that mean? This module will explore the history of death in medieval and early modern Europe from /c/. 1000 to /c/. 1750.
If our society has what Geoffrey Gorer has called a 'pornography of death', whereby all practices surrounding death should be done out of public view, just like sexual pornography, it is important to understand how public death and dying were in medieval and early modern Europe. The module takes a comparative approach, comparing and contrasting ways of dying, burial, attitudes to good and bad death, especially suicide, expectations of the afterlife, and the experience of famine and plague, in medieval and early modern Europe. The ways in which a society treated death reveals a great deal about its assumptions and ideas, and so this module offers a fascinating insight into the social, religious and cultural history of a world which is very different from our own.
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HIS-30104 |
The Kingship of Edward II, I |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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Most people know at least one thing about Edward II. But, it wasn't a poker, it was a plumber's rod; and historians have never quite managed to rule out the bizarre story that Edward survived imprisonment, and lived out his final years in comfortable exile in Italy, no doubt next to the McDonald's in which Elvis later worked. In the popular imagination Edward started out his rule with a boyfriend, but lost his throne to a conspiracy led by his wife and her lover. $ùThe king, the boyfriend, the wife, and her lover', so to speak. The rule of Edward II (1307-1327) marks one of several moments of crisis in the English middle ages. There is a narrative unity to the reign and the relatively short timescale allows students to feel that they have really got to grips with a period. Political opposition to the king was an early feature, initially focused on Edward's friendship with Peter Gaveston, but also embodied more general constitutional issues in which contemporaries struggled with ways in which the king's person and his office could be seen as separate. The king's sexuality and later that of his wife are other themes. Opposition turned into rebellion and civil war, and the period was marked by political murders and executions, including those of three earls, a bishop and the king himself.
The European economy during the period 1315-1320 is usually seen as displaying the first symptoms of the late medieval general crisis which included famine, cattle plague and the rise of public disorder. The contemporary French court was riven by sexual intrigue, and the campaign to expel the Templars. In Scotland Edward's rule saw Robert Bruce's prosecution of a successful war of independence from England following the battle of Bannockburn, and an attempt to invade Ireland.
Paradoxically this era coincides with a period of great cultural originality in architecture and manuscript illumination. The Decorated style in English architecture is a movement of international significance. The Luttrell psalter, an oft-illustrated manuscript, has its roots in the reign. Both Edward II and his principal opponent, Thomas of Lancaster, were the subjects of religious cults. The historiography of Edward's troubled reign was early the subject of a substantial historiography. In the sixteenth century Christopher Marlowe wrote a play on the king's life, as did Brecht in the twentieth. There are more modern echoes in Derek Jarman's film Edward II and in Mel Gibson's treatment of the life of William Wallace, the Scottish hero, in Braveheart.
There is a recent new biography of the king, studies of some of his major opponents, and a new edition of the principle chronicle of the reign. Students are able to pursue interests in social, political, literary and economic history, and also in architectural history. There is a good literature in English and a wide range of possible dissertation topics. One student from this special went on to complete a PhD, another to an M.Phil. There will be ONE field trip to Lichfield Cathedral (partly built during Edward's reign) and to examine original documents at the Staffordshire Record Office.
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HIS-30106 |
Suffrage Stories: lifestories |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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This module allows you to study, in depth, the British campaign to give women the vote that began in the 1860s and which was finally won in 1928.
Many stories have been told about the women and men who gave their energies, health and even lives to this cause. This course looks at the different ways in which historians have interpreted this struggle, the strategies and tactics of the various suffrage organisations and the competing assessments of what finally won the vote for women. Yet it is not only historians who narrate suffrage history in different ways, so did many of those who were actually involved in all sides of this fight. This module is as much concerned with the individual stories of suffragists and those who opposed them as with the accounts of historians. Indeed, during the course we will use the autobiographies, diaries, newspapers, literature, posters and banners produced by the suffrage campaign so that we can explore the relationship between individual experiences and the stories historians have told.
As part of the module, every student will choose an individual woman or man involved in the Edwardian suffrage debate and research their motivations, views and activities in the campaign. At the end of the semester we will hold a hustings where we will debate the issue of women's suffrage from the point of view of these individuals.
By the end of the module you will not only understand why the campaign for women&©s suffrage took so long to achieve its goal and why suffrage history continues to be hotly debated but also why so many people were so passionate about their desire for women to be able to put a cross on a ballot paper. This, therefore, is a module about the many stories told about the fight to give women the vote by those who took part, those who opposed them, those who admire them, those who think they were misguided and those who have reflected on this period in history with hindsight. |
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HRM-30029 |
Employee Development |
EF |
C
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7.5 |
15 |
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The module introduces students to employee development issues by examining: the meaning, role, and significance of human resource development; systems of vocational education and training across different countries and their implications for skills; the changing nature of skills with an emphasis on front-line work; the relationship between individual/collective learning and performance; and the extent to which learning can be considered as a strategic imperative by discussing the concept of the learning organization. |
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JAP-90003 |
Japanese 3 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will develop students&© Japanese language communication skills, enabling them to speak, listen, read, and write in carrying out simple and routine tasks they are likely to encounter in socialising, living, studying or travelling in Japan. Functions and topics such as giving descriptions of events and places, talking about impressions, presenting and receiving gifts, making social arrangements will be covered. Students will also become familiar with some aspects of cultural specific behaviour. |
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JAP-90005 |
Japanese 5 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will further develop students&© Japanese language communication skills already acquired, enabling them to speak, listen, read, and write in carrying out tasks they are likely to encounter in socialising, living, studying, travelling or working in Japan. Topics and functions covered in the module will include: making comparisons, discussing Japanese cities, regions, countryside and types of accommodation, holiday options, talking about choices and decisions, quoting reported speech. The students will have the awareness of the appropriate use of familiar register and will be able to switch familiar and normal polite as and when it is necessary. The module will build up students' competence of using basic kanji characters as well as the phonetic scripts. This module will also equip students with understanding of contemporary Japanese culture and society. |
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MAN-30036 |
Leading, Change and Entrepreneurship |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
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|
Even though leadership is probably one of the most used words, the concept of leadership itself has been subjected to decades of discussion and research with little agreement about what we are actually discussing. Leadership is seen as closely aligned to entrepreneurship and many governments in the developed West as elsewhere have articulated the need for increased entrepreneurial activity as a salvation to economic ills.
Entrepreneurship in the UK, advanced not least by the British government and other agencies, encourages enterprise and innovation. For example, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) claims to:
`Promote enterprise, innovation and increased productivity $ú in particular by encouraging successful business start-ups, and by increasing the capacity of business including SME&©s to grow, to invest, to develop skills, to adopt best practice$ö [it is] UK policy to promote enterprise$öand is seen to be of key importance in terms of employment, and wealth creation, and poverty alleviation.&©&©(DTI Website, www.dti.gov.uk/).
This is especially the case with respect to target groups (e.g women) or geographical regions, who are depicted as representing a hitherto largely $ùuntapped&© resource for future economic growth and development.
The OECD claims that the growth and presence of entrepreneurs in SMEs is increasingly important to the global economy. Similarly, in the United States, `the concept of micro-enterprise has been widely praised in the public and private sectors as, one of the hottest anti-poverty strategies&© . Agreement seems to be limited to the fact that we are talking about something important. While the concept of leading might suggest that someone is doing the leading, the concept of leadership has been constructed over the years to encompass a much wider meaning: leadership may be considered as the process of influencing the activities of an organized group in its efforts toward goal setting and goal achievement, or the the $ùmanagement of meaning&©. The necessity for creativity and entrepreneurship on the part of leaders has been thoroughly documented in much mainstream literature.
In this module, we reflect upon leadership and entrepreneurship in the light of contemporary developments and competing perspectives. Module material is supplemented by guest speakers from business and industry and students are encouraged to develop critical research and analytical skills to examine the relevance and application of leadership theory to practical workplace scenarios. |
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MAN-30040 |
Identity, Culture & Organisation |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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|
In seeking to understand the workings of contemporary institutions, it is vital to grasp the deeply complex webs of relations taking place daily beneath the tropes of culture and identity. This module will help student learners to get a firm grasp of the strengths and limits of managerial intervention. The possibilities for colonisation, on the one part, and resistance, on the other, are extensive. For example, whenever managers try to play a heightened role today in both configuring and constraining relations of identity, this creates new issues over democracy and personhood. However, an appreciation of the multiplicities that beset identity, alongside greater insight into the folds within organisational work more generally, also helps suggest why culture change usually proves so difficult to pull off.
The module is structured around weekly discussion. This is based on key studies that capture the lived reality of working in organisations. These readings also help students understand what is accomplished over time without formal intervention. For instance, much day-to-day organisation is created without any managerial input or direction.
The first line of discussion opens up the main perspectives that co-exist about culture. The point is not to set one approach above the other, but to grasp how the analytics of each perspective capture different aspects of culture. The issue is not whether one understanding of culture, say, is more pure or more real. It is to ask what work culture does; and, further, to see what kinds of relations are made possible by different aspects. For example, can large corporations sustain claims about their being a family?
The second line of discussion develops these ideas in ways that highlight the everyday creation and reproduction of identities. Thinking about the issues here will help students understand how power gets materialised, circulated and sustained. For instance, power may be exercised less through formal channels of authority and more through the making and negating of identity. The question to ask is: How do identities count? To whom are identities made visible? And, especially, when?
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MAN-30049 |
Consuming Cultures |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The study of marketing and consumer behaviour has traditionally been rooted in the logic and practices of economic psychology and has over-emphasised the notion of the consumer as an individual whose attitudes and intentions can be identified and measured using large-scale survey methods and whose behaviour can thus be predicted, controlled and exploited through marketing interventions.
More recently, the academic discipline of marketing has become more receptive to ideas about consumption from other disciplines, most notably sociology, anthropology and philosophy, all of which emphasise the social, cultural and symbolic foundations of consumption. Attempts have therefore been made to overcome the conceptual divide between production and consumption that is prevalent in mainstream marketing and much of management theory, through emphasising the interdependencies between the two spheres.
This module is situated against the background of this development towards an interdisciplinary approach in marketing, and it complements existing courses in the management area. The rationale of the course is to provide a critical introduction to theories and ideas about contemporary consumer society emanating from fields other than (as well as) management and mainstream marketing.
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MAN-30056 |
Comparative Business Cultures |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Much of the literature on business culture presents and promotes standardised approaches to do business in the globalised world. This course aims at opening up this unhelpful and homogenised view of business culture by focusing on difference and diversity of business cultures across the world. The module offers a sophisticated introduction to theoretical perspectives on Management in the context of globalisation. |
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MDS-30012 |
Creative Magazine Production |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will provide you with the experience of working in a planning and production team in the layout of an envisaged $ùmagazine&© or $ùjournal&© concerned with culture. Each student will write one main article which will be negotiated with the publishing group plus smaller mini articles such as music reviews etc. Successful completion of the module will enable you to gain sophisticated skills in the analysis of writings on art and/or culture and cultural issues. It will also allow you to gain confidence in your own abilities to plan and complete similar work in the context of the demands of journal production.
The group will negotiate a 'house style' and design, using both text and image with Adobe Photoshop and Quarkxpress software to produce both a print version of their journal and an electronic version. This module incorporates employability skills which are highly desirable within media industries.
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MUS-30029 |
Narrative, Music and Meaning |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Does music have meanings? Can music tell a story? Who creates musical meanings: performers, listeners, or composers? This module scythes into these knotty issues by engaging with the question of whether music can signify stories or dramas, or other 'extra-musical' things - one of the most intense and long-running arguments in musicology. Considering both these notions and the debate offers an opportunity to cut to the heart of the relationship between culturally-situated listeners, performers and musical texts, and their interactive constructions of meaning. A better question, therefore, is not whether one can speak of music as narrative, but when is it especially useful to speak of such things - and what do such discourses tell us about the times, texts and people engaged in those discussions?
These are the topics of this module, which braids together two types of activity: close readings of theory and analysis scholarship on music, narrative and meaning, and close readings, informed by that scholarship, of repertoire by composers such as Beethoven, Chopin, Mahler, and Lutoslawski.
PLEASE NOTE:
From 2012-13, the prerequisites for the module have changed to any TWO of MUS-20044 Theory and Analysis, MUS-20045 Stravinsky, Russian Traditions and Legacy, MUS-20032 Indian Music, or MUS-30039 Music in German Culture. The module itself is a prerequisite for students taking the linked ISP module MUS-30030 'Analyzing Musical Narratives' in semester 2, during which students will work on analysis projects utilizing skills developed on MUS-30029.
Please note that the module includes a close engagement with music theory and music analysis articles and is therefore ideal for students with a keen interest in close reading, theory and analysis, and/or a strong interest in the Western art music repertoire. Students who have not taken MUS-20044 at Level 2 are encouraged to read a guide to music analysis in preparation for the challenges of this module, such as Nicholas Cook's A Guide to Musical Analysis.
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MUS-30036 |
Paris: 1870-1939 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module introduces students to music and culture in France during the Third Republic (1870-1939). It addresses key issues of the period, such as national identity, patriotism, war, orientalism and how these impact on musical production in the period. The module is divided into distinct topics, including exoticism, high/low art, jazz, war and musical production, patriotism and nationalism and musical aesthetics after the Great War. It focuses on selected composers including Bizet, Debussy, Ravel, Satie and the group Les Six. It also introduces students to a range of repertoire by French and other composers, such as Stravinsky, Schoenberg and de Falla who were active in France in this period.
The module builds on expertise and skills developed at level 2, but asks different and more probing questions about music's role in culture and its engagement with politics, aesthetics and ideas. |
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MUS-30038 |
Contextual Studies 1 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module introduces students to key themes in current musicological debate: canon and reception; classical music today; modernism and postmodernism; cultural studies; musical subjectivity; authenticity in music; and music in everyday life. It focuses on music ranging from Beethoven to Kagel to world music.
This module builds on expertise and skills developed at level 2, but asks different and more probing questions about music's role in culture, and about how the discourses of musicology shape our understanding of music. |
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MUS-30040 |
Composition 1 (Single Module) |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module gives guidance and provides supervision to enable the creation of a small portfolio of compositions by addressing general topics relating to instrumental, vocal and electroacoustic forces and specific compositional interests of individual composers. Students will explore techniques and ideas relating to their own musical language, means of creating and developing musical material and organising their own ideas with respect to considerations of musical form and structure.
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MUT-30003 |
MAX/MSP |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
MAX-MSP is a widely used software package allowing for the design of musical
algorithms using MIDI and recorded, live or sampled sounds. The ideas and material
explored in this module provide skills that can be used in the context of other
modules, notably composition and cross media practice. The focus is on the design
and development of intelligent tools which aid the composition and performance,
provide automation of tasks and extend the capabilities of conventional instruments.
The principal objective of the module is the creation and realisation of a score
involving live performance and electronics. The emphasis throughout the module is on
a compositional possibility for the use of MAX/MSP.
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MUT-30004 |
Music Programming |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module consists of a series of lectures and workshops. You will acquire knowledge on how to use a programming language and work through a series of tasks that will guide you in writing your own programs. You should very quickly get to the point where you can design the interface of your software and test its functionality. Then, you will be ready to integrate the required code to get it to generate sounds. You will be encouraged to think about the implementation of your own creative ideas, which you will be able to discuss with the module tutor. |
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PHI-30026 |
Epistemology &Metaphysics ll |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Kant is probably one of most influential thinkers in the history of philosophy. He argued that in order to be possible metaphysics had to drastically be reformed. The change he advocated was from a conception of metaphysics as an enquiry into the ultimate structures of reality to a conception of metaphysics as a second-order enquiry into the structures of knowledge (transcendental philosophy). In this module we will study three philosophers: Leibniz, Hume and Kant. Leibniz practiced the very kind of metaphysics which Kant claimed to be bankrupt. Hume was a critic of Leibniz who claimed that metaphysical treatises of the kind written by Leibniz should be "committed to the flames". Kant on the other hand believed that far from being abandoned, as Hume claimed, metaphysics ought to be reformed. His transcendental philosophy is an attempt to rescue metaphysics from the Humean critique. But, and this is the important question raised by this module: does our hero succeed in the task of reforming metaphysics? And does the metaphysics Kant defends bear any resemblance to what is ordinarily understood by metaphysics?
The module is assessed as follows:
3,000 word essay (75% of module mark)
1,000 quotation based essay (25% of module mark)
The module will be taught in eight 2-hour informal lectures and 7 one-hour seminars. |
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PIR-30101 |
Russia and Europe: Hopes for Partnership, Legacy of Confrontation |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Following a brief period of euphoria after the end of the Cold War, Russia seems to be drifting apart from its neighbours and partners in Europe. This module examines the evolution of different social, political and economic forces that shape Russia and Europe. It addresses deep-seated differences on sovereignty, democracy, human rights and security that explain Russia's uneasy relationship with NATO and the European Union.
The module consists of ten 2-hour seminars. The final module mark is based on: 2500-word essay (50%); 2-hour unseen written exam (50%). |
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PIR-30108 |
Proliferation |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The aims of this module are to: (1) enable students to develop an informed understanding of the changing agenda of arms control in the post Cold War era and of the policy conflicts encountered in shaping the agenda of weapons proliferation control; (2) enable students to identify the political, technological, economic and moral factors that affect the formation, evolution and effectiveness of formal and informal multilateral and global regimes relevant to proliferation control
Students will learn about the various factors affecting the agenda, modalities and outcomes of international proliferation control efforts, through conducting in-depth evaluations of the development, implementation and effectiveness of proliferation control policies in specific issue-areas. How does the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty work? What improvements need to be made to it? Why do some countries abandon weapons of mass destruction programmes while others try to develop or acquire such weapons? What can the international community do to persuade "threshold states" not to become nuclear weapons powers? Do "carrots" work better than "sticks?" What factors affect the likely effectiveness of efforts to coordinate export control policies covering conventional and non-conventional weapons and related technologies? Should bullets, mines and cluster bombs be as important as nuclear, chemical and biological weapons on the proliferation agenda of states, international organisations and the campaigning groups to be found in civil society? Are different dynamics at play when the agenda shifts to the humanitarian or human security level as distinct from the security of states?
Students will develop their communication, team-working and leadership skills through giving presentations as part of a team in charge of leading their seminar group on two occasions, as well as refining their analytical and other intellectual skills.
The assessment format is: two individual oral presentations as part of your student team (10% of the module mark, in total); 2500 word essay (40% of the module mark); 2-hour unseen exam (50% of the module mark).
The requirement to deliver two oral presentations in class helps each student to engage regularly with the module in a focussed, in-depth manner. It also gives them the opportunity to receive detailed feedback on their understanding of the content of the module very regularly from the Tutor who, in the course of his career, has actually worked on proliferation issues in the British government as well as researching and writing on them as a University academic.
The seminars usually adhere to the sequence of topics outlined below:
1. Organisational meeting
2. Arms Control during the Cold War: Experience and Legacy for the Post-9/11 Era (presentation by the Tutor)
3. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime: the Non-Proliferation Treaty and IAEA nuclear safeguards; the prospective nuclear "Fissban", and the struggle for the Nuclear Test Ban
4. "Nuclear Repentance" - the cases of Brazil, Argentina, South Africa and Libya
5. Crossing the nuclear threshold: India and Pakistan and stability in South Asia
6. Threshold Cases: Iraq
7. Threshold Cases: Iran and North Korea
8. Poor Man's Armageddon? Chemical and Biological Weapons
9. The arms bazaar and arms export control regimes for big-ticket conventional weapons and for ballistic missiles
10. Micro-disarmament: an humanitarian agenda? The cases of anti-personnel landmines, cluster munitions and the trade in small arms and light weapons
11. Feedback, feed forward and reflections on the module: the Tutor gives generic feedback on the essays (prior to written individual feedback) and "feed forward" for the exam (advice on exam preparation, informed by the Tutor's reflections on past student performance in answering exam questions on the topics covered in the module.)
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PIR-30124 |
Urban Politics |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will provide students with an in-depth and systematic understanding of recent
developments and issues in urban and regional governance in the UK. It seeks to widen students&© understanding of subnational levels of governance within the UK state and to engage them with recent institutional, theoretical and conceptual changes in urban politics. The final module mark is based upon the following: a 2,500 word essay (50%); a 2-hour unseen written exam (50%) and a presentation (0%).
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PIR-30135 |
Regime Change in the Balkans |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Regime change in the Balkans is perceived as unfinished and problematic more than two decades after the collapse of communism. This module will introduce students to the communist and post-communist politics of Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, and the republics and regions of former Yugoslavia, within the context of change in the wider Balkans and Eastern Europe. The main themes covered by the course are: images of Balkan underdevelopment; the legacies of Sovietisation and national communism; transitions and modernisation in the new Balkan democracies; national, ethnic and religious problems; federalism, separatism and secession; the Yugoslav crisis zone; the place of the Balkans in European integration.
The module consists of ten 2-hour seminars. The final module mark is based on: 2500-word essay (50%); 2-hour unseen written exam (50%). |
|
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PIR-30140 |
The Left in Modern Politics: Challenging the Political Order? |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The centre-left, or social democratic parties - ranging from the British Labour party to the Swedish Social Democrats to the American Democratic party - have witnessed ideological change over the past twenty years as well as more recently, electoral failure. At the same time, in western Europe, small parties to the left of social democrats, the so-called radical left parties such as the Dutch Socialist party or the German Left party, have now become formidable challengers to the social democrats. This module explores the rise and relative fall of social democratic parties, reasons for the rise in the 21st century of the radical left as well as green parties, and non-party challengers such as the anti-globalisation and Occupy movements.
Assessment will involve individaul student presentations of an essay topic they will develop with advice from the module tutor, the essay itself (50%) and a final essay-based examination (50%). |
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RUS-90003 |
Russian 3 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will further develop Russian language skills enabling students to speak, write and read Russian carrying out simple tasks they are likely to encounter in travelling, living or studying in Russia. |
|
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RUS-90005 |
Russian 5 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will further develop students Russian language communication skills already acquired, enabling students to speak, listen, read, and write in carrying out tasks they are likely to encounter in socialising, living, studying, travelling or working in Russia. Topics and functions covered in the module will include: making comparisons, discussing Russian cities, regions, countryside and types of accommodation, holiday options, talking about choices and decisions, quoting reported speech. |
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SOC-30025 |
Streets, Skyscrapers, and Slums: The City in Social, Cultural, and Historical Context |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In this module we trace the cultural politics of the city from Ancient Athens to contemporary mega-cities, such as Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Lagos. Following the introductory lecture, which examines the meaning of the original cities of the ancient world, the first part of the module, modern cities, offers a consideration of the late 19th century / early 20th century European metropolises.
After an exploration of the ideas of metropolitan psychology, fashion, and the department store in the works of Georg Simmel and Walter Benjamin, we move on to think about the city in the late 20th century. Here we think about the situationist city, the spectacular city, and the surveillance city and consider the ideas of Guy Debord, Henri Lefebvre, and Michel Foucault.
In the second part of the module, post-modern cities, we study the American mega-city. For writers such as Fredric Jameson, Jean Baudrillard, and Mike Davis cities such as Los Angeles and Las Vegas are strange surreal places. In this section of the course we explore the post-modern city through the ideas of simulation, informationalism, urban violence, the ghetto, and the obsession with security.
After our exploration of the post-modern city, the final section of the module examines contemporary third world mega-cities. We begin with a consideration of Mike Davis&©s recent study of the third world slum and then move on to think about the ideas of pollution and danger in mega-cities.
Other topics in this section of the course include the situation of the occultism in the African city, corruption and crime in South Africa, and the mythology of the werewolf in one of Africa&©s most populous cities, Lagos.
The aim of the module is to explore the cultural politics of the city in history.
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SOC-30029 |
Gender and Consumption |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Consumption and consumer culture are salient facets of everyday life in affluent societies of the 21st century. Equally, gender is a ubiquitous dimension which shapes the social and culture world, and the subjectivities of individuals living within it.
This module examines the intersections and interconnections between consumption, consumer culture and gender, looking not only at how gender informs the organisation of markets, but also at how markets inform formulations of gender structure, gender culture and provides resources for gender performativity.
It does this by looking at a series of topics relating to the rise of an all-enveloping consumer culture in affluent societies during the 20th Century, with visits to the department store, a perusal of magazine contents and the formulation of advertisements. It also considers the domestic home as a place for the expression of domestic femininity through home related consumption.
It then turns its focus to contemporary topics, amongst which are a consideration of the consequences of commercialisation for intimate life, the interlinking of gender and class in consumption, and the ways in which consumer culture frames and offers resources for the enactment of gender amongst the young. |
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SOC-30030 |
Sociology of Parenting and Early Childhood |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
We live in a society which places increasing emphasis on the long-term significance of good parenting and the importance of positive early childhood experiences. This module enables students to focus on these issues by exploring a developing area of British sociology, parenting culture studies.
The module begins with an introduction to recent analyses about the nature of parenthood over the last 20 years, including ideas about the intensive nature of motherhood, the increasing dominance of scientific ideas around childrearing and the 'paranoid' state of parents. Various aspects of childrearing practices will be explored, including nutrition, sleep and discipline. The module then moves on to consider the roles of 'experts', the media and the state in parenting. In conclusion the focus moves to a consideration of the nature of parenting and the implications this has for our understanding of adulthood and childhood in contemporary social life.
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SOC-30032 |
Home: belonging, locality and material culture |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will critically explore the idea of home as a socio-cultural concept. Using an interdisciplinary approach, broadly located in sociology, but appealing to students interested in geography, english, marketing, psychology and media/cultural studies, it asks a number of difficult but fascinating questions about why we are all so obsessed with home cultures.
Why are we obsessed with the homes of celebrities? What dreams are we pursuing when we seek to nosy around their wine cellars and their marble bathtubs? Is this dream telling us something about our own narratives of belonging, or do we realise we will never achieve what they have? And how can we understand this obsession with homes in a social context: have we always been like this, or is this only since home buying became a central part of the British economy?
What is the significance of stuff? We're surrounded by it, but it is often mute and difficult to understand. We will be exploring the relationship of people to their things - displaying, collecting, disposing: the objects that make up home have enormous social, personal, cultural and psychological significance which needs unravelling.
Is it true that the only good music and art comes from 'running away from home'? From the Modernist avant garde, to punk, to Hirst and Emin, to grime - it seems that inspiration comes not from the stifling normality of homely life, but from city streets. Home spaces are often seen as the evil 'other' of creativity, yet they are as much a part of the modern city as shiny glass buildings and exciting public spaces.
What does the idea of home do to obscure the real social relations that go on behind closed doors? In what ways does the concept of the 'domestic' shelter us from the gritty reality of home life? And how is this ideology promoted and defended? The dark, uncanny side of home will be explored and themes from sociology, geography and cultural studies blended to examine how home is a key motif in notions of evil.
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|
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SPN-90003 |
Spanish 3 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Spanish is one of the world&©s major languages and is growing. Language skills can be very useful to employers and will help you get a lot more out of travel to Spanish-speaking countries.
For those studying International Relations, History, Politics, American Studies or doing Geography or Geology fieldwork in Spain, this module will equip them with an essential insight of Spanish language varieties and Hispanic cultures.
This module is designed for students with a basic level of Spanish -Spanish 2 or equivalent (e.g. CEF level A1, GCSE grade C or lower). It consolidates previous grammatical knowledge and widens vocabulary through practical exercises, guided conversation, games, songs, etc. and develops their communicative skills. Topics include your daily routine, relationships, hobbies, etc. Various aspects of contemporary Spanish life as well as of the Hispanic world (e.g. timetables, celebration of death, Christmas traditions) will be discussed in class and students will gain a basic understanding of these topics.
The course will unable you to sustain a basic conversation, incorporating the socio-linguistic functions of apologising, offering help and suggestions, inviting, rejecting an invitation and showing agreement and disagreement, etc.
We will use a course book which will give a basic outline and structure to the course, but the book will be supplemented by regular video work and other materials. You will also have the opportunity to practise and reinforce vocabulary and language structures by using computer exercises in Keele Learning Environment (KLE), linked to the weekly classes.
The language level of this module corresponds to work leading to Level A2 in the European Common Framework for Languages (CEFR -A2).
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|
|
SPN-90005 |
Spanish 5 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Spanish is one of the world&©s major languages and for those studying American Studies, International Relations, History, Politics, or doing Geography or Geology fieldwork in Spain, this module equips them with an insight of Spanish/Hispanic language varieties and cultures. Whatever career you choose to follow, your Spanish skills will help you get more from life.
Both the mastery of a foreign language as widely spoken as Spanish and the awareness of cultural and linguistic specificities will prove essential when negotiating the world of work.
This module is designed for students who have completed Spanish 4 or equivalent (e.g. CEF level A2, GCSE grade A). It will expand the foundations for further study or work in Spain and Latin America.
All language skills - reading, listening, speaking and writing as well as the pragmatic-socio cultural dimension of the language- are integrated in every tutorial. Cultural background of Spanish society as well as Hispanic traditions (Death celebrations, Lottery, Christmas, etc.) are present throughout the course. You will also enquire into the ways we learn and acquire a language (their motivations and difficulties when learning Spanish), where the contributions of students will be of vital importance.
Teaching will be based around a course book which will be supplemented by a range of video material. There will be a variety of tasks and exercises during each class, such as discussion and role play; listening comprehension and reading and writing tasks. There will be introductory class sessions but also regular group and pair work; and further, partly web-based, self-study tasks.
The language level of this module corresponds to work leading to Level B1 in the European Common Framework for Languages (CEFR -B1).
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|
|
SPN-90007 |
Spanish 7 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The mastery of Spanish, the official language in 23 countries and the second language in USA, as well as of the cultural background of Spanish society and of the Hispanic world presented throughout the course is of great advantage for future employment in this vast job market or for those wishing to travel in South America. It is specially relevant for those studying American Studies, International Relations, History, Politics, or doing Geography or Geology fieldwork in Spain.
This course is designed for students with a good knowledge of Spanish who have completed Spanish 6 or equivalent (e.g. CEFR level B1, AS-level grade B, A-level grade D). It will develop their advanced communication skills in Spanish in everyday situations as well as in more complex contexts, in particular in discussing a range of topical issues in Spanish or understanding contemporary Spain and the Hispanic world.
You will both, consolidate the skills you have acquired at previous levels and build on them by moving beyond the situations of everyday life to more challenging and stimulating tasks such as how to write the biography of the ideal candidate for a job, to set rules in given contexts, to broadcast information, to write reviews, to design a manifesto, tell anecdotes, understand culturally based sense of humour, etc
You will extend your vocabulary base and be introduced to the more complex grammatical Spanish structures, including the use of past tenses, the difference between the subjunctive/indicative, ser/estar + adjectives, direct/reported speech, etc.
All language skills - reading, listening, speaking and writing as well as the pragmatic-socio cultural dimension of the language- are integrated in every tutorial. We will also enquire into the ways we learn and acquire a language, where the contributions of students will be of vital importance.
There will be a course book which will be supplemented by a range of video material and there will be a variety of tasks and exercises during each class, such as discussion and role play; listening comprehension and reading and writing tasks and students will be required to complete a range of self study tasks. Furthermore, we will make extensive use of Spanish/Hispanic resources available on the Internet to consolidate vocabulary, grammatical structures and themes dealt with in class. There will be further self-study opportunities via Keele Learning Environment (KLE). Feedback on formative and summative assessments will be provided at regular intervals.
The language level of this module corresponds to work leading to Level B2 in the European Common Framework for Languages (CEFR -B2).
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| Semester 1-2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
ENL-90003 |
Academic English for Business Students (Part 1) |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Drawing on business-related themes, these sessions will help students to develop and refine the specific writing, reading and verbal communication skills they need to succeed in their studies. Through a series of workshops, lectures, assignments, online and practical tasks and projects, students will improve their ability to:
• extract key information from academic texts
• summarise, paraphrase and synthesise information from a variety of sources
• identify authorial stance, interpret data and read critically
• cite sources appropriately and write a bibliography
• write in an accepted academic style
• engage in academic discussion
• prepare and deliver academic presentations
|
|
|
ENL-90004 |
Academic English for Business Students ( 2) |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Drawing on academic business themes and materials, these sessions will provide opportunities for students to further develop their writing, reading and verbal communication skills. Through a series of lectures, workshops, assignments, on-line and practical tasks, students will improve their ability to:
• Summarise, paraphrase and synthesise information from a variety of sources
• Cite sources accurately and write a bibliography
• Gather, interpret and report on data
• Identify authorial stance and read critically
• Write in an appropriate academic style
• Engage in academic discussion
• Prepare and deliver academic presentations
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|
|
ENL-90006 |
English for Academic Purposes 2 (EAP 2) |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will help students develop and refine the specific writing, reading and verbal communication skills they will need to succeed in their degree studies. Through a series of workshops, lectures, assignments, on-line and practical tasks and projects, students will improve their ability to:
• extract key information from extended academic texts
• summarise, paraphrase and synthesise information from a variety of sources
• identify an author's point of view, interpret data and read critically
• cite sources accurately and produce a bibliography
• research, prepare and construct an organised and coherent undergraduate academic essay
• write in an accepted academic style
• respond appropriately to set essay questions and prepare for essay examinations
• understand and use key items of academic vocabulary
• engage in academic discussion
• prepare and deliver academic presentations
|
|
|
MDS-30013 |
Sustained Media Practice - ISP |
EF |
C
|
15 |
30 |
|
|
Sustained Media Practice is an independent study programme intended to enable you to develop, synthesise and enhance the range of aptitudes, abilities and theoretical frameworks learned within all the modules previously undertaken in Media, Communications &Culture. Although the module leader will offer you assistance, as well as monitor and review your progress over the two semesters, the initiation, development, and completion of the project will be your own responsibility.
The Media Project is an important part of the Media, Communications and Culture degree because it is intended to enable students to show how they can orchestrate, creatively and systematically, both the theoretical and practical aspects of their work within a major independent project. This independent project will accumulate into an exhibition of student work. The projects are always varied and you can choose to develop any area of Media Communications and Culture which interests you. Previous projects have been narrative films, documentaries, photographic projects, installations and performance pieces.
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| Semester 2 |
C/O |
TYP |
ECTS | CATS |
|
|
AMS-30035 |
'Eyes on the Prize': The Struggle for Civil Rights in America |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module is suitable for students who have already taken history modules and acquired a solid grounding in the methods of historical research, analysis, and writing. This module allows students to study one of the most dramatic processes to shape contemporary America: the African-American struggle for civil rights. From a South blighted by $ùJim Crow&© segregation, and lynching to today&©s America, where equality before the law has been achieved but fissures of race still divide society, we will assess the aims and achievements of black leadership; the contribution of $ùmainstream protest&© by ordinary men and women, black and white, Northern and Southern, to re-shaping American society and the broader African-American contribution to American culture. The rise of more radical strategies will also be addressed and placed within the larger context of this, the most significant dilemma to confront American democracy over the last century.
This module gives students an in-depth familiarity with a case-study of a mass movement for civil rights, with some attention to other kinds of campaigns and freedom struggles, particularly before the emergence of mass activism. The module will be informed by the latest stage in the scholarly debate concerning the nature of mass activism and protest by African-Americans in an effort to gain full citizenship rights and economic opportunities. This module will give students the ability to the application of advanced historiographical methods of research to piece together the narrative of the Civil Rights movement and how scholarly debate reflects contemporary race related issues. Furthermore students will gain the ability to evaluate the differing value of conflicting approaches, a process that throws into relief the uncertainty, ambiguity and limits of knowledge but also the possibility of achieving methodological objectivity. Students taking this module will also gain the abiltiy to manage their own learning by generating essay topics themselves, and make use of scholarly articles and primary sources relating to Civil Rights in a way that goes beyond the insights available from secondary sources alone.
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|
|
CRI-30038 |
State crimes and crimes against humanity |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
State Crimes and Crimes against Humanity have drawn the attention of criminologists only recently. This module provides students with in-depth information on these 'new' topics in criminology. The focus is on explanations of state crimes and crimes against humanity, and on regulatory models and perspectives in this field of study.
The module analyses in depth topics briefly explored earlier in the level II module on 'Crime and Justice in a Global Context'. Students who take the level III module however shall be introduced to more philosophically inspired reflections on the issue of state crimes and crimes against humanity. It is not necessary for students to have taken the aforementioned level II module prior to taking this one.
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|
|
CRI-30041 |
The politics and cultures of the death penalty in the 21st Century |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This option is intended for students with an interest in punishment and penality in general and in the death penalty in particular. Through a combination of lectures and seminar activities students will be encouraged to develop a critical understanding of the philosophical, political, legal and cultural contexts within which the death penalty either survives or is abolished.
The course is organized around the exploration of four themes:
1) The place of the death penalty in the philosophy and sociology of punishment.
2) The current state of play on the death penalty worldwide and the rise of abolitionist politics (especially in the European context).
3) Current debates/controversies surrounding the application of the death penalty in the US through relevant criminological/legal literature and cases of established or suspected miscarriages of justice.
4) Key cultural sensibilities relating to executions, pain and suffering.
Students will be encouraged to use internet resources to locate information relating to case studies on specific death row prisoners/miscarriages of justice and the arguments of anti-death penalty/pro-death penalty groups. Seminars will aim to help students evaluate, summarize and synthesize the information gathered. A number of the seminar activities are designed to assist students with their essays and students will be encouraged to bring to the seminars case studies relevant to their case study assessment.
|
|
|
CRI-30043 |
Power, Process and Victimisation |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
While students of this module will be introduced to traditional theoretical perspectives and methods within victimology, the module is designed to challenge and critically assess conventional definitions of 'the victim' and 'victimisation'. This aim will be achieved by examining the processes behind, as well as the social construction of these definitions, and to situate them within a wider sociological context of power and its implementation. To this end, the module focuses on the theory, practices and policy behind the study of victimisation.
Furthermore, it encourages students to develop both analytical skills as well as an understanding of policy interventions. In turn, attaining these skills should facilitate access to careers in victim support, rape crisies centres and in the partnership work that is being developed through the inter-linking of different criminal justice and welfare agencies to provide support for victims, both at a local and national level.
|
|
|
CRI-30047 |
Forensic Mental Health and Offending |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Are mentally disordered offenders "mad" or "bad"? Should they be "treated" or "punished"? What is the relationship between "mental health" and offending? These are just some of the questions that this exciting new third year module will introduce you to as we explore the key debates, theoretical perspectives and differing responses that surround forensic mental health.
The module begins by introducing students to the variety of different ways in which mental health has been classified, understood and responded to. We start by tracing the history of the asylums and psychiatry through to the deinstitutionalisation of the mentally ill and move towards 'care in the community'. Subsequent political and public responses to a small number of high profile offences by the mentally ill in the 1990s are considered before the current framework of services for mentally disordered offenders is outlined. This will enable students to critically engage with the development of criminal justice and health responses to mentally disordered offenders and consider the theoretical and practical challenges that are raised by our attempts to identify and target so called 'dangerous' people. The problems surrounding treatment and making accurate predictions of risk will also be explored. |
|
|
CRI-30047 |
Forensic Mental Health and Offending |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Are mentally disordered offenders "mad" or "bad"? Should they be "treated" or "punished"? What is the relationship between "mental health" and offending? These are just some of the questions that this exciting new third year module will introduce you to as we explore the key debates, theoretical perspectives and differing responses that surround forensic mental health.
The module begins by introducing students to the variety of different ways in which mental health has been classified, understood and responded to. We start by tracing the history of the asylums and psychiatry through to the deinstitutionalisation of the mentally ill and move towards 'care in the community'. Subsequent political and public responses to a small number of high profile offences by the mentally ill in the 1990s are considered before the current framework of services for mentally disordered offenders is outlined. This will enable students to critically engage with the development of criminal justice and health responses to mentally disordered offenders and consider the theoretical and practical challenges that are raised by our attempts to identify and target so called 'dangerous' people. The problems surrounding treatment and making accurate predictions of risk will also be explored. |
|
|
CRI-30048 |
Living with ‘Aliens': Immigration, Crime and Social Control |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Mass immigration is perhaps one of the most controversial and contested topics of contemporary times. Popular discourse often considers immigration to be a threat to national security and as depleting the country’s resources. Immigrants themselves are all too often cast as ‘aliens’, ‘demons’, and ‘outsiders’ in the communities they settle; being considered a ‘crime-prone’ population. Some key examples of this include the ‘Italian mafia’ in America; the ‘racialised’ discourse of immigration and crime during the post-war era of immigration; and Eastern European immigration more recently which has revitalised this debate.
The association of immigration with rising crime, disorder and insecurity has not only featured prominently in popular discourse however, it has also been a topic of interest in criminological and sociological literature throughout the last 100 years and continues to be so today. The aim of this module is to challenge and critically assess the ‘conventional wisdom’ on the association between immigration and rising crime. Is a dystopian nightmare of violence, chaos and disorder the inevitable consequence of mass immigration? Or can groups live together in harmony in diverse communities? Are immigrants a ‘crime-prone’ and ‘dangerous’ population or merely perceived as such? Do immigrants themselves have negative experiences as victims of prejudice and hate crime? Can mass immigration actually have the potential to bring benefits to communities, ultimately reducing the local crime rate? These are some of the questions that will be addressed in this module, which explores some of the most up to date and cutting edge research on this topic that turns both the old established theories, as well as common public assumptions, on their head.
|
|
|
EDU-30072 |
Race, Politics and Education |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module will introduce students to key concepts such as 'race', nation and ethnicity and to some of the ways in which these have been theorised. It will explore political issues in the recent (1945-present) history of immigration in Britain including state responses to and public debates about immigration during this period. The critical role of education in such debates is the central core of the module. Current debates over multiculturalism, immigration and asylum as well as racism in the current global political climate of heightened 'security' concerns and preoccupations with $ùterrorism&© will also be connected to issues of schooling especially in relation to the schooling of Muslim pupils and children from asylum seeking backgrounds. |
|
|
EDU-30073 |
Education, Work and Identity |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module explores changing patterns of education and work, the dynamic relationship between these two institutions, and how this has developed over time. It will examine the wider social, cultural and economic contexts that shape both educational and work institutions, and how these affect the lives and identities of those involved in them. The module considers the way in which wider changes linked to globalisation, post-industrialism, education reform and marketisation, and related social and economic shifts, have affected people&©s experiences of education and employment, their social relationships and sense of self. The course draws upon a range of concepts and approaches, including: globalisation, post-industrial society, credentialism, human capital, gender and theories of self and identity. It will critically examine evidence about the changing labour market, and its impacts upon educational institutions.
|
|
|
EDU-30082 |
Educating for Global Citizenship |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
What role does education have in creating good citizens? What does it mean to be a citizen today? Both of these questions have long informed educational policy and practice in different ways across the world. Education has been seen as key to creating a nations loyal subjects, skilled workers, intelligentsia, political activists. In short, in helping to shape people’s sense of their place and values in their country and community.
But as the nature of the world has changed, the citizenship role of education has begun to be contested. In particular, it is argued, the nation-state is no longer so central. So education today has the function of creating ‘global citizens’, in which ideas such as multi-cultural identity, sustainable development, values and the common good are important.
Through lectures, seminars, workshops and group poster presentations, this module explores how ideas of citizenship have been reflected in educational policy and practice over the past century and in different countries today.
|
|
|
ENG-30053 |
Postmodernism: Fiction, Film and Theory |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Postmodernism represents an important body of critical theory that developed in the second half of the twentieth century, and continues to have relevance in the twenty-first. It crosses a range of disciplines, but emphasizes an interrogative, reflexive and eclectic challenge to many philosophical and aesthetic values and practices. On this module, you will explore the relevance and meaning of some of the ideas associated with postmodernism with respect to selected novels and films. You will assess the influence of key ideas on writers and directors and you will study the main themes and techniques used in postmodern fiction and film. The module also encourages a critically-informed assessment of the implications of postmodern thinking for contemporary notions of history, identity, sexuality, politics and consumer society. Fiction and film likely to be studied on the module include Julian Barnes, A History of the World in 10½ Chapters; Jeanette Winterson, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit; Martin Amis, Money; J. G. Ballard, Kingdom Come; The Hours (dir. Stephen Daldry); The Company of Wolves (dir. Neil Jordan); The Matrix (dir. Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski); and Mulholland Drive (dir. David Lynch).
|
|
|
ENG-30055 |
The Two Cultures of the Arts and the Sciences |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Have you ever had to argue that the subject you study is as important as the science subjects? Do you think that the arts are undervalued, underfunded and misunderstood? Do you suspect that $ùbig science&© is not necessarily as objective and politically neutral as it makes itself out to be? Shouldn&©t science be forced to acknowledge its moral responsibilities and the ideological and historical agendas that motivate its research? Is technology making us less human? Are we destroying our world? How does drug use affect our sense of self?
This module will consider such questions using diverse texts from Frankenstein, to Terminator, from Darwin&©s Origin of the Species to Richard Dawkins&©s The Selfish Gene, and Aldous Huxley&©s Brave New World. We will challenge and interrogate the idea that the sciences and the arts are two distinct and separate cultures, discussing a range of genres including film, novel, poetry, plays and popular science from the last two hundred years to attempt to establish what are the distinguishing characteristics of $ùart&© and $ùscience&©. As dual honours students you are particularly well placed to consider the different and even contradictory methodologies of individual disciplines.
We will look in particular at the way that science is portrayed in the arts, and the claims that science has made for itself, for $ùtruth&©, $ùobjectivity&© and political neutrality. In contrast we shall also consider science&©s role within culture as a reflection of the political and social concerns of the time. The postmodernist debunking of science in the late twentieth century led to the further polarisation of positions and the so-called $ùscience wars&© of the 1990s.
The module will be focused on central themes, some of which flag up divisions between the sciences and the arts and others that suggest the possibility of reconciliation. All these themes are topical and important: the environment and eco-criticism, ideology, digital media, science fiction, questions of ethics, gender politics, animal rights, nuclear technology, quantum physics, chaos theory, cloning, genetic modification and the cyborg.
|
|
|
ENG-30056 |
Postcolonial and World Literature in English |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module aims to introduce students to the diversity of literature produced in postcolonial contexts since the end of World War II. We will compare material from a number of formerly colonised regions - including Africa, the Caribbean, India, and Australasia - and explore how postcolonial texts relate to local cultural and historical experiences. The module is structured around some of the most highly charged issues tackled by postcolonial artists: cultural identity and nationhood; race, gender, and the body; globalisation; economic development; environmental disaster; and war. As we address these, we will look at ways of applying the exciting and challenging ideas raised by postcolonial theory, and consider how world literature is consumed in a global marketplace. The module covers a wide range of texts including prose, poetry, drama, and film, and will examine postcolonial writers' innovative reconfigurations of form and genre.
Primary Reading:
- Brian Friel, Translations (1980) [play]
- Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (1958) [short novel] / Rolf de Heer (dir.) Ten Canoes (2006) [film]
- Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) [novel]
- Postcolonial island poetry [this will be a selection from Caribbean and Pacific island writers]
- Athol Fugard, Sizwe Bansi is Dead (1974) [play]
- Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions (1988) [novel]
- Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place (1988) [essay] / Stephanie Black (dir.) Life and Debt (2001) [film]
- Indra Sinha, Animal’s People (2008) [novel]
- Ari Folman (dir.) Waltz with Bashir (2008) [film]
|
|
|
ENG-30063 |
The Canadian Metropolis |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
What comes to mind when you think of Canada? From the outside, many see it as a safe, civilised country that is, perhaps, not terribly exciting. This is far removed from reality. The country is wrought with tensions, including over Quebec separatism, clashes between francophones, anglophones and immigrants whose first language is neither French nor English, and land claims by aboriginal groups. Although the image of Canada is often one of forests and lakes, populated by the odd Mountie, most Canadians actually live in urban settings. Cities in general are sites where social tensions crystallise. Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver are the largest and most culturally and economically important ones in Canada. Therefore, it is not surprising that they find themselves time and again in Canadian and Québécois literature and other forms of cultural production. This module looks at a range of Canadian and Quebecois urban fiction, examining how this contributes to discourses around national and other identities. |
|
|
ENG-30064 |
Milton |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The poetry and prose of John Milton is almost unmatched in English in its achievement, range and ambition. Paradise Lost is the great English epic. Milton's involvement with the Parliamentary regime of the 1640s and 50s produced some of the most engaged and impressive writing of this or any period. From an early age Milton set himself to become a writer: apart from epic, there is tragedy, masque, elegy, sonnet, and polemic. In this module we will look at the range of Milton's work (though not all of it), and attend to the historical, classical and biblical contexts. Finish your degree studies in English with a serious study of one of the great English writers. |
|
|
ENG-30068 |
Shakespearean Stages: Making and Re-Making the Plays of Shakespeare and his Contemporaries |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
This module gives students the opportunity to study the plays of Shakespeare in depth, and to consider them alongside the plays of his rivals, collaborators and successors. What did Shakespeare's contemporaries think about his plays? How did they adapt his narratives, characters and techniques? Why are Shakespeare's plays performed more today than those of playwrights such as John Webster, Thomas Middleton, Ben Jonson or John Fletcher?
While the plays of Shakespeare are still largely familiar to us, examining them alongside less well-known works helps to make them look new and strange, as they may have appeared to their early audiences. We will view the plays as literary texts, but also as texts written to be performed. In addition to thinking about the impact of the plays in their own day, we will consider their lasting influence on theatrical culture, and their performance in twentieth and twenty-first century theatres. We will therefore draw on film and television recordings of stage productions, radio productions, reviews, scripts, programmes, production photographs and other materials. There will be an opportunity to see at least one play in the theatre, and plays will be selected each year according to the performance schedules of local and national theatres.
This module is designed for students who have successfully completed literature modules at Level 2. |
|
|
ENL-90005 |
Advanced Business English Communication |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
In this highly competitive climate you need something to set you apart from others. This module will provide you with the specialist language and professional communication skills you will require if you wish to pursue a career in business.
This highly practical module will build upon and complement your existing language skills by working on themes such as negotiating strategies and presenting visual information. Revision of essential grammatical structures and functional areas of language as well as building a subject-specific bank of key words will provide you with the confidence to engage fluently and competently in a variety of business contexts.
|
|
|
FRE-90004 |
French 4 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
French 4 is designed to continue French language study for students who have successfully completed module French 3 or equivalent (e.g., GCSE Grade B).
It will enhance skills already acquired, developing knowledge of everyday French in spoken, written, reading and listening activities.
The Units 15 to 20 of the course book "French Experience 1- BBC Publications" refer to the experiences of a group of French speakers in France as they visit, travel, talk about their work and engage in work activities, such as using the telephone and talking to colleagues at work. Discussion is furthered by the introduction of topics currently debated by French people.
As in the preceding course, the targeted exercises and audio material provided are extended by the KLE.
When the course is completed, you can expect to have acquired a denser, more complex understanding of the language, together with the ability to respond with confidence.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will reach level A2 of the Common European Language Framework (CEFR - A2).
|
|
|
FRE-90006 |
French 6 |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The course is designed for students with prior knowledge of French and will develop advanced communication skills in French in everyday situations such as talking about daily routine, socialising and food, family, the home as well as in more complex situations, such as discussing a range of topical issues in French or understanding the French media. To help you achieve this, the course-book, ''French Experience 2'' (BBC Publications) will provide you with an advanced vocabulary and plenty of practice. It also allows you to get a better understanding of the grammatical structure of the language.
By the end of this course you be able to understand extended vocabulary and complex phrases concerning a French speaking environment. You will understand complex sentences, for example those used in French speaking media. You will be able to interact in a more elaborate way with French people. You will be able to ask and answer a range of questions on familiar topics and discuss issues of contemporary France. You will be able to use complex phrases and sentences to describe your everyday life and life in your country. You will be able to write simple letters describing for instance a past holiday as well as longer texts in French.
In French 6, we continue from French 5 and you will both consolidate the skills you have acquired at that level and build on them by moving beyond the situations of everyday life to more challenging (and stimulating) topics like the media or politics. You will extend your vocabulary base and be introduced to the more complex grammatical structures characteristic of formal, written French.
Alongside the textbook, we will use audio,video and online material to consolidate vocabulary, grammatical structures and themes dealt with in class.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will reach level B1 of the Common European Language Framework (CEFR - B1),
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FRE-90008 |
French 8 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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The course is designed for students with an advanced knowledge of French and will develop their advanced communication skills in French in everyday situations as well as in more complex contexts, in particular in discussing a range of topical issues in French or understanding contemporary France.
By the end of this course you be able to understand extended vocabulary and complex phrases concerning a French speaking environment. You will understand complex sentences, for example those used in French speaking media. You will be able to interact in a more elaborate way with French people. You will be able to ask and answer a range of questions on familiar topics and discuss issues of contemporary France. You will be able to use complex phrases and sentences to describe your everyday life and life in your country. You will be able to write texts in French on a range of issues in the French speaking world.
In French 8, we continue from French 7 and you will both consolidate the skills you have acquired at that level and build on them by moving beyond the situations of everyday life to more challenging (and stimulating) topics. You will extend your vocabulary base and be introduced to the more complex grammatical structures characteristic of formal, written French.
We will make an extensive use of French resources available on the Internet to consolidate vocabulary, grammatical structures and themes dealt with in class.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will reach level B2 of the Common European Language Framework (CEFR - B2)
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FRE-90010 |
French 10 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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This is a French post-advanced course for those who have a very good familiarity with the language.
The course is designed for students with an excellent knowledge of French and will develop their advanced communication skills in French in everyday situations as well as in more complex contexts, in particular in developing arguments and discussions around a range of topical issues in French or understanding contemporary France.
By the end of this course you be able to understand extended vocabulary and complex phrases concerning a French speaking environment. You will understand complex sentences, for example those used in French speaking media. You will be able to interact in a very elaborate way with French people. You will be able to ask and answer a range of questions on familiar topics and discuss issues of contemporary France. You will be able to use complex phrases and sentences to describe your everyday life and life in your country. You will be able to write texts in French on issues in the French speaking world. You will be able to summarize French texts in French and to develop your skills at essay writing in French. You will become more fluent in making an oral presentation in French and in the use of French online resources.
In French 10, we continue from French 9 and you will both consolidate the skills you have acquired at that level and build on them by moving beyond the situations of everyday life to more challenging (and stimulating) topics. You will extend your vocabulary base and be introduced to the more complex grammatical structures characteristic of formal, written French.
We will make an extensive use of French resources available on the Internet to consolidate vocabulary, grammatical structures and themes dealt with in class.
The language level of this module corresponds to work leading to Level C1 in the European Common Framework for Languages (CEFR -C1).
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GER-90004 |
German 4 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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The module will build on skills acquired in German 3 or equivalent (e.g. GCSE Grade B) and expand your vocabulary base and ability to interact in everyday situations in German. Topics include talking about education, likes and dislikes, future career plans and German reunification. You will consolidate and broaden your knowledge of vocabulary and grammar in class, as well as practise your communicative skills.
Teaching will be based around the textbook and a DVD series for language learners which focuses on young people's lives and work in today's Berlin. Various aspects of contemporary German life will be discussed, based on the textbook and audiovisual material and thereby give you an insight into German culture and customs. There will be a variety of tasks and exercises in class time, such as partner exercises, listening comprehensions, role-play and reading and writing tasks. You will consolidate the skills acquired in class through further web-based self-study exercises.
Upon successful completion of this module, students will normally have reached level A2 of the Common European Language Framework (CEFR - A2) |
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GER-90006 |
German 6 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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This course is designed for students who have completed German 5 or equivalent (e.g. GCSE grade A*, AS-level grade D or lower). There will be two contact hours per week over 11 weeks. Each week will be devoted to a different topic, which will include themes such as German identity, local culture and politics, festivals etc. The core skills listening, speaking, reading and writing will be expanded and communicative competence and awareness of grammar will be developed. Teaching will be based around a set course book which will be supplemented by a range of video and other language material. There will be a variety of tasks and exercises during each class, such as discussion and role play, listening comprehension and reading; and there will be further self-study opportunities via KLE and portfolio work.
Upon successful completion of this module, students will normally have reached level B1 of the Common European Language Framework (CEFR - B1) |
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GER-90008 |
German 8 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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This module is aimed at students with a good knowledge of German and will be taught predominantly in the target language. All basic skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing) will be practised in the contact hours, and your communicative skills, vocabulary base and knowledge of grammar will be consolidated and expanded. The course is based around a series of texts focusing on life in contemporary Germany which will afford you an insight into the cultural background of German society, dealing with issues such as reunification, "Ostalgie", and follow-on social and political problems.
You will move from being able to communicate in everyday situations to discussing more complex issues with confidence. This will be practised in the classroom situation in a variety of ways: pair work and debates, as well as listening comprehensions and audiovisual material that familiarises you with authentic linguistic features. In the self-study time, these skills will be consolidated with the help of exercises on KLE, and German Internet sites that will expand your vocabulary base and further your understanding of German life and culture. The language learning process will be charted in the reflective diary and provide valuable tools to improve language acquisition. Feedback on formative and summative assessments will be provided at regular intervals.
Upon successful completion of this module, students will normally have reached level B2 of the Common European Language Framework (CEFR - B2) |
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GER-90010 |
German 10 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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This course is designed for students with very advanced German language skills (German 9, A-level grade A, CEF grade B1) and will focus on systematically enhancing all four skills, whilst studying topics of relevance to modern-day Germany.
The course will be mainly based on authentic German texts and audio-visual materials such as films, TV recordings and web material, which will be exploited in class and self-study time.
By the end of the course you will be able to handle a variety of complex German sources, including newspaper articles and fictional texts, conduct your own searches of German websites and read and discuss factual and fictional texts with some confidence.
Feedback on formative and summative assessments will be provided at regular intervals and emphasis will be placed on enabling you to become an efficient independent language learner after completion of the course.
The language level of this module corresponds to work leading to Level C1 in the European Common Framework for Languages (CEFR -C1) |
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HIS-30085 |
The French Revolution: Terror and Dictatorship, 1793-1799 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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The French Revolution was a world-historical event and its outbreak in 1789 is widely regarded as marking the beginning of modern history. It is a topic that continues to attract attention from scholars across the globe and its interpretation remains deeply controversial, not least because so many of our current political practices and preoccupations originated during this period. Especially significant is the problem of violence in the Revolution. This module will explore how the democratic republic established in 1792 developed the repressive mechanisms of the Terror in 1793-94, as well as analysing the cultural experiments which accompanied this process. The subsequent attempt to end the Revolution after 1795, on the basis of a moderate republic, proved no more successful than the creation of a constitutional monarchy after 1789. An explanation for this political failure needs to be found, for historians have spent far more time studying how revolutions begin than how they can be brought to a conclusion. The module will end with an examination of the Napoleonic dictatorship that finally restored stability to France after a decade of upheaval, albeit at the cost of the liberal ideals which the Revolution proclaimed.
This module is linked to another, The French Revolution: Monarchy to Republic, 1789-1792, which precedes it. It may also be linked to the dissertation in History for which, as for these free-standing modules, there is a wealth of relevant material available in English, both at Keele and online.
For preparatory reading, you should try PM Jones, The French Revolution (Pearson, 2010) or Peter McPhee, The French Revolution (OUP, 2001). Greater detail and debate is to be found in William Doyle, The Oxford History of the French Revolution (OUP, 2002), Paul Hanson, Contesting the French Revolution (Wiley, 2009), Hugh Gough, The Terror in the French Revolution (Palgrave, 2010) and Malcolm Crook, Napoleon Comes to Power (University of Wales Press, 1998). |
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HIS-30101 |
From Sawbones to Social Hero? Doctors and medicine 1808-1886 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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In 1808 the medical profession was largely unregulated and was compelled to diagnose and treat patients without anaesthetic, lacking stethoscopes, and unaware of the existence of germs. By 1886 access to the profession was closely monitored, anaesthetic was routinely administered, and Lister's work on aseptic surgery was being accepted. Therefore, this was a period of scientific change and professional consolidation with enormous significance for the ways doctors related to patients and the ways the sick formed expectations of their medical practitioners. This module treats aspects of the social history of medicine in nineteenth-century England by considering the development of medical relationships from the 1808 County Asylums Act up to the Medical Registration Amendment Act of 1886.
Topics may include medical education and professionalisation, the evolution of institutional medical care, medical practitioners in fiction, insanity and the emergence of psychiatry, anatomy and bodysnatching, the roles for women in medicine and the drive for sanitary reform.
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HIS-30107 |
Suffrage Stories: representations |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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This module allows you to study, in depth, the ways in which the British campaign to give women the vote has been represented by historians and within popular culture
Many stories have been told about the women and men who gave their energies, health and even lives to this cause. This module looks at the different ways in which historians have interpreted this struggle and the ways in which these narratives were deployed at the time as well as more recently. In order to identify the different suffrage stories that have been told and how they have been re-told in popular culture, we will not only study a range of historiographical approaches from the misogynist to the radical feminist but we will also analyse a range of cultural sources. These might include banners, posters, games, cups and saucers, adverts, fiction (novels, poetry, plays), music-hall songs as well as more recent novels (such as the Nell Bray detective stories) and films (such as Mary Poppins). What stories did suffragists choose to tell through popular culture and how was their struggle represented visually, orally and in everyday objects? How have suffrage stories been told and re-told in recent popular culture? This module will help you to answer these questions while expanding your historical skills in interpreting historiography and reading a range of cultural objects.
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HRM-30032 |
Strategic Human Resource Management |
EF |
C
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7.5 |
15 |
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This module offers students a critical overview of the nature of contemporary HRM. It will familiarise students with new methods and ideas of work organisation and the management of labour. It examines the impact of these developments on the employment relationship, and seeks explanations though an analysis of global economic pressures. The module covers concepts and issues that also have relevance for other management related disciplines and practices such as logistics, operations and marketing. |
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JAP-90004 |
Japanese 4 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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This module will further develop students&© elementary Japanese language communication skills, enabling them to speak, listen, read, and write in order to carry out routine tasks they are likely to encounter in socialising, living, studying or travelling in Japan. Functions and topics covered will include: giving and understanding directions, making polite requests, asking for permission, discussing family and educational background in more detail, expressing likes and dislikes as well as wishes and discussing travel itinerary and future plans. Students will also become familiar with aspects of contemporary Japanese culture and society through audio-visual materials and texts.
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JAP-90006 |
Japanese 6 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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This module will further develop students&© Japanese language communication skills, enabling them to conduct routine tasks they are likely to encounter in socialising, living, studying, travelling or working in Japan. Functions and topics will include: expressing and understanding of feelings and emotions expressed orally and in personal letters, explaining reasons and giving excuses in a more sensitive or complex manner, expressing opinions, offering advice, giving details of future plans and projections and making guesses. Some feature film clips set in a variety of social and work situations will be analysed in teaching sessions. There will also be reading and writing work to build students' confidence in handling mixture of phonetic scripts and essential kanji characters. Students will also become familiar with a range of social contexts and culturally specific behaviour. |
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MAN-30047 |
Contemporary Issues in Management |
EF |
C
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7.5 |
15 |
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This module seeks to strengthen student knowledge of management and organisations. It emphasises a critical approach and students' active participation. Students will have to draw on and reflect upon their experiences of organisations and share them with the rest of the class by formal presentation and group discussions.
The module builds upon knowledge and insights gained from organisational theory and sociological approaches to human behaviour to focus on, and provide an opportunity for in depth study of, three key debates unfolding in Management Theory. This will involve the study of key texts and ideas but also require students to reflect on their own experience either at school or work/part time work in the light of illuminations and challenges highlighted by these key debates. |
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MAN-30054 |
Current Ideas in Marketing |
EF |
C
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7.5 |
15 |
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The module explores current ideas within marketing scholarship and practice and builds on areas of expertise and research within the Marketing group. It provides a vehicle to ensure that students stay abreast of theoretical advances and emerging organisational issues. It enables students to critically evaluate areas of specific interest to them and further develop understanding and skills for marketing management. The purpose of this module is to develop and apply skills and knowledge based upon current issues in marketing. On successful completion of this module students will be able to analyse contemporary issues that impact upon the marketing activities of modern organisations. |
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MAN-30055 |
International Business Strategies |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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This module complements the core Business Strategy module, highlighting the implications for organisations of internationalisation and globalisation.
The module is delivered in a highly interactive $ùworkshop&© format, in which students are encouraged to share understanding through group-based contemporary case studies. The role and importance of aspects such as culture and ethics are thus highlighted and addressed from both academic and practical perspectives.
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MAN-30060 |
Marketing and Globalisation |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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Given the rapid globalisation of business activities, an understanding of the issues affecting marketing decisions at a global level is a key requirement for a marketing or management career. This course is designed to build on all the marketing modules studied thus far by introducing students to the theory, nature and practice of decisions faced in the global business arena.
The objective is for students to gain an understanding of the factors that are shaping marketing activities on a global scale. This is achieved by encouraging students to ask searching questions about the power of multinational companies, the relationship between global production and consumption and local cultures, the impact of political and ideological change on consumption patterns, consumer resistance to Western brands, the anti-globalisation movement and the possibilities of fair trade.
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MLX-10005 |
Language Immersion Course Abroad |
EF |
C
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7.5 |
15 |
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We have teamed up with our partner universities in Germany, France, Japan, Russia and Spain to offer intensive language courses abroad during vacation periods. If you have successfully completed two language modules at Keele you can apply for an intensive language course abroad. This course offers you an opportunity to apply, practise and improve the language skills developed at Keele and immersion in the target culture and to acquire a credit-bearing record for successful course attendance. |
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MUS-30030 |
Analysing Musical Narratives - ISP |
EF |
C
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7.5 |
15 |
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Following Narrative, Music and Meaning (the pre-requisite for this module), Analysing Musical Narratives provides students with an opportunity to create a detailed, theoretically-grounded, close musical analysis and interpretation of a substantial composition (or movement thereof). Students on the module will draw on theories of analysis, narrative and meaning investigated on the earlier module to create their own interpretations of a significant composition from the classical music repertoire.
In 2012-13, the module will focus on the dramatic, colourful and powerful music of composer Witold Lutoslawski. Excitingly, 2013 is the composer's centenary year, and students will be encouraged to join the tutor in attending events, rehearsals and concerts forming part of a major Lutoslawski festival being mounted in London during January-March 2013 at the South Bank Centre. There may never be a better time to study Lutoslawski!
During the first part of the module, the tutor and class will work together on analysing a piece of music by the composer whose music the students must later analyse individually for their essays. Week-by-week, the class will develop a narrative-related analysis of a composition. As part of this collaborative process, and to prepare students for independent work later in the module, the class will also identify relevant key issues for background research; those topics will be shared out between members of the class, individually or in small groups (depending on numbers), who will take responsibility for researching a topic (a compositional technique, an aspect of style, a social or cultural context), before reporting back to the class.
In the second part of the module, students build on the specialist training and learning they have undertaken to perform their own analysis of a different but related composition (or movement), usually by the same composer, leading to the submission of an analysis essay of 4,000 words. Students will have opportunities to discuss their analytical work in progress and to receive feedback from the module tutor on their analytical ideas.
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MUS-30037 |
Paris Project - ISP |
EF |
C
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7.5 |
15 |
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Paris Project enables students to build on the specialist training and learning they have undertaken in the module Paris: 1870-1939 and select a topic of their own choice, in consultation with the module tutor. They are guided through their projects with individual supervision, as well as group work and some plenary sessions. They have the opportunity to present their work to their peers and to receive immediate feedback. Students submit a substantial project of 4000 words. |
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MUS-30039 |
Contextual Studies 2 - ISP |
EF |
C
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7.5 |
15 |
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This module introduces students to key themes in current musicological debate: canon and reception; classical music today; modernism and postmodernism; cultural studies; musical subjectivity; authenticity in music; and music in everyday life. It focuses on composers ranging from Beethoven to Kagel to world music.
This module builds on expertise and skills developed at level 2, but asks different and more probing questions about music's role in culture, and about how the discourses of musicology shape our understanding of music. Contextual Studies 2 builds on Contextual Studies 1 by providing a glimpse of what postgraduate work in the field would be like. |
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MUS-30040 |
Composition 1 (Single Module) |
EF |
C
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7.5 |
15 |
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This module gives guidance and provides supervision to enable the creation of a small portfolio of compositions by addressing general topics relating to instrumental, vocal and electroacoustic forces and specific compositional interests of individual composers. Students will explore techniques and ideas relating to their own musical language, means of creating and developing musical material and organising their own ideas with respect to considerations of musical form and structure.
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PHI-30023 |
Philosophy of Art |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
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This module provides a critical introduction to fundamental questions in the philosophy of art and to their most influential answers. The module would be of interest to any student who wants to know more about the philosophical approach to arts.
In its first part, the module traces the subject back to its roots in Hume, Kant and Plato. The second part focuses on key questions in the philosophy of art, for instance, the definition of art, objectivity and subjectivity in aesthetic evaluation, the relationships between art and morality, beauty, representation and expression in art, ontology and art, truth and art, as well as questions concerning the role of interpretation and imagination, and questions concerning particular art forms.
The 10 one-hour lectures focus on key questions in aesthetics. Lectures are accompanied by 10 one-hour seminars where tutor-led (small-group combined with group) discussion focuses on specific topics. In the first part of the course, students will be asked to choose a work of art with significance in the history of art. For each of the seminars in the second part of the course, students are asked to prepare typed comments on the relevance of the chosen work fo art for the questions presented in the lectures. Altogether, students will have to write 6 seminar pieces, each of approximately 500 words.
Students will be asked to submit their comments on the WebCT before the seminar and they
will receive prompt feedback from their tutor. Assessment format: 50% 3000-word essay, 50% seminar work. |
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PHI-30024 |
Rorty and the Mirror of Nature |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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The course will be an in-depth study of Richard Rorty's Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. This book was intended as an historical deconstruction of philosophy itself, and hence is extremely wide-ranging in its content, allowing the students to critically engage with many of the issues they have learnt over the course of their degree, but in a highly critical, metaphilosophical context. As such, it will provide the perfect opportunity for students to consolidate, assess, and apply much of what they have previously learnt. The course will progress through a combination of lectures and tutorials, with plenty of opportunity for group work, allowing students to discuss their ideas, and critically engage with Rorty&©s ideas, as well as with various interpretations of those ideas. |
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PHI-30027 |
GREAT PHILOSOPHERS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY |
EF |
C
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7.5 |
15 |
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Imagine you were Wittgenstein, or Quine, or Davidson, or Collingwood, or Heidegger or any other great philosopher of the twentieth century. What is your point of view on the debates that have shaped the concerns of twentieth century philosophy? What is it that you would have to say about philosophers whose work you have not actually read because they happened to write after your death? In this module you will be asked to engage with twentieth century philosophy through the eyes of a particular philosopher. You will be asked to reconstruct the history of twentieth century philosophy from their particular point view and assess the strength of their philosophical position in relation to their philosophical predecessors and successors. In some cases the debates will be historical debates that have actually taken place between the philosopher studied and other great philosophical figures; in other cases you will be asked to imagine what views a philosopher might have defended had he or she lived to witness later philosophical developments or what he or she might have had to say about his/her successors.
The module is assessed as follows:
3,000 word essay (75% of module mark)
1,000 word reader's report or book review (25% of module mark).
The module will be taught in 8 2-hour interactive lectures and 7 1-hour seminars
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PIR-30112 |
The Northern Dimension: Resources, Environment and Security in the Arctic |
EF |
C
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7.5 |
15 |
|
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Bringing the Arctic to Keele. Taking Keele to the Arctic!
Drowning polar bears, crumbling shores on melting seas, resource races towards the North Pole and sovereignty disputes in the high Arctic - this is the stuff of current media content concerning the circumpolar North, the Arctic once sublime! The Arctic certainly is changing. Its resources, environment and security are gaining a much higher policy profile in North America, the EU and Asia as well as in global scientific, environmental and economic forums, not least in the context of rising awareness of the pace and consequences of global climate change.
The indigenous (native) peoples of the Arctic itself would all agree that their homelands are becoming a "sacrifice zone" for climate change as they serve as human "canaries in the mine" for its consequences and for the effects of the long-range pollutants originating in the more temperate and tropical parts of the world. But is the Arctic region also set to become a cauldron of conflict, or will it remain a zone of low international tension, characterised by practical, cooperative endeavour?
The Northern Dimension module allows students to investigate aspects of the politics and international relations of the Arctic. Students identify their own topic for investigation, exploring a research question using paper-based and web-based resources. They may also engage in email communication with any one of almost twenty experts in Arctic matters - academic professors, campaigning activists, technical experts etc - who together make up the module's "Experts' Gallery" and form the cutting edge of the Northern Dimension learning community established to support this module.
Students deliver the developing fruits of their individual research project in a succession of ways - as an oral presentation to the seminar group; as a 2,500-word essay/article; and, finally, as a website of their own making, employing easily available website-editing software that is relatively simple to master and can be downloaded for free onto their computers/laptops.
A range of generic employability skills are firmed up in this module - oral presentation, team-working, independent working etc, while some less familiar ones such as communicating effectively through websites, are developed. Students do not need to have had any prior experience in building webpages or websites - all you need is your own computer with internet access and a willingness to "get your feet wet!"
Gaining a basic awareness of some very straightforward principles of good website design and utilising some of the simple functions in very user-friendly website editing software are experiences that virtually all past students in the module have found great fun. You will realise this as early as the very the first meeting of the class, when the Tutor directs you to the special archive in Blackboard containing all 166 past student websites for you to look at, learn from and be motivated by. Many of these even give you lots of tips on how to get the most out of the module in terms of creative satisfaction as well as intellectual stimulation!
The assessment format is: 10% individual oral presentation; 40% 2,500 word essay/article; 50% individual website.
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PIR-30129 |
Environmental Politics in the USA |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
|
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The United States has a complex record of addressing environmental problems. Between 1965 and 1980 the country experienced a "golden age" of environmental policymaking when numerous laws were enacted to tackle problems such as air pollution, water pollution, and waste. Few new laws have been enacted in recent decades, however, leading some commentators to talk about "environmental gridlock" and describing the United States as a climate change "laggard". This module will examine the factors that drive environmental policymaking. Attention will be given to the nature of environmental problems, the role of interest groups and public opinion, and the way that political institutions and systems effect policymaking. Students will be required to write a position paper and a short research paper as part of their assessment, and will also be required to sit a two-hour examination.
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PIR-30131 |
Education Politics and Policy |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
Education has been the battleground for many competing policy ideas of the left and right. What ideologies and values drive policies in education? How do policy specialists analyse and compare these different approaches? This module will develop your skills in evaluating education policies. You will research and present answers to questions such as &«do religious schools teach more effectively and drive up overall test scores,&ª &«what effect do league tables have on teaching and the curriculum in schools and universities,&ª and &«do higher fees drive down student access to universities?&ª
The module will identify frameworks that analysts use to study policies and practice using them on case studies. The content will consist of a comparison of education systems in the United Kingdom and United States, focusing on secondary and higher education. The two systems copy each other's policies, but have many stark differences in approach. Some key themes include the separation of church and state, local versus national control over schools and universities. Some previous study of public policy would be helpful, but is not required. |
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PIR-30139 |
Sustainability and Social Justice |
EF |
M
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
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How is poverty related to population growth? Why have indigenous peoples been disproportionately affected by the nuclear industry? Why are women more likely than men to die in natural disasters? Is it true that rich white men are more sceptical of the existence of climate change than any other social group? Such questions highlight what scholars of environmental justice have known for decades: that all humans are not in the same boat when confronting the most pressing environmental problems of our time.
This module provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the complex inter-connections between social injustice/ inequality and environmental problems and, conversely, between the goals of sustainability and social justice. It examines a range of social scientific approaches to understanding these connections and draws in particular on 'environmental justice' literature written from feminist, post-colonial, political economy and 'green' perspectives. Social categories of class, race and gender, and unequal/unjust power relations between people, are placed at the centre of debate and provide a framework for critically analysing a range of environmental problems found in the UK and in a range of different parts of the world. In all cases, the root causes of the problem and potential policy/political solutions for bringing about more just and sustainabile outcomes are considered.
The module consists of 11 2-hour seminars in which key readings and themes are discussed and debated, with active student participation and leadership. Assessments are: weekly written commentaries, a poster presentation, and a seen exam. There is a public poster session to showcase student research at the end of the semester.
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PIR-30142 |
Modern Russia |
EF |
C
|
7.5 |
15 |
|
|
The collapse of the Soviet Union and Soviet communism in 1991 was one of the most dramatic events of the late Twentieth Century. This module explores in detail the politics of the post-Soviet successor states, particularly Russia. It asks what kind of politics has emerged from the wreckage of the communist system, and investigates why the early hopes of rapid moves towards democracy and a more effectively functioning economy have been frustrated.
Topics covered will include: the Yeltsin, Putin and Medvedev presidencies, the oligarchs and the criminalisation of the Russian state, Russian national identity, civil society and its opponents, the wars in the Caucasus and their impact, nationality policy, regionalism and federalism, models of contemporary Russian politics, politics elsewhere in the former Soviet Union, esp. Ukraine and Belarus, Russian foreign policy.
Assessment will involve a student led seminar (30%), a portfolio of seminar related activities (20%) and a long research paper on an aspect of contemporary post-Soviet politics.
Background Reading: Stephen K Wegren and Dale R Herspring (eds), After Putin’s Russia (4th edition, 2009), available as a full text e-book via Keele library; Stephen White et al (eds), Developments in Russian Politics 7 (2009); Stephen white, Understanding Russian Politics (2nd edition, 2011) |
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PSY-30096 |
Happiness and Wellbeing: Social Scientific Approaches |
EF |
C
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7.5 |
15 |
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Does money make you happy? Is music the cure to a bad mood? Can laughing reduce stress? Is it better to help other people, or to undertake thrill-inducing activities like jumping out of aeroplanes, to alleviate the boredom of work? Or can work itself be a pleasurable activity?
This module looks at ways of increasing your understanding of your own happiness and wellbeing, and understanding more about how those around you might be able to do the same. As a new interdisciplinary social science module it will introduce you to the theories and philosophical foundations of approaches to happiness and wellbeing from across the social sciences. You will also encounter cutting-edge research in a range of areas including skydiving, music festivals, volunteering and community engagement, humour, and wellbeing in the workplace. The module consists of a series of weekly seminars on a range of different topics related to wellbeing, with an ongoing blog where you will put these ideas into practice through a series of exercises and reflect on how these change the way you think. You will also design, conduct, analyse and write up your own independent exercise to study a specific aspect of your own wellbeing, relating this to some of the theoretical approaches.
This module is ideally suited to anyone from a broad social science background and will particularly appeal to students from psychology, sociology, education, business management and economics. Other students are also welcome as full support will be given on social scientific theories and methods. |
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RUS-90004 |
Russian 4 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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This module will further develop students elementary Russian language communication skills, enabling them to speak, listen, read, and write in order to carry out routine tasks they are likely to encounter in socialising, living, studying or travelling in Russia. Functions and topics covered will include: giving and understanding directions, making polite requests, asking for permission, discussing family and educational background in more detail, expressing likes and dislikes as well as wishes and discussing travel itinerary and future plans. Students will also become familiar with aspects of contemporary Russian culture and society through audio-visual materials and texts. |
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RUS-90006 |
Russian 6 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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This module will further develop students Russian language communication skills, enabling students to conduct routine tasks they are likely to encounter in socialising, living, studying, travelling or working in Russia. Functions and topics will include: expressing and understanding feelings and emotions expressed in conversations and in personal letter; explaining reasons and giving excuses in a more sensitive or complex manner; expressing opinions, offering advice, giving details of future plans and projections and making guesses. Some feature film clips set in a variety of social and work situations will be analysed in teaching sessions. There will also be reading and writing work to build students' confidence in using Russian grammar and vocabulary. Students will also become familiar with a range of social contexts and culturally specific behaviour. |
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SOC-30027 |
Space and the City |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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$ùTo be tired of the city is to be tired of life&©
The city is exciting, alluring, dangerous and filled with possibilities and opportunities. It offers hustle and bustle, speed and distraction, a melting pot of sights, sounds, smells, and experiences in a cosmopolitan mix of multi-culturalism. It is simplistic to say that all activities and interactions take place in space. But as the city is at the centre of the modern urban world more and more of what we take for granted takes place in towns and cities. They are the primary location for work, production, consumption, education, learning, cultural and transport institutions and leisure and pleasure. However, the city is more than the sum of its parts and it is more than merely the individual&©s experience of it.
This course will give you knowledge and understanding of the city as a socially constructed space in which the physical landscape that we see, use and misuse is not an accidental or coincidental coming-together of things and people. The city is a human produced space in which combinations of factors over time have produced a variety of urban spaces that increasingly dominate our existence and our experience. However, everyone&©s experience and opportunity of the city is not the same. There are winners and losers and we can readily identify areas and people in which relative success and failure is written into the landscape of the city.
This course will give you new tools to develop new ways of thinking about the world - a socio-spatial imagination - to explore and understand how cities have developed in the way they have, what role planning and urban design have played, how and why the production, regulation and organisation, the policing and surveillance of urban space affects how and why different people settle and live in different areas, what limits there are to physical movement and social mobility. In short, by thinking more critically about space, cities will never seem the same again.
Information on our MA in Urban Futures and Sustainable Communities is available at
http://www.keele.ac.uk/urban-futures/
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SOC-30031 |
The Virtual Revolution: New Technologies, Culture and Society |
EF |
C
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7.5 |
15 |
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The use of New Information and Communication Technologies (NICTs) now dominates social and cultural practices in many parts of the world and has perhaps forever altered the ways in which we talk to each other, do business, and spend our leisure time. Considering both theories of the information society and technological developments in media, communications and computing since the industrial revolution, this module charts the rise of NICTs such as the Internet, digital media and mobile networks, and asks how they may have reshaped our lives.
We will think about this changing technological landscape by examining a number of everyday practices; for example the use of social networking sites to keep in touch and locate identity, how online shopping may have altered consumption habits, and the emergence of the blogosphere and citizen journalism as an alternative to mainstream media production. Implicit in our discussions is the idea that new technologies have strengthened the democratisation of public sphere debate by giving people access to information, versus the understanding that many remain on the fringes of the digital revolution.
The course will finally consider the suggestion that our demand for better, faster and safer communication technologies coupled with our most intimate details now being processed digitally, means that we have opened ourselves to almost constant surveillance. Against this we will reflect on activities that seek to negotiate and resist the virtual terrain.
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SOC-30034 |
Sex, Death, Desire: Psychoanalysis in Social Context |
EF |
C
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7.5 |
15 |
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This module will enable students to explore psychological theories of society and social relations. Following an introduction, which links psychoanalysis to the history of sociology and in particular ideas of alienation, disenchantment, and anomie, the module looks the key principles of Freudian psychoanalysis and core texts in the Freudian tradition.
The core purpose of the module is to show how psychoanalysis can be seen to contain a general meta-psychology of universal human behaviour that might be used to understand social phenomenon through what Freud saw as the fundamental human concerns: sex, death, and desire. Throughout the module we seek to think through the possible application of key psychoanalytic concepts - repression, projection, anxiety, perversion, sadism, thanatos or the death drive, paranoia and so on - to concrete social examples in order to illuminate a new dimension of socio-psychoanalytic explanation. |
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SPN-90004 |
Spanish 4 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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Learning Spanish can open a door to a whole new world: is the official language of more than 23 Spanish speaking countries and the second language in USA. Thus there are constant opportunities for using your language skills; whether on holiday, socialising, enjoying cultural life or to get a better job. Spanish will widen your horizons, create new opportunities and increase your appreciation of what&©s out there.
This module is designed for students who have completed Spanish 3 or equivalent (e.g. CGSE grade B). It will further develop students&© Spanish language communication skills, enabling them to conduct routine tasks they are likely to encounter in socialising, living, studying, travelling or working in Spain. Main topics we will study are shopping, eating out, facilities in your town, making travel and social arrangements, state of health, talking about events in the past, skills, discussing plans for the future. Cultural background of Spanish society as well as traditions of the Hispanic world (i.e. Food habits and daily meals, Easter/spring celebrations, etc.) will be presented throughout the course, thus providing the foundations for further study or work in Spain and Latino-America..
We will use a course book which will give a basic outline and structure to the course, but the book will be supplemented by regular video work and other materials. You will also have the opportunity to practise and reinforce vocabulary and language structures by using computer exercises in KLE, linked to the weekly classes.
Upon successful completion of this module, students will normally have reached level A2 of the Common European Language Framework (CEFR - A2)
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SPN-90006 |
Spanish 6 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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Both the mastery of a foreign language as widely spoken as Spanish and the awareness of cultural and linguistic specificities will prove essential when negotiating the world of work or when travelling around the world.
For those studying American Studies, International Relations, History, Politics, or doing Geography or Geology fieldwork in Spain, is most relevant, since this module equips you with an insight of Spanish/Hispanic language varieties and cultures.
This course is designed for students who have completed Spanish 5 or equivalent (e.g. GCSE grade A*, AS-level grade D or lower).
The core skills listening, speaking, reading and writing will be expanded and communicative competence and awareness of grammar will be developed further. Teaching will be based around a set course book which will be supplemented by a range of video material. We learn to describe a journey, compose a CV; to assess past experiences; to talk about habits in the past; to express obligation and possibility; to predict our future and offer hypotheses; etc. We will study some Latin American countries in more detail, such as Chile, through a DVD series.
There will be a variety of tasks and exercises during each class, such as discussion and role play; listening comprehension and reading and writing tasks and students will be required to complete a range of self study tasks for portfolio. For computer-assisted learning, KLE will enable you to enhance your self-study skills and research for some of the module tasks.
Upon successful completion of this module, students will normally have reached level B1 of the Common European Language Framework (CEFR - B1)
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SPN-90008 |
Spanish 8 |
EF |
M
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7.5 |
15 |
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$ùThe sheer size of the Spanish speaking population world-wide, the communications revolution and the emergence of a global economy mean there are more opportunities to use the language and more economic incentives&©.
This is a Spanish post-advanced course for those who have a good familiarity with the language. It is specially relevant for those studying American Studies, International Relations, History, Politics, International Law or doing Geography and Geology in Spain.
You will develop advanced communication skills in Spanish in everyday situations as well as in more complex contexts, in particular in discussing a range of topical issues in different varieties of Spanish or understanding contemporary Spain and the Hispanic world. This will be of great advantage for future employment .
You will both consolidate the skills you have acquired at previous levels and build on them by moving beyond the situations of everyday life to more challenging and stimulating tasks such as to organise a debate, simulate the editorial board of a journal or in a reality-show, reflect on the world of feelings and relationships, design an useful object, or prepare a competition about knowledge of Latin America. In order to perform these tasks, some problematic aspects of Spanish grammar will be dealt with, including uses of subjunctive, conditional tenses, passive voice, past tenses etc.
The main linguistic functions involved: express hope, wishes, complaints, demands, define the known and unknown, giving advice and recommendations, etc. All language skills - reading, listening, speaking and writing as well as the pragmatic-socio cultural dimension of the language- are integrated in every tutorial. We will also enquire into the ways we learn and acquire a language, where the contributions of students will be of vital importance.
There will be a course book which will be supplemented by a range of video material and there will be a variety of tasks and exercises during each class, such as discussion and role play; listening comprehension and reading and writing tasks and students will be required to complete a range of self study tasks. Furthermore, we will make an extensive use of Spanish/Latin American resources available on the Internet to consolidate vocabulary, grammatical structures and themes dealt with in class. There will be further self-study opportunities via KLE. Feedback on formative and summative assessments will be provided at regular intervals.
Upon successful completion of this module, students will normally have reached level B2 of the Common European Language Framework (CEFR - B2)
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