Liberal Arts BA (Hons) degree

In this module we explore the continuing significance of the liberal arts as a tool to challenge normative, biased, or otherwise exclusive assumptions and narratives. The premise of the module is that knowledge is relational – that the intersection of different ideas and concepts is vital to gaining a nuanced perspective on any issue – and so it provides a firm grounding in critical interdisciplinary thought and approaches.

This module offers students an opportunity to explore a range of narrative forms and theories. Focusing upon primary materials that extend from novels and short stories to films, and from autobiographies to graphic novels, it aims to develop a critical awareness of how narrative functions in our culture. It will also give students an opportunity to develop their own creative skills as producers of narrative.

This module introduces students to the concept of the 'Atlantic World', surveys the early modern history of Africa, the Americas and Western Europe, and explores the key historical themes of this period including race, religion and empire.

This module provides an introduction to the central figures, history, concepts and arguments of modern western philosophy, showing how those concepts and arguments have been treated. Lectures will include an introduction to traditions of ethics, epistemology and metaphysics as well as covering issue areas salient to political philosophy. Though there will be an emphasis on understanding western philosophical traditions, material and discussion will also critique and go beyond western-centric scholarship. Seminars will follow up on the lectures, using in-class exercises to support student understanding of key concepts and arguments. The module will introduce and provide a basic understanding of key works, characteristic arguments and rhetorical forms constitutive of important sections of modern philosophy.
NB. If you select this module, you MUST complete the semester 2 Introduction to Philosophy module as well.

10-credit module from a list supplied by the Language Centre, levels dependent on candidates’ previous qualifications, including beginners’ levels.  Languages offered are: French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish.

What is the role of liberal arts in the world today? Through exploring a range of cultural institutions and forms (such as museums, archives, the press, public art, digital culture, and more), we will interrogate how these entities shape, perpetuate, and/or challenge social, cultural, political, and economic ideologies.

This module is an introduction to the histories, theories and practices of art and design from the 19th Century to the present day. It takes an international perspective, exploring a wide variety of practitioners and practices within both thematic and chronological frameworks, and critiquing exclusive structures and canons. Through engaging with a series of different discourses, such as philosophy, politics, and history, the course also highlights the interdisciplinary nature of art history.

This module provides an introduction to the central figures, history, concepts and arguments of modern western philosophy, showing how those concepts and arguments have been treated. Lectures will include an introduction to traditions of ethics, epistemology and metaphysics as well as covering issue areas salient to political philosophy. Though there will be an emphasis on understanding western philosophical traditions, material and discussion will also critique and go beyond western-centric scholarship. Seminars will follow up on the lectures, using in-class exercises to support student understanding of key concepts and arguments. The module will introduce and provide a basic understanding of key works, characteristic arguments and rhetorical forms constitutive of important sections of modern philosophy.

NB. You cannot take this module unless you have already completed Introduction to Philosophy in Semester 1.

This module aims to give students an opportunity to explore in depth key concepts, approaches and areas of interest in film studies.

This module offers students the opportunity to engage with a wide range of African American cultural production (literary, cinematic and musical) from 1840 to the present day and to explore the complex formal, social and political questions raised by these diverse primary materials.

10-credit module from a list supplied by the Language Centre, levels dependent on candidates’ previous qualifications, including beginners’ levels.  Languages offered are: French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish.

This module selects six key concepts within the Humanities (three per semester) and examines these in depth from the perspective of different disciplines. The aim is to enable students to see points of connection and dissonance, and how they might be similarly or differently applied to specific contexts and/or artefacts such as texts, objects, and places. The concepts are introduced through lectures, explored further through seminars, and applied in workshops and visits to local sites, allowing students to craft an interdisciplinary solution to specific problems. Concepts will differ year to year, but may include subjects such as globalisation, the body, (im)migration, monuments and historical narrative, utopia/dystopia, gender, conflict, food, decolonisation, the environment, and freedom.

The module will identify and explain the central conceptual frameworks used in various histories and theories of art since the mid twentieth century. It will cover aspects of aesthetic, cultural, political, economic and ethical functions of art. The module contributes to the development of a learning community by enabling students to work together in interactive seminar sessions through the study of set texts and the critical investigation of works of art.

This module focusses on the place of love in the lives of people in the Stuart era (1603-1714), and its centrality to literature. The module aims to develop an understanding that love -marital, erotic, filial, and patriotic - holds as much social and cultural relevance as it does personal significance, which is illustrated through the diversity of representations in tragic, sceptical, pragmatic, comedic, and romantic narratives.

The module will provide opportunities for students to identify and explain the central conceptual frameworks used in the various histories and theories of visual culture. It will enable students to consider the relation between elite cultures and popular or mass cultures. It will cover the aesthetic, social, cultural, political, economic ethical and other functions of visual culture. The module will provide students with the opportunity to work with others in the learning community studying set texts and investigating works of visual culture and the ways in which they have been critically explained.

The aims of the module are to introduce students to a range of Victorian writing, to read Victorian writing in relation to the social and cultural history of the period, and allow students to explore ideas from the period in depth. Students will be encouraged in seminars to work with others as part of their learning community.

This module introduces students to debates in the social, political and cultural history of Victorian Britain, with particular emphases on histories of childhood, democratisation, poverty, sex and sexuality, crime and deviance, religion, and race. The course also explores representations of the Victorians since 1901, addressing key historiographical questions about why and how the reputation of the period and its people has undergone constant revision.

The aim of this module is to develop the skills required to understand and reflect on philosophical arguments and debates, with a focus on key contemporary themes in philosophy as well as historical background on the development of philosophy in the Western world and beyond. Students will develop a critical understanding of the central concepts and topics in contemporary philosophy through examining a range of philosophical traditions.

10-credit module from a list supplied by the Language Centre, levels dependent on candidates’ previous qualifications, including beginners’ levels.  Languages offered are: French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish.

The aim of this module is to examine the development of the political thought by looking at key concepts, thinkers and movements in the history of ideas.

The aims of this module are to examine the role of gender within victimisation, offending, and interactions with the criminal justice system. The module focuses on theory and literature that unpacks the potential differences (and similarities!) between the criminological experiences of men, women, and non-binary/trans people. Much of criminology assumes that the 'male' is the norm, so this module will provide an alternative lens for analysis.

The aim of this module is to develop the skills required to understand and reflect on philosophical arguments and debates, with a focus on key contemporary themes in philosophy as well as historical background on the development of philosophy in the Western world and beyond. Students will develop a critical understanding of the central concepts and topics in contemporary philosophy through examining a range of philosophical traditions.

This module is an introduction to the diversity of literary and artistic movements, ideas, and concepts grouped under the term 'Modernism'. It will investigate how writers from the late-Victorian period onwards developed new methods of writing about an increasingly technological, mechanised and urban world, and about the self. The module will show how modernists such as T. S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf and James Joyce reacted against many Victorian conventions to produce challenging and radical art. The focus of the module will be on short fiction, the novel and poetry, as well as on different modernist 'voices'.

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the history of British India from mid-19th c. to the end of colonial period in 1947. The course begins with an introductory overview of colonial history through which to study the Indian sub-continent and goes on to examine major landmarks of this period. It looks at the colonial state's interactions with Indian polity, society and culture to show how imperial subjects came into being, before becoming independent citizens in 1947.

Germany's total defeat in the Second World War and the exposure of the mass murder by Germans of Jews, Slavs, mentally handicapped people and other minorities made 1945 the start of a new period in Germany and European history. More than 70 years later, Germany has become one of the world's stablest democracies and most successful economies.
The Federal Republic is an important member of the world's leading military alliance and principal international organizations. This course examines the remarkable transformations in German politics, economics, society and international relations which have taken place since 1945 and assesses their impact on the Germans. It also examines Germany's role in Europe and the world.

This module introduces students to contemporary themes and perspectives on the relationship between religion and society, using an intersectional lens to study expressions of religious faith, identities and practice in different social contexts.

10-credit module from a list supplied by the Language Centre, levels dependent on candidates’ previous qualifications, including beginners’ levels.  Languages offered are: French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish.

The Liberal Arts final year individual project affords you the opportunity to fully utilise the knowledge, cognitive and practical abilities, and transferable skills that you have developed over the course of your studies by applying them to a research question or problem that you have identified from your specialist interests. The overriding objective of the module is to demonstrate your ability to think in an interdisciplinary manner and produce a 5,000-word original piece of research. This could be through a written dissertation, community-based research, an enterprise project, a conceptual project with a critical reflection, the production of artefacts, or a portfolio of mixed media project work.

The content is mainly self-directed, but it is guided by lectures, workshops, and individual tutorials. Supervisors provide guidance on the topic content, research questions and methodology, and planning and execution of the project to ensure it is feasible to complete in one semester.

NB. Students who choose this module must select 100 credits of optional modules.

The Liberal Arts final year individual project affords you the opportunity to fully utilise the knowledge, cognitive and practical abilities, and transferable skills that you have developed over the course of your studies by applying them to a research question or problem that you have identified from your specialist interests. The overriding objective of the module is to demonstrate your ability to think in an interdisciplinary manner and produce an 8,000-word original piece of research. This could be through a written dissertation, community-based research, an enterprise project, a conceptual project with a critical reflection, the production of artefacts, or a portfolio of mixed media project work.

The content is mainly self-directed, but it is guided by lectures, workshops, and individual tutorials. Supervisors provide guidance on the topic content, research questions and methodology, and planning and execution of the project.

NB. Students who choose this module must select 80 credits of optional modules.

The module will enable students to work together to identify and explain the some of the main theories of fashion. It will provide members of the learning community with the opportunity to work together to investigate the meanings of fashion, the cultural locations and functions of fashion, the possibilities of local and global fashion, the notion of fashion as image and identity, as well as fashion as prosthesis.

The aims of the module are to introduce students to a representative range of Neo-Victorian fiction; to account for the recent fascination of contemporary writers and readers with the literature and culture of the Victorian period; and to interrogate the issues raised by historiographical metafiction.

The aims of this module are to introduce students to twenty-first-century fiction, poetry, and life-writing. We will consider these writings as products of their cultural and political contemporary contexts, exploring what it is that they address - or, indeed, what they ignore - about the world we live in today.

Alongside the literary texts, students will also be introduced to a variety of theoretical and cultural approaches to thinking about the contemporary and the texts we are studying.

This interdisciplinary module explores the culture of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

This module examines the extent to which Britain underwent a 'cultural revolution' in the 1960s. It weighs different historical interpretations of the period with an in-depth case study of how the Beatles fed and fed off changes in class, gender, sexual, generational, national and political identities in 1960s Britain. Assignments asks students to relate cultural artefacts to key debates about the decade.

10-credit module from a list supplied by the Language Centre, levels dependent on candidates’ previous qualifications, including beginners’ levels.  Languages offered are: French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish.

The aims of this module are to introduce students to a range of writing from the late nineteenth century and to consider its relationship to broader cultural, social, and literary concerns of the period.

The aim of this module is to enable students, working with other students as part of their learning community, to discover and explore the ways in which Shakespeare adapted his source materials to produce the scripts we know, and how those scripts are in turn adapted in modern performance. To achieve this, students study closely Shakespeare's scripts, his sources, and a range of critical views.

This course examines the emergence, evolution and contemporary existence of South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal) since 1945. It explores the moments of incorporation, trajectories of development and marginal spaces, apart from the mainstream of South Asia today.

This module will introduce students to the history of colonial Australia, focusing on transportation, free settlement and the interactions between Europeans, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples.

10-credit module from a list supplied by the Language Centre, levels dependent on candidates’ previous qualifications, including beginners’ levels.  Languages offered are: French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish.