Politics with Economics Unit Catalogue
ECOI0003: Core skills for economists: introduction to computing
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Economics
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW25 OR25 EX50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the course unit is to familiarise students with University computing facilities and to explore the application of these facilities to economics and to empirical political data. Students should develop the spreadsheet skills to simulate the theoretical models they are learning about in economics and politics. They should also learn how to use the CAL resource WinEcon and how to use computers for accessing information.
Content:
The Unit reviews University facilities. The main part of the Unit uses an Excel spreadsheet package to develop skills in building small numerical models and in summarising and describing economic and political data.
Basic skills: word processing, networking (Word, email, internet); presentation software (Powerpoint); spreadsheets (Excel); relational databases (Access).
Applications: Microeconomic, Macroeconomic and political analysis using Excel; Data management and analysis.
ECOI0004: Core skills for economists: introductory data analysis
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Economics
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW50 PR25 EX25
Requisites: Pre ECOI0003
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to provide students with experience in the use of real statistical data in economics and to further develop their computing skills, including the use of Excel spreadsheets, and graphic representation of data.
The learning objectives are that students should understand:
(i) the meaning and reliability of data
(ii) data sources
(iii) the ways of summarising data
Content:
The course will look at different sources of data, including national and international, published in e.g. The Blue Book, Economic Trends and by the International Monetary Fund, electronic data sources on (i) CD Rom, (ii) data sources such as the Family Expenditure Survey and the British Social Attitudes Data. Definition and reliability of trade and national income and expenditure data. Difference between real and nominal data. Index numbers, calculation of and the inclusion of quality. Graphic representation of data (i) pie charts, histograms, time series plots and scattergraphs. Tabular representation of data.
ECOI0005: Core skills for economists: Elementary mathematics
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Economics
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX80 CW20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to provide students without A-level Mathematics with the knowledge of elementary mathematics that is relevant to economics and to prepare them for taking further courses of Core Skills for Economists. Students should be able to: (i) understand elementary mathematical concepts; (ii) solve simple mathematical problems; (iii) apply mathematics to simple economic problems.
Content:
The course unit begins with a review of GCSE algebra, and students should read the book by P. Abbott, Algebra (Teach Yourself Books).
Topics will include: variables and functions; coordinates and graphs; powers and indices, exponential and logarithmic functions; linear equations; quadratic equations; simultaneous equations; sequences and series; differentiation, maxima and minima; integration.
Key texts: Ian Jacques, Mathematics for Economics and Business
Knut Sydsaeter and Peter Hammond, Mathematics for Economic Analysis
T. Bradley and P. Patton, Essential Mathematics for Economics and Business
Chris Birchenhall and Paul Grout Mathematics for Modern Economics
ECOI0006: Introductory microeconomics
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Economics
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES40 EX40 OT20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The Unit is designed to provide an introduction to the methods of microeconomic analysis, including the use of simple economic models and their application. Students should gain an ability to derive conclusions from simple economic models and evaluate their realism and usefulness.
Additional provision is made for those students without A Level Economics.
The Unit is supported by the CAL package WinEcon
Content:
An introduction to economic methodology; the concept of market equilibrium; the use of demand and supply curves, and the concept of elasticity; elementary consumer theory, indifference curves and their relationship to market demands; elementary theory of production, production possibilities and their relationship to cost curves; the supply behaviour of competitive firms and its relationship to supply curves; the idea of general competitive equilibrium; the efficiency properties of competitive markets; examples of market failure. Key texts: Richard G. Lipsey and K. Alec Chrystal, An Introduction to Positive Economics
Jean Soper and Phil Hobbs (eds), The WinEcon Workbook
M. L. Katz and H.S. Rosen, Microeconomics
Alan Griffiths and Stuart Wall, Applied Economics: An Introductory Course
ECOI0007: Introductory macroeconomics
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Economics
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES40 EX40 OT20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The Unit is designed to provide an introduction to the methods of macroeconomic analysis, including the use of simple macroeconomic models and their application in a UK policy context.
Additional provision is made for those students without A Level Economics.
The Unit is supported by the CAL package WinEcon
Content:
The circular flow of income and expenditure; national income accounting; aggregate demand and supply; the components and determinants of private and public sector aggregate expenditure in closed and open economies; output and the price level in the short- and long-run; monetary institutions and policy; inflation and unemployment; the balance of payments and exchange rates; economic growth.
Key texts: Richard G. Lipsey and K. Alec Chrystal, An Introduction to Positive Economics
Jean Soper and Phil Hobbs (eds), The WinEcon Workbook
M.J. Artis (ed), The UK Economy: a Manual of Applied Economics
Alan Griffiths and Stuart Wall, Applied Economics: An Introductory Course
ECOI0008: The modern world economy 1
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Economics
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX70 OT30
Requisites:
Aims & Objectives: The aim of this Unit is to equip students with an historical, institutional and descriptive understanding of economic issues and institutions in a global context.
The Unit is appropriate for specialist students of economics and will support and provide a context for first year units in introductory micro and macroeconomics.
The Unit is also appropriate for non-specialist students, who may wish to take only one or two course units in economics, and will introduce them to some of the central principles of economics via the policy questions and institutional arrangements which confront modern economies.
Content:
Growth and development in the world economy since the Second World War; patterns of international trade and investment; the role of multi national corporations; employment and income distribution in the world economy; limitations on national policy effectiveness; international economic institutions and the regulation of international trade, investment and finance.
Key text: Peter Dicken, Global Shift
ECOI0009: The modern world economy 2
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Economics
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES30 EX70
Requisites: Pre ECOI0008
Aims & Objectives: This Unit is a continuation from ECOI0008 The Modern World Economy 1. Its aim is to provide students with an understanding of the economic issues which have affected various regions of the world in the post second world war period.
It is designed to be accessible to both specialist and non-specialist students of economics.
Content:
The course unit comprises three regional studies: the European Union, Transitional Economies of East and Central Europe, East Asia.
European Union: The development of economic integration in Europe; static and dynamic effects of economic integration; trade creation and diversion and the economics of customs unions; factor mobility and the common market; fiscal and monetary harmonisation; optimum currency areas and the European Monetary System; the role of the European Central Bank and the problem of Europe-wide macroeconomic policy.
Transitional Economies: Central planning, operation and failure; the state of transition today; expanding the European Union to embrace Central and Eastern Europe
East Asia: Interpretations of the East Asian "miracle" (pre-1997); causes and consequences of the current crisis; longer term prospects for sustainable development.
Key texts: D. Swann, The Economics of the Common Market
James Forder, Both Sides of the Coin: The Arguments Against the Euro and EMU
F. McDonald, European Economic Integration
D. Dyker (ed), The European Economy
D. Gros and A. Steinherr, Winds of Change
Grahame Thompson (ed), Economic Dynamism in the Asia- Pacific
K.S. Jomo (ed), Tigers in Trouble: Financial Governance, Liberalisation and Crises in East Asia
ECOI0012: Economic thought & policy 1
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Economics
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX80 ES20
Requisites: Pre ECOI0006, Pre ECOI0007
Aims & Objectives:
*To familiarise students with a range of primary source texts written by major economists from the late eighteenth to late nineteenth century.
*To stimulate an interest and knowledge base in the historical development of economics in Britain.
*To convey the relevance of the economics of earlier writers to an understanding of present day economic thought and debate.
Content:
The historical development of economic thought and policy from the beginning of the industrial revolution in the eighteenth century to the emergence of neoclassical economics.
The main economists considered are Smith, Malthus, Ricardo, J.S. Mill and Jevons.
Key texts: Primary sources
Ekelund and Hebert, A History of Economic Theory and Method
R. Heilbroner, The Worldly Philosophers.
ECOI0013: Economic thought & policy 2
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Economics
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre ECOI0012
Aims & Objectives: This Unit extends the aims and objectives of Economic Thought and Policy 1 by considering the influence of late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century economists on the development of economic ideas and policy.
Content:
The main economists considered are Marshall, Edgeworth, Pareto, Pigou, Keynes, Myrdal and Hayek. We will focus on the development of macroeconomic theories of unemployment, the business cycle, and inflation, and microeconomic theories of imperfect competition and welfare. These theories are discussed in the context of methodological debates (Robbins, etc) about the role of economists in making policy recommendations.
Key texts: G.L.S. Shackle, The Years of High Theory
Ekelund and Hebert, A History of Economic Theory and Method
Primary sources
ECOI0014: Money & finance
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Economics
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX100
Requisites: Pre ECOI0006, Pre ECOI0007
Aims & learning objectives:
The Unit is designed to provide an introduction to the analysis of financial behaviour, and to use this analysis to explain and evaluate recent trends in UK financial markets, institutions, and policy within the context of European monetary and financial integration.
Content:
Risk and return: financial instruments and their pricing; financial intermediation; money and capital markets; the foreign exchange market; deposit- and non-deposit-taking financial institutions; government borrowing, the regulatory regime, and the role of the central bank.
Key texts: P.G.A. Howells and K. Bain, The Economics of Money, Banking and Finance: a European Text
C.A.E. Goodhart, Money, Information and Uncertainty
M. Artis and M. Lewis, Money in Britain
ECOI0015: Economics of industry
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Economics
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX80 CW20
Requisites: Pre ECOI0006
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to examine industry and the policy context within which it operates, with particular reference to the UK. The emphasis is in part on providing a descriptive account of the key features of industrial structure and in part on providing an account of theoretical models which can be used to explain the behaviour of firms and industries. Students will develop an understanding of the industrial environment which will serve as a basis for understanding business strategy and industrial policy.
Content:
The Unit provides a descriptive review of contemporary industrial structure and of the relationship between industry in the UK, Europe and beyond. It reviews the two main paradigms for analysing industry, namely the Structure-Conduct-Performance model and the New Industrial Economics. It applies microeconomic theory to explain why firms exist and how they select price, output and marketing strategies. It examines the role played by government policy in the operation and regulation of industry.
Key texts: Stead, Curwen and Lawler, Industrial Economics
Jacobson and Andreosso-O'Callaghan, Industrial Economics and Organisation: A European Perspective
George, Joll and Lynk, Industrial Organisation
ECOI0016: Economics of social policy
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Economics
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX80 ES20
Requisites: Pre ECOI0006
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to build on the student's knowledge of microeconomic principles and apply and extend them within the context of social policy. Students will acquire an understanding of what economics has to say about some of the major areas of social policy. Efficiency and equity issues within this important area will be stressed.
Content:
The course unit introduces some of the main issues which economists highlight when they discuss social policy. The lectures are divided into two groups. In the first we look at some of the basic ideas which economists have used to analyse social policies. We discuss politico-social theories and the role of the state; the concepts of equity and efficiency; the economic justifications for intervention; the economics of insurance, and the measurement of economic welfare and poverty. In the second group we look at some of the main economic issues in six different areas of social policy: financing the welfare state; education; health; housing; poverty, and pensions.
Key texts: N. Barr, The Economics of the Welfare State
Le Grand, Propper and Robinson, The Economics of Social Problems
ECOI0023: Social change and development
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Sociology
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre ECOI0077
Aims & learning objectives:
Aim: To provide students with conceptual frameworks for understanding processes of social change (in a broad sense) in developing countries and to explore the role of "development" in that.
Learning objectives: That students should understand the contributions of sociology and social anthropology to the understanding of processes of societal change in different developing regions.
This Unit complements other units in the economics and politics of development and will broaden and extend the student's understanding of developing countries and the problems and challenges they face.
Content:
Structure and agency; conceptualising actors at the micro, meso and macro levels; globalisation and livelihood strategies; agrarian change: Africa, South Asia and Latin America; urban development and social capital.
Key texts: D. Booth (ed), Rethinking Social Development
N. Long and A. Long, Battlefields of Knowledge
M. Hobart, An Anthropological Critique of Development
ECOI0024: Economics of development 1
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Economics
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES40 OR10 EX50
Requisites: Pre ECOI0006, Pre ECOI0007
Plus any two second year economics units.
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to relate economic theory to debates over the determinants of global poverty, and over the prospects for economic development and poverty reduction in low and middle income countries (LMICs).
The learning objectives of the course unit are that students should acquire an improved understanding of:
* the economic performance and prospects of LMICs;
* how the economies of LMICs interact with those of high income countries (HICs);
* the nature and determinants of global poverty, and the prospects for poverty reduction;
* the relevance of theory to the analysis of the economic problems and prospects of LMICs;
* the relationship between economics and other social science disciplines relevant to the analysis of the economic problems and prospects of LMICs - particularly sociology, anthropology and political science.
Students who are interested in issues of economic development are advised to take the second semester course unit in Economics of Development 2 (ECOI0025) and/or Economics of Transition (ECOI0026).
Content:
The following topics will be covered: the status of development economics as a sub-discipline; open and closed dual economy models of industrialisation; industrialisation and trade strategies; economic development and poverty; economic development and moral economy; economic development and institutions; development and population; development and the environment.
Key texts: G.M. Meier (ed), Leading Issues in Economic Development
A.P Thirlwall, Growth and Development
B. Ingham, Economics and Development
D. Colman and F. Nixson, Economics of Change in Less Developed Countries
Y. Hayami Development Economics: From the Poverty to the Wealth of Nations
ECOI0025: Economics of development 2
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Economics
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES40 OR10 EX50
Requisites: Pre ECOI0042
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to apply theories of economic development considered in ECOI0024 Economics of Development 1 to contemporary issues in selected low and middle income countries, and to understand the relationship between economics and other social science disciplines relevant to the analysis of these issues. From this more in-depth study of a narrower range of countries, students should appreciate the complexity and diversity of LMIC economies and the pitfalls of giving simplistic explanations of causality of economic success and failure.
Content:
The first half of the course unit is based on lectures which are organised into three parts each lasting two weeks. Part 1 is concerned with the economic difficulties faced by newly independent states in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa up to 1980. Part 2 examines the effect on overall economic performance of stabilisation and structural adjustment programmes during the 1980s and 1990s. Part 3 then critically reviews the impact of these and succeeding economic strategies on poverty.
Diversity of economic experience will be reflected in the lectures by focusing particularly on the post-independence experience of Zambia and India; two countries with strongly contrasting domestic market size and degrees of integration within the world economy.
The second half of the course unit is organised around seminars in which students will make presentations on assigned topics, extending to the entire region of Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Key texts: Wuyts, Mackintosh and Hewitt, Development Policy and Public Action
P. Bardhan, The Political Economy of Development in India
J. Bhagwati, India in Transition: Freeing the Economy
B. Turok, Development in Zambia: A Reader
F. Tarp, Stabilization and Structural Adjustment: Macroeconomic Frameworks For analysing the Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa
ECOI0026: Economics of transition
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Economics
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES20 EX80
Requisites: Pre ECOI0010, Pre ECOI0011
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to use economic analysis to understand the changes which are taking place in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, relating them to the creation of market economies.
Content:
Topics covered will include the planned economy and legacy of planning under communism; the speed and sequencing of adjustment to market economy; institutional change; privatisation; financial markets; the labour market; foreign trade; growth and inflation; public finance issues.
Key texts: D. Gros and A. Steinherr, Winds of Change
M. Lavigne, The Economics of Transition: from Socialist Economy to Market
Economy
Mark Knell (ed), The Economics of Transition: Structural Adjustments and Growth Prospects in Eastern Europe
ECOI0040: International relations 1: A history of international relations theory
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Politics
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES40 OR10
Requisites: Pre ECOI0078
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit, and the follow-on second semester unit International Relations 2, is to provide students with the necessary background to the main concepts, theories and methods used in the study of international relations, and to introduce them to the historical development of those aspects of international relations theory that have relevance today.
Content:
An historical survey of the main theories of international relations and the main historical state-systems in which they arose: the Greek-state system, the middle ages, the Renaissance and the emergence of the modern state system.
The course unit examines a series of important, enduring questions in international relations theory about international systems: (1) what were the origins of different international systems; (2) what factors contributed to order and stability; and (3) what factors promoted not only disorder and instability, but also system-wide change, the change to an entirely different type of international system. By examining how different types of historical international systems have existed in the past, what caused wars to occur and what helped to maintain peace, students will have a better idea of the causes of conflict and cooperation today.
Key texts:
Michael Doyle Ways of War and Peace: Realism, Liberalism, and Socialism
Torbjorn Knutsen A History of International Relations Theory
Joseph Nye Understanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory And History
ECOI0041: International relations 2: contemporary international relations
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Politics
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES40 OR10
Requisites: Pre ECOI0040
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to apply the main concepts, theories and methods, introduced in ECOI0040 International Relations 1, to issues in international politics since the end of the Cold War. By the end of the course unit students should be able to:
* critically evaluate the main perspectives in international relations;
* understand how diplomacy has changed in the Twentieth Century
* understand the changing nature of international conflict
* understand the development and role of the United Nations
Content:
Topics include how International Relations has changed since the end of the Cold War, the State, and non-state actors, the balance of power, problems of diplomacy, international organisation, war and international conflict, nationalism, religion and international stability and international political economy.
A set of themes emerge from these topics that are ethical in nature: the relationship between order and justice, state sovereignty and humanitarian intervention, the nature and meaning of international obligation in a society of sovereign states, the idea of universal human rights and cultural relativism, and ways of maintaining international order: the balance of power, international regimes, and new approaches to global governance.
Key texts:
J. Goldstein International Relations
C. Kegley and E. Wittkopf World Politics: Trend and Transformation
Gordon Graham Ethics and International Relations
ECOI0042: Politics of developing countries: ethnicity, religion and nationalism
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Politics
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES40 OR10
Requisites: Pre ECOI0078
Aims & learning objectives:
Aim:Two of the most important developments at the end of the Twentieth Century are the global spread of democracy and the resurgence of religion, ethnicity and nationalism in politics.
Therefore the aim of the Unit is to provide students with an understanding of the ongoing saliency of ethnicity, religion and nationalism to the politics of selected post-communist and developing countries.
By the end of the course unit students should be able to:
* critically evaluate the role of ethnicity, religion and nationalism in the main perspectives of development
* understand the role of religion and revolution in South Africa, Poland and Latin America
* understand the role of Islam in different types of Muslim countries
* understand how religion challenges the secular state in India, Turkey, Algeria and Egypt
Although the unit can be studied as a self-contained module, it forms part of a specialist stream in the Policy Process and Politics of Development with ECOI0043 Governance and the Policy Process in Developing Countries and ECOI0080 Policy and Politics.
Content:
Introduction to the politics of developing countries; the concepts of ethnicity, religion and nationalism; the transition to democracy; the consolidation of democracy.
Case studies of: Poland, Yugoslavia, South Africa, Turkey, India, Algeria, Egypt and Latin America.
Key texts:
J. Esposito and J. Voll Islam and Democracy
Jeff Haynes Religion and Politics in the Third World
Jeff Haynes Religion in Global Politics
David Westerlund (ed) Questioning the Secular State
ECOI0043: Governance and the policy process in developing countries
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Politics
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES40 OR10
Requisites:
~ITAL ON~Pre ECOI0080 or ECOI0042~ITAL OFF~
BOLD_ON~Aims & learning objectives:
Aim:The Unit aims to provide an explanation of the dynamics of governance and the workings of the policy process in developing countries.
The learning objectives are that students should understand key concepts of the state, civil society, political legitimacy and authority in the developing country context, and the implications of these for our understanding of the policy process.
Although the unit can be studied as a self-contained module, it forms part of a specialist stream in the Policy Process and Politics of Development with ECOI0042 The Politics of Developing Countries: Religion, Ethnicity and Nationalism and ECOI0080 Policy and Politics.
Content:
State and society in the Third World; legitimacy and authority; political culture and civil society; the military and politics; policy formulation and implementation in developing countries; policy networks; the roles of external donors; corruption.
Key texts:
Grindle and Thomas Public Choices and Policy Change: The Political Economy of Reform in Developing Countries
Turner and Hulme Governance, Administration and Development
R. Rhodes Understanding Governance
ECOI0077: Introduction to international development
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
Aim:The aim of the Unit is to give students an understanding of developing countries in the international order.
By the end of the course unit students will have some knowledge of the main development paradigms and critical evaluation of them and a firm grasp of key issues in contemporary international development.
Content:
Introducing the main paradigms: Modernisation, Dependency, Globalisation and Sustainable Development; Defining development; Conceptualising and measuring poverty in developing societies; Development, Knowledge and Intervention; Development and the Environment.
Key texts:
S. Corbridge (ed) Development Studies: A Reader
P. Preston Development Theory
Diana Hunt Economic Theories of Development
T. Allen et al Poverty and Development in the 1990s
ECOI0078: Developing countries in world politics
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
Aim: to give students an introduction to the main personalities and events in the international arena which have contributed to the present position of developing countries in the current global order.
Learning objectives: to ensure that students have an awareness of the differences and similarities of experience of developing countries in different regions of the world.
Content:
.The emergence of the League of Nations and the United Nations system; Bretton-Woods; Developing Countries in the Cold War; India and South Asia: Independence and Partition; Southeast Asia and Peasant Revolutions; African independence and the South African liberation struggle; the Middle-East: Arab nationalism and oil wealth; Latin America: revolution and dictatorship.
Key texts:
Peter Calvocoressi World Politics Since 1945
Michael Howard (ed) The Oxford History of the Twentieth Century
Hedley Bull and Adam Watson (eds) The Expansion of International Society
ECOI0079: Economics of politics
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX80 CW20
Requisites: Pre ECOI0006
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to apply introductory microeconomic theory to analyse political behaviour. Students will investigate the extent to which a rational choice model sheds insight on political behaviour and political institutions.
Learning objective: To provide students with an integrative link between their understanding of economic theory and political science.
Content:
The course unit begins with a review of microeconomic welfare theory. This is applied to explain and predict the behaviour of politicians, bureaucrats, voters and pressure groups. The implications of adopting different collective decision making rules are investigated. Case studies are used to illustrate theory. Assessment is offered of the public choice school's assertion that government failure leads to an excessively large public sector.
Key texts:
K.A. Shepsle and M.S. Bonchek Analyzing Politics: Rationality, Behavior and Institutions
J. Cullis and P. Jones Public Finance and Public Choice
ECOI0081: Economic organisation of the European Community
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX80 ES20
Requisites:
~ITAL ON~Pre ECOI0006 and ECOI0007 or ECOI0008 and ECOI0009
ESML students may take this unit provided they have a minimum of a B grade in A Level Economics.~ITAL OFF~
Aims & learning objectives:
This course unit applies introductory microeconomic and macroeconomic principles to a range of European policy areas. It will develop the student's understanding of European economic issues begun in The Modern World Economy.
Content:
The following topics will be covered: EU trade policy and the economics of customs unions; Common Agricultural and Fisheries Policies of the EU; fiscal harmonisation and EU budgetary policy; EU environmental policy; EU industrial and competition policy; European Monetary Union and exchange rate arrangements.
Key texts:
T. Hitiris European Union Economics
M.J. Artis and N. Lee (eds) The Economics of the European Union
A. El-Agraa (ed) The European Union
ESML0001: French written & spoken language 1A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: French
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To stimulate the production of authentic and accurate written and spoken French; to provide a grounding in French grammatical and syntactic structures; to revise, broaden and consolidate grasp of lexis and grammatical structures; to extend awareness of style and linguistic register; to develop skills in translation from French into English; to practise receptive and communicative skills.
Content:
(a) Translation: varieties of register, written translation from French into English, introduction to essay writing.
(b) Grammar/creative writing: introduction to résumé, systematic practical grammar course, introduction to CALL multimedia, development of lexis.
(c) Spoken Language: comprehension, text recreation, controlled oral production, course-related conversation sessions.
ESML0002: French written & spoken language 1B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: French
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0001
Aims & learning objectives:
To stimulate the production of authentic and accurate written and spoken French; to provide a grounding in French grammatical and syntactic structures; to revise, broaden and consolidate grasp of lexis and grammatical structures; to develop awareness of style and linguistic register; to develop skills in translation from French into English; to practise receptive and communicative skills.
Content:
(a) Translation: varieties of register, written translation from French into English, introduction to essay writing, dictée.
(b) Grammar/creative writing: introduction to résuméé, systematic practical grammar course, development of lexis, prose translation, text comparison.
(c) Spoken Language: comprehension, text recreation, controlled oral production, course-related conversation sessions.
ESML0007: French written & spoken language 2A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: French
Level: Level 2
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0002
Aims & learning objectives:
To continue the production of authentic and accurate written and spoken French; to provide further work in French grammatical and syntactic structures; to revise, broaden and consolidate grasp of lexis and grammatical structures; to extend awareness of style and linguistic register; to develop skills in translation from French into English; to practise receptive and communicative skills.
Content:
(a) Translation: varieties of register, written translation from French into English, extempore translation, cloze tests.
(b) Grammar/creative writing: introduction to guided essay, systematic practical grammar course, development of lexis.
(c) Spoken Language: comprehension, text recreation, controlled oral production, course-related conversation sessions.
ESML0008: French written & spoken language 2B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: French
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX54 CW20 OR26
Requisites: Pre ESML0007
Aims & learning objectives:
To continue the production of authentic and accurate written and spoken French; to provide further work in French grammatical and syntactic structures; to revise, broaden and consolidate grasp of lexis and grammatical structures; to extend awareness of style and linguistic register; to develop skills in translation from French into English; to practise receptive and communicative skills.
Content:
(a) Translation: varieties of register, written translation from French into English, extempore translation, cloze tests, dictée.
(b) Grammar/creative writing: introduction to guided essay, systematic practical grammar course, development of lexis, text comparison.
(c) Spoken Language: comprehension, text recreation, controlled oral production, course-related conversation sessions.
ESML0013: French written & spoken language 4A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: French
Level: Level 3
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0008
Aims & learning objectives:
To develop advanced skills in the comprehension and production of written French; To provide a structured but informal context for the development of a variety of advanced oral skills. To exploit competence in written and oral French developed during the first two years of the course and, where appropriate, during the third year placement in France (or equivalent).
Content:
Written Language: translation from French into English; summarization and re-writing (in French); language commentary (in French); analysis of style and register (contemporary social, political, literary).
Spoken Language: explication and debate, through lector-led group discussion and individual presentation. Material covers a wide range of political, social, cultural subjects, within the context of current French concern.
ESML0014: French written & spoken language 4B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: French
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX38 CW17 OR27 OT18
Requisites: Pre ESML0013
Aims & learning objectives:
To develop advanced skills in the comprehension and production of written French. To provide a structured but informal context for the development of a variety of advanced oral skills. To exploit competence in written and oral French developed during the first two years of the course and, where, appropriate, during the third year placement in France (or equivalent). By the end of the unit, students should be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with native speakers of French on social, political and cultural topics, orally and in writing in a broad range of appropriate registers and in both professional and social contexts.
Content:
Written Language: translation from French into English; summarization and re-writing (in French); language commentary (in French); analysis of style and register (contemporary social, political, literary).
Spoken Language: explication and debate, through lector-led group discussion and individual presentation, focusing on and in preparation for the requirements of the final oral examination. Material covers a wide range of political, social, cultural subjects, within the context of current French concern.
ESML0030: German written & spoken language 1A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: German
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The unit pursues a dual aim. (1) To refresh and consolidate students knowledge and understanding of grammatical structures; to enable them to apply the acquired skills to the production of coherent and fluent written composition; to introduce them to a variety of German texts dealing with appropriate contemporary issues. (2) To improve students communicative and listening skills (oral/aural) and to expand their vocabulary so that they are able to express themselves clearly in everyday as well as in academic contexts as appropriate; to enable students to formulate their own ideas and to interact effectively in German and to adjust flexibly to various situations by using a suitable register.
Content:
(1) In respect of i. the consolidation of German language structures: this unit focuses on the various classes of words, their declension and their function within the phrase/ sentence; ii. written communication: a variety of linguistic skills are developed by means of translation into and from German and essay writing in German (2) Spoken language classes may consist of free discussions with the entire group, interactive exercises (e.g. role play, small-group discussions, one-to-one exchange of ideas). Austrian and German video material and newspaper articles form the basis for discussion and assessment, whilst improving awareness of contemporary life in the German-speaking world.
ESML0031: German written & spoken language 1B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: German
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0030
Aims & learning objectives:
The unit builds on ESML0030, pursuing the same dual aim. (1) To refresh and consolidate students knowledge and understanding of grammatical structures; enable them to apply the acquired skills to the production of coherent and fluent written composition; to introduce them to a variety of German texts dealing with appropriate contemporary issues. (2) To improve students communicative and listening skills (oral/aural) and to expand their vocabulary so that they are able to express themselves clearly in everyday as well as in academic contexts as appropriate; to enable students to formulate their own ideas and to interact effectively in German and to adjust flexibly to various situations by using a suitable register.
Content:
(1) In respect of i. the consolidation of German language structures: this unit focuses on complex grammar points and German syntax; ii. written communication: a variety of linguistic skills are developed by means of translation into and from German and essay writing in German. (2) Spoken language classes may consist of free discussions with the entire group, interactive exercises (e.g. role play, small-group discussions, one-to-one exchange of ideas). Austrian and German video material and newspaper articles form the basis for discussion and assessment, whilst improving awareness of contemporary life in the German-speaking world.
ESML0036: German written & spoken language 2A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: German
Level: Level 2
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0031
Aims & learning objectives:
To build on knowledge (grammatical accuracy and range of vocabulary) and writing skills acquired in Year 1. Having successfully completed this unit, students should be able, at the appropriate level, to: translate texts (German to English); summarize English texts into German and write short essays expressing a personal opinion on a given topic.
Content:
German to English translation, English to German summarisation, German essay-writing in response to text-based questions.
ESML0037: German written & spoken language 2B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: German
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX54 CW20 OR26
Requisites: Pre ESML0036
Aims & learning objectives:
To build on knowledge (grammatical accuracy and range of vocabulary) and writing skills acquired in Year 2 semester 1. Having successfully completed this unit, students should be able, at the appropriate level, to: translate texts (German to English) with an increased awareness of nuance of meaning; summarize English texts (as wide-ranging in topic and style as time and circumstances permit) into German and write short essays with good grammatical awareness and fluency of style, and to translate a dictated English text into German.
Content:
German to English translation, English to German summarisation, German essay-writing in response to text-based questions; extempore German-to-English translation.
ESML0048: German written & spoken language 4A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: German
Level: Level 3
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0037
Aims & learning objectives:
To refine students' ability to translate competently from German into English in a variety of contemporary registers. To develop their summarisation skills so that they are able to produce a précis in sophisticated German of a complex English text on a subject of broad contemporary interest. To enable students to write coherent, well-argued and grammatically correct essays in German in response to issues raised in complex German texts. To enhance students' knowledge of the spoken language acquired during their year abroad so that they are able to converse fluently on contemporary issues and deliver sophisticated oral presentations on topics of their choice.
Content:
Written language: (a) Translation from German into English is the focus of one of the two weekly hours. The main emphasis in this semester will be placed on dealing with texts written in more colloquial registers. (b) The second weekly hour is devoted to the production of German in summarisation and essay-writing exercises. In this semester particular attention will be devoted to developing essay-writing skills.
Spoken language: The emphasis is on project work carried out both on a group and an individual basis, with the chosen topics of an appropriately complex and controversial nature.
ESML0049: German written & spoken language 4B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: German
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX38 CW17 OR27 OT18
Requisites: Pre ESML0048
Aims & learning objectives:
To refine students' ability to translate competently from German into English in a variety of contemporary registers. To develop their summarisation skills so that they are able to produce a précis in sophisticated German of a complex English text on a subject of broad contemporary interest. To enable students to write coherent, well-argued and grammatically correct essays in German in response to issues raised in complex German texts. To enhance students' knowledge of the spoken language acquired during their year abroad so that they are able to converse fluently on contemporary issues and deliver sophisticated oral presentations on topics of their choice.
Content:
Written language: (a) Translation from German into English is the focus of one of the two weekly hours. The main emphasis in this semester will be placed on translating texts written in more formal registers. (b) The second weekly hour is devoted to the production of German in summarisation and essay-writing exercises. In this semester particular attention will be paid to developing summarisation skills.
Spoken language: As before, project work will be carried out both on a group and an individual basis. Additional emphasis will now be placed on developing students' presentational skills in preparation for their oral examination.
ESML0062: Italian written & spoken language 1A (post A level)
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Italian
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To consolidate students' existing knowledge of Italian grammar and syntax, and to enable them to deploy these structures correctly in written texts and exercises. Aural comprehension and oral communication skills in practical contexts are developed through the use of authentic audio-visual material and class contact with native speakers.
Content:
Written Language: a grammar text is used to revise the fundamentals of the language and as a basis for regular exercises. Translation texts are used to familiarise students with contemporary written Italian, in particular the language of the press and modern narrative.
Spoken Language: conversation groups, role-playing, supervised audio-visual classes provide practice in the spoken language and are used as a stimulus for creative written work.
ESML0063: Italian written & spoken language 1B (post A level)
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Italian
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0062
Aims & learning objectives:
To expand students' knowledge of Italian grammar and syntax and to enable them to deploy these structures fluently and effectively in the production of written texts and exercises. Aural comprehension and oral communication skills are further extended through the use of advanced audio-visual material and class contact with lectors.
Content:
Written Language: more complex grammatical problems are studied with the aid of specially prepared handouts and explored through regular exercises. Excerpts from the Italian press and other authentic sources are used to expand writing skills in more formal contexts.
Spoken Language: the oral activities from Semester 1, such as supervised audio-visual practice and role-playing, will continue and equip students with more sophisticated communicative skills for more formal contexts.
ESML0068: Italian written & spoken language 2A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Italian
Level: Level 2
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Students must have taken either ESML0061, or ESML0063.
Aims & learning objectives:
To broaden students' command of contemporary written Italian with greater emphasis on resolving complex grammatical points; to build on the communication skills acquired in the Year 1, and to improve oral proficiency and aural comprehension.
Content:
Written Language: prose and translation exercises from a variety of literary and non-literary texts; general essays.
Spoken Language: role-playing, paired and group activities, dictation, summarisation of audio-visual texts in Italian, reading, conversation classes.
ESML0069: Italian written & spoken language 2B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Italian
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX54 OR26 CW20
Requisites: Pre ESML0068
Aims & learning objectives:
To build on students' linguistic competence as acquired in Semester 1. To expand students' vocabulary in social and cultural areas and to develop sensitivity to style and register.
Content:
Written Language: prose and translation exercises from a variety of literary and non-literary texts; general essays.
Spoken Language: role-playing, paired and group activities, dictation, summarisation of audio-visual texts in Italian, reading, conversation classes.
ESML0074: Italian written & spoken language 4A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Italian
Level: Level 3
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0069
Aims & learning objectives:
To refine students' competence in written and spoken Italian; to extend the range of terminology and linguistic registers, including the political and economic. To perfect students' skills in translating texts from and into Italian in a variety of registers. To develop their summarisation skills and enable them to express complex ideas and arguments in writing. To draw upon students' periods of residence in Italy in order to strengthen oral fluency and conversational skills.
Content:
Written Language: prose, translation, summarisation (in Italian); analysis of style and register (contemporary social, political and literary).
Spoken Language: précis-writing, presentations, lector-organised discussion and debate on issues linked to Year 4 Options and Italian current affairs.
ESML0075: Italian written & spoken language 4B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Italian
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX56 CW17 OR27
Requisites: Pre ESML0074
Aims & learning objectives:
To further develop and consolidate students' skills in translating complex texts from and into Italian, and in developing a sophisticated argument in the form of a long essay in Italian. To enable students to converse competently and fluently and to deliver sophisticated oral presentations in Italian on social, political and cultural topics.
Content:
Written Language: prose, translation, and essay writing classes based on excerpts from the press, contemporary writers and specialised journals.
Spoken Language: Oral presentations, lector-organised discussion and debate on political, social and cultural topics.
ESML0081: Russian written & spoken language 1A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Russian
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To consolidate knowledge of basic grammar, broaden vocabulary and improve aural comprehension. To develop fluency in spoken Russian at the level of everyday conversation.
Content:
Prose and essay composition; translation into English; grammar revision; conversation.
Students must be qualified in Russian to approximately A-level standard.
ESML0084: Russian written & spoken language 1B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Russian
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0081
Aims & learning objectives:
To further consolidate knowledge of basic grammar, broaden vocabulary and improve aural comprehension. To further develop fluency in spoken Russian at the level of everyday conversation.
Content:
Prose and essay composition; translation into English; grammar revision; conversation.
ESML0089: Russian written & spoken language 2A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Russian
Level: Level 2
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0084, Pre ESML0085
Students must have taken either ESML0084, or ESML0085.
Aims & learning objectives:
To deepen knowledge of Russian grammar, expand lexis and develop translation skills in several registers. To give students practice in expressing themselves in writing. To improve aural comprehension and to begin to develop fluency in spoken Russian at the level of everyday conversation.
Content:
Written Language: systematic review of Russian grammar with exercises and drills drawn from a variety of sources; translations into Russian and English with discussion of grammatical points, lexis etc. Essay writing in Russian with discussion of stylistic points and vocabulary. Spoken Language: small group conversation on a range of themes; role-playing; task-based use of audio-visual material. To assist vocabulary acquisition, work in written and spoken language will be organised around themes of geography & peoples and culture & recreation.
ESML0092: Russian written & spoken language 2B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Russian
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX54 CW20 OR26
Requisites: Pre ESML0089
Aims & learning objectives:
To deepen knowledge of Russian grammar, expand lexis and develop translation skills in several registers. To give students practice in expressing themselves in writing. To improve aural comprehension to the point at which the gist of a TV news item can be understood and to develop fluency in spoken Russian at the level of everyday conversation.
Content:
Written Language: systematic review of Russian grammar with exercises and drills drawn from a variety of sources; translations into Russian and English with discussion of grammatical points, lexis etc. Essay writing in Russian with discussion of stylistic points and vocabulary. Spoken Language: small group conversation on a range of themes; role-playing; task-based use of audio-visual material. To assist vocabulary acquisition, work in written and spoken language will be organised around themes of social issues, history and politics.
ESML0095: Russian written & spoken language 4A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Russian
Level: Level 3
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0092
Aims & learning objectives:
To consolidate knowledge of Russian grammar, further expand lexis and further develop translation skills. To enable students to translate modern literary Russian and non-technical academic and journalistic Russian, into English. To enable students to translate selected English passages into Russian, and to express ideas and arguments in writing. To improve fluency in spoken Russian.
Content:
Written Language: translation into and from Russian and discussion of grammatical points, lexis etc. Conversation and audio-visual classes. Spoken Language: discussion of selected topics on a range of themes (ecology, social issues, feminism etc).
ESML0096: Russian written & spoken language 4B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Russian
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX56 CW17 OR27
Requisites: Pre ESML0095
Aims & learning objectives:
To consolidate knowledge of Russian grammar, further expand lexis and further develop translation skills. To enable students to translate modern literary Russian and non-technical academic and journalistic Russian, into English with minimal use of a dictionary. To enable students to translate selected English passages into idiomatic Russian, and to express complex ideas and arguments in writing. To develop fluency in spoken Russian.
Content:
Written Language: translation into and from Russian and discussion of grammatical points, lexis etc. Conversation and audio-visual classes. Spoken Language: discussion of selected topics on a range of themes (culture, politics in Russia etc).
ESML0101: Russian national option R4: Gorbachev & Perestroika
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Russian
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES67 CW33
Requisites: Pre ESML0094, Pre HASS0005
Students must have taken either ESML0094, or HASS0005.
Aims & learning objectives:
To investigate political and social developments in the years 1985-1991 in greater depth than in ESML0094.
Content:
Origins of perestroika; glasnost and democratization; nationalities issues and conflicts; the collapse of communism.
ESML0102: Russian national option R5: Politics in post-communist Russia
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Russian
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES67 CW33
Requisites: Pre ESML0094, Pre HASS0005
Students must have taken either ESML0094, or HASS0005.
Aims & learning objectives:
To examine the dilemmas of economic and political reconstruction and of external relations posed by the collapse of the communist political order in Russia, and efforts to resolve these problems since August 1991.
To develop skills in political analysis and seminar techniques.
Content:
Political institutions and actors in Russia in August 1991; dimensions of the crisis surrounding the collapse of Soviet communism; theoretical approaches to transition; first steps of the political leadership; reform and political conflict; dilemmas of foreign policy; political elites; civil society; political culture; 1993 Constitution; elections and party formation; legal order and corruption; local government; federalism and ethnic politics; gender politics; prospects.
ESML0103: Europe 1A: Introduction to European studies
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: European Studies
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES67 CW33
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To begin an exploration of the historical and cultural identity of Europe; to introduce basic political concepts (nationalism, imperialism, communism and fascism) in a European historical context; to introduce cultural studies as a discipline in the context of European culture in the first half of the twentieth century.
Content:
Defining Europe - history, languages and culture; nations and empires in 19th Century Europe; the First World War; communism and fascism in interwar Europe; the Second World War; studying European culture; images of war in 20th Century Europe.
ESML0104: Europe 1B: Europe since 1945
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: European Studies
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES67 CW33
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To compare the experience of Eastern and Western Europe since 1945; to introduce students, in this context, to analysis of the political structure and culture of liberal democracies and to analysis of the structures and problems of modern economies; to examine the interaction of culture and politics in post-war Europe.
Content:
Europe in the Cold War era; politics and culture in post-war Europe; economic and social change in Western Europe; liberal democratic politics in Europe - elections and party systems; political culture; the rise and fall of European communist states and command economies; economic and political problems in the age of globalisation; postmodernism in European culture.
ESML0105: Europe 2A: Politics of the European Union
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: European Studies
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX67 CW33
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To introduce students to key theories of European integration; to trace the development of the E.C. from the 1950s to the present; to examine issues of contemporary relevance to European integration. Students will develop an awareness and understanding of European integration issues and be able to discuss them on the basis of background knowledge attained during lectures and readings.
Content:
Theories of European integration; the origins of the E.C.; the Rome Treaty and the Single Act; Britain and the E.C; the road to Maastricht; the institutions of the E.C. and E.U.; the democratic deficit; the 1996 Inter Governmental Conference; the E.U. as a world actor; monetary union; citizenship and "the people's Europe"; the E.U., Eastern Europe and enlargement; the future of the E.U.
ESML0107: European option E1: Intellectuals & identity in contemporary Europe
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: European Studies
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX67 CW33
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To provide an overview of nationalism in various twentieth-century European contexts and of the role of intellectuals (both literary authors and social/political commentators) in influencing debates on issues such as national identity. The changes in post-1989 Central and Eastern Europe will provide a focus for the latter part of the unit.
Content:
The work of intellectuals such as Barzini, Konwicki, Grass, Schneider, Habermas and Foucault.
ESML0108: European option E2: Politically committed European culture: the end of an era?
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: European Studies
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX67 CW33
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To provide an historical understanding of the development of politically committed culture (literature and film) in the post-1945 era in both Eastern and Western Europe. To take account of the factors which led to the growing disillusionment on the part of creative intellectuals regarding the value of their efforts to bring about socialism with a human face: the dominance of Stalinism during the Cold War, the crushing of reform movements in Eastern Europe (especially the Prague Spring in 1968), general scepticism in Western Europe since the 1960's regarding the value of committed culture. To study some examples of the post-engagement culture in Eastern Europe and Russia since the collapse of communism. The close study of works by leading authors of the post-1945 period will provide the focus for the seminars which form the core of the unit.
Content:
A dossier of Camus's writing, Wolf: The Quest for Christa T., Solzhenitsyn: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Kundera: The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Perec: Things, Klíma: Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light, Makanin: Baize Table with Decanter.
ESML0294: European option E5: In search of Europe (1) - Europe divided
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: European Studies
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES67 CW33
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To explore the concept of Europe 1945-1989. To discuss the implications for both Western and Eastern Europe of Soviet-American rivalries during the Cold War.
Content:
The Cold War; strengths and weaknesses of the Soviet bloc before 1989; Cold War and détente in Western Europe (1960s-1980s); 1989 and the collapse of Cold War era political systems.
ESML0295: European option E6: In search of Europe (2) - Europe in the 1990s: towards unification?
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: European Studies
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES67 CW33
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To explore the concept of Europe since 1989, examining the nature of European, national and regional identities.
Content:
Immediate consequences of 1989; the resurgence of particularism; forces for integration.
ESML0385: European political thought
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Politics
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
Students should acquire a solid understanding of the history and development of political theory in Europe.
Content:
The course provides a survey of the major European politcal thinkers from Niccolo Machiavelli to Antonio Gramsci.
ESML0410: Political ideologies
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES50 EX50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To provide a grounding in the study of political ideologies, namely the thought which has been central to modern political debate.
Content:
The lectures will focus on the main ideologies which have helped shape the modern world, together with more methodological debates surrounding the study of ideology.
Lectures will include: what is 'ideology'?; liberalism; conservatism; Marxism; social democracy; nationalism; feminism; ecologism; and the 'end of ideology' debate.
ESML0411: Politics Dissertation 1
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: OT100
Requisites:
This unit is for BSc Politics with Economics students only.
Aims & learning objectives:
To design and conduct a research project on an approved politics topic (NB politics is understood broadly to include related political aspects of related subjects such as social policy). To gain experience of undertaking primary research in politics. To develop a critical awareness of methodological issues in political research.
Content:
Students will choose a specific research topic, in consultation with a suitable supervisor, and design a research project.
ESML0412: Politics dissertation 2
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: OT100
Requisites:
This unit is for BSc Politics with Economics students only.
Aims & learning objectives:
To complete work undertaken in Politics Dissertation 1 unit (ESML0411).
Content:
Discussion, further reading and writing up of a 10,000 word research project.
ESML0414: American politics
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Politics
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim is to provide
students with a knowledge and understanding of central arguments and
debates relating to the American political system, and to equip them to
contribute to these debates, citing relevant evidence.
Content:
The course applies the concepts and theories
of political science to the United states of America, assessing the role
played by formal and informal political entities. Notions of liberal
democracy are assessed by reference to debates on the role of political
parties, interest groups, elites and political culture on political
outcomes in America. A number of case studies consider the political
significance from a European perspective of questions of race and
poverty, judicial review, and the American foreign policy process.
ESML0415: Media politics
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Politics
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim is to provide
students with a grounding in the theory and practice relating to the
political significance of the mass media, with reference to a number of
case studies.
Content:
The course examines alternative theories of
the political role of the mass media, and applies these to case studies.
Topics include the Frankfurt School and mass culture, Marxist and
pluralist notions of the media, the 'propaganda model', notions of public
broadcasting, cinema and politics, the global role of the media, and the
media and war.
ESML0416: Totalitarian politics
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Politics
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The course is to provide
students with an understanding of the debates and literature relating to
totalitarianism, a controversial twentieth century political idea, and
form of government.
Content:
The main historical focus of the course will
be on Soviet communism and Nazism, although other forms of communism and
fascism will be considered. Cases to be examined include the Origins of
Fascist ideology, theories of Fascist support, the Fascist state, Soviet
Marxism-Leninism, Stalinism, the Gorbachev Revolution and the collapse of
the USSR, and the Neo-Fascist Revival.
ESML0417: British politics
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Politics
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To provide a grounding in
the study of the British political system, including wider aspects of
Britain's relations with the EU.
Content:
The lectures will focus on a wide range of
specific topics central to beginning to study politics (parties,
institutions, etc.). Lectures will include: conservatism; social
democracy; voting behaviour; the media; electoral systems; parliament;
executive; pressure groups; Britain and the European Union.
HASS0006: Core skills for social scientists: information technology methods
Semester 1
Credits: 3
Contact:
Topic: É«ÖÐÉ« Methods
Level: Level 1
Assessment: PR50 CW50
Requisites: Co SOCP0059, Co SOCP0060
Aims & learning objectives:
To introduce students to basic computing skills needed to support methods modules in Years 1 and 2.
Content:
Through practical experience students will acquire basic skills in word-processing, spreadsheets, simple databases, file management, use of networked PCs and accessing remote sources (WWWeb); competence will be assessed through practicals and through successful use of skills in later methods modules.
MANG0040: European integration studies 1
Semester 1
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Students should have taken MANG0006 or MANG0070
IMML students must take MANG0059 in the next semester if they take this unit.
Aims & learning objectives:
To provide a basic grounding in the theory, politics and economics of European integration. Students will complete the course with a sound knowledge of European Union institutions and key economic policies.
Content:
Subjects covered will be: integration theory; EU political institutions, their legitimacy and their accountability; the EU decision-making process; EC finances and funds; the single market and Europe's lost competitiveness; competition policy; the EU, world trade and developing countries; regional policy; economic and monetary union; the enlargement of the EU, the EEA and Central and Eastern Europe.
Lectures will be supplemented by case study discussions, tutorial sessions and a revision workshop.
MANG0059: European integration studies 2
Semester 2
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES100
Requisites: Pre MANG0040
IMML students must take this unit if they have taken MANG0040 in the previous semester.
Aims & learning objectives:
To provide an advanced knowledge of the impact of European policies on individuals, managements and work organisations in the European Union. Students will complete the course unit with a detailed knowledge of social, environmental and sectoral impacts of integration and how business interests can influence the EU decision-making process.
Content:
Subjects covered will be: Social and employment policy issues and the firm; EU environment policy and its impact upon business and communities; the harmonisation of company law; sectoral impacts of the single market and business strategies; lobbying the EU; transport policy and trans-European networks; implementation of EC law; the future direction of the EU.
Lectures will be supplemented by case study discussions, a decision-making game, and tutorial sessions.
MANG0069: Introduction to accounting & finance
Semester 2
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX50 CW50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To provide students undertaking any type of degree study with an introductory knowledge of accounting and finance
Content:
The role of the accountant, corporate treasurer and financial controller
Sources and uses of capital funds
Understanding the construction and nature of the balance sheet and profit and loss account
Principles underlying the requirements for the publication of company accounts
Interpretation of accounts - published and internal, including financial ratio analysis
Planning for profits, cash flow. Liquidity, capital expenditure and capital finance
Developing the business plan and annual budgeting
Estimating the cost of products, services and activities and their relationship to price.
Analysis of costs and cost behaviour
MANG0071: Organisational behaviour
Semester 1
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX60 CW40
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To develop the student's understanding of people's behaviour within work organizations
Content:
Topics of study will be drawn from the following:
The meaning of organising and organisation
Socialisation, organisational norms and organisational culture
Bureaucracy, organisational design and new organisational forms
Managing organisational change
Power and politics
Business ethics
Leadership and team work
Decision -making
Motivation
Innovation
Gender
The future of work
PSYC0001: Psychology 1
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Psychology
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this course is to introduce students to basic concepts and current themes and debates within psychology.
Content:
Lectures will be broadly based on the question - 'WHO AM I'? In order to answer this question, we will consider: drives; hormones and the mind/body question; our animal history and the influence of genetics; learning and socialisation; personality; society and the individual; intelligence and creativity; family relationships; social groups and social interaction attitudes; values, cultural beliefs, gender and social identity; normality and deviance; language and communication. These lectures will provide the student with a grounding in the major domains within psychology, thereby preparing them for a critical understanding of the discipline as a whole.
PSYC0002: Psychology 2
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Psychology
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites: Pre PSYC0001
Aims & learning objectives:
Psychology II builds upon psychology I both conceptually and in terms of course content. This course will focus more heavily, however, on issues in biological psychology, although prior contact with the biological sciences will not be required. The purpose of this course is to provide the student with a more critical understanding of the nature of psychology as a discipline and its relation to neighbouring sciences (i.e., biology & psychiatry).
Content:
Lecture topics in this course will include; aggression and violence; altruism and helping; social skills; stress and emotions; fear, anxiety, depression, guilt and happiness; thinking and reasoning; social perceptions; prejudice and attribution; competition and co-operation; the autonomic nervous system; brain specialisation; the eye and brain.
PSYC0008: Cognitive psychology
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Psychology
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre PSYC0001, Pre PSYC0002
Aims & learning objectives:
To equip the student with the basic principles of Cognitive Psychology, including theory, methodology and critiques. The student will be able to undertake more advanced courses relating to Cognitive Psychology, for example on Artificial Intelligence. The student will also be able to appreciate the relationship of Cognitive Psychology to other fields of social and cognitive science.
*
Content:
How do we process information
* How do we organise information
* How do we store, and retrieve, information
* How do we solve problems
We will consider three main approaches to research in this field; experimental methods: model-building based on case studies, and learning from brain damage.
PSYC0009: Social psychology
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Psychology
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre PSYC0001, Pre PSYC0002
Aims & learning objectives:
To equip students with an understanding of social interaction and social processes in dyads, group and communities.
Content:
This course focuses on the individual in interaction with others, in dyads, small groups and large groups. It examines the reciprocal relationship between the individual and their community, the röle of the individual as a group member, decision-making processes in small and large groups, inter-group relations and crowd behaviour. We will also examine how our impressions of others are formed and what it is that distinguishes human sciences from all others.
PSYC0015: Economic & political psychology
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Psychology
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre PSYC0009
Aims & learning objectives:
The theoretical basis of this course will be on the psychological organisation of social, political, economic and ethical beliefs, and their development and aetiology. The implicit models of psychological processes that underpin expert and common-sense conceptions of rationality and ethics. The problematic nature of links between beliefs and action. The tensions between 'discourse' and 'ideology' models of explanation.
Content:
Topics include: psychological models of ideology in the organisation of beliefs; mainstream and emergent political-social beliefs (feminism, Green politics); lay beliefs, e.g., about unemployment, poverty, ethics; concepts of fairness and equity; moral development; elite beliefs - what constitutes 'legitimation'? Political propaganda and rhetoric. Social movements, social change and intergroup relations.
Students must have undertaken one other unit from Cognitive (SOCS0089), Developmental (SOCS0088) and Clinical Psychology (SOCS0091), as well as the necessary pre-requisite (SOCS0090).
PSYC0017: Controversies in cognition
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Psychology
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre PSYC0007, Pre PSYC0008
Aims & learning objectives:
To equip the student with an understanding of current issues and controversies in psychology
Content:
The course will address key issues in contemporary psychology relating to cognition, language and models of mind. These will include: problems of consciousness and the interface of neuroscience, cognitive science and philosophy; connectionist theory and its implications; the rise of evolutionary psychology; debates about culture and human development.
SOCP0001: Introduction to social policy & the welfare state 1
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Social Policy
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To introduce basic concepts of social policy; to examine the historical evolution of social policy and the welfare state in Britain; to review and analyse recent developments in major social service areas; to introduce the work of 'classic' writers in social policy.
Content:
Services and sectors in Social Policy; 1834 Poor Law; the 1842 'Sanitary Report'; The Liberal Reforms and the Introduction of Pensions; Beveridge and the impact of the 2nd World war; the Post-War Welfare State; Thatcherism and Social Policy; Educational Reform; Housing; Community Care
SOCP0002: Introduction to social policy & the welfare state 2
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Social Policy
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites: Pre SOCP0001
Aims & learning objectives:
To provide an introduction to social policy as a field of study. To examine the nature and extent of poverty and inequality in Britain today, as a means of developing an understanding of social policies as a field of study.
Content:
Introduction to Social Policy; Concepts and Definitions of Poverty; Social Exclusion; Evidence on the Incidence of Poverty and Inequality; Demographic Factors and their relationship to Poverty; Poverty, Gender and 'Race'; Poverty and Policy.
SOCP0003: 'Race' & racism
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Social Policy
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To develop an understanding of issues of 'race' and ethnicity. To examine the dimensions of discrimination and disadvantage in Britain. To analyse key policy areas to highlight the prevalence and effects of racism. To evaluate attempts to eradicate racism, discrimination and disadvantage.
Content:
Concepts of 'Race' and Ethnicity; Racial Inequality in Britain; Racism; Colonialism; Racial Harassment; Immigration; Race Relations Law; Multi-Culturalism, Anti-Racism and Education; Urban Unrest; 'Race', Racism and Policing; 'Race' and Citizenship.
SOCP0004: Family and gender
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Social Policy
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To examine changing patterns of family and working life, the causes of these, and their implications for gender roles and for social policy, in the UK and elsewhere.
Content:
Definitions of the family; The politics of the family; The regulation of sexual behaviour, marriage & divorce; Lone parenthood; Feminist theory and the family; Childhood and children's rights; Support for families; Concepts of Family policy; The relationship between family policy and other areas of policy.
SOCP0005: Politics and the policy process
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Social Policy
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Ex ECOI0080
Aims & learning objectives:
This unit introduces students to key concepts for analysing the policy-making process. By the end of the unit students should have a basic understanding of problems and issues in the making and implementation of social policy in Britain. This course has a common lecture programme with the Politics and Policy course, however each course has a separate seminar programme.
Content:
Each lecture covers one conceptual topic, including: Introduction to Policy Analysis; Theories of the State; Power; Models of Decision-making and Policy Formulation; Implementation; Street-Level Decision-Making; Organisational Constraints; Interest Groups and Policy Communities. The seminars apply these to topical issues in social policy.
SOCP0006: Political values & social policy
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Social Policy
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
This unit introduces students to a range of values and principles used to justify the role of the state in social policy. By the end of the module students should be familiar with the broad range of principles and should be able to apply some of them to current debates.
Content:
Each lecture will cover one core principle, including: Need, Freedom, Equality, Justice, Citizenship, Community. The seminars will apply each to one issue or problem in contemporary social policy; for example, training schemes and equality of opportunity; citizenship and rights to a basic income.
SOCP0011: Health policies & politics
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Social Policy
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre SOCP0005, Pre SOCP0006
Aims & learning objectives:
This course aims to develop an understanding of how health policy integrates with wider social policy issues, as well as a detailed understanding of the content and dynamism of health policy processes. As a result , students should
* understand the impact of different welfare models on health care systems in Europe and America
* understand the political forces behind health care reform in the British NHS
* understand the pressures exerted on health care systems and the range of responses that have arisen
* be able to compare and contrast the strengths of the different approaches and their uses in different settings
Content:
1. Health, health care and health policy
2. Comparing health systems: the UK
3. Comparing health systems: the USA and Europe
4. Pressures on health care systems (1) Demographic and economic changes
5. Pressures on health care systems (2) Science and technology
6. Politics of reform: 50 years of the NHS
7. Rationing and priority setting
8. Medicine and the media: the effect on policy
9. Paying for care and the mixed economy
10. Evaluating health care and health policy
11. Informing health policy: the politics of data gathering
12. The New Public Health
SOCP0012: European social policy: a comparative approach
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Social Policy
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre SOCP0001, Pre SOCP0002
Aims & learning objectives:
This unit introduces students to the social policies of several European countries. By the end of the module students should have a basic knowledge of the patterns and development of welfare policies in these countries and be able to situate them in relation to models of different welfare state regimes.
Content:
The course adopts two approaches to the material. In the first part, it examines in depth the development of social policies in specific countries which represent different 'welfare regimes': Germany, Sweden, Italy and Russia/ Central Europe. Second, it then compares specific policy areas across these countries, such as pensions and health services. The module concludes by considering the impact of the EU and the prospects for converging social policies in Europe.
SOCP0013: Social security policy and welfare reform
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Social Policy
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre SOCP0001, Pre SOCP0002
Aims & learning objectives:
To compare different ways of meeting financial need, including historical and cross-national comparisons. To examine the assumptions and values that structure social security provision. To examine approaches to welfare reform in Australia, the USA and the UK in the 1980s and 1990s.
Content:
The scope of structure of social security policy; Models of social security policy; Reviews and reforms; Australia, UK, USA; Social Security expenditure trends; Benefit take-up and adequacy; Fraud and Abuse. Reform in relation to specific policy areas: Unemployment and work incentives; Families and lone parents, Child Support; Housing; Pensions; Disability.
SOCP0042: Comparative political economy
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Politics
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES40 CW10
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
This unit examines the relationships between political factors and economic development in advanced industrial societies. Historical and comparative in approach it concentrates on the 'golden age' of the post-war boom and the more recent period of economic uncertainty. The aim is both to analyse distinctive national patterns of policy-making and to indicate the ways in which international political and economic relations restrict national options. These issues will be examined through cross-national comparison.
SOCP0043: Sociology of industrial societies 1: classical theories
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Sociology
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES100
Requisites: Co SOCP0044
Aims & learning objectives:
To understand the basic sociological questions, theories and evidence of industrial society
Content:
To answer the following questions: 1) How and why is industrial society distinctive? 2) Does industrial society have a logic of social differentiation, based on conflict , control, or social order? Differences in work, authority and decision making, kinship and gender, culture and community. The theories of Marx, Durkheim and Weber.
SOCP0044: Sociology of industrial societies 2: social change & social control
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Sociology
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To understand the changing nature of industrial societies, modern and post-modern theories and evidence of social stratification, organisation and control
Content:
To answer the following questions: 1) Do industrial societies display common trends, even superseding industrialism? 2) What are the main modes of social regulation and social control in changing societies? Theories and evidence of post-industrialism, convergence, managerialism, ethnic and gender forms of social stratification in relation to social control and citizenship.
SOCP0047: Sociology of work & industry
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Sociology
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre SOCP0044
Aims & learning objectives:
This course examines sociological approaches to the changing forms of work and work organisations. Key issues include rationalisation and bureaucratisation; the introduction and impact of new technologies; managerial and worker strategies in the control of work; conflict and accommodation at the workplace; corporate structure - ownership, control and managerialism, implications for theories of class and gender relationships. The course investigates these issues in three broad contexts: the period of early industrialisation, the development of mass production and 'Fordism' and the growth and consolidation of modern industrial structures.
SOCP0048: Understanding industrial behaviour
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Sociology
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre SOCP0044
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the course is to give students a Sociological understanding of industrial
behaviour, showing the competing paradigms and theories that describe industrial relationships, institutions and social structures.
Content:
The course takes students through the main debates in management and work organisation theory, looking at Taylorism and Fordism. The Hawthorne Studies and the early Human Relations School. This is followed by an analysis of the Socio-Technical School and its prescriptions. Contingency Theory and Labour Process Theory bring the debates up to the 1990s. During the course a number of case study examples are used to illustrate the key points of the differing schools.
SOCP0051: Social structure & languages of class
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Sociology
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aims of this unit are to demonstrate differences in structural theories of industrial and capitalist societies, and to develop an understanding of the ways in which classical sociological theory has been developed and changed to explain social stratification and inequality.
Content:
Parsons' AGIL framework, and the Functionalist Theory of Stratification. Althusser and 'structuralist' Marxism, contributions from the Frankfurt School. Empirical issues and evidence from the sociology of class and stratification.
SOCP0055: Comparative industrial relations
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Sociology
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES40 CW10
Requisites: Pre SOCP0043, Pre SOCP0044
Aims & learning objectives:
This course examines the changing role of trade unions in industrial societies - their relationship to the state and political parties, the significance of ideology and different national traditions; the economic and social causes and consequences of industrial conflict. Comparative cross-national studies will focus on the post-war period, conflict and maturation approaches and union responses to economic, social and political adversity.
SOCP0056: Environmental policy & the countryside
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Sociology
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To develop a clear understanding of the politics of the policy process as it applies to the countryside and the environment
Content:
Concern for the environment has become a radical and innovative element in European politics. By focusing on developments between the passage of the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act and the publication of the 1995 Rural White Paper the Unit explains the factors which have transformed the agenda of rural policy making. Corporatist politics and competitive pluralist politics are contrasted and special attention is given to the changing balance of private and public rights and responsibilities in the countryside.
SOCP0059: Core skills for social scientists: social research methods
Semester 1
Credits: 3
Contact:
Topic: É«ÖÐÉ« Methods
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To introduce students to classical, influential examples of investigations and research in various social sciences, and to introduce the main methods as well as philosophical and methodological issues raised by each.
Content:
Classical and influential case studies in political, sociological and psychological research; different types of methods; classification, quantification and meaning; controversial studies and their implications.
SOCP0060: Introduction to data analysis
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: É«ÖÐÉ« Methods
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX80 CW20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To introduce students to the main assumptions, concepts and methods of descriptive and inferential statistics, and to establish basic competence sufficient for investigative, exploratory data analysis using a spreadsheet and/or dedicated statistical software.
Content:
Description, Classification, Quantification; Descriptive Statistics; accessing and exploring a data set; Inferential Statistics; Causation and Correlation; types of statistical test; learning to select appropriate tests; designing an investigative project. The emphasis is on practical competence.
SOCP0067: Placement
Academic Year
Credits: 60
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment:
Requisites:
SOCP0069: Social theory & social philosophy
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Sociology
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aims of this unit are to demonstrate the significance of different theories of scientific methodology for the social sciences and the distinctive contribution of the interpretivist perspective to sociological and related social sciences. Students should learn the problematic relevance of natural science models for social science and the substantive and methodological claims and value of interpretivist social theory.
Content:
Positivist models of scientific method and the interpretivist tradition in sociology: Popper, Kuhn, Winch and Weber. 'Actor-based' approaches: Goffman and ethnomethodology.
SOCP0070: Social issues in contemporary Europe
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: PR100
Requisites:
Aims and Learning Objectives: To develop student understanding of the major social themes affecting Europe today. This unit will adopt a comparative perspective that looks at the changing boundaries social agendas in place in major European countries. The course will attempt to display elements of convergence and divergence within those different and developing social agendas.
Content:
The idea of Europe as a social entity; EU developments promoting common social policies; comparative demographics regarding family, gender, employment, labour market, education, welfare and social policies. Comparative analysis of social institutions and modes of approach to common problems.
SOCP0072: The social dialectics of business sovereignty
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:
Aims and Learning Objectives: To identify the changing boundaries and interactions between business and society in relation to both the evolution and impact of socio-political demands for business accountability and the social foundations of business activiy; so that students understand the main challenges to business sovereignty and the inter-dependence social relationships and business enterprise.
Content:
Changes in social and political challenges to capitalist enterprise. Philosophical, historical and social structural sources of these challenges. Socialist, corporatist and environmentalist and communitarian challenges. The social foundations of business commerce and trade: trust, association, community, values, and citizenship.
SOCP0084: The politics of the welfare state
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims and Learning Objectives: To discuss and assess different theories of policy-making in the area of social policy. To apply them to selected current social policy issues.
Content:
Socio-economic explanations; political explanations; institutional explanations; theory of welfare retrenchment; public opinion and the welfare state; the middle classes and the welfare state; the think tanks and the welfare state; globalization and the welfare state; population ageing and pension reform; the development of active labour market policies.
XXXX0012: Single Language Option
Semester 1
Credits: 3
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment:
Requisites:
This pseudo-unit indicates that you are allowed to choose an extra 3 credit Single Language option. See Catalogue of Generally Available Units for details (available on the University's Web Site).
XXXX0012: Single Language Option
Semester 2
Credits: 3
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment:
Requisites:
This pseudo-unit indicates that you are allowed to choose an extra 3 credit Single Language option. See Catalogue of Generally Available Units for details (available on the University's Web Site).