BSc Food Technology with Bioprocessing

Title:

General Chemistry A

Code:

CH1GCA

Convenor:

DR Silvia Baldanza

Summary:

Starting a degree in the life sciences but don’t have an A level or equivalent in chemistry? Then this is the right module for you.

Designed specifically for students in the life sciences, this module covers the key chemistry A-level concepts with a specific emphasis on the chemistry required for the Food Science or Biology and their applications.

Students will develop an understanding of the fundamental chemistry topics that will be built on in other parts of their Programme. They will become familiar with the language and terminology of chemistry and develop an awareness of the importance of chemistry for their future studies.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Food and Nutritional Chemistry: a Practical Approach

Code:

FB1BOB

Convenor:

PROF Bob Rastall

Summary:

This module aims to equip you with a fundamental understanding of major food components. You will also develop fundamental research and transferable skills: including laboratory skills, scientific report writing, oral presentation and group work.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Food System Challenges

Code:

FB1FSC

Convenor:

DR Resty Tocmo

Summary:

Food security is of global importance and the challenge of feeding a projected 9 billion people in 2050 is immense, particularly in the face of climate change and competition for land use. In this module, you will examine the factors affecting food quality from farm to fork and will explore this along with other issues, such as sustainability, within the wider context of global food security. You will be introduced into a variety of topics such as production methods for animals and plants, interactions with the environment, land use, sustainable food production, sustainable diets and postharvest biology. The aim of the module is to provide you with a basic understanding of the food chain and the principles of food production covering plant and animal derived foods. The module will provide you with an understanding of how issues such as food security, sustainable crop production, food miles, societal/ cultural challenges and different food production methods can affect the quality of food produced and availability to the consumer.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Food Microbiology

Code:

FB1MIC

Convenor:

PROF Dimitris Charalampopoulos

Summary:

This module aims to provide you with a fundamental microbiology broad knowledge, with a focus and more in-depth appreciation on food microbiology and its key topics and application fields. You will also develop fundamental microbiology laboratory skills covering aseptic technique, microbial growth, and production of fermented foods.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Nutritional Biochemistry and Physiology

Code:

FB1NBP

Convenor:

PROF Jeremy Spencer

Summary:

This module will provide you with a sound understanding of how human biochemistry and physiology underpins medical science and how macronutrients, micronutrients and non-nutrients impact on cell, tissue and organ function. An introduction to the fundamentals of human physiology, including that relevant to the cardiovascular, nervous, digestive, hepatic, renal, respiratory, sensory and reproductive systems, as well as that of bone, muscle, blood and the immune system will be covered, detailing the physiological processes and metabolic pathways relevant to human health and disease. Specific examples of how nutrients within a food matrix impact on the homeostasis of these systems and consequences of nutrient deficiency will form the fundamental basis of all nutritional topics in Parts 2 and 3.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Introduction to Sustainable Food Manufacturing

Code:

FB1SFM

Convenor:

PROF Colette Fagan

Summary:

Food manufacturing involves the transformation of raw materials into edible and safe food products. This module serves as an introduction to food manufacturing and the processes that underpin it. This module will introduce you to the scientific principles that are the foundation of industrial preservation and transformation of food materials. You will learn about relevant food processing operations and their impact on the quality and safety of food. This is complemented by practical hands-on experience in our extensive food processing pilot plant, where you will learn how food products are manufactured on an industrial scale while demonstrating appropriate food safety and hygiene practices.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

The Economic Environment

Code:

AD1EEN

Convenor:

DR Cherry Law

Summary:

This module aims to introduce students to key microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts, and their relevance to some of the important challenges facing individuals, businesses, and societies across the globe. 

Why do we see different prices for the same products? Why do governments put taxes on tobacco and alcohol? How do businesses decide how much to produce? Why do governments intervene to promote competition in the markets?  Why do we need environmental policy? What is interest rate and how does it affect us? Why do countries trade with each other? These are some of the topics that we will address, whilst developing a basic understanding of key economic concepts, and their relevance to some of the key challenges facing individuals, businesses, and societies across the globe. 

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Composition and Properties of Foods

Code:

FB2CPF

Convenor:

PROF Bob Rastall

Summary:

You will develop sound understanding of the chemical composition and properties of foods and how major food components/macronutrients and permitted food additives impact on food quality, with a focus on flavour, texture, appearance, shelf-life and nutritional quality. We will consider the changes in these components that occur during storage and processing and their roles in determining the characteristics of important food commodities. You will develop your skills in the design and application of laboratory methods for the chemical analysis of foods with respect to general food properties and nutritional composition.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Food Spoilage, Preservation and Hazards

Code:

FB2FM2

Convenor:

DR Kimon-Andreas Karatzas

Summary:

This module will provide you with an understanding of the sources of microbial contamination of food and the factors that determine which types of microbes grow and cause spoilage in foods during storage. You will examine the basis of the different preservation methods that prevent or retard microbial growth or eliminate microbes. Furthermore, you will also learn about the nature and importance of foodborne illnesses and microbiological hazards in the food industry.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Food Manufacturing Principles

Code:

FB2FMP

Convenor:

PROF Keshavan Niranjan

Summary:

This module will enable you to learn the principles and methodology governing food and bioproducts manufacture, addressing key quantitative aspects, which will also enable you to assess the performance of individual process equipment as well as an overall manufacturing process. The module also covers methods used to assess economic viability of food and bioproduct manufacture. The principles underlying thermal and non-thermal processes, flow of fluids, transport of mass occurring across interfaces (e.g. diffusion of cellular content of fruits in the production of fruit juices) as well as the rates at which biochemical reactions occur in food and biosystems, will be covered in detail. This module will lay the foundations for examining sustainability of food manufacture and how new food products can be developed in a sustainable and cost-effective manner.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Securing a Job: Recruitability and Employability Skills

Code:

FB2JOB

Convenor:

MRS Justine Norris

Summary:

This module provides you will develop skills to get access to job opportunities and to progress in your professional career; by developing your recruitability (CV, cover letter, etc) and employability (interviews, etc.) skills you will be better prepared for placement and job opportunities.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Food Processing and Quality Assurance

Code:

FB2PQA

Convenor:

DR Atefeh Amiri Rigi

Summary:

In this module you will learn about the industrial manufacture of foods including theoretical and practical consideration of key operations and processes used by the food industry; and the effect of these operations on food product properties. You will also be introduced to the quality management and legislative control systems in place to ensure food safety, quality and consumer health protection. You will we working in the Food Processing Centre as part of the practical sessions, which offer you the opportunity to work with pilot plant equipment in a real-life working environment.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Sensory and Consumer Science

Code:

FB2SCS

Convenor:

DR Stella Lignou

Summary:

In this module you will learn about how we perceive food and how to measure such perception and consumer response. In addition to exploring and evaluating diverse sensory and consumer methods, you will develop practical skills and learn to apply statistical techniques.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Ancient Epic

Code:

CL2AE

Convenor:

DR Doukissa Kamini

Summary:

This module offers an introduction to Greek and Latin epic, centring around close study of the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid, but including discussion of other early Greek hexameter poems such as Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and the Epic Cycle. It may also cover Hellenistic epic, for example Apollonius Rhodius, or other Roman epics like Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Greek History: Persian Wars to Alexander

Code:

CL2CGH

Convenor:

PROF Timothy Duff

Summary:

Greek History 479-323 BC, from the end of the Persian Wars, through the Peloponnesian War and the fall of Sparta, to the rise of Macedon and the meteoric career of Alexander the Great.

Assessment Method:

Exam 50%, Assignment 50%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Ancient Drama

Code:

CL2DR

Convenor:

PROF David Carter

Summary:

This module examines the ancient genre of drama, with respect to its content, themes and style, and the context of performance culture which surrounded it.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Roman History: From Republic to Empire

Code:

CL2RO

Convenor:

DR Tim Penn

Summary:

This Roman history module covers the period from the second triumvirate in the last years of the Republic to the reigns of the emperors.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Wildlife Documentary: Ecology and Representation

Code:

FT2WD

Convenor:

DR Adam O'Brien

Summary:

This module gives you the opportunity to study wildlife documentaries and filmmaking addressing ecological issues. You will engage with the relevant critical vocabulary and contextual knowledge to explore how meaning is created and constructed. Case studies may include David Attenborough’s landmark BBC series, nature documentaries such as March of the Penguins and climate change films such as An Inconvenient Truth. There may be a Q&A with a guest speaker from the creative industries.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 60%, Oral 40%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Intercultural Competence and Communication

Code:

IL2GICC

Convenor:

PROF Daniela Standen

Summary:

In this module students develop the skills and understanding needed for communicating effectively in a multi-cultural global environment including the university and the workplace.  Intercultural competence and communication will be considered from a range of disciplinary perspectives, including Language Eucation, Film, and Curriculum.  During the course of the module you will tackle questions such as: How do you work successfully in multicultural Teams? Are nationality and identity the same thing? Why do stereotypes exist?

Students will demonstrate their learning, through reflections and critical evaluation of a real-world situation.

The module will be delivered at the University of Reading Whiteknights campus

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Modern Britain in Global Society

Code:

IL2GMBG

Convenor:

DR Lucy Watson

Summary:

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Introduction to English Language Teaching

Code:

LS2LAT

Convenor:

DR Erhan Aslan

Summary:

The course aims to provide an overview of key aspects of language teaching methodology and practice. 

Assessment Method:

Portfolio 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Society, Thought, and Art in Modern Europe

Code:

ML2STA

Convenor:

DR Veronica Heath

Summary:

This module aims to provide students with a systematic historical and cross-national understanding of the key ideas, institutions and symbols that have come to constitute and represent modernity, in its original cradle in Europe and the rest of the world. The module examines the birth of modern men and women in Europe in the late eighteenth century, in the fulcrum of the Enlightenment and Romanticism, and the broad intellectual, cultural, economic, political and social conditions which have been shaping and re-shaping them since. The module further shows a) the contributions of different European nations to a common European reaction to and re-evaluation of tradition and innovation and b) the diffusion of modernity (Westernisation) from Europe to Asia and Africa and its role in the creation of a global world. Finally, it shows how art has played a leading role in the transformations of modernity - not only recording it but also constituting one of its central components.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 80%, Class test 20%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Practice of Entrepreneurship

Code:

MM270

Convenor:

DR Chris Golding

Summary:

This is a dynamic module introducing students to key concepts of business start-up. Students work in a team to identify and develop a new business opportunity, and then seek to test their idea through ‘lean start-up’ experiments. Students will be introduced to key concepts of entrepreneurial management including design thinking, business model creation, entrepreneurial finance and marketing. This is a highly interactive and practical module, with a focus on experiential learning.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 40%, Oral 30%, Class test 30%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Climate Change: Causes and Consequences

Code:

MT2CCC

Convenor:

PROF Nigel Arnell

Summary:

This module examines the causes and consequences of climate change, and ways of addressing climate risks through mitigation and adaptation. 

The broad aim of the module is to provide students with the latest information on climate change and its consequences to allow them to understand both how and why climate is changing, and understand the challenges in developing local, national and international responses to climate change. 

The module will enable students to understand and actively contribute to one of the key defining challenges of the 21st century.  

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

American Government and Politics

Code:

PO2AMG

Convenor:

DR Derek Bolton

Summary:

This module examines the historical, ideological and constitutional frameworks of American Government and Politics. It analyses the relationship between ideas and values (such as liberty and individualism) and the ways in which these condition the expression of the American political system; it looks at intermediate institutions that connect the public to the federal government (such as elections, the media, and interest groups); it explores the central institutions in Washington (such as the Presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court), and assesses important policy areas (such as gun control).

Assessment Method:

Assignment 70%, Report 30%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Political Thinking

Code:

PO2THI

Convenor:

DR Maxime Lepoutre

Summary:

Module in applied political theory. The course investigates the ethical issues that lie behind some important contemporary policy debates. 

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Advanced Food Quality and Safety

Code:

FB3AQS

Convenor:

MRS Justine Norris

Summary:

This module you will advance your knowledge on elements of Food Quality Management System and how it is structured to ensure Food Safety and Quality within manufacturing. This includes the practical application of appropriate legislation including statistical methods to meet legal and quality compliance, HACCP, Traceability and Product recall. It also covers general aspects of Food defence – VACCP & TACCP.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

New Product Development

Code:

FB3NPD

Convenor:

DR Maria Oruna-Concha

Summary:

This module you will design, develop and evaluate food products meeting current consumer needs. You will integrate knowledge and skills from across the programmes, as it prepares you for the global workplace, collaborating as teams to develop your new product. On completion of this module, you will be able to provide detailed consideration of the stages and processes in new food product development.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Research Project

Code:

FB3PFB

Convenor:

PROF Gunter Kuhnle

Summary:

This module is designed to provide a research experience to the student by completing either a laboratory-based or a theoretical research project. Students will receive guidance on fundamental research methods prior the start of their project.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 20%, Oral 20%, Report 60%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Sustainable Food Systems

Code:

FB3SFS

Convenor:

PROF Afroditi Chatzifragkou

Summary:

This module provides you with the knowledge and understanding of food systems structures, challenges and limitations, by thinking holistically in the context of a food systems approach. Focusing on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), you will explore ways to address complex and systemic challenges and reshape future food systems that deliver food security and nutrition for all and promote sustainability outcomes, on both developing and developed countries.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Food Chemistry and Perception

Code:

FB3FCP

Convenor:

DR Maria Oruna-Concha

Summary:

In this module you will further develop your knowledge of food chemistry and sensory perception relating to the quality of foods. You will learn about the chemical and physical changes in food caused during formulation, processing and storage that develop both desirable and undesirable flavour, colour and structure/texture.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Gut Microbiota and Health

Code:

FB3GUT

Convenor:

DR Marie Lewis

Summary:

The module will provide you with an in-depth knowledge of gut microbiota; how this community of microorganisms can be manipulated and can impact on health. You will also review evidence to critically evaluate trials published in this area, and learn how the gut microbiota interacts with host systems. You will evaluate how messages are considered by different groups and how this field links to existing and potential health claims.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Leadership Skills and Values from Antiquity

Code:

CL3LEAD

Convenor:

DR Andreas Gavrielatos

Summary:

The ancient world features a broad range of leaders and types of leadership: kings and queens, politicians and rebels, democratic and totalitarian, military and professionals, etc. Although they are now figures from the past, they provide a fruitful case study for the timeless skills and values a leader needs as well as the means and ways for developing them. This module will build on modern theories of leadership by deducing information and advice from ancient literature. Philosophical and Historical texts will be combined with Poetry and Drama, to provide the skills and values that were deemed essential from antiquity to day. Leadership skills and values will be examined with regards to specific personalities from the ancient world (Pericles, Aeneas, Dido, Budicca, Hannibal) as well as specific challenges leaders face and conditions under which they are called to thrive, i.e. transition of power, diversity, war, social unrest, etc. We will closely follow the decisions and portrayals of a diverse range of leaders, e.g. Aeneas’ leadership as a refugee, and Budicca’s leadership of a rebellion. We will also discuss leadership models outside the centres of power, e.g. of minorities and communities or states outside the Roman Empire.

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Money Makes the World Go Round: Milestones in Financial History

Code:

IC320

Convenor:

DR Antony Moore

Summary:

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Intercultural Competence and Communication

Code:

IL3GICC

Convenor:

PROF Daniela Standen

Summary:

This module will help you to develop your intercultural competence and communication skills, preparing you to live, study and work in an interconnected world.

You will explore concepts, and analytical tools to develop awareness and understanding of intercultural competence and communication. You will use theories and models of cultural analysis to make sense of real world situations and reflect on your own values and behaviours. We’ll explore questions such as:

• Why do misunderstandings happen?
• What does it mean to ‘know’ a culture?
• What are my values?

And then we’ll apply them to a variety of contexts  (e.g. the world of work), disciplines (e.g. film and media)  and situations (e.g. eating)

At the end of this module you will have developed your knowledge of culture, an ability to explain and analyse situations and will have developed personal and transferrable skills and competencies that will allow you to communicate effectively in intercultural situations.

This module will be delivered twice, once in semester 1 and again in semester 2, to give part 2 students a choice on when to take it. 

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Intercultural Communications

Code:

LS3IC

Convenor:

DR Erhan Aslan

Summary:

In this module, students will explore how people of different discourse systems or groups communicate with one another in various face-to-face and digitally-mediated contexts. Specifically, students will gain an understanding of how assumptions and values that have been constructed or adopted within a specific culture group influence the ways in which people successfully communicate with each other as well as experience miscommunication. Students will become familiar with a variety of topics in intercultural communication as they engage in hands-on analyses of intercultural encounters.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 50%, Set exercise 10%, Project 40%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Language and Power

Code:

ML3LP

Convenor:

PROF Federico Faloppa

Summary:

This module aims to familiarise students with the linguistic means by which a whole range of persuasive texts can be analysed. We will also be considering the use of language as a powerful tool in itself. We will investigate a range of genres, discourse types, and theoretical approaches, and we will look at textual, pragmatic, and rhetorical features to better understand power relations and how texts (and their content) can be manipulated. We will then understand, and apply techniques to reveal a text’s underlying ideological stance and bias. 

Assessment Method:

Oral 25%, Project 75%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Climate Change: Causes and Consequences

Code:

MT3CCC

Convenor:

PROF Nigel Arnell

Summary:

This module examines the causes and consequences of climate change, and ways of addressing climate risks through mitigation and adaptation. 

The broad aim of the module is to provide students with the latest information on climate change and its consequences to allow them to understand both how and why climate is changing, and understand the challenges in developing local, national and international responses to climate change. 

The module will enable students to understand and actively contribute to one of the key defining challenges of the 21st century.  

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Feminism and Political Theory

Code:

PO3FPT

Convenor:

DR Maxime Lepoutre

Summary:

This module explores the contributions of feminism to contemporary political theory. It begins by examining theoretical controversies surrounding the definition, subject matter, and aims of feminism. It then brings these theoretical insights to bear on a range of pressing issues in feminist politics, such as abortion, surrogacy, pornography, marriage and sexist language.

Assessment Method:

Assignment 100%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Gender and Politics

Code:

PO3GAP

Convenor:

DR Katharina Lawall

Summary:

Why do women remain under-represented in politics? Are voters sexist? And do women make for better political leaders? These are examples of the types of questions that we will consider in this module. Over the course of ten two-hour seminars we will explore how gender shapes politics. Throughout this we will also consider how gender intersects with other identities of race, ethnicity and sexuality. In the module we will look at many real-world examples and students are encouraged to bring their own examples for discussion. The module also exposes students to a variety of different research methods that are used in the field of gender and politics. The course is taught through ten two-hour seminars which require active participation and preparatory work from students. 

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

International Political Economy

Code:

PO3IPE

Convenor:

DR Jonathan Golub

Summary:

The course is an introduction to International Political Economy (IPE), which focuses on the interaction between states and markets at the domestic and international levels. It covers the major theoretical approaches to IPE and applies them to study international trade, development, financial crises, and economic sanctions. It also considers the relationship between globalisation and the welfare state as well as the environment.

Assessment Method:

Exam 40%, Assignment 40%, Oral 20%

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

Terrorism and Counterterrorism

Code:

PO3TEU

Convenor:

DR Amanda Hall

Summary:

This course examines key issues in the study of contemporary international terrorism. We will examine what terrorism is and what distinguishes it from other forms of conflict and warfare in the international system. From there the module will address the causes and consequences of terrorism throughout history, and the nexus between terrorism and the media. We evaluate what factors influence terrorist target selection and modus operandi, as well as the options available to counterterrorism, specifically focusing on the effectiveness of political, economic, military and judicial instruments. While portions of the module will focus on specific so-called “typologies” of terrorism, there will be an emphasis on the factors which may be common between cases, providing the opportunity for students to apply their knowledge to a range of timely, real-world examples. 

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Title:

US Foreign Policy

Code:

PO3USU

Convenor:

DR Graham O'Dwyer

Summary:

American foreign policy matters. As the most powerful, wealthiest, and influential state in the contemporary international system what Washington thinks and does is important to understand. But how did the US come to be in such a dominant position? This module explores this question and a set of integrated ones that flow from this concerning the American foreign policy tradition, the growth of presidential power in foreign policy making since 1945, and a number of case studies that explore key events and policies across time. By exploring historical and contemporary cases, since the Vietnam War, students will analyse how foreign policy decisions are made, look at who influences them, and how this has evolved overtime. Drawing on primary and secondary sources students will gain an understanding of crucial events such as the Vietnam War, nuclear diplomacy during the Cold War, US-Mexico-Colombia relations and the War on Drugs, and the response to 9/11. Finally, the course will explore salient challenges faced by US foreign policymakers today. 

Assessment Method:

Disclaimer:

The modules described on this page are what we currently offer. Modules may change for your year of study as we regularly review our offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.