Teaching and assessment for Liberal Arts MA (Hons)

In this module you will view films hailing from the birth of cinema to the present day, exploring key techniques and issues in Film Studies.

This module explores the strengths and weaknesses of differing theories of literary interpretation. You will read poems, plays, and novels from a variety of historical periods together with works of literary theory while exploring weekly topics e.g. Beginnings, Character, Satire, Love and Desire, Secrets, The Body, and Fear and Terror.

This module centres on Memory as a key concept in Humanities. Recent thinking has focussed on the nature of personal, collective, and cultural memory as shapers of individuals and society.

Rather than a stable repository, Memory is understood to be unreliable, conflicted, contested, transitory, and political

Revolutions is a key concept in modern political and intellectual history. But why do we refer to particular political event as 'revolutions'? How does the label 'revolution' affect how political ideologists and historians have interpreted the significance, the causes and consequences of highly complex and turbulent events in modern history.

This module studies the exchange of goods, people, and ideas that tied together Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

It explores the origins of globalization and provides a comparative understanding of the development of European empires in Africa and the Americas.

You will develop basic linguistic knowledge. You will learn cultural awareness and transferable communication skills. These will be of use to you in your personal and professional life.

You will work within the level of A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

This is a dynamic course on modern philosophy that explores the realms of thought and reality. It uncovers the minds that shape today's philosophical discussions, as it dives into the rich tapestry of contemporary philosophy.

Learn about the development of literature from the Victorian period to the contemporary era.

We study key texts that exemplify how writers respond to the accelerating social, political, and cultural changes of their time, by either regenerating established literary modes or pioneering new ones.

This module emphasises the ways in which literature emerges from and responds to key social movements and changes.

You will study a range of poetry, prose, and drama which cover issues arising from religious reformation, rising empires, slavery, industrialisation, as well as the changing roles of class, race, and gender.

This module seeks to expand your appreciation of the medium of cinema by making you familiar with a variety of national cinematic movements. We will study historical contexts in film, and the language of film criticism and analysis more broadly.

This module helps you build a ‘writer's toolkit’ in broad and accessible ways, even if you haven’t studied creative writing before.

You will develop and deepen your engagement with writing methods in a range of forms and genres, gaining important skills in editing and responding critically to your peers’ work

This module introduces important concepts about gender and sexuality and shows how these concepts have changed over time.

Lecturers from English Literature, Philosophy, History, Creative Writing, Film, and Languages offer influential ideas from their disciplines, and help you recognise how sex-gender systems have real and physical consequences in individuals' lives.

Covering the period 1603-c.1939, this module explores Scotland's interactions with the outside world.

Organised around cross-cutting themes like emigration, empire, trade, warfare, religion, and identity, the module's primary aim is to understand how Scotland fitted into the broader British, European, imperial, and global contexts.

This module explores important issues in contemporary America by examining its historical and cultural background. It also places the United States within a broader global context by making specific comparisons with the history of South Africa. This module focuses particularly on issues such as race, gender, violence, and colonialism.

This module illuminates the transformative impact of 20th-century philosophical movements on our understanding of existence and reality.

From existential angst to the exploration of Dasein, you will critically engage with pivotal writings that have shaped modern philosophy and continue to influence our understanding of life and existence.

In this module, we delve into the fascinating world of art and aesthetics, exploring why some philosophers have sought to defend the value of beauty in the modern world, and why some argue good art without being beautiful is in fact one of the great achievements of 20th century art.

This module explores the relationship between literature and comics, with an emphasis on adaptations of literature into comics and graphic novels. It considers theoretical and formal questions about how comics work, and the relationship between comics and literary forms such as prose, poetry and drama.

This module introduces you to some of the most important and influential dramatic texts and modes of performance from the 20th Century. You will engage with the major dramatists of the time and their most influential work.

This module will introduce you to some of the most important and influential African novelists. Genres to be studied include: colonial romance, epic, folk tale, the political novel, Utopian and dystopian narratives, the Gothic novel, metafiction and modernism, the bildungsroman, the historical or war novel, science fiction, and fantasy.

A module for creative writers and for literature enthusiasts. We will read love stories, science fiction, stories about immigration and about the traumas of war, stories of Gothic horror, stories of sexualities, and much more besides.

In this module we will study the major writers of 19th-century America, and how they responded to rapid social and political change. We will examine key issues of the time using these authors' greatest works. In some cases these writings changed the national political debate in America.

This module asks "What is Cinema?" through an examination of key periods of film history, a variety of theoretical definitions of film, and an examination of film's relationship with the other arts, including painting, photography, music, dance, radio and comics.

This module provides an introduction to works of science fiction in literature, film and popular culture from 1883 to present. It explores the concerns and themes of science fiction, including issues of power, technology, alienation, and super/post-humanism and the ways in which these texts speculate about the future.

This is a creative writing course focussing on the craft of writing poetry, and the art of writing about this craft as a poet.

You will explore what we mean when by words like ‘culture’ and ‘creativity’. You will look into what industries, institutions and infrastructures support creative work today. You will also explore the histories underlying them.

In this module, you'll explore these questions and apply them to your own creative writing practice.

You may believe that the Scottish diaspora refers to those who emigrated but only think of themselves as Scottish once they've had a dram of whisky inside them. Well, you are going to learn many folk comprise the Scottish diaspora, and there are lots of different diasporas, too!

A hands-on, interactive module about analysing and interpreting historical evidence, using sources from seventeenth-century Scotland, both in print and as digitised images of original manuscripts. It's about learning how to be a historian by thinking directly about how historians approach the challenges of interpretation presented by original sources.

This module will cover how History is studied and applied in current times. It explores the nature of History as a subject, as well as current trends and themes in historical studies.

The module will also give you a greater awareness of different approaches to communicating and consuming historical information.

Understanding indigenous peoples' responses to European colonisation helps us to understand some of the most powerful forces that shaped the modern world. This module examines how Native Americans responded to European colonisation. It examines the transformation of Native society through forces such as trade, disease, warfare, and missionary activity.

In this module, you will learn about the changes in gender roles, and the cultural construction of those roles, over the course of the twentieth century.

The main focus will be on Western Europe, particularly (although not exclusively), France, Italy, Germany, and Britain.

In this module you will learn about the way public history and historical information is used and abused in contemporary everyday life in the province of Ulster on both sides of the border dividing Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

The module covers key historic developments across the African continent during the twentieth century. You will analyse enormous global changes from non-Western perspectives, including decolonisation, liberation movements, Cold War conflicts, state formation, and post-colonial governance through a range of case-studies.

In this module, you will use philosophy to explore a vexing and exciting contemporary problem: technology and its impact upon our lives.

You will use historical and up-to-date perspectives to explore technology in interdisciplinary ways, exploring issues related to all branches of philosophy.

This module is for anyone who is interested in how recent feminist and queer thinkers, writers and artists have critiqued and transformed philosophy

From the battlefields of linguistic nationalism to the seismic shifts caused by global English-language dominance, this module plunges into the heart of linguistic dilemmas in the 21st century.

Examine why language matters beyond traditional philosophy of language, cultivating your critical thinking skills and reflecting on your own relationship to language.

You will explore what is meant when we ask 'what is the self?'. You will touch on topics and questions such as:

• Is it a substance that remains constant through time and despite change?
• Is such constancy merely an illusion or is it something else entirely?

Analyse the key questions raised in the literature and culture of the Caribbean and its diasporas.

Explore poetry, prose, drama, film, art, and songs which represent fictional and non-fictional responses to a history of capitalism and slavery, revolution and resistance, colonisation and decolonisation, tourist economies, and ecological emergency.

This module surveys gothic fiction (novels, novellas, and short stories) produced before 1900 in England, Scotland, Ireland, America, and other countries.

This is a practitioner-taught creative writing module.

In this module we ask what it means to write creatively about the environment, realising how creative writing (poetry, prose, dramatic, and innovative/hybrid forms) might relate to current debates about the environment.

Reading a range of early modern texts, including selections of poetry, prose and drama, alongside material drawn from literary criticism, critical theory, and philosophy, with a focus on the persistent presence of ideas of love drawn from classical influences in the early modern period and our own.

The Creative Practice Dissertation is a self-directed module in which you will produce a substantial piece of creative writing in the form and genre of your choosing (prose, poetry, dramatic writing, screenwriting, comics script, or hybrid/multi-media), accompanied by a reflective essay that demonstrates understanding of literary and artistic contexts.

Your history research dissertation represents the culmination of your undergraduate studies. It is your chance to do historical research using primary sources and saying something new about the past.

This module covers the history of Russia from the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 to the formation of the Soviet Union in 1922.

The question of power is explored – how it is lost, contested, and regained, and what happens to society and culture in such circumstances.

This module explores the political development of Scotland in its final phase as an independent kingdom, from the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 to the passage of the Treaty of Union in 1707.

It covers the dynamics of Scottish politics and Scotland's place within the British conglomerate monarchy.

This module examines the early history of New York City, once a Dutch colony. It explores Dutch perspectives on the New World before Hudson's 1609 voyage, the Dutch West India Company's efforts at colonization in the Hudson Valley, and the impact of the English capture of New Amsterdam in 1664.

This course considers the origins and development of the African American Freedom Struggle and seeks to impart an appreciation of the many complexities and contradictions within this history. Students will study civil rights leaders, their organisations and legal strategies, and alternative approaches to the “American dilemma” of discrimination and racism.

In this Module you will begin to appreciate how film directors represent and construct the past and how this differs from the work and ambitions of academic historians.

The Philosophy Dissertation represents the culmination of the undergraduate Philosophy degree.

It is uniquely challenging, rewarding, and offers you the opportunity to use the research skills and interests gained over the course of your entire degree, and to channel them towards a research topic of your own choosing and design.

This module explores a range of highly topical philosophical questions raised by the fast-paced development of information technologies and their impact on our lives in contemporary society.

Dive into the heart of philosophy with "Phenomenology: Exploring Openness and Attunement." This module is your gateway to understanding the ways in which philosophical thinking has evolved over time and how it shapes our understanding of the world today.

The module covers the main principles, essential questions, and key concepts of German Idealism, exploring what unifies this philosophical movement. It explores the German Idealists' belief that their era represented the pinnacle of philosophical thought, asserting that there was no true philosophy before their time and none would follow after.