Philosophy and Politics BA (Hons)

How does politics function in a globalised world? What explains cross-country and cross-time differences in political institutions, behaviour, and outcomes? This module provides an introduction to Comparative Politics by focusing on key concepts and contemporary issues affecting democracies and authoritarian regimes across the world. It introduces students to basic debates around regime types, their causes and consequences, institutional configurations and their effects, political parties and party systems, and political behavior. The module also introduces the idea of the comparative method and how to apply it to the study of different countries. Teaching is based on a combination of theoretical and empirical perspectives, using case studies as illustrations throughout the module.

Taking this module will help you to gain skill in reconstructing and evaluating arguments, in analysing, interpreting, and thinking critically about textual and statistical information, and in thinking creatively. There are 100 minutes’ worth of lectures per week and, running from Week 2 onwards, ten weekly online tests. The first two online tests are purely formative. Each of the remaining eight online tests contributes 5% of the module result. A 2-hour on-line examination contributes the remaining 60%.

This module introduces students to the main arguments and theories in historical and contemporary ethical theory. Taking this module will enhance your abilities to analyse ethical claims and to identify the philosophical assumptions that underlie them. 

This module provides an introduction to the main schools of thought and key issues in the field of International Relations (IR). It starts by offering an outline of these schools of thought and introduces students to important thinkers and theories within them. It then moves on to applying and comparing and contrasting different theories to a range of important contemporary issues, from the persistence of war to the environment. It concludes with a discussion of possible futures.

This module provides students with a critical introduction to a number of political concepts such as power, the state, legitimacy of sovereignty and gender through engaging with political thinkers such as Weber, Dahl, Tilly, Hooks and Rousseau. It also aims to establish a grounding in a number of areas that will benefit the students in the academic study of politics. For example, essay writing, debating in seminars, and an introduction to academic research. In so doing the module develops on the skills gained at A-level to ensure students are fully prepared for degree level study in Politics. Principally this will be accomplished through interactive lectures and seminars, as well as detailed feedback on their assessments. This module provides students with the tools they require to master different forms of assessment and course work. It also lays the foundations for the development of research confident students by making them active learners with a responsibility for their own academic study.

This module brings the history of philosophy to life by unpacking the meaning behind well-known philosophical quotations (e.g. ‘The unexamined life is not worth living’; ‘One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman’). The quotations will be selected from key thinkers in the history of philosophy and will complement, not overlap, with material covered on other philosophy modules. Students are introduced to well-known philosophical quotations in lectures. The lectures provide background context required to understand the quotations. Students then have the opportunity to explore the quotations in more depth in seminars and through independent study. There are three assessments: regular seminar discussion tasks (15%), which provide students the chance to gain credit for work done during seminars; a podcast on one of the quotations (15%), which students record during the semester; a blog post that uses one of the quotations as a “jumping off point” for an exploration of some important philosophical ideas.

Students taking this module will improve their skills in reading, writing, and discussing philosophy. Students will gain skills in explaining complex information in a concise manner to an audience, in practising the intellectual virtues associated with philosophy, in conducting their own independent research and in critically discussing important ideas in the history of philosophy. They will also gain familiarity with modes of writing other than essays (blogposts) and with presenting their ideas orally (podcasts). In addition, there is a two-hour information skills workshop provided by the Library.

This module introduces students to the main arguments and theories in the history of Western political philosophy. Taking this module will enhance students’ abilities to analyse political arguments and claims and to identify the philosophical assumptions that underlie them. The module is taught by lecture (2 x 1 hour per week in person, or pre-recorded mini-lectures available online, depending on the circumstances) and seminar (1 hour per week). Assessment is via a take home exam (2 hour equivalent, weighted at 90% of the module mark) and a 5-10 minute seminar presentation (weighted at 10% of the module mark). Seminar presentations may be recorded by students, if in-person presentation is not possible.

This module will equip you with the core skills that you need to be successful on a politics degree. These include skills like: Critical thinking, public speaking, choosing sources, making a convincing argument, academic essay writing, qualitative and quantitative research, and referencing. Many of these skills are expected at university – and are essential to a high grade – yet are not necessarily taught elsewhere. This module plugs that gap and ensures that you are confident and prepared for the different kinds of work that lie ahead.

Taking this module will introduce students to some topics in contemporary epistemology. These will include some traditional questions about knowledge, and some of the main views that have been held about them. The module will also cover contemporary topics such as expertise, bias, epistemic justice, scientific knowledge, ignorance and fake news. Because these topics are relatively new, students will have the opportunity to engage with new and cutting-edge research in these areas. They will also have the opportunity to reflect on their own practices, especially on how they access information online.

This module is cognate with politics and economics, as well as with the philosophy of mathematics, and is required for students taking Mathematics and Philosophy. It is taught via 11 one-hour lectures and 11 one-hour seminars. Seminar discussion will be assessed and count towards 10% of the module result. During term-time students write an essay, which counts for 40% of the mark. A seen two-hour examination contributes the remaining 50%.

This module examines the governing institutions and processes associated with the US federal government, and how these interact with core linking institutions and structures of society to create what is understood as the American political process.

This module familiarises students with some of the key texts, concepts, and arguments from the most prominent and influential ancient Greek philosophers. The module will focus particularly on concepts raised in the dialogues of Plato and in Aristotle’s Metaphysics and Nicomachean Ethics. The ancient Greek understanding of philosophy as both an intellectual and political practice within the ancient city-state will form the backdrop of the views and arguments discussed. Taking this module will enhance one’s abilities to analyse influential philosophical accounts and theories and to identify what the ‘examined life’ stands for in various contexts, both ancient and contemporary.

This module analyses the major ideologies in British politics and explores how ideas have brought about change in British politics and society since 1945.

This module deals with business ethics and the social responsibility of business organizations. It is designed to inform decision-making about ethical challenges arising in business. It will help students identify and manage difficult ethical dilemmas they are likely to encounter in their future career. It is not intended to convert sinners into saints, to preach ethical truths, or to convey the wisdom of moral philosophers. However, it will develop students’ analytical skills in ethical reasoning and provide them with a substantive framework to deal with ethical challenges. The module is taught by lecture (2 x 1 hour lectures per week) and workshops (2 during the semester, 2 hours each). Assessment is via case study analysis (40%) and an open book examination (60%). There will also be formative tests during the term. This module is identical to PHIL272, except that it runs in Semester 1.

This module deals with business ethics and the social responsibility of business organizations. It is designed to inform decision-making about ethical challenges arising in business. It will help students identify and manage difficult ethical dilemmas they are likely to encounter in their future career. It is not intended to convert sinners into saints, to preach ethical truths, or to convey the wisdom of moral philosophers. However, it will develop students’ analytical skills in ethical reasoning and provide them with a substantive framework to deal with ethical challenges. The module is taught by lecture (2 x 1 hour lectures per week, or a set of recorded mini-lectures available online if necessary) and workshops (2 during the semester, 2 hours each, which may occur online if necessary). Assessment is via case study analysis (40%) and an open book examination (60%). There will also be formative tests during the term. This module is identical to PHIL271, except that it runs in Semester 2.

Based on Esping-Andersen’s classic analysis of the ‘three worlds of welfare capitalism’, this module provides a framework for comparing welfare states, i.e. ‘the mixed economy of welfare’ in different ‘welfare regimes’: including the ‘liberal’ regime in America, the ‘conservative’ regime in Germany and the ‘social democratic’ regime in Sweden. It examines the ways in which these different regimes emerged historically, how they organise and deliver welfare, the social, political and economic priorities they embody, the outcomes they have for different social groups, including their role in the production of inequalities, and their prospects for the future.

This module will introduce core concepts in contemporary gender politics –including feminist theoretical understandings of nation, state, family and the market. Gender and feminist politics will be explored more deeply by engaging with intersecting identities and current theories of the concept ‘woman’. Concepts will be illustrated with real world, contemporary case studies (for example, gender based violence and reproductive rights) and also consider non-traditional forms of political engagement including activist organising. The module will encourage students to critically engage with topics through popular culture, media sources, films, books and podcasts and reflection on their own experience. Research, critical thinking and presentation skills will be developed through coursework assessment.

The international system has no central authority that makes and enforces laws, yet it is not totally anarchic. A large number of international organisations allows states to co-operate in areas as diverse as the economy, international security, or the protection of the environment. The aim of this module is to enable students to systematically study international organisations. We focus on key questions: How do international organisations become (and remain) legitimate? Are they independent from their member-states? What inequalities and hierarchies do they transform or reproduce? Through a series of empirical examples – such as the United Nations, the WTO, the World Bank – students will be able to systematically analyse the role and functions of international organisations in global politics.

This module familiarises students with some of the main issues, theories and arguments in contemporary normative and applied ethics. Taking this module will enhance their abilities to analyse ethical arguments and theories and to identify the philosophical assumptions that underly controversial ethical claims. The module is taught by lecture (1 hour per week) and 5 seminar session (2-hour bi-weekly). Assessment is via a 3,500 word essay (75% of the module mark) and a number of class and after class tasks worth 1000 words (10%). Students also give one 10-15 minute seminar presentation that provides the remaining 15% of the module mark.

This module focuses on the concept, institutionalization, and politics of human rights in international politics. It will provide an overview of the philosophical foundations and debates on human rights. Students will learn about the history and development of human rights in international politics. The module will explore how policies, institutions, and actors aim to improve human rights regionally and globally. It will critically assess the efforts to promote and protect human rights in international politics. At the same time, the module will look at human rights in various regions in the world, as well as issues including war crimes, genocide, torture, environmental rights, women and children’s rights and others.

The module aims to prepare students for a smooth transition into a work placement year and, more broadly, to develop lifelong skills, attitudes and behaviours and support students in their continuing professional development. This will help students lead flexible, fulfilling careers working as a professional in their field, and enable them to contribute meaningfully to society.

Understanding security in international relations and how it is challenged by contemporary globalisation.

This module is concerned with studying the origins and development of the concept of Social Exclusion. Students will explore and evaluate its theory and practice and will consider a number of case studies around class, ‘race’ and ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and gender. You will evaluate policy responses and social action to counter social exclusion; discuss the relationship between exclusion and other forms of social stratification and consider a number of theoretical perspectives that utilise inclusion/exclusion concepts.

International (or Global) Political Economy (IPE/GPE) is a sub-discipline of International Relations. This module examines the interplay between politics and economics and the way this relationship is influenced by domestic and international forces. It examines the social underpinnings of economic transactions, the political frameworks that shape economic activity at national, regional and global levels, and the economic imperatives that impinge upon political decision-makers. During the module, you will be introduced to influential perspectives, theories and ideas that have been advanced to explain and anticipate events and developments in political economy. The module covers the most important issue-areas in international political economy and examines recent developments, including the global financial crisis of 2008, challenges to the western liberal order, and the impact of the ecological crisis on global political economy. Firms, individuals, markets, societies, social classes, and states are all important elements of IPE. Theories differ in the way they deal with these elements and the relative significance they accord to each of them. The tension between the elements, resulting in cooperation and conflict, is a major feature in the theory and practice of IPE.

This module’s emphasis is not on a particular philosophical content, but on the problem solving skills that studying philosophy is meant to train. Students will be involved in three mini-projects, each over a three week period, and each devoted to a particular philosophical problem, which in the context of this module means a philosophical proof or argument that appears to be entirely valid, but whose conclusion is widely seen as unacceptable (as for instance John McTaggart’s proof that time does not exist).

In the first week of each section the problem is introduced and contextualized by the tutor and then discussed with the whole cohort. Working groups are allocated who will then have two weeks to work on the problem. The second week is reserved for a scheduled group work session with the tutor on hand to clarify points of information and present their ideas for formative assessment, followed in the third week by group presentations of the final proposed solutions to the problem.

This module considers issues of race and racism from a philosophical perspective. Given the philosophical breadth of the topic, this module will cover a wide range of philosophical approaches. These include aesthetics, phenomenology, critical theory, politics, epistemology, language, metaphysics and science. Students will be introduced to these topics in lectures. These lectures provide background context to understanding the topics. Students then read prescribed readings and do independent research in preparation for seminars. This will help students learn how to engage in constructive debate on controversial social topics At mid-term students will submit an opinion piece in the form of a blogpost. At the end of term students will submit an essay. Students taking this module will improve their skills in reading and writing philosophy. Students will gain skill in explaining complex information in a concise manner to an audience, in practising the intellectual virtues associated with philosophy, in conducting their own independent research and in critically discussing important social ideas.

This module explores the ethical dilemmas that arise in some of the most controversial public policy debates. We will explore questions such as: should people have the right to euthanasia? Should we ban pornography? Should the consumption of, or testing on, animals be banned? Should we criminally punish people for taking recreational drugs? Are reparations morally justified? We will explore these questions by critically assessing the arguments of political, moral and legal philosophers, and evaluate the implications of their arguments for policy making.

This module is designed to introduce second year undergraduates to issues surrounding racialization in comparative politics. It will locate ‘race’ as an enduring feature of access to power and look at critical race theory in relation to national (UK) and international politics. This module will enable students to develop critical thinking skills about the construction of ‘race’ and ethnicity and how this construction affects certain marginalised communities and precipitates particular modes of democratic engagement and disengagement, participation and resistance and privilege and disadvantage.

As of March 2022, this course was awarded a Fulbright Global Challenges Teaching Award (GCTA). The GCTA requires that a Liverpool class be adapted for co-teaching with a US counterpart as part of a virtual exchange. For 2022, POLI265 will be a COIL class. Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) refers to a learning and teaching paradigm aimed at developing cross-cultural awareness through shared learning environments. This means that those who participate in this class will be now co-taught by journalism and creative media Professor George Daniels of the University of Alabama. They will now collaborate with and learn alongside an American cohort of students. The module will also now incorporate Professor Daniel’s expertise on race, gender, and media.

This module will introduce students to key concepts and figures in the project of understanding natural language. Students will examine how philosophers have attempted to understand meaning, reference and communication. Students will be introduced to the distinction between semantics and pragmatics and to speech-act theory. They will learn to apply these conceptual and theoretical tools to contemporary debates around freedom of speech and censorship by the semantics and pragmatics of slurs, hate speech, dog whistles and pornographic speech. They will consider feminist perspectives on language. Students taking this module will understand the central concepts in philosophy of language and how questions in the philosophy of language can intersect with issues in philosophy of mind, ethics, political philosophy and feminist theory, and they will be able to apply this understanding to real world cases. The module is taught by lecture (1h each week for the first 6 weeks) and workshops (2h per week). Assessment is via a 750 word essay (comprising 15% of the module’s mark) and a 2500 word essay (comprising 85% of the module mark).

This module is the first part of a two-part intellectual history course. It can be taken independently or in conjunction with part two (PHIL236 Modernity and Critical Thought 2: Modernity and its Discontents). In both modules, students are introduced to key names, ideas, and events within the history of modernity that are relevant to the study of philosophy, and to the humanities more broadly. This material will be introduced in ways that foreground its relevance to contemporary philosophical, political, and cultural concerns.
The module covers material from the late Renaissance to the early Nineteenth Century, and it focusses on the emergence, throughout that period, of differing intellectual and political challenges to seemingly fixed forms of normative authority. Centred around the theme of Enlightenment, it traces the development and interconnection of critical thought and forms of social change. It addresses figures and topics such as the Scientific Revolution, Spinoza, Kant, the French Revolution, romanticism, and Hegel. In doing so, it looks at the ways in which this material might help us to make sense of our current context; but it also asks whether these ideas may merit criticism when viewed from within that context. Concerns regarding ‘Eurocentrism’, the importance of decolonisation, and worries about patriarchal traditions are thereby incorporated into the module and used as lenses through which to address its content. The module’s goal is thus to introduce an influential tradition of critical thought, but to enable students to criticise and evaluate that tradition whilst doing so.
Assessment on this module has three components: assessed seminar participation (15%), a 2000-word essay (60%), and a 1000-word ‘wiki’ piece (25%).

Our society is generally thought to be a ‘capitalist’ one, i.e. our economic system is one based around the private ownership of the means of production, operated for private profit. Enthusiasts talk about capitalism as a system which fits well with the ‘selfish’ side of human nature, generating public profit from our ‘natural’ pursuit of personal gain; capitalism has been associated with liberal democracy and prosperity. Critics, on the other hand, associate capitalism with the exploitation of workers (the proletariat) by the owners of the capital (the bourgeoisie); with the long and dreadful history of imperialism; with the endless, pointless concentration of wealth in the hands of the few, when it could be made to work for the good of all. Increasingly since the 2008 global financial crisis, ‘capitalism’ has been cited as the source of everything bad in the world: the reason why you feel depressed or overworked; why your favourite TV show got cancelled; why we keep on burning fossil fuels on a rapidly warming planet. In this module, you will explore both historical and contemporary philosophical perspectives to help you figure out how capitalism works, whether or not it can be (morally) justified, and what (if anything) the alternative might be.

Science, whatever else it is, is a human enterprise. While all scientists are committed to the pursuit of significant truths, they do so using a variety of methods, in different organisational contexts, and motivated by different concerns. These contextual factors influence how science is produced and how it should be evaluated. This module provides an introduction to the central issues in philosophy of science, with a focus on the “big picture” of how science is practiced by a variety of scientists and the role that this has in society.

Students taking this module will gain a comprehensive understanding of scientific practice in a way that enables them to participate in important debates surrounding the role science plays (or should play) in our society. The module is mostly taught by lectures (1 hour per week) and seminars (1 hour per week); however, there is also a workshop per seminar group in one week (2 hours). Assessment is via a 2,000 words essay (50%) and an open book examination (2000 words submitted electronically) (50%).

This module familiarises students with some of the main issues, theories and arguments in contemporary political philosophy. Taking this module will enhance your abilities to analyse political arguments and theories and to identify the philosophical assumptions that underly political claimsregarding such controversial issues as justice, freedom and equality. Thus the module is highly appropriate to students studying politics, economics and other disciplines where identifying and assessing the assumptions and ideologies underlying claims and policies is important. The module is taught by lecture (1 hour per week) and seminar (1 hour per week). Assessment is via a 2 hour exam (comprising 60% of the module mark) and a 2,000 word essay (30% of the module mark). Students also take it in turns to give one 5-10 minute seminar presentation that provides the remaining 10% of the module mark.

This is the second part of a two-part intellectual history course. It can be taken on its own, or in conjunction with part one (PHIL235 Modernity and Critical Thought 1: Enlightenment and Political Change). In both, students are introduced to key names, ideas, and events within the history of modernity that are relevant to the study of philosophy, and to the humanities more broadly. The course places this material in critical relation to contemporary concerns.
Beginning where part one ended, this module addresses material from the mid-Nineteenth Century to the present, and it considers the development of differing forms of disenchantment with the promises of modernity. In what ways have Enlightenment ideals of reason, order, industry, and emancipation been associated with the disasters of the Twentieth Century; and in what ways might those promises have been intertwined with histories of racism and colonialism? How might those ideals, and the themes of critique and demystification associated with them, have informed the challenges to forms of normative authority that shaped the intellectual history of late modernity, and how might they in turn inform our current historical moment? In pursuing such questions, the module addresses figures and themes such as Darwin, Marx, Nietzsche, feminism, alienation, ‘spectacle’ and consumer society, and the ‘postmodern’. By working through material such as this, the module endeavours to provide students with means of approaching some of the dilemmas of the present.
Assessment on this module has three components: assessed seminar participation (15%), a 2000-word essay (60%), and a 1000-word ‘wiki’ piece (25%).

This module offers you the opportunity to explore key perspectives in contemporary criminology and how they can be applied in understanding and critiquing societal responses to crime.

The module intends to familiarise students with central themes of aesthetics and art theory, especially questions about aesthetic judgement, aesthetic experience and aesthetic value. They will be able to strengthen their understanding of the history of philosophy, as well as the connection between theory and artistic practice. The module is taught by lecture (1 hour per week) and seminar (1 hour per week). Assessment is via a 3,000 word essay (85% of the module mark) and one 10-15 minute presentation (delivered during seminars, or recorded if on-line only teaching) that provides the remaining 15% of the module mark.

This module will introduce students to ideas formulated during the classical period of Chinese philosophy. The focus will be on the dialectic between the Daoist and Confucian schools. The module will help students to understand the ways in which Chinese philosophers approached topics that are also discussed in the Western traditions. It will also enable students to understand what is distinctive about the Chinese approaches. There will be one lecture and one seminar per week. Assessment is by examination (60%), essay (30%) and assessed seminar presentation (10%).

Students will choose a topic of special interest related to their programme of study and conduct an independent research project upon up it in consultation with an allocated supervisor. The module is distinctive because the final project output is to be presented as if to a specified target external audience (such as sixth-form students, policy groups or the general public), and use a digital platform (eg website, vlog, animation, podcast). The module thus offers students opportunities to integrate their philosophical skills, knowledge and understanding with applied skills of digital communication relevant in arenas beyond the academic setting.

Students do not need digital skills beyond those they will have already acquired as final year students of Philosophy to take this module. Training is offered via a suite of learning materials as relevant to an individual’s chosen mode of presentation and through scheduled supervised workshops. Advice and support are provided. Students will have the opportunity to offer peer feedback on each other’s outputs before final submission.

Formal assessment is threefold:
a) Research Report (2000 words; 45%). The student, before embarking on the module, will have identified a question or problem which they wish to research and address. The Research Report offers a summary of this, arguments put forward and conclusions drawn. It also confirms the proposed audience and output format.

b) Digital Inquiry Project (45%). Guidance is supplied on appropriate size/length, which will vary according to platform, but be such that the project communicates the findings of the Report in a manner appropriate to the audience and digital format.

c)Reflective Commentary (500 words, 10%). This gives students the opportunity to reflect critically on the process, identifying challenges, how these were addressed and explaining presentational decisions made.

This module familiarises students with some of the main issues, theories and arguments in the existentialist movement from thinkers such as Nietzsche, Sartre, de Beauvoir and Fanon. Taking this module will enhance your abilities to read challenging philosophical texts in a critical manner. The module is taught by lecture (1 hour per week) and seminar (1 hour per week). Assessment is via an exam (comprising 40% of the module mark) and a 2,000 word essay (45% of the module mark). Students also take it in turns to give one 10-15 minute seminar presentation that provides the remaining 15% of the module mark.

This module aims to acquaint students with terrorism and counter-terrorism in today’s world. It starts by examining key concepts, theories, and history and then moves on to looking at a range of issues that have been the subject of particular debate, such as whether terrorism works, whether there are regularities in how campaigns end, and the necessity and contributions of literature on ‘Critical Terrorism Studies’. The module concludes by looking at whether we are at the end of the religious wave of terrorism and what we might expect to occur next.

This module provides alternative perspectives on global politics, drawing on feminist theory and gender analysis, with a focus on conflict and peace, and the implications for global politics and International Relations (IR). The module will engage with theoretical concerns (how are women affected differently by conflict and peace, how do we engage feminist methodologies) to practical concerns (conflict, security, participation, sexual violence, human rights). Theories and concepts will be illustrated with relevant global case studies and examples. The module aims to encourage engaged, critical reflection on feminist approaches to our understanding of issues in world politics.

The principal aim of this module is to analyse the political significance of national and ethnic identity in international politics. This involves the examination of the interrelationship between national identity, territory, sovereignty and democracy within the nation-state from historical and ideological perspectives, and in the context of current political developments. Module deals with cultural diversity, the role of the nation-state in international system, ethnic conflict, migration, diasporas, neo-nationalism and the European Union.

This module will introduce you to the various traditions of belief and practice that are obscured by the labels ‘Hinduism’ and ‘Buddhism’. It will help you to understand the ways in which Indian philosophers approached topics that are also discussed in the Western traditions. It will also enable you to understand what is distinctive about the Indian approaches. There will be one lecture per week, and from Week 2, a weekly seminar. Assessment is by examination 60%, essay 30% and seminar presentation 10%.

This module examines the different ways in which states intervene in the domestic affairs of other states or territories such as humanitarian intervention, invasion, annexation, peacekeeping, and colonial interventions. It explores how intervention has changed and developed historically, especially during and after the Cold War. It analyses whether state-practice has out-run the rules and norms that guide international state behaviour, particularly the legal framework of the United Nations and other relevant bodies of international law.

The module studies human rights through the lens of the media in order to critically understand the changing nature of human rights’ representation and the role media play in representing and responding to critical human rights issues. It explores the interconnections between media and human rights focusing on media and human rights theory, policy and practice and exploring both historical developments and contemporary issues. In particular, the implications of the global media in the current information age for a range of key human rights’ issues are analysed. Among the issues that will be reviewed are terrorism and war on terror, freedom of speech, human trafficking, asylum and immigration, torture and genocide, humanitarian intervention.

This module gives students the opportunity to explore selected areas of conflict in social, political and legal domains. When rights or interests clash, or seem to clash, what philosophical issues are at stake? How should the state adjudicate? Key themes include rights, freedoms and responses to oppression. The module seeks to help students develop a philosophical manner of thought that will enable them to refine their views on other similar issues of public importance, often controversial in nature, which they might encounter later in life. Representative areas for inquiry include questions such as ‘Does the state have the right to display religious symbols in classrooms?’ and ‘How far should midwives be allowed to opt out of assisting with abortions?’, and topics such as freedom and the media, the ethics of immigration, forms of oppression within society, and sexual harassment.

There are no lectures for this module; it is based on student-led research and applied learning, facilitated by the tutor in weekly two-hour workshops. Some content is sensitive, and discussions are carefully moderated to respect this. The assessment asks students to integrate their academic skills with analysis of ‘real-world’ scenarios. There are three research-based applied components: a presentation (15% + submitted materials 5%), case study (2000 words, 45%), and an opinion piece (1000 words, 35%). The opinion piece is published electronically as a course wiki for peer comment prior to formal submission.

Samples and in-class support will be provided.

Students will choose a topic of special interest in philosophy and conduct research into this area of interest via reading and private study under the supervision of the supervisor to whom they have been allocated. Students will attend Research and Professional Skills workshops with the Subject Librarian and the Careers Services. All students will have the opportunity to participate in the Philosophy Dissertation Showcase.

The course focuses on the philosophical implications of likely (or possible) future technological developments.

The universe is billions of years old, there are billions of stars in our galaxy and billions of galaxies, and thanks to recent discoveries it now seems likely that most stars have planets. Yet so far we have seen no sign of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. What is the significance of this ‘great silence’? Advances in medical technology will soon make possible significant ‘improvements’ to our bodies and minds. How serious are the ethical objections to human enhancement? If teleportation technology were available many of the all too familiar problems associated with ordinary modes of transportation could be avoided.

But is teleportation actually survivable? Computers are advancing all the time, and some say that super-intelligent machines are inevitable. Are they right, and if so, what are the implications? Will it prove possible to upload ourselves into computer-sustained virtual paradises, as some transhumanists hope? Is it likely, as some have argued, that we are in fact living our lives in virtual worlds? If so, how should we conceive of these worlds? Are they as real as the real world? If we could achieve immortality, either through bio-enhancement or uploading, would it be something we could coherently desire? Is time travel really possible? Some quantum physicists maintain that the universe is continually branching. What are the implications for how we think of our lives if they are right about this?

Many of these scenarios and issues have been anticipated in science fiction. While some (‘hard’) sci-fi authors seek scientific plausibility, i.e. they do their best to stick within the known laws of physics, they generally pay far less attention to metaphysical and ethical issues. Yet in working out how we should respond to what the future may bring, metaphysical and ethical considerations are of paramount importance. It is with these that this course will be dealing.

The module is taught by a combination of lectures and seminars. Assessment consists of a seminar presentation (10%), an essay on a relevant topic (2,000 words, 30%) and a take-home exam (60% approx. equivalent to a 2 hour exam).

This module introduces students to the major philosophical issues associated with play, games (especially digital games) and virtual worlds. It examines both the philosophical literature around play and contemporary concerns expressed in relationship to the growth of the video games industry, including addiction, violence, ‘gamification’ and the use of play and software for education and therapy. Students will learn to challenge common assumptions, including their own, about the triviality of play in relation to modern constructions of labour and value, and develop an understanding of how these assumptions underpin both popular and academic discussions of games.

The module is taught by lecture (1 hour per week) and seminar (1 hour per week). Assessment consists of a 3-part project: a formative pitch meeting with the module leader in the first 5 weeks of the course, a short report on that meeting (500 words, 30%) including a research plan, and a final essay (2,500 words, 70%).

This module will involve students producing and presenting a weekly politics and current affairs programme (The Politics Hour). Over the course of a full academic year, students will work in programme teams to plan and present regular one hour broadcasts and linked web and social media content. Within each team, students will rotate key roles (as researchers, reporters, presenters, producers, editors and social media managers). There will be no formal teaching. Instead, students will ‘learn by doing’ by participating in weekly editorial meeting, in the production of each show and in structured peer feedback and self reflection exercises. The learning process aims to replicate a ‘real world’ broadcasting environment and this approach will be reflected in the use of ‘authentic’ assessment tasks. Students will be required to produce a range of audio and written outputs and will also be assessed, in part, on their ability to work successfully in teams. Reflective learning will also require students to engage in ongoing review of professional, mainstream radio broadcasts and to undertake recommended reading to support the development of their broadcasting skills. The module will be particularly suited to students keen to pursue a career in political journalism. However, it will furnish all participants with a wide-range of transferable skills designed to enhance their employability, including communication, team-working and problem-solving skills, by facilitating the application of academic subject knowledge gained on the degree programme as a whole in a ‘real world’ and ‘real time’ context.

POLI346 is an interdisciplinary module in political psychology that combines basic statistical concepts and data analysis with SPSS with substantive content on biological, physiological, psychological, communication related, and health-related aspects of political behaviour.

This is a challenging module that exposes students to high quality, to cross-disciplinary research largely based on quantitative methods, and to statistical inference. This means that the practical part of the module is divided between seminars and data lab sessions. In their assessments, students: engage in the hypothesis generation process; are tested on their understanding of data analysis and interpretation of findings based on quantitative research and substantive content; analyse data and produce a research note or short article, following the structure of short articles published in the leading journal American Political Science Review (including background, hypotheses, data, results and conclusions).

​What are the institutional prerequisites of economic development? Global development institutions such as the World Bank or UNDP have proposed the concept of "good governance" as an answer to this question. This module critically engages with this concept by juxtaposing it with various historical institutionalist accounts of the state, including the East Asian developmental state, Africa’s failed states, and the Middle Eastern rentier state. Students engage with key debates about the role of the state, democracy, corruption and the "resource curse" in economic development.

This module explores the theories, ideas and concepts that underpin the development of contemporary public policies.

Race and civilisation are fundamental concepts through which societies have organised the international order and imagined the hierarchies that exist between them. As such, racism and civilisationism have had a crucial influence on international politics and practices, and are still used to sustain global inequalities. In this module, students will explore how the ideas of race and civilisation have enabled a variety of practices of violence, exploitation and domination in global politics. They will also explore how some actors have fought against racism and civilisationism, and which of these strategies have proved successful.

Should there be a wall of separation between the institutions of religion, politics and law? Should politicians, public officials and citizens refrain from appealing to religious beliefs when debating laws and policies? Should religious citizens be entitled to special rights, such as exemptions for Kosher and Halal animal slaughter or doctors who do not wish to provide abortion services? On this module we’ll explore these and many other moral questions from the perspective of analytical political theory. To do so, we’ll examine how the freedom and equality of religious and nonreligious citizens should be balanced, and what are the policy implications our moral arguments.

This module is an opportunity for you to undertake a placement in a setting which matches your academic and possible career/industry interests, develop materials and/or undertake tasks within a practical or vocational context, apply academic knowledge from your degree, and develop your personal and employability skills within a working environment. SOTA300 is not open to students who have taken SOTA600.

Conflicts, terrorism and wars have plagued human societies since their inception: which factors are likely to explain their occurrence and duration of wars? How are civil wars different from inter-state and ethnic conflicts? Who is more likely to become a terrorist? How does the public react to terrorist attacks? How do states respond to terror? This course examines a number of theoretical and empirical debates in the study of conflict and terrorism. We will investigate how empirical analyses can help settling some debates while others remain still open. By the end of this module, students are expected to (1) develop an understanding of the major explanations for conflicts and terrorism and critically discuss their strengths and shortcomings (2) interpret the findings advanced by the empirical literature against or in line with the discussed theoretical predictions (and students’ own pre-theoretical intuitions) (3) get exposed to the data and techniques employed by empirical scholarship to investigate conflict and terrorism.

This is the first substantive module in the UK to examine the rhetoric of British political parties at Undergraduate level. It roots its theories and methods in the classical schools of rhetorical analysis, alongside developing a more contemporary understanding of discourse analysis. This module will enable students to think critically about the political message, how it is constructed, and delivered to a range of audiences.

The aim of this research based module is to introduce students to current transhumanist philosophies, their key ideas, and the history of these ideas. Key transhumanist ideas are human self-design, the elimination of all suffering, the achievement of perfection and immortality, and the complete defeat of (human) nature. In order to understand these ideas better and to be able to evaluate them properly we will look into their history, follow their development and identify their mythological status. Students will develop their ability to analyse, discuss and formulate ideas and arguments about what we as human beings are, what we want to, or ought to, become, and what technological advances are worth striving for.

This module takes insights from recent work in philosophy of science and social science to help students understand how policy is developed and how it can be done better. The primary focus will be on the evidence-based policy movement. Questions that will be addressed include the following. What is evidence? How can policy makers move from evidence to policy? Can evidence be moved from one context to another? Should evidence be objective? What is objectivity in policy making? What role do values play?

In this module students will look at a number of cases. Cases may include child protection, policing, HIV/AIDS policy, and international nutrition programmes. These are likely to change annually in line with what is currently interesting and relevant.

This module will be delivered via weekly lectures and seminars. Students will be assessed by writing a mid-term policy report (2000 words) and an end-of-term essay (2000 words).

This is an empirical-based module that discusses classic and current topics of electoral politics from a comparative perspective.

Among the themes usually covered by the module are class voting, the rise of cultural issues, ethnic voting, generational differences in voting behaviour, the influence of religion on voting, the voting gender gap, economic voting, leaders and candidates, and support for niche and radical parties.

The module focuses mostly on advanced capitalist democracies, but research on the global south is also discussed in lectures and workshops.

The module is strongly empirically-driven. Each week, a new topic is introduced in a lecture and then explored further by analysing real survey data during the PC workshops using a statistical package.

Data analysis training is provided as part of the module. Previous statistical training is not a requirement.

The module is highly recommended for students interested in elections, voters and comparative politics, as well as those interested in data science and survey data analysis.

This module explores the role of the EU as an international actor in the sphere of foreign policy, international relations, and security and defence. It analyses the historical development of EU foreign policy and its various dimensions, the main institutions and players involved, but also the different roles the EU assumes when acting internationally, and how it relates to regional and global partners. The module delves into some critical questions about the nature of the EU- whether it actually is an actor capable of making a distinct foreign policy- and whether any policy-making at EU level, particularly in matters of security and defence, is legitimate. This module can build on previous knowledge about EU history and integration or can provide new and specialised knowledge about this organisation’s foreign policy.

This module focuses on questions of borders and bordering in the EU, how these practices have developed over time and the responses to them by migrants, solidarians, activists and humanitarians. It will engage with different forms of migration pathways and practices, including, but not limited to, the guest worker programmes of the 1950s and 1960s as well as current movements of displaced people seeking asylum. It will engage with themes including the history and construction of borders and bordering, as well as with questions of constructed vulnerability, gender and racialisation, migrant autonomy and solidarity, Racial Capitalism, and the humanitarian industrial complex.