This module comprises of both oral and aural skills, to be taken alongside the corresponding Written Language module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year.

The module aims to enhance students’ linguistic proficiency in spoken Chinese in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations as well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

This module also aims at broadening students’ knowledge about different aspects of modern Chinese-speaking societies, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions.

By the end of this module, we hope you will have enhanced your comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that they may encounter in Chinese-speaking countries.

This module comprises of both oral and aural skills, to be taken alongside the corresponding Written Language module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year of the Intensive course. Students who have taken the Intensive language course in their first year, normally follow this course throughout the second year.

The module aims to enhance students’ linguistic proficiency in spoken Chinese in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

This module also aims at broadening students’ knowledge about different aspects of modern society, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions in order to prepare them for residence abroad in their 3rd year.

By the end of this module, students will have had the opportunity to enhance their comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that they may encounter in Chinese-speaking countries.

This module comprises of reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

This module aims to consolidate skills gained by students in the first year of study, and enable them to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise themselves with the culture and society of countries where their studied language is spoken.

The module aims to enhance your proficiency in understanding written Chinese, as well as in the writing of Chinese (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into Chinese; and the systematic study of Chinese lexis, grammar and syntax.

The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

This module comprises of reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

This module aims to consolidate skills you have developed in the first year of study, and enable you to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise yourselves with the culture and society of countries where your studied language is spoken.

The module aims to enhance your proficiency in understanding spoken Chinese, as well as in the writing of Chinese (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into Chinese; and the systematic study of Chinese lexis, grammar and syntax.

The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

This module is a non-credit bearing module. If you are a major student going abroad in your second or third year you are enrolled on it during the year prior to your departure, and timetabled to attend the events. These include: introduction to the International Placement Year and choice of activities; British Council English Language Assistantships and how to apply; introduction to partner universities and how they function; working in companies abroad; finance during the International Placement Year; research skills and questionnaire design; teaching abroad; curriculum writing and employability skills; and welfare and wellbeing.

This modules focuses on the ‘must-know’ historical moments, political events and aesthetic movements that shaped Chinese and Sinophone cultures in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

You will hone your skills in cultural analysis via diverse media as we explored four topics:

• Revolutions and Reforms
• Dreams and Futures
• Walls and Spaces
• Identities and Relationships

During the module, you'll consider themes such as power, resistance, trauma, aspirations, wellbeing, urbanisation, the urban/rural divide, migration, individualisation, collectivisation, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, class, and family. Texts, films and art will be studied in historical and cultural contexts, with due regard to relevant global trends such as imperialism, colonialism, postcolonialism, democracy, neoliberalism and nationalism.

During your journey through moments and movements across two centuries of Chinese cultural history, you'll encounter some of the most radical thinkers, writers, filmmakers and creative artists that make the Chinese-language intellectual tradition so distinctive and fascinating. You'll discover a stimulating range of cultural forms and learn how to reflect critically on them as expressions of multi-faceted, nuanced societies.

This module examines how culture and religion impact on the national identity and political culture in Asian countries, and focuses on beliefs, values and ideas people have about their political system and authority. Political culture is built on shared historical (colonial) experiences, cultural symbols and collective memory, which unites as well as motivates people to participate in political movements and nation building. By using case studies, the course looks at how democracy is conceptualised and political authority legitimated in many Asian countries. In doing so, the module aims to generate a culturally-embedded understanding of the diverse political landscape in Asia. Students are introduced to political culture in Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Japan and China, and topics cover Asian values, colonialism, millenarian movements, religious fundamentalism, Sangkum socialism, Brahmanical kingship, state Shinto, Maoism, and the failure of democratic ideals of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The module describes and analyses the modern politics of the Gulf in a number of ways. It offers a country-by-country analysis of the countries overlooking the Persian Gulf: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. It also applies the main approaches in understanding each country such as institutionalism (formal, descriptive analysis of institutions such as parliament, executive and legislative), structuralism (relations between these units of the political system), functionalism (how these units functionalise or de-functionalise such as relations between the president and the supreme leader in Iran), political culture (public opinion, receptiveness of politics, socialisation through interest groups, and historical approach (patterns of history, development of Gulf states from the Ottoman Empire, British occupation all the way to independence and moving closer to the US).

The humanities were once regarded as having an intrinsic value. As disciplines devoted to the study of cultures and societies, the humanities enjoyed prestige as areas of inquiry that were uniquely placed to probe the human condition. But do the humanities still have a role to play in a world where science and technology appear to be driving political and social agendas? Can they help us address global challenges?

This module encourages you to engage with these questions by examining the history of the humanities in different linguistic and cultural contexts, by exploring the connection between the humanities and other disciplines across time and space, and by engaging with the tradition of critical thinking that is central to the identity of the discipline.

You will explore the intersection between the humanities and other disciplines with the aim of understanding what other disciplines can bring to study of art and, conversely, the value of art in our contemporary, outcome-driven world.

This course introduces students to the politics surrounding a key challenge of our time: climate change and environmental collapse. We will consider the how environmental concerns are reflected and framed in political debate and behaviour, as well as the unequal distribution of the effects of climate change and how domestic and international institutions have responded to the crisis. The module will consider both current and future environmental issues, as well as the policy making in this area.

This module focuses on the politics and international relations of the European Union. This includes a focus on the political systems of key EU member states (especially Germany, France and Poland) and the wider dynamics of European integration. The module will also offer an account of the activities of the various European institutions in Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg (Council, Commission, Parliament, Court of Justice).

Religions as involving the control of symbolic and sometimes coercive power, thereby intersecting with politics, International relations and philosophy. Religions as involving values expressed in norms, laws, and institutions which exercise social and political power,

locally and globally. The crucial impact of religious identities, practices, values, arguments and multidimensional ways of life on politics, international relations and philosophical thought. Religions as diverse traditions in different regions of the world undergoing global changes in different ways. Globalisation of religion and its interweaving with social, political and philosophical developments

The module will introduce students to International Political Economy (IPE): the study of the interaction of economics and politics at the international level. It aims to discuss the political economy of the evolution of world capitalist by focusing on central questions, issues, and events that have shaped it. It examines the relevance and validity of different and competing approaches in the IPE, including, classical and neoclassical economics, historical materialism, critical approaches. We also examine key issues and concepts, such as globalisation, international trade, gender and race in global production, role of multinational corporations, and unevenness between and within countries.

The aim of this course is look at the main political and economic trends and security concerns of the Asia Pacific. The term, ‘Asia Pacific’ is a contested term but here it refers primarily to countries from both South Asia and East Asia. The course will introduce students to issues/debates in Asian politics and cover topics like Asian nationalism, Asian democracy, Asian regionalism, Asian bureaucracy and governance, gender and sexuality in Asia, Asian values and Asian security. The course takes a strong case studies approach and every lecture will be backed by a single case study from the region.

This module considers a range of issues currently being debated by political philosophers and political theorists. Specific topics may change slightly, but the current plan is cover the following, with attention to questions of freedom and justice throughout:

• Business corporations and employment
• Racism and sexism
• Democracy
• Climate politics
• Structural injustice and sweatshop labour
• Public health and state interventions

This course explores ideas central to any understanding of politics. It focuses on two related themes: Equality, and Community. In the course we will explore the thought of thinkers who are associated with these ideas of equality and community (Rousseau, Marx, the Fabians, and Rawls). By the end of the course, you will have an understanding of the key ideas of the thinkers under review and be able to assess the contribution that these thinkers have made to our wider understanding of politics. You will also be able to recognise the relevance of these thinkers to our current political debates, and be able to employ their ideas within those debates. Additionally, you will be able to evaluate the key features of an argument, be confident to express your own views, and evaluate the responses of others.

Moral philosophy is the systematic theoretical study of morality or ethical life: what we ought to do, what we ought to be, what has value or is good. This module engages in this practice by critical investigation of some of the following topics, debates, and figures: value and valuing; personhood/selfhood; practical reason; moral psychology; freedom, agency, and responsibility; utilitarianism and its critics; virtue ethics and its critics; deontology and its critics; contractarianism and its critics; the nature of the good life; the source and nature of rights; the nature of justice; major recent and contemporary figures such as Bernard Williams, Martha Nussbaum, Peter Railton, Christine Korsgaard, Philippa Foot, Allan Gibbard, Simon Blackburn; major historical figures such as Aristotle, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, G. E. Moore.

This module examines some theoretical issues involved in gaining knowledge about human societies. We will look at the role of theories and models in economics and political science, the special nature of "social institutions," and whether economic and political knowledge can be separated from value-judgments:

• Rational choice theory and models based on it
• Social norms and cooperation
• John Searle’s theory of “institutional facts”
• The nature of money and different accounts of power
• Whether values can or should be kept out of economics and political science
• Some ways in which states and markets are related

In the few years that have passed, the Middle East has experienced momentous changes. Most notable of these changes are the so-called ‘‘Arab Spring’’ uprisings, which started in late 2010, and the following consequences of these uprisings on the international relations of the region. Topics include the early emergence of Arab states, origins and sustainability of authoritarian regimes, state types and personality cult, masculinity and constructions of identity and belonging, women’s movements, social mobilization and the Arab uprisings. The course offers students from a variety of backgrounds the opportunity to engage with the most important themes in the study of the politics of the Middle East and to locate and contextualise them within wider debates and scholarship of international politics.

This course explores British politics by focusing on the role of its central figure – the Prime Minister. Judging by media coverage, it would seem that the Prime Minister dominates the decision-making process, dwarfing other institutions such as the Cabinet, Parliament and the judiciary. But does this impression reflect reality? Does Britain really have a system of ‘Prime Ministerial’ – or, as some commentators have claimed – even ‘Presidential’ government? The course attempts to answer these crucial questions through case-studies of recent Prime Ministers and an examination of the sources of Prime Ministerial power, such as the ability to appoint ministers, to influence public opinion and to shape Britain’s foreign policy.

The goal of this course is to introduce students to the key concepts of public policy both in theory and practice. The course is designed to give students a rich understanding of the actors, mechanisms and processes that underpin public policymaking, as well as a comprehensive overview of different public policies. The module will enable students to identify how and why public policy is made, the actors and factors that explain policy outputs and policy failures, and to be able to assess the explanatory power of different theories that seek to explain differences in policy outputs. Students will be able to assess policy outcomes associated with different policies and policymaking regimes. In addition, students will gain an understanding of a range of public policies as well a comprehensive understanding of a specific public policy arena, including the debates surrounding such policy, through their policy briefing assessment. The course will touch on a number of questions and themes related to public policy, including why does policy change? Who makes public policy? How can we explain differences in policy outputs? What explains the gap between policy outputs and outcomes (or policy failure)?

This module will explore how the religious process in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Tibet) was imbricated with the political from the ancient to the modern period. In particular we will look at issues that continue to impact contemporary South Asian culture and trace their genealogy, to see how ruptures and transformations shaped their long journey from the ancient to the modern. The issues focused on as having continued impact are (i) heterodoxies, heretics and religious others (ii) mythology and history (iii) ritual and power (iv) pilgrimages (v) religion, religious orders and state formation (vi) women and the religious economy (vii) the Goddess, gender and power (viii) caste, pluralism and identity (ix) gurus, matas and saints and (x) religion and sexuality. The understanding of these central issues of religious life and experience in South Asia today remains partial without a deeper understanding of their earlier backgrounds.

The module equips students with the skills they need to carry out independent research in politics. In doing so, it prepares students for their final year dissertations and significantly improves their employability by developing skills that are highly valued by employers. Students will learn how to come up with an original research question and will learn to employ one of the research methods taught on the course to answer their question. The course is designed to provide an accessible introduction to both qualitative and quantitative research methods. In the first part of the course, students will have the opportunity to use a large dataset on politics and explore the relationship between variables such as political ideology, class, voting behaviour and many more. They will learn how to analyse data and test for statistically significant relationships between variables using various regression methods. In the second part of the course, students will learn about three major approaches to qualitative research. They will learn how to conduct standard and elite interviews, how to analyse the discourse of political actors, and how to conduct case studies. At the end of the module, students will be asked to design their own piece of research and use one of the methods taught on the course to answer their research question.

This module examines the domestic and the external sphere of Russian politics. At the end of the module students will better understand some doctrines of Russian politics and its wide-ranging effects on Russia’s engagement with the EU, the US, NATO, countries in the former Soviet space and the Middle East. It assesses Russia’s response to the Arab Spring and its engagement in the conflict in Syria.

The course introduces students to Russia, an actor which gained presence and influence over several issue areas and regions. It prepares students for more extensive analyses of conceptualising Russia as an actor in their future studies.

How do films deal with topics such as immigration, environment, the posthuman and gender? Do they entertain viewers, instruct them, or both?

This module explores European, Latin American, and Chinese films in their social and historical contexts; the topics mentioned are the focus of key lectures and seminars. The module begins with introductory lectures on cinema and society and on film aesthetics and content. The main aim is to make connections between the films and such contexts, not only on the level of narrative, characterisation and dialogue, but also on that of form and technique.

For some the free-market economy has produced the greatest levels of freedom ever experienced by human society while other see it as the source of social ills, poverty and crisis. How can we reconcile the needs of the masses, or the demos, with those of a profit-driven economy? Can the state balance the two? Can the state intervene in the economy without undermining it? How should the state respond to demands for greater equality? Do we need more state or more market? The module examines the various answers that have been given to these questions by historical figures within the tradition of political economy. It introduces students to the main political economy approaches to the relationship between the state the market and raises some key issues regarding the state’s governance of the market economy. The module draws from liberal and critical state theories of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries and discerns their implications for understanding main challenges facing the modern state today. The main themes scrutinised by the module are: (a) the theoretical evolution of liberal and critical approaches to the state; (b) the relationship between the state and the economy, (c) the relationship between liberalism and democracy; (d) the state management of market and democratic imperatives.

Knowledge is an essential aspect of our social lives. This module focuses on a range of real world social, ethical and political problems involving knowledge. Topics include: problems of epistemic injustice (where people are not believed because of identity prejudice); whether virtues of open-mindedness might provide a solution to epistemic injustice. A proper understanding of the ethics and politics of knowledge requires us to examine both doubt and ignorance. We consider whether systemic racism is sustained by an active kind of “wilful” ignorance. We explore how powerful corporations seek to deliberately engineer doubt to further their interests. We examine political deception and the idea of “Post-truth” politics. In the final section we turn to the limits of seeking knowledge and how to balance the interests that states and corporations have in knowing personal information, against our interests in keeping such information private.

This course serves as an introduction to the government of the United States and its historical foundations, ideologies, institutions, and political processes. Students will develop a detailed understanding of how the American government works, its development, and its challenges. The course will examine the founding ideologies of the United States, how the United States developed from a small colony into a global superpower, the three branches of the federal government, state governments, the influence of parties and interest groups, and the United States’ contemporary challenges. The course encourages students to think critically about the underlying assumptions about American politics.

This module aims (a) to provide students an introduction to issues within the philosophy and politics of higher education, and (b) to help students to reflect about their own position in, and aims while at the university. During the modules, students will consider key questions regarding the aims of university education and its political context and history, as well as dedicate time to thinking about how their own studies fit into those aims and context, and what they wish to achieve during their undergraduate degrees. Twice weekly lectures will be supplemented by seminars, but also by regular ‘keynotes’ in which those working within and alongside higher education will present their own views and approach to higher education. Invited figures may include senior figures from within Lancaster University, representatives of UCU, the Student Union, and local stakeholders.

This is a critical introduction to the underlying themes of development in the global South, such as debt, aid, inequality, migration; and how the state, the economy, national social movements and powerful external actors, including international NGOs, interact with each other. It begins by looking at how neoliberalism came to dominant development thinking and practice in institutions like the World Bank from the late 1970s onwards and its impact on development and then provides in-depth case-studies of recent alternative development models in Latin America and Syria. This course helps to broaden students’ understanding of Politics and International Relations away from a Western focus on the UK, Europe and the US in preparation for third-year modules such as PPR.336: The Global Politics of Africa.

Race has played a central role in shaping the political agendas of many nations around the world – and has acted both as a mechanism of political exclusion and as a form of politicised identity. In this module, we critically examine the notion of race, and its connection to other identities like gender, ethnicity and class. We examine the role race has played, and continues to play, in the determination of domestic policies and in the relations between states. We look at the way in which race is politicised and de-politicised and consider the nature of various forms of racism in politics and society. Taking a broad narrative arch from “race” to “post-race,” this course pursues three interconnected approaches to the subject: 1.intersectionality in that we analyse not only the multiple and shifting functions of racial classifications, but connect them to other forms of differentiation such as gender, class, sexuality, geography, the environment, and more; 2.interdisciplinarity in that the problem of race takes us directly to historical and ongoing processes of defining the human being and, as such, if we are to take race and its politics seriously, we need approaches from philosophical, historical, sociological, international relations literatures; and 3.the topics of each week together constitute an extensive toolkit of lenses through which to think about race, racism and the contexts of slavery, colonialism, exploitation, rebellion, expression, resistance and much more.

This module explores cultural and theoretical approaches to queerness and LGBTQIA+ lives, identities, and politics across diverse linguistic and cultural contexts. It includes texts and artworks by philosophers, writers, filmmakers, and artists from the LGBTQIA+ community around the globe, asking how different queer voices and cultures have approached questions such as:

• What does it mean to be queer or LGBTQIA+ today?
• How are human experiences of gender, sexuality, and queer identity conceptualised and expressed?
• How do queer people stand up against oppression and violence, and how have they in the past?
• What might queer tomorrows look like?
• How do LGBTQIA+ people and communities imagine the future?

The module explores key theoretical approaches in queer theory, and gender and sexuality studies, typically spanning cutting-edge fields such as queer environmentalism, postcolonial queer studies, transgender studies, intersex studies, and the queer medical humanities.

As part of The International Placement Year you will normally spend at least eight months abroad in your third year. You will have the opportunity to:

• analyse the contemporary relevance of a tradition, contemporary social, political or economic issue, or a living part of the regional culture.
• reflect critically on cultural differences observed in everyday life such as social relationships, politics, attitudes to food, drink, religion, etc., explaining them in the context of various historical, social and cultural developments.
• think analytically about your intercultural position and understanding of the relevant culture(s).
• reflect on language use (different registers, varieties of pronunciation and accents, dialects, vocabulary and idiomatic expressions, and aspects of grammar) and the process of the acquisition of skills in the relevant language(s).

The module also aims to enhance and develop your language skills, with all assessments being written in the target language. If you have started a language as a beginner in year one you will spend a minimum of four months in a country where that language is spoken. If you are a joint honours student who is studying two languages, you may choose to spend the year in either of the two countries concerned or, if appropriate arrangements can be made, you can spend a semester in each country.

Lancaster University will make reasonable endeavours to place students at an approved overseas partner. Students conduct either a study placement at a partner University, a teaching assistantship placement with the British Council or an appropriate working placement with a vetted employer abroad or a combination of placements (please note that there are some restrictions on British Council placements which usually last for the whole of the academic year).

Joint honours degrees

If you are a joint honours student who is combining a language with a non-language subject, your placement year will provide the opportunity to develop your language skills and cultural awareness, but will not necessarily relate to the non-language aspect of your degree.

Lancaster University cannot accept responsibility for any financial aspects of your International Placement Year.

This module includes authentic texts only slightly adapted from the originals, with a special focus on contemporary Chinese society and institutions. You will have the opportunity to learn how to communicate comprehensively and systematically using the appropriate expressions and language norms in the right context.

You’ll have the opportunity to develop your skills in understanding and joining political, academic and journalistic discussions using advanced Chinese language skills. An aim of this module is for you to be able to translate between English and Chinese and develop an idiomatic style of formal writing.

It’s not necessary to have studied the Part I, Chinese Language 2 or 3 modules in order to continue on to this module. However you must have reached a CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) B1-B2 level of Chinese proficiency.

This module is integrated with the Chinese Language 4 module.

This module has two main aims. The first one is to enhance your linguistic proficiency with emphasis on understanding of spoken and written Chinese, the speaking of Chinese (prepared and spontaneous) in both formal and informal settings, the writing of Chinese, and the systematic study of Chinese lexis, grammar and syntax. The second aim is to increase your awareness, knowledge and understanding of contemporary China.

By the end of this module we aim for you to have an informed interest in the society and culture of the Chinese-speaking world. You should also have acquired almost native-speaker abilities in both spoken and written language.

This is a non-credit bearing module aimed at preparation for coursework and employability. If you are a major student you will be timetabled to attend the events. These include areas such as returning to Lancaster, academic writing after the year abroad, careers information on graduate schemes and postgraduate study opportunities.

This course provides a historical and thematic introduction to the issues facing Africa in the international system today. The course is divided into two sections. The first section explores the historical incorporation of the continent into the emerging international system centred on Europe from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. It focuses on the impact of colonialism and independence in terms of the economy, the state and the politics of race and the implications these have for the region’s prospects for democracy and development today. The second section looks at key contemporary issues and agents shaping the continent. The latter includes ‘top-down’ actors such as the Chinese state, as well as grassroots actors such as unionised South African workers.

This module will consider different ways in which the concept of ‘dictatorship’ has been understood and critiqued throughout the twentieth century. Considering examples from Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Guinea, Italy, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe, students will explore the differences between the Latin American caudillo, European dictators, and the ‘Big Men’ of Africa. Selected critical and theoretical sources will be drawn upon to develop a more critical understanding of dictatorship, including the work of Hannah Arendt, Roberto González Echevarría and Achille Mbembe.

The module will also examine relationships between dictatorship and cultural production. How have dictators represented themselves in their writing, speeches and literature? To what extent have they controlled cultural production and to what end? How, in turn, have they been represented in cultural production? What role do writers, artists and intellectuals play in evaluating and critiquing dictatorship? In turn, can the writer, artist or intellectual be considered to be a dictator in the particular world view he/she projects and/or the rhetoric he/she adopts?

Recent years have seen a number of dramatic electoral shocks in established democracies that have challenged long-standing assumptions and theories about how elections work. Social change has undermined the support base of established mainstream political parties and created the environment for the emergence of populist parties and other challengers. This has transformed long-standing party systems and changed the nature of electoral competition in many countries. Once dominant parties of government have declined in significance as electorates have become more volatile and unpredictable in their preferences. This module aims to explore the causes and consequences of these developments in 21st Century electoral politics while developing highly employable quantitative analysis skills which will enable you to directly test different explanations and theories.

This module examines gender and other related concepts such as the body through the lens of politics. Islam is the context and the approach is case study based. A wide range of religio-political movements within specific Muslim contexts, past and present, will be explored during the module, for example: the early gender egalitarianism of the Kharijite protest movements (especially 7th to 9th Centuries); the mystical (Sufi) contestations of dominant gender norms in the late classical period (13th to 16thth Century); the politicisation of gender in nation-based Islamism since the Iranian revolution in the 20th Century; and the rise of transnational Islamic feminism in the 21st century and the challenge of decolonial critique. These case-studies will enable students to understand the broader impact of relations of power on the production and life of particular readings of gender in Islam. The module will be delivered in weekly workshops, consisting of a lecture followed by workshop style discussion of designated readings, films, and documentaries.

This course presents a detailed analysis of the major developments in British foreign policy since 1945. It explains these developments within a global context, offering rival interpretations of Britain’s changing role and status – issues whose importance has been underlined by the debates surrounding the 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum. The major themes include: the consequences of Britain’s participation in the Second World War; the retreat from Empire after 1945; the ‘special relationship’ with the United States; and the prolonged attempt to redefine Britain’s global role in the context of perceived economic and geopolitical decline.

The module will introduce students to processes and dynamics on how ‘first ladies’ provide unique case studies for political leadership and how can they forge unprecedented models of women’s leadership and advocacy. The module places contemporary politics and power dynamics, identities and roles related to the ‘first ladies’ within a broader historical, social and political context. The module allows students to trace how changes in the roles of ‘first ladies’ over the past two centuries track historical trends towards gender equitable marriages, women’s entry into workforce and expanding political participation in societies globally. The topics which the module cover also include gender, feminism, agency, power and politics Comparing ‘first ladies’ across authoritarian and democratic countries as they offer different opportunities, resources or constraints. Countries include Egypt, China, the US, Argentina and the Philippines

As is now commonly recognised, the world is becoming increasingly connected and complex. Just as policy and socio-political actors can no longer view the state, market and society as distinct and separate entities, we can no longer see the global as neatly divided between powerful and distinct nation-states. Global interaction via economics, the media and the internet overwhelm these earlier rigid barriers. But how do we understand this new world and, equally important, how do we act within. To try to answer that question we will explore complexity theory its applications to politics, policy and society. The module will begin with an introduction to the development of the earlier ‘orderly/Newtonian’ framework played in shaping 19th and 20th century social science and public policy. It will then go on to examine the paradigm shift in the natural sciences beyond the limits of that framework and towards a more complexity oriented paradigm. Following this the module will begin to explore how complexity has spilled over into the social sciences in the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st. It will then explore how complexity overlaps with some of the main concepts from pragmatist philosophy and its implications for ethics and values

Who killed John F. Kennedy? Did the moon landing really happen? Was Covid-19 caused by the erection of 5G network masts? Factual answers to such questions are easily accessible. And yet many people eschew documented facts in favour of conspiracy theories, which explain events and complex phenomena with reference to nefarious forces and alleged hidden machinations of powerful actors. Such narratives are nothing new, but they used to be regarded mostly as a curiosity rather than a serious subject of research. Today communities of conspiracists are no longer considered so benign. As they thrive online, they attract increasing interest of scholars and policymakers, who study their digital influence, their links with political movements and their status as participants in democratic public spheres. This module introduces students to the developing body of research on the origins, spread and the political and social effects of conspiracy theories, including multidisciplinary work seeking to explain why people embrace conspiracies, what (if any) are the harms of such beliefs, what insights can we draw from the study of historical conspiracies (19th and 20th century) and what is the relationship between conspiratorial thinking and other political beliefs.

This module introduces you to major themes that shape the experience of contemporary city dwellers: gender, social inequality, and practices of citizenship. These interlinking themes are introduced through novels, poetry and films and typically covers the following European, North American (with the emphasis on immigrant communities within its cities) and Latin American cities: New York, Mexico City, Santiago de Chile, Barcelona, and Berlin.

The combination of lectures, workshops and textual analysis encourages cross-referencing between the themes; students are encouraged to identify links between the topics studied (for example, gender and sexuality are relevant to an analysis of social inequality, and vice versa).

PPR.399 provides an opportunity for students to choose a topic related to some aspect of Politics and International Relations, Philosophy and Religious Studies which particularly interests them, and to pursue it in depth. The topic may be related to work that is being done on a formally taught course, or it may be less directly linked to course work. The intention is that students will develop their research skills, and their ability to work at length under their own direction.

Students write a dissertation of 9,000-10,000 words. They are expected to start thinking seriously about the dissertation towards the end of the Lent term of their second year, and to submit a provisional topic by the end of that term. Work should be well advanced by Christmas in the third year. The completed dissertation must be submitted at the start of Summer Term in the third year. To help students prepare for work on the dissertation, there will be an introductory talk on topics relating to doing one's own research and planning and writing a dissertation. A course handout will be available setting out in more detail the requirements for the dissertation and giving full details of lectures, supervision arrangements and assessment.

The aim of this module is to allow students to pursue independent in-depth studies of a topic of their choice, within the scope of their scheme of study. The topic will be formulated in dialogue with one or more external collaborator(s) and may be related to work that is being done on a formally taught course, or it may be less directly linked to course work. Students will develop their employability and research skills, and their ability to work independently at length under their own direction with input from external collaborators and an academic supervisor. The external collaboration will enhance students’ ability to reflect on the impact of academic work. One option is to incorporate work done through the Richardson Institute Internship Programme, but students may also discuss other forms of collaboration with their supervisor.

Students are expected to start thinking seriously about the dissertation towards the end of the Lent term of the second year, and to submit a provisional topic by the end of that term. Work should begin during the Summer term of the second year and a draft plan must be approved by the end of the Summer term. Work should be well advanced by Christmas in the third year. The completed dissertation must be submitted at the start of Summer Term in the third year. To help students prepare for work on the dissertation, there will be an introductory talk on topics relating to doing one’s own research and planning and writing a dissertation. A course handout will be available setting out in more detail the requirements for the dissertation and giving full details of lectures, supervision arrangements and assessment.

This module aims to introduce and familiarise students to the interplay between politics, society and religion in the world’s largest democracy, India. At a time when India is emerging as a global power and economic powerhouse despite persistent poverty and various socio-political fissures, a critical balance must be struck in our understanding between its potential and its problems. India offers powerful lessons on the challenges and achievements of democracy in a deeply pluralistic and unequal society. An examination of these issues opens up our conceptual preconceptions about democracy, competing political philosophies, religion, secularism, discrimination, globalization and political mobilization, which tend to be structured by knowledge of Western polities.

What makes a good translation and how do translations do good? This module aims to help you understand the practice of translation as it has evolved historically from the 18th century to the present across European and American societies.

The materials we study include historical textual sources as well as contemporary documents. Our aim is to look at translation as both a functional process for getting text in one language accurately into another and a culturally-inflected process that varies in its status and purpose from one context to another.

We will pay particular attention to the practical role that literary translators play within the contemporary global publishing industry and consider the practicalities of following a career in literary translation in the Anglophone world.

Ideas about modern manhood have had significant influence around the world since the ‘globalisation’ wrought by colonisation and imperialism in the nineteenth century.

This module focuses on the search for new icons of masculinity in a modernising China, introducing students to key discursive notions such as “Mr Science” and “Mr Democracy” in the Republican era; the worker-soldier-peasant triad in the Mao era; the peasant heroes of the immediate post-Mao years; and the “explosive” nouveau riche, white-collar, migrant worker, and “little fresh meat” masculinities of the market-infused postsocialist era. Students analyse how cultural products present and critique notions of Chinese masculinities. Material is considered for its significance in key debates about masculinities, and may include novels, short stories, essays, graphic posters, art, music, films, TV drama series and reality shows, online dramas, websites, as well as secondary literature from a range of academic disciplines.

This module will address central issues in contemporary ethical (including meta-ethical), legal and political philosophy, and will allow a systematic critical exploration of the connections between ideas and arguments in each of the three areas of the subject.

Topics covered will include some of the following: modern theory of moral motivation, value theory, contractualism, the 'moral problem'; responsibility and criminal liability, the justification of punishment, the proper scope of the law; democratic theory, egalitarianism, justice, nationalism, multiculturalism, liberty and human rights.

In recent years the existing Parliamentary institutions of the UK have come under unparalleled stress. Brexit, devolution, scandal and the decline of public trust in politics have led many to question and challenge the fundamental structure of UK institutions. However, Parliament remains at the centre of political life in the UK and is fundamental to the development of public policy. This leads to key questions about the extent to which the UK Parliament is fit for purpose in the 21st Century and whether it can balance competing interests within the classic debates about continuity and change in British Politics.

This unique module, delivered in partnership with Parliament itself, gives you the opportunity to explore these vital questions of policy formation and constitutional reform interacting directly with Parliamentary officials, researchers and officers. In doing so you will be developing key employable communication skills and critically analysing highly relevant topics in the UK politics such as;

• House of Lords Reform
• Devolution
• Equality of Representation
• The Parliamentary Policy Making process

This module is capped at a capacity of 30 students and a waiting list will operate once full.

The emergence and consolidation of world capitalism has been marked by its uneven character in terms of development. This uneven development has created a polarisation between the Global North mainly consisting of advanced Western capitalist countries, and the Global South mainly consisting of underdeveloped/developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This module focuses on the historical roots, present pillars, and empirical issues of the global interaction and integration regarding the making of the Global South. It traces the colonial and post-colonial history, politics, and power relations through which societies of the Global South have been integrated with the profoundly unequal, gendered, and racialised process of development of capitalist relations on a world scale.

This course examines central themes in the liberal branch of contemporary Anglo-American analytic political philosophy. The liberal positions on justice, liberty, equality, the state, power, rights and utility are all explored. The approach is philosophical rather than applied; its focus is on the ideas of liberal politics: how individual liberty can be maximised while not harming others; how an individual philosophical position can guide political determinants of a society and places the developments of liberal ideas in their appropriate historical contexts. The course also examines the connection between the ideas of liberalism and the idea of democracy to explore the philosophical tensions between the two and how these might be resolved. The course is a survey of major topics and concepts in Anglo-American liberal political ideas. The syllabus will include the following topics: questions about justice; visions of the state; negative and positive liberty; equality, utility and rights; toleration and multiculturalism; neutrality and the market.

This course examines the changing character of war and security in a time of rapid and disruptive technological and geopolitical change. The course combines analysis of contemporary policy documents with the interdisciplinary insights of intellectuals that have examined how war has changed in the modern age. Students are introduced to a range of concepts that are currently significant in the policy debates about the future of war – concepts such as ambiguous war, the gray zone, the third offset strategy and the three block war. While the course is grounded in broader debates from social and political thought about war and modernity, it explores a range of evolving and inter-related case studies that are central to understanding how war is changing: cybersecurity/artificial intelligence; cities and urban war; drones and the future of robotics; climate change and ecological insecurity. Each year we try to bring a guest lecturer from the Ministry of Defence or the FCO to discuss questions relevant to the course – and to discuss how the course can be relevant to a broad range of careers.

This course offers employability-focused teaching and combines academic and practical skills. During the module students will have the opportunity to develop a critical understanding of key theoretical frameworks and concepts in policy analysis and development, and to gain in-depth knowledge of the policymaking process within different political contexts. The placements during Lent Term encourage students to apply this knowledge to real-world scenarios, while developing their employability skills and gaining a comprehensive understanding of how the knowledge they acquire during their degree can be translated to different policymaking contexts. By the end of the module, students will be able to conduct thorough policy research using various methodologies and tools, evaluate the ethical implications of policy decisions, and advocate for ethics and value-based approaches to policymaking.

This module helps provide a comparative analysis of the historical and ideological development of sectarian identities in different countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Scotland, Ireland and India. It also engages with continuing debates related to divisions and boundary-making across political institutions, structures or political culture of different countries.

Topics will typically be the Sunni-Shia divide, the Muslim-Christian divide in Egypt, everyday practices of sectarianism in Kuwait, sectarianism divisions in Lebanon and Iraq, and Protestant-Catholic tensions in Northern Ireland.

The question at the heart of Sinophone Studies is “What is Chineseness in the modern world?” This question has played out in different fashions across the various Sinophone cultures.

Sinophone cultural production offers crucial counterpoints to the depictions of Chinese identity in mainland Chinese, Han-centric creative works. Drawing from the work of scholars in the nascent field of Sinophone studies, this course understands Sinophone cultures as existing in the “minority nationalities” of China; in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and other locations in the East Asian “Sinosphere”; and in the significant Sinitic-language immigrant populations of the Americas, Australasia, and elsewhere. It recognises Sinophone cultural production as multilingual and multi-ethnic.

This module introduces key Sinophone literary works and films including novels, short stories, and films. Discussion focuses on the diverse ways in which Chineseness is imagined, negotiated, or resisted in these works, and the alternative cultural identities that they put forward.

Latin America is a dynamic region dominated by a complex set of issues. This module examines the forces and events that have shaped the culture and politics of contemporary Latin America. The lectures in this module are arranged and organised along specific themes: an overview of politics of populism, the role of the Latin American left in shaping the public discourse, democracy and dictatorship, the emancipatory role of religion, the culture of everyday violence, politics of dependency and development, the political economy of migration and the role played by external actors in shaping its cultural, economic, social and political identity. This module provides students with an opportunity to develop their general as well as specialist knowledge of major issues in contemporary Latin American society and politics.

DELC338 Spirits in the Material World: Cultures and Sciences

This module lives in the space between the here-and-now and a future made possible by science. You’ll explore perceptions of science across different languages and cultures, from Asia to Europe to the Americas, and explore relationships between the spiritual and the material.

You’ll look at some intriguing questions about science and the twenty-first century human condition such as: Where is AI taking humanity and are we already robots? Are science fiction writers a form of contemporary shaman? What possibilities do modern medical advances offer for transformative queer and trans healthcare?

You’ll find out about differing views on these and other topics from a wide range of source materials, such as speculative fiction, graphic novels, film, philosophical essays, and online talks. Themes typically cover Spirit and Matter, Speculative Fiction, The Post-Human, Philosophy, Art and Neuroscience, Biomedicine and the Hospital.

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The module provides a comparative perspective drawing on the fields of religion and politics. It analyses how the rise of the modern nation-state impacted and reconstituted religion in a post-colonial, global context. It addresses questions such as: What place does religion have in diverse political systems in the modern world? How have religious ideologies and commitments shaped modern conceptions and practices of governance? To what extent has religion been engaged in supporting/contesting discourses of liberal democracy and human rights? And why does it remain a site for political protest in non-western contexts? These questions will be explored across various traditions such as Hinduism, Christianity, Islam as well as in diverse regional contexts, such as Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. Key topics will typically include: Secularism, Religion and the Postcolonial Nation-State; Religion and law-making in modern nation-states; State, Religion, and human rights, with a focus on women’s rights or religious minority rights; State, Religion and Rebellion; and Civil Religion: Interrogating America’s Nationalism.

This module critically explores a range of key topics in the ethics and politics of communication. In the first half of the course, we begin by an introduction to some basic concepts in linguistics and philosophy of language – especially to do with the practical side of communication. We then focus on (a) how certain kinds of communication can bring about ethical change (e.g. making something permissible); (b) upon whether lying and other kinds of deception are permissible, and if so, when. In the second half we turn to some broadly political issues: whether political lying is justified in a way that everyday lying is not. We consider three domains where freedom of communication is both important and contentious: freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom on social media, including the challenges posed by “content moderation”.

Global capitalism is at crossroads. It faces a deepening crisis in the world of work, its engine of growth is sputtering out while the climate emergency is aggravating. For some the 2008 recession, COVID-19 and the 2022 cost-of living of crisis offered tragic glimpses of the world that is to come if radical change is not pursued. How can we govern a world characterised by perpetual emergencies and chronic economic crises? Can capitalism be reformed? What does it take to address inequality, precarity or biodiversity collapse? What are the challenges and constraints faced by governments today? The module offers an opportunity to discuss these questions by examining a range of political economy approaches to the study of global capitalism. In doing so the module analyses the most important transformations of the past 50 years that radically transformed the global economy and the issues they raise for economic policy. It examines the constraints, limits and opportunities facing the governance of the global economic order and explores the governing dilemmas that arise in the era of so-called late capitalism.

This module covers key debates on how television shows are consumed both nationally and transnationally, the appeal of crime dramas, cultural translation, and in particular the concept of domestication. Theoretical frameworks are applied to examples from television series produced in languages that are taught to degree level at Lancaster and are available in English via dubbing or subtitling. Selected case studies are devoted to the exploration of a particular theme. Typically, such themes may include aspects such as the sympathetic perpetrator, setting, local colour and exoticism, gender, race and ethnicity.

South and South East Asian religious traditions are globally unique for their reverence of female divine power. Called Devi (goddess) and Shakti (power/potentiality), the Goddess is thought to be multiform and worshipped in ‘power-sites’ (shaktipithas) scattered all over the subcontinent. In theological traditions of medieval India, she was conceptualized in some of the most sophisticated metaphysical arguments as an ultimate Consciousness. For worshippers, she is a symbol of many things: autonomous power, liberation, rulership, transgression, duality, sexuality, passion, motherhood, the colour red, Death, vision and sleep.