Philosophy and Modern Languages BA

You will carry on with the same languages you studied in your first year. Your mandatory language modules depend upon the language level you started with.

For detailed module descriptions see the optional module list.

French mandatory language modules

• French 2 - if you took French 1
• French 2: Beginners - if you took French 1: Beginners

German mandatory language modules

• German 2 - if you took German 1
• German 2: Beginners - if you took German 1: Beginners

Mandarin Chinese mandatory language modules

• Mandarin Chinese 3 - if you took Mandarin Chinese 2
• Mandarin Chinese 2 - if you took Mandarin Chinese 1

Portuguese mandatory language modules

• Portuguese 2: Beginners - if you took Portuguese 1: Beginners

Russian mandatory language modules

• Russian 2 - if you took Russian 1
• Russian 2: Beginners - if you Russian 1: Beginners

Serbian / Croatian mandatory language modules

• Serbian / Croatian 2: Beginners - if you took Serbian / Croatian 1: Beginners

Spanish mandatory language modules

• Spanish 2 - if you took Spanish 1
• Spanish 2: Beginners - if you took Spanish 1: Beginners

This module offers inspiring content drawn from our department’s diverse research interests and current trends in the philosophical community. You’ll explore topics like the philosophy of video games, the family, AI, the transhumanist movement, deepfakes, and happiness economics, alongside traditional philosophical themes. 
 

Throughout the module, you’ll get a taste of these topics and demonstrate your understanding through assessments like short exams. You’ll also be encouraged to reflect on your philosophical interests, with the aim of sparking a passion for independent or collaborative research.  
 

This module is designed to foster engagement in higher-level philosophical activities, encouraging you to reflect on your personal interests and philosophical development. 
 

By showcasing the department’s current research, the module aims to inspire interest in contemporary philosophical issues. You’ll gain insights into various specialist topics that you might pursue in further modules or as research projects. The module also introduces diverse research methods in both theoretical and practical philosophy. 
 

Join us to explore cutting-edge philosophical debates and develop your skills in critical thinking, research, and reflection. 

This module offers inspiring and motivating content, drawing from our staff’s diverse research interests and current trends in the philosophical community. You’ll explore topics like the philosophy of video games, the family, AI, the transhumanist movement, deepfakes, and happiness economics, alongside traditional philosophical themes. 

Throughout the module, you’ll get a taste of these topics and demonstrate your understanding through assessments like short exams. You’ll also be encouraged to reflect on your philosophical interests, with the aim of sparking a passion for independent or collaborative research. 

By showcasing the department’s current research, the module aims to inspire interest in contemporary philosophical issues. You’ll gain insights into various specialist topics that you might pursue in further modules or as research projects. The module also introduces diverse research methods in both theoretical and practical philosophy. 

Studying modern languages and cultures offers a unique opportunity to challenge your understanding of the world.

This module introduces key concepts and ideas that cut across different regions of the world, exploring similarities and differences.

Topics might include: 

• republic and revolution

• languages and national identities

• intellectuals and ideas

• poets and thinkers

• cultures and countercultures 

• migrations and minorities

• diaspora and mobilities

• myths and empires

• decolonisation and post-colonialism

These topics are approached through a variety of sources and disciplinary perspectives, including language, linguistics, history, visual and oral cultures, and literature. 

Key texts for the module are in English and, where available, in their original language.

This module addresses issues in social metaphysics and social epistemology. We will examine the metaphysics of social kinds and explore different accounts of social kinds that have been offered. We will also examine how the fact that we are situated in a social world can affect what we can or cannot know or understand about ourselves, each other, and the social world itself. We will also address ethical and/or political issues that arise once we take account of social metaphysics and social epistemology.

In particular, we might consider whether there are special kinds of injustices that arise due to our social reality. What is epistemic injustice and how does it relate to social injustice? How do certain privileged groups structure the social world that create and maintain privilege and patterns of ignorance that perpetuate that privilege? What are some obligations that we have, given metaphysical and epistemological concerns we have explored? 

This module will introduce you to a range of topics in applied ethics, with a focus on either biomedical or business ethics. Through examination of case studies, in-class debates and critical analysis, you will develop the skills and knowledge necessary to navigate complex ethical issues in healthcare and/or business practice. 

You will gain an understanding of: 

• applying ethical reasoning to major practical themes

• debating contemporary and historical problem cases with appreciation for the perspectives of others 

• evaluating key ideas in primary and secondary literature

The group work assessment will require you to engage with others in approach to ethical dilemmas. You will draw on your own and others' lived experiences as examples to evaluate and respond to from an ethical perspective.

This module allows you to ask profound questions about meaning, truth and existence, which are central topics in contemporary philosophy. You'll tackle themes such as meaning and meaningfulness, sense and nonsense, reference, truth and truthmaking, speech acts, paradoxes, vagueness, realism vs. antirealism, conditionals, modality and expressivism. 

Through engaging discussions and critical analysis, you'll explore how these concepts shape our understanding of the world. This module encourages you to think deeply and critically about complex philosophical issues, providing a solid foundation for further study in philosophy.  
 

This module offers a rigorous grounding in formal and philosophical logic, building on the basics covered in Introduction to Theoretical Philosophy. You'll delve deeper into Truth-Functional Logic, First-Order Logic, and Modal Logic, exploring these areas with greater rigour and completeness. 

Key topics include existence, identity, possibility and necessity, along with formal techniques for testing argument validity. You'll also learn to challenge the logical languages studied, developing skills in philosophical logic by raising questions about logic and evaluating alternative logical languages. 

The module aims to provide a clear understanding of formal logic, introduce the basics of philosophical logic, and critically assess possible alternatives. In the process, you’ll enhance your logical reasoning and philosophical inquiry skills. 

Do we have a moral duty to obey the law even when we disagree with it? Is there a difference between mere power and legitimate authority? Under what circumstances, if any, is state coercion legitimate?

This module will explore these and other classic questions in political philosophy. You will critically examine the work of at least one important past political philosopher, such as Thomas Hobbes, Immanuel Kant, Emma Goldman, Peter Kropotkin or Huey P. Newton. Through a combination of primary and secondary readings, discussions and writing assignments, you will develop a nuanced understanding of these thinkers’ contributions to political philosophy and their enduring relevance to the contemporary world.

Key concepts covered may include human nature, social contract, order, liberty, anarchy, consent, policing and political obligation.

What does collective self-government look like? Under what circumstances, and by what means, may we justly rebel against the existing order? Is anarchism defensible?

This module will explore these and other central questions in political philosophy. It will examine the work of at least one important past political philosopher, such as John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Rosa Luxemburg, Frantz Fanon or Hannah Arendt. Through a combination of primary and secondary readings, discussions and writing assignments, you will develop a nuanced understanding of these thinkers’ contributions to political philosophy and their enduring relevance to the contemporary world.

Key concepts covered may include sovereignty, democracy, dissent, decolonisation, nationalism, slavery and political violence.

• What is art?
• Is there a relationship between art and ethics?
• What is the relationship between art and emotion?

Together we'll explore these philosophical issues and more. By the end of the module you'll:

• have a good awareness of many of the critical debates in the philosophy of art
• recognise and judge for yourself the strengths and weaknesses of arguments on the issues

This module is worth 20 credits.

Aristotle declared that “All men by nature desire to know”. But we allegedly live in a post-truth world characterized by fake news, alternative facts, and scorn for expertise. These are major dangers to our way of life, and dealing with them requires epistemology. Epistemology is the study of such topics as knowledge, evidence, and justification.

In this module, we'll explore issues such as: the nature and value of knowledge, the threat of skepticism, the role of testimony in acquiring knowledge, and intellectual virtues and vices. Some questions we will tackle include: What is knowledge? Why should we care about it? What is our justification for believing things? Do we know that we’re not brains in vats?

This module will introduce you to some of the core debates in moral philosophy. We’ll consider both contemporary and historical philosophical discussions of questions like:

• What makes certain actions right or wrong?
• Is the rightness/wrongness of actions solely a matter of their consequences, or are certain types of acts inherently right or wrong?
• What is the relation between right action and good character?
• Under what conditions is an action to be counted as free, in the sense required for moral responsibility?
• What is it to hold someone morally responsible in the first place? 

Where does the mind meet the world? In sensory perception.

By perceiving, we become conscious of a reality beyond our minds. Or do we?

Mind and Consciousness explores perception and perceptual consciousness.

It asks question such as:

• Do we really perceive a world beyond our minds?
• What are the theories of perception and perceptual consciousness?
• How do we distinguish different senses – what makes seeing different from hearing?
• Can our perceptions be biased? Do our prejudices change the way we see things?
• Is dreaming perceiving, or does it belong to another category of mind like imagining?

By the end of this module, you'll be able to:

• understand the main positions in the philosophy of perception
• analyse and evaluate rival views on these topics

This module is worth 20 credits.

This module will explore key concepts and themes in Africana philosophies and religions, paying particular attention to Africana notions of the human person and human life within a spirit-filled cosmos.

After reviewing critiques of Eurocentric conceptions of philosophy and religion by decolonial thinkers such as Okot p’Bitek, Kwasi Wiredu and Sylvia Wynter, we discuss a variety of texts and sources that highlight and elaborate core concepts in indigenous African modes of thought, such as ‘vital force’, ubuntu, destiny and the world. Thereafter, we consider how Africana philosophies and religions offer fresh approaches to addressing various issues in the contemporary world.

The sort of questions we might consider here include:

• How might African accounts of humanity radicalise concepts of gender?
• Are Africana cosmological narratives able to counter heteronormativity?
• Can the philosophy of ubuntu promote environmental justice?
• What do Africana notions of witchcraft disclose about the dangers of human sociality and the possibility of trust?
• Can black humanity be affirmed in ways that refuse the social death of anti-black racism?

We look at some fundamental metaphysical questions about the cosmos. A selection of the following topics will be studied:

• Objects: concrete vs. abstract; existence and nothingness
• Sets and mereology
• Properties, Property bearers, Relations
• States of affairs and non-mereological composition
• Modality (including counterfactuals) and possible worlds
• Time, persistence, change, and the non-present

This module provides a diverse range of research projects for final-year students. You’ll have the opportunity to plan and execute an ambitious research project on a topic of your choice, working closely with staff and supervisors in the joint enterprise of ‘doing philosophy’. 

During your project, you’ll conduct independent research and collate ideas and information from the sources you examine. You will demonstrate an understanding of the key assumptions of the main protagonists in their research field, recognise the need to engage with those assumptions, and explore the potential problems raised by your own thinking.  

This module examines how Muslims have addressed fundamental theological and philosophical questions relating to their faith. These questions concern the foundations of religious knowledge and authority, God's unity and attributes, God's relationship to the world, divine determinism and human freedom, prophecy, and human destiny beyond death.

Key figures will include the Mu'tazili and Ash'ari philosophical theologians, the philosophers Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Isma'ili esotericism, and the influential medieval intellectuals al-Ghazali, Ibn al-'Arabi, and Ibn Taymiyya. Selections from primary sources will be read in translation, and special attention will be given to the integration of late antique philosophical traditions into Islamic thought about God, God's relation to the world, and human destiny. 

This module will introduce you to some central philosophical problems in aesthetics. It encourages your engagement with current views on aesthetic evaluations and has potential as a foundation for a level 3 research topic.

You’ll cover key topics and perspectives of aesthetics in philosophy, such as:

• contemporary views relating to the nature of aesthetics
• the relationship between artworks and other objects of aesthetic concern
• philosophical issues surrounding aesthetics
• critical discussion and evaluation of different philosophical views of aesthetics
• objectivity versus the subjectivity of aesthetic evaluations
• epistemology of aesthetic judgement
• aesthetics of nature
• aesthetics of human beaut
• aesthetics of everyday life

By the end of the module, you will be able to discuss and evaluate different views of aesthetics, explain some current views on the status of aesthetic evaluations, and present the main contemporary viewpoints on key topics in aesthetics.

This module will build on the language and cultural skills developed in last year's beginners' classes. Over the year we'll take you to the next level so that by the end of the module you'll be ready to spend time living in a French-speaking country.

We'll further develop your reading, listening, summary, translation and communication skills, building your confidence so that you feel happy working or studying abroad during year three.

This module will build on the French language and cultural skills you developed in year one and get you started on your exciting journey towards degree-level French. We're going to take your language skills to the next level and by the end of this module you'll be ready to spend time living in a French-speaking country.

We'll push you to improve your confidence in reading comprehension, listening comprehension and oral skills. In addition to this you'll get the opportunity to develop your French writing skills through a variety of tasks such as creative writing, summary writing and even resume writing. You'll also practice translation activities.

We'll keep your studies interesting and relevant by using a variety of contemporary texts including journalistic articles and audio-visual clips.

This module explores a range of French and Francophone films, from the 'golden age' of the 1930s to the social realist films of the 2010s and 2020s. Through close study of these films, you'll learn to analyse cinematography, including shot selection, editing, lighting, soundtrack and mise-en-scène. You'll also delve into star theory, genre importance and auteur theory. 

The module aims to provide a solid grounding in film studies and a survey of significant movements and trends in French and Francophone cinema. You'll gain a detailed understanding of key concepts such as genre theory, star theory and the technical aspects of filmmaking. This course offers an introduction to the breadth of French and Francophone filmmaking and the essential critical tools used in film studies.

What better way is there to truly understand a nation than by studying its literature and politics?

We’ll examine the various ways in which French writers have engaged with the political struggles of their time. By looking at ‘committed’ literature (which is literature that defends an ethical, political, religious or social view) produced by key authors you’ll learn how to unpick the tension between literature and politics that has shaped modern France.

This module introduces the cultural and linguistic diversity of three specific Francophone areas – West Africa (Senegal), the Antilles (West Indies) and Quebec (Canada). 

Although the French language links these regions together, each one offers its own unique geographical, historical and cultural identity. 

You will learn how these territories share a colonial past that has profoundly marked their societies up to the present day. Through a mix of documents, texts, books, music and films, you will discover the rich culture of the three territories, discovering how they’ve redefined their relationship with France to create an identity that encourages exchange, diversity and the merging of cultures.

Dive into the world of 18th and 19th-century French fiction, as we explore the works of bestselling authors.

We consider the notion of the 'bestseller' and how useful these texts might be in highlighting changing tastes in literature, as well as changing views on the individual and society, race, gender and inequality.  

From exploring the Enlightenment to learning about the ‘long 19th century’, you will trace the evolution of narrative voice through this period, discovering the various factors that shaped the modern novel. 

Topics might include:  

• gender and sexuality

• class

• race

• performance 

• vision

• human memory, consciousness and subjectivity

• reading and rereading

• intertextuality 

Now that you've gained good German language skills by completing Beginners' German, we're going to take you to the next level. By the end of this course, you'll be ready to spend time living in a German-speaking country.

Working at a steady pace, we'll focus on getting you confident in your German reading, writing, listening and speaking abilities, encouraging you to push yourselves to gain the best German skills possible.

In class we'll keep your studies interesting and relevant by using a variety of contemporary texts, including journalistic articles, poems and short stories, videos, clips from TV programmes and news items.

This module will build on the German language and cultural skills you developed in year one and get you started on your exciting journey towards degree-level German. We're going to take you to the next level and by the end of this module you'll be ready to spend time living in a German-speaking country.

We'll focus on getting you confident in your German reading, writing, listening and speaking abilities. In addition, we will develop translation skills into and out of the target language. In class we'll keep your studies interesting and relevant by using a variety of contemporary texts, including journalistic articles, videos, clips from TV programmes and news items.

Berlin has long been at the centre of Germany's most significant political, cultural and social transformations. It exemplifies an ever-changing city with multiple pasts, shifting identities and an unpredictable future.

In this module, we explore Berlin’s rich culture and history - from its role as the capital during the National Socialist regime to its physical division during the Cold War, and its ever-evolving present and future.

We’ll explore these themes through the lenses of film, literature, art, architecture, music, advertising and journalism.

Some of the topics we’ll cover could include:

• Berlin's relationship with modernity and progress

• the city under dictatorships and its divided past

• migration and the shifting faces of Berlin

• destruction, reconstruction and the city's rebirth

• the legacy of Jewish Berlin 

• Berlin as a backdrop for film and TV

• the city’s influence on art and literature

• memory and Berlin’s powerful memorials 

• the iconic techno scene and electronic music culture

• queer Berlin and its vibrant communities

• sex, gender, and the ever-changing urban landscape

Investigate how and why the German language has changed over time - and the social and cultural factors that influence how people use German in different ways today.

Areas of focus could include: 

• the historical evolution of German since the earliest beginnings
• the sound system (phonology), word-formation (morphology) and syntax (including word order)
• regional variation and linguistic differences between Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland
• German language standardisation and related controversies (for example, English influence on German, spelling reform and inclusive language) 
• language used in different media (for example poetry, journalism and social media)

Modern Germany emerged during the Age of Revolutions, spanning from the 1780s to the end of World War I in 1918. This period shaped the modern world and continues to influence ideas about modernity, tradition, equality and hierarchy, the self and society.

This module focuses on Germany's transformation from fragmented states into a modern industrial nation and colonial power, leading up to its collapse during the war and revolution of 1914-1918.

Key topics include:

• the socio-economic impact of industrialisation, which disrupted the social order 

• political changes that introduced modern ideas of democracy, nationalism and global ambitions

• shifts in ideas of the self and its role in society

We will study influential texts from philosophers like Kant, Hegel and Marx, literary works, and political writings that reflect the rise of liberalism, conservatism and socialism.

In Socialist Eastern Europe, cinema was more than just propaganda; it was a form of cultural production that combined aesthetic ambitions with popular appeal. 

On this module, you will explore:

• the cinematic production of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries in Eastern Europe, including Yugoslavia

• the similarities in how these countries approached cinema, as well as their different relationships between state and cinema 

• how films reflect the experiences of living in a socialist society 

• the films that emerged after socialism

• how the socialist era is remembered in movies made since the 1980s

Themes covered may include childhood and youth, gender, history and memory, social inequality and rebellion. 

All films are available with subtitles.

This module will build on the language and cultural skills developed in last year's beginners' classes and will get you started on your exciting journey towards degree-level Spanish. Over the year, we're going to take you to the next level so by the end of the module you'll be ready to spend time living in a Spanish-speaking country.

We'll further develop your grammar and communication skills, building your confidence so that you feel happy working or studying abroad during year three. We know the thought of essay writing in another language may feel daunting, but we will help you develop these skills to competence.

To prepare you for participating in conversation with fluency we'll pay special attention to developing your ability to use complex sentence structures and rhetoric. You'll get plenty of speaking and writing practice during classes, collaborative projects and on your own time through a wide range of online and in-person interactive activities.

This module will build on the language and cultural skills developed in year one and get you started on your exciting journey towards degree-level Spanish. Over the year, we're going to take you to the next level so by the end of the module you'll be ready to spend time living in a Spanish-speaking country.

We'll further develop your grammar and communication skills, building your confidence so that you feel happy working or studying abroad during year 3. We know the thought of essay writing in another language may feel daunting, but we will help you develop these skills to competence.

To prepare you for participating in conversation with fluency we'll pay special attention to developing your ability to use complex sentence structures and rhetoric. You'll get plenty of practice during laboratory classes where you'll have access to a wide range of contemporary audio-visual materials.

This module explores abolitionism and anticolonialism as key forces shaping nationhood and citizenship in the Portuguese and Spanish-speaking regions. You'll study the end of slavery in 19th century Brazil and Cuba, focusing on how Black writers and activists challenged dominant narratives through literature and journalism. 

The module then covers 20th century Africa and Iberia to examine anticolonial struggles, national identity and the legacy of Portuguese colonialism. Using literary texts and visual culture, you'll critically explore themes like race, gender, class, language and nationalism across the South Atlantic and Iberian worlds.

By the end of the module, you’ll be able to demonstrate an understanding of the role of different groups in the formation of cultural, social and political identities and movements in the respective regions of the transatlantic world.

From the 15th century onward, Portugal and Spain built vast global empires that changed the world forever. 

The Portuguese established their influence along the African coast, in India and the South China Seas, and in what would become Brazil. Meanwhile, Spain colonised much of South and Central America, extending into parts of what is now the United States. These empires not only dominated global trade for centuries; they also funded conflicts within Europe.

In this module, we go on a journey that starts with the Portuguese explorations along the African coast and leads us to the present day. We will:

• explore how formerly colonised nations have fought for independence and shaped their unique identities 

• examine the ‘New Worlds’ that emerged from this maritime expansion, as well as the consequences of these encounters

• look at events, stories and art to uncover the lasting impact of these empires on both the colonisers and the colonised

In this module, you’ll explore key literary texts and films created during and after dictatorships in 20th century Spain and Spanish America. You'll look at how writers and filmmakers responded to authoritarian regimes like those of Primo de Rivera, Franco and various Latin American dictatorships, often working under censorship. You’ll also examine how these works reflect the political and emotional legacies of dictatorship and the transition to democracy.

You'll develop your understanding of historical and cultural contexts, improve your close reading and analysis skills and learn how literature and film can challenge power. You'll also build key academic and transferable skills including research, critical thinking and cross-cultural awareness.

By the end of this module, you’ll be able to analyse complex texts, communicate your ideas clearly and engage thoughtfully with the diverse histories and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world.

Building on the foundations laid in Portuguese 1 Beginners (MLAC1049), this module will improve not only your language skills but also your confidence.

We'll continue using relevant contemporary materials such as websites, newspapers, magazines and video content to improve your understanding, but we'll also dive deeper into grammar awareness and sentence structure.

You'll grow your vocabulary and focus on areas you may need whilst working or studying in a lusophone country. Listening comprehension skills will be further developed to ensure you feel comfortable taking part in authentic speed conversations.

Portuguese 2: Beginners requires you to have taken Portuguese 1: Beginners in year one.

Building on the skills developed in Russian 1 Beginners, this module shall help you improve your language proficiency skills and gain confidence so that by the end of the year you're ready to spend time living in a Russian-speaking country.

We'll focus on the practical application of language skills including reading, writing, listening comprehension and oral communication. In classes, workshops and tutorials you'll have the opportunity to be involved in discussions to build your conversational skills and sessions to help you use more in-depth grammar.

Building on the Russian skills developed in Year One, this module is going to improve your language proficiency skills and confidence so that by the end of the year you're ready to spend time living in a Russian-speaking country.

We'll develop your communicative skills, including oral fluency, through classroom discussions and interesting texts such as newspapers, websites and video. You'll improve your written Russian and get to grips with more sophisticated grammar topics.

We'll also help you build translating skills from Russian into English and English to Russian.

Discover Soviet and Russian culture as we explore how key events have been captured across different media and time periods. 

Looking at various sources – including photographs and photo essays, documentary film, memoirs, testimonies, documentary prose, visual art, life writing, museums and memorials – we introduce a wide range of non-fiction genres and modes in Soviet and Russian culture.

Together, we'll tackle questions like: How do we distinguish between documentary and fiction? And what elements define a documentary? By comparing different portrayals of the same events, we’ll investigate how authenticity and truth are constructed in both historical and contemporary narratives.

Potential topics include:

• the Gulag system

• the Chernobyl disaster

• the Maidan uprising

• resistance in Putin’s Russia 

• the Russian invasion of Ukraine

All materials are available in English or with English subtitles.

With borders stretching from the Baltic Sea to the deserts of Central Asia and the Pacific Ocean, Russia has never been a stable geographical unit. Over more than a millennium, people have travelled beyond its borders for a variety of reasons and with wide-ranging consequences. 

This module focuses on how Russians and their neighbours have engaged with regions beyond their homelands. 

Using case studies, we will explore the political, cultural and economic reasons for travel and population movements across time and into different geographic regions. 

Case studies may include:  

• medieval merchants and mercenaries offering their services from Constantinople to Baghdad

• pilgrims visiting the sacred places in Jerusalem

• monks building monasteries on islands in the Arctic Sea

• early tsarist armies conquering Siberia 

• explorers making their way from Alaska to the Hawaiian Islands

• the mass exodus of the first-wave emigration to Western Europe following the Russian revolution

• Soviet tourism

This year-long module builds on the skills acquired in Serbian/Croatian 1 with more emphasis on independent learning and preparation.

The module develops abilities to break down complex linguistic structures in order to facilitate comprehension and communication skills.

Teaching uses materials from written, audio and video sources, and includes grammar classes. There are exercises in comprehension, translation, guided composition writing, and presentations in the target language.

Welcome to learning Serbian/Croatian. This course is designed for absolute beginners (we also welcome those with a little knowledge) and will take you to intermediate level by the end of the year.

In class you'll cover different points of grammar and vocabulary through everyday situations. We'll guide you through basic case and verb patterns, building up to more complex grammatical points like modal verbs and verbal aspect.

But we won't only be looking at grammar! Once you have the foundations of the language in place, we'll use your new skills to explore aspects of daily and cultural life. We'll be using structured course materials and textbooks, but we'll also learn how to use everyday language to ensure you have the skills to use Serbian/Croatian in real life.

You cannot take Serbian/Croatian 1: Beginners in year two if you have already taken it in year one.

This module builds on your existing Mandarin skills and deepens your knowledge of Mandarin-speaking cultures. You’ll work with a variety of written, audio and video materials to develop your comprehension and communication abilities in both formal and informal settings. By analysing texts on topics relevant to Mandarin-speaking societies, you'll improve your reading, listening, writing and speaking skills to reach a level between B1 and B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. 

This module will support you to: 

• communicate clearly and confidently in spoken and written Mandarin

• translate and summarise a range of text types between Mandarin and English 

• use digital tools to aid language learning and evaluate online resources effectively

You’ll also strengthen your translation and summarising skills, working with moderately complex materials such as news articles and biographies. Digital tools and learning platforms will support your progress, helping you engage with language learning in more independent and critical ways. 

This module helps you strengthen and expand your Mandarin skills, aiming for a B1 level on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. You’ll work with written, audio and visual texts to improve your comprehension and expression, while exploring topics relevant to Mandarin-speaking cultures. You’ll analyse texts for meaning, structure, grammar and vocabulary, practising both oral and written communication. 

This module will support you to:

• build your reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in Mandarin 

• learn to translate basic texts between Mandarin and English 

• use digital tools and resources to aid your language learning and cultural understanding

You’ll also develop translation and mediation skills, using a range of tools and resources to help you navigate cultural contexts and communicate effectively. By the end of this module, you'll be more confident using Mandarin in everyday and academic situations.

This module is based around a challenge: how do we use the digital humanities?

You are presented with a series of problems about how we can use the arts and humanities to address some of the major issues we face in technology and society.

For example, the acceleration of technology in both private and public life is immense, but this rapid pace of change should not prevent reflection.

In this module, you consider the major contemporary issues of how technology shapes our present and our future. We respond to these concerns using the specific skillset of the arts and humanities, where we ask: what does it mean to be human?

This module is worth 10 credits.

Stand out in your job search with employability skills and hands-on experience.

Learn key skills, from constructing an outstanding CV to practicing interview technique, before completing a part-time placement in the spring. This will be for one day a week, or equivalent, for up to eight weeks.

You can apply for placements in relevant local organisations. The dedicated faculty placement team have an established list of providers, or you can arrange your own placement, subject to approval.

Our placements include a range of sectors, including:

• creative and cultural industries
• media
• marketing
• heritage and museums
• the music industry
• education
• charitable and third-sector organisations

These are subject to change each year.

You will develop a wide range of transferable skills, including:

• communication
• presentation
• organisation
• professionalism
• time management skills

Assessment is through an online portfolio of materials, including application materials, reflective writing and a research report.

This module is worth 20 credits.

Community engagement is important in many careers, from politics and social work to marketing and business.

We do not work in a vacuum - our research and activities are linked to individuals and groups across society. By learning to engage with communities, researchers can reach wide audiences, learn from them and collaboratively make a real contribution to overcoming social problems. 

We need to understand how engagement works in order to work collaboratively, respectfully and sustainability with communities.

In this module, we will:

• Explore how our staff and students work with communities – from supporting immigrant communities settling into Nottingham, to engaging with schools to promote literacy and career opportunities
• Discuss how activism and advocacy can become part of academic work
• Explore how community engagement is structured and organised and how we can ensure our work within the arts and humanities has relevance and impact for diverse audiences

This module will prepare you for your future career, by focusing on the key skill of the arts and humanities: our ability to support and engage with those around us.

This module is worth 10 credits.

Explore the histories and legacies of colonisation, alongside the routes to justice through decolonisation.

Using examples from across the globe, we explore the impact of colonisation on society, politics, economics, and culture.

You will consider contemporary examples and a wide range of evidence, sources and perspectives, including from:

• art
• film
• literature
• archive materials and documents
• music and performance

You will also explore the debates around reconciliation, restitution and justice.

Together we will build an interdisciplinary analysis, drawing upon the research of the whole faculty to uncover, assess and deconstruct the practices of colonialism and their implications for our contemporary world.  

This module is worth 10 credits.

Doing an arts and humanities degree means you’ll gain the skills which are essential for changing the world we live in. Not only that, you are uniquely positioned to understand people, processes and culture.

This module lets you apply that knowledge to solve a real-life problem. The aim is for you to develop your understanding of your degree, and the range of careers open to you.

You will work in an interdisciplinary team on a real project connected to impact, which we define as our ability to ‘make change happen’. These projects have been designed by individuals, groups and organisations that are looking to make a difference to our world. This might be about sustainability, business, equality, culture, politics or society.

Teams will be given a project brief. You will then be guided through how to shape a project, and how to work as a team and deliver results. This will give you the employment skills and experience to show how you can make an impact as an arts and humanities graduate.

This module is worth 20 credits.

Wellbeing, the crisis in mental health care, and clapping for NHS staff during the Covid pandemic are all examples of health humanities. On this module, you will be exploring contemporary challenges in this area.

To build a healthier society, enabling access to healthcare for all, we must consider how people act, behave and build connections.

You will look at:

• how the arts and humanities respond to major issues in health, medicine and wellbeing – i.e. exploring how individuals use art, literature and culture to understand pain and loss, or analysing human behaviour with regard to new medicines and our relationship to health sciences
• topics such as cultural representations of health, places of medical treatment, or the relationship between medicine and emotions

The major challenges in health provision and healthcare can be influenced and directed by the arts and humanities. This module shows you how this field can be a powerful tool for change.

This module is worth 10 credits.

Discover how our world is experienced through language.

We live in a global society, where different languages build our perceptions, ideas and values. In this module, we respect that difference and participate in it.

You will:

• Use multilingualism as a tool to challenge our own thinking and to comprehend the lives of others in society
• Work through etymologies and translations from a wide range of languages, including Russian, Spanish, French and German
• Learn how understanding languages - not just speaking and reading them - can be vital in contributing to our community, enriching your experience, and participating in a global society

No knowledge of any language is needed, as we focus on understanding what it means to live in our multi-lingual world.

This module is worth 10 credits.

Explore how Nottingham creates ideas, identities, culture and products, alongside how you as a student are also ‘Made in Nottingham’.

This module will help you begin shaping your skills for the career you want, drawing upon the way arts and humanities work has transformed the city.

From the entrepreneurs who have set up businesses or those who have created and enriched charities and social projects, to the writers, artists, musicians and teachers who have all been created in Nottingham. We use their experience, their understanding and their skills to help you define your own path for after university.

You will be able to build your profile through this module, develop your own career narrative to use in your future work as well as engage in the variety of opportunities that are open to you as an arts graduate.

Through this module, we’ll address what it means to be ‘Made in Nottingham’.

This module is worth 10 credits.