All Courses

In this course, Dr Arif Ahmed (University of Cambridge) explores the question ‘What is knowledge?’. In the first module, we introduce the idea of ‘analysing’ knowledge and arrive at the classical, tripartite definition of knowledge as justified...

In this course, Dr Tim Oliver (Loughborough University) explores Brexit in three broad areas – causes, consequences and meanings. In the first two modules, we provide a general introduction to the course as a whole as well as an outline of the ...

In this course, Professor Francis Pakes (University of Portsmouth) explores key issues in criminal psychology. In the first lecture, we think about Lombroso and the notion of the ‘born criminal’. In the second lecture, we discuss genetic...

In this course, Dr Robert Crowcroft (University of Edinburgh) explores British politics between the years 1918-45. In the first module, we think about the reasons for the political domination of the Conservative Party in this period, focusing in...

In this course, Professor Anna McMullan (University of Reading) explores Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. We begin in the first module with an overview of Beckett’s life, career and literary output. After that, we think about the mixed...

In this course, Mr Dan Clayton (Independent Scholar) explores a variety of linguistic issues related to the use of the English language. In the first module, we think about why people take language so seriously, and why debates about its 'correct'...

In this course, Dr Laura Gow explores the theory of perception known as direct realism. In the first module, we think about why perception is so important to us, before contrasting direct realism with another popular theory of perception: indirect...

In this course, Professor Neville Morley (University of Bristol) explores Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, focusing on the key episodes in the text and thinking in particular about some of the historiographical issues that modern...

In a special set of two lectures, Dr Elton Barker (Open University) explores the worlds of the Homeric epics, suggesting in particular that both the Iliad and the Odyssey question the use of violence as a means of conflict-resolution. In...

In this course, Professor Simon Horobin (University of Oxford) explores language change in the English language. In the first module, we think about why we should study language change at all. In the second module we provide an introduction to the...

In this course, Professor James Harris (University of Leeds) thinks about the Great Terror, Stalin’s campaign of political repression between 1936-38 that left more than 750,000 dead. In the first module, we think about the sources available for...

In this course, Dr Jonathan Willis (University of Birmingham) explores religion and the church in Tudor England through six key questions: (1) To what extent was criticism of the Late Medieval Catholic Church the main reason for the growth of...

In this course, Dr Lucy Jones (University of Nottingham) explores language use through the lens of gender and sexuality. In the first module, we outline some of the traditional approaches to the question of why men and women use language...

In this course, Dr Nadine Rossol (University of Essex) explores the early years of the Weimar Republic (1918-23). In the first module, we trace events in the final years in the First World War up to the events in Kiel in late October/early...