All Courses

In the course, Professor Rosamond McKitterick (University of Cambridge) explores the rule of Charlemagne and the Carolingian Empire. The course begins by considering the sources available for historians of the period—including Charlemagne’s...

In this course, Dr Lydia Kearney (University of Kent) explores the nature ‘versus’ nurture debate in psychology. In the first lecture, we preface the course by proposing the removal of ‘versus’, predicated on the origin of any human behaviour...

In this course, Professor Tariq Modood (University of Bristol) explores the idea of multiculturalism. In the first module, we think about what constitutes ‘difference’ between distinct groups in a multicultural society. In the second module, we...

In this course, Professor Jonathan Charteris-Black (UWE Bristol) explores political language. In the first module, we explore the various definitions of political language, before turning in the second module to think about the different levels at...

In this course, Professor Linda Woodhead (Lancaster University) explores religion through the lens of feminism/gender studies. In the first lecture, we explore some classic feminist critiques of Christianity, including the work of Elizabeth Cady...

In this course, Dr Mhairi Bowe (Nottingham Trent University) explores the social identity approach to health, also known as the ‘social cure’. In the first lecture, we think about the social identity approach in psychology more generally and how...

In this course, Professor John Arnold (University of Cambridge) explores heresy and the church in Medieval Europe. In the first module, we think about the growth of heretical movements up to the beginning of the Albigensian Crusade. In the two...

In this course, Dr Anna Plassart (Open University) explores the Scottish Enlightenment. In the first module, we think about the Enlightenment as a whole—why it happened when it did, its principle goals and central doctrines—before moving on in the...

In this course, Professor Jane Setter (University of Reading) provides an introduction to phonetics and phonology. In the first module, we look at the speech chain and think about how people actually understand speech. In the two modules after...

In this course, Professor Iwan Morgan (University College, London) explores the presidency of Ronald Reagan (1981-89). In the first module, we think about Reagan's handling of the economy, focusing in particular on the shift away from the economic...

In this course, Dr Alfie Bown (University of Manchester) explores Dickens’ 1849-50 novel David Copperfield. After a brief introduction that sets the novel in its historical context, we turn to some of the major themes of the novel, including how...

In this course Professor Llewelyn Morgan (University of Oxford) explores Book 2 of Virgil’s Aeneid. In the first lecture, we think about the Aeneid as an epic poem. In the second, we explore some of the connections between Troy and Rome, before...

In this course, Dr Matthew Cole (University of Birmingham) explores the history of the Liberal Party – and the later Liberal Democrat Party – from its foundation in 1859 until 2017. We begin by thinking liberalism as a political ideology, from the...

In this course, Professor Cedric Watts (University of Sussex) explores Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida. We begin by thinking about the strangeness of the play: is it a history, a comedy, or a tragedy? was it performed in Shakespeare's lifetime?...