Foundation Diploma for Postgraduate Studies

This is a module which provides some classes and one-to-one supersory support in order to enable students to complete an 8000-word dissertation on a topic of their choice. The classes develop skills and awareness in students do that they can identify a relevant and researchable topic focus and draft a research proposal in order to identify a suitable supervisor.

This module runs alongside the second half of the students’ ISP research and gives students the chance to work on developing skills and knowledge which are essential for the completion of their ISP dissertation. It also gives students the opportunity to present their research in an oral setting.

This optional unit explores how ideas are expressed and understood in a cultural comparative context. It examines the critical tradition of the West and, emphasising a socio-anthropological interpretation, explores the boundaries between different cultures and cultural perspectives.

The module introduces the principles of Business and Finance through an examination of key elements of Finance and Accounting. It considers the principles of business accounts, including the balance sheet, profit and loss account and key financial ratios. It introduces opportunity costs assessments of financial viability, including Net Present Value (NPV), and payback period including discounts, or expected rates of return or revenues. It introduces the principles that determine the rate of exchange. It includes the practical application of Excel to real accounts and enables students to undertake key aspects of modelling, to assess the performance of firms and the viability of investments. 

In this module students will be engaged in the debates about governing the environment at various scales, and how they interlink with dynamics of development. The environment is an ideal arena to examine this because of the transboundary nature of environmental change, which necessarily implies policies that link the local and the global through a series of networks ranging from states to NGOs to international organisations.

The module provides an introduction to the international political system. It is roughly divided into three segments to provide an overview of the system. The first segment of lectures and classes will provide a survey of the historical evolution of the system, from an emerging system of sovereign actors, reflecting changes in European society and politics, to a contemporary international political system of sovereign states encompassing the globe. The second segment will familiarise participants with the debates about how best to conceive of and analyse international politics. The third segment will look at a selected number of contemporary issues in international politics such as international security, international economic relations, the international protection of human rights and/or the international politics of the environment. 

The course provides a broad introduction to the practice and theories central to mass media engagement in contemporary Western society. Key areas of knowledge are introduced, drawing on examples from print and digital platforms, television, film and the internet. Media is not just receptive but actively creative of the world we inhabit. How we attend to media makes all the difference to the world we experience. How mediated words, sounds and images affect us also makes a difference to how we interpret the world. 

This course allows students to reflect upon utilizing the world through media and understanding the world through media. It posits that Western media inhibits the latter at the expense of the former.