Brief Encounters: An Introduction to Writing Short Stories
This module has been designed to help students realize their creative potential by producing
original and stimulating short fiction. Teaching will consist of specialist workshops conducted
by an expert in the field. In addition to engaging with practical aspects of craft and
technique, students will learn how to create believable, compelling characters and how to
make them live (and die!) on the page. They will also have the opportunity to visit sites of
historic importance and natural beauty to inspire their writing.
Language of Instruction: English
Course Level: Lower Division
Recommended US semester credits: 3
Course Level: Lower Division
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Education and Learning: A Scottish Perspective
The module aims to explore the purposes of education and how this translates into
curriculum offerings within the Scottish Education system in the context of the UK. The
module will also consider the issues of learners’ identities within pre-school, primary,
secondary and further education.
Language of Instruction: English
Course Level: Lower Division
Course Level: Lower Division
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Marketing and Branding Scotland
Marketing and Branding Scotland aims to give students a basic understanding of the environment
within which business in Scotland operates and how its culture is sold globally and how culture is
used to sell goods and services. In addition, the module will provide an introduction to an
understanding of what Marketing is, how it can be used, especially in the context of smaller
businesses. Themes of place marketing, nation branding and the importance of cultural heritage in
the marketing process will also be introduced.
Language of Instruction: English
Course Level: Lower Division
Recommended US semester credits: 3
Course Level: Lower Division
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Photographing the Urban
This module acquaints students with historical to contemporary photographic art practices.
It examines specific models and matrixes that define how photographic imaging, techniques and histories have evolved over the last 200 years. It further examines photographic adoption in relation to the representation of the built environment through various artistic genres including painting, media, optics and photography.
Topics examined include: the camera obscura, the grand tour, documentation and creation of photographic albums & topologies, art-photography and the Pictorialist milieu.
Underpinning this module is an acquisition of skills in fine art digital photography. Students are to research and create their own photographic portfolios based on lecture material about the history of photography.
Students are required to demonstrate proficiency in using their own digital camera in order to undertake course assignments.
Language of Instruction: English
Course Level: Lower Division
Recommended US semester credits: 3
Course Level: Lower Division
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Religion and Conflict
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the sociological and analytic study of religion, identity, conflict and violence within a local, national and global context. It will examine issues such as nationalism, colonialism, international affairs and the role of those charged with reporting such conflicts. Extensive attention will be paid to the representation of religious conflict in the arts, such as literature and films, alongside a detailed examination in of the violent groups that have arisen as an apparent reaction to religious fundamentalism as a rising narrative of a new cultural war.
Language of Instruction: English
Course Level: Lower Division
Recommended US semester credits: 3
Course Level: Lower Division
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Rethinking the City
Rethinking the City provides a general introduction to the design of cities, and how they can be organized and improved, with a particular focus on Scottish New Town design. We consider, for instance, how the role of social and urban planning of Scottish New Town developments has contributed to our thinking about what makes a livable city. We will also consider the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (2015) and explore the rights of each person to health, education, shelter, and security and how similar goals informed Scottish town planning.
We have structured our course to draw students into conversations on key questions, and to provide opportunities to students to use design-thinking to explore how urban centres are designed, and ways in which we might improve them. Students will research and create their own urban plan to identify and evaluate real city examples based on a class excursion, in-class assignments and reading material. Over the duration of the course, students will also be able to develop an understanding of basic concepts of livable city design, and will have the opportunity to apply research and critical thinking, photographic skills and social media in their assignments.
Language of Instruction: English
Course Level: Lower Division
Recommended US semester credits: 3
Course Level: Lower Division
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Royals and Rascals: Contemporary Studies in British Journalism
For centuries, Britain’s kings and queens have had a powerful impact on society and on its institutions.
Following the rise of celebrity culture, members of the British Royal family and other public figures have used their influence and financial muscle to push back journalists in order to reclaim their privacy. This module is aimed at journalism students and others interested in the media and its relationship with public figures, including Britain’s royals, who want to explore fundamental ethical principles and press freedom issues from the vantage point of some of the world’s most fascinating news stories. These cases range from Princess Diana’s death, for which the Paparazzi were blamed, to Prince Harry’s more recent indiscretions, which played out in the digital media.
Language of Instruction: English
Course Level: Lower Division
Recommended US semester credits: 3
Course Level: Lower Division
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Scotland the What? Contemporary Scottish Literature & Identity
For the past decade, Scotland’s national status has been ‘both dangled before us and tantalizingly withheld’ (poet Don Paterson). With attention focused on the question of independence, recent debates concerning Scottish culture and identity gain a heightened political charge. Literature has not only reflected but actively shaped such debate. In the year the new Scottish Parliament was established (1998), Christopher Whyte argued that ‘in the absence of elected political authority, the task of representing the nation has been repeatedly devolved to its writers’. But what influence have writers played in recent political change, and to what extent has Scottish culture escaped its own stereotypes?
This course examines the literary and political currents shaping contemporary Scottish identity, introducing students to key twentieth- and twenty-first century texts. We encounter and explain a range of cultural debates concerning language, class, democracy and nationhood, attending to the urgency as well as the complexity of recent Scottish writing.
Language of Instruction: English
Course Level: Lower Division
Recommended US semester credits: 3
Course Level: Lower Division
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Scotland on the Screen
ISS9SS is an International Summer School module designed to introduce students to key theoretical debates that have emerged in the study of Scotland’s relationship with the film and television industries. Important questions we will consider include: Who is responsible for constructing Scotland’s identity onscreen? How are Scotland and Scottishness depicted?
Why do certain representations dominate over others?
The course will begin by exploring ‘Hollywood Scotland’, concentrating on the commercial cinematic representation of Scotland and Scottishness found in Mel Gibson’s Braveheart (1995). This will then be contrasted with a more local construction of Scotland found in the long running television show Taggart (ITV, 1983-2011). The final weeks will conclude by considering filmmaking in contemporary Scotland, first through contemplation of the importance of short films in the Scottish context, focusing in particular on the shorts and careers of Lynne Ramsay, Peter Mullan and Morag McKinnon, and second through examination of the Scottish/Danish co-produced ‘Advance Party’ initiative.
Language of Instruction: English
Course Level: Lower Division
Recommended US semester credits: 3
Course Level: Lower Division
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Crime and Justice in Scotland: The Criminal in Scottish Society
This module is designed to introduce students to the subject of Criminology through the lens of the Scottish Criminal Justice System. The module begins with an overview of the Scottish Criminal Justice System before examining the major avenues by which the public obtain information about crime – as victims of crime and from the media and official statistics. The module examines the processes that have developed our definitions of crime and the broader social and political context in which this crime occurs. In addition to this, the course provides the opportunity for students to engage in discussion with a Scottish Prison Service Warden, allowing a deeper understanding of punishment in Scotland and the incarceration of offenders.
Language of Instruction: English
Course Level: Lower Division
Recommended US semester credits: 3
Course Level: Lower Division
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Green Politics: Theory & Practice
This introductory module aims to provide students with an understanding of environmental issues and the key issues and dilemmas involved in addressing problems such as climate change and consumer behavior. We will evaluate the gaps between environmental policy intentions and reality. The module also helps students to navigate the multitude of concepts, ideologies,actors and political settings involved in environmental politics. Key areas this module will focus on include green political theory and sustainable development, the role of green political parties in the UK, corporations and green politics, green consumerism and environmental protest campaigns.
Language of Instruction: English
Course Level: Lower Division
Recommended US semester credits: 3
Course Level: Lower Division
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International Relations ISS9IR
This module explores contemporary issues and debates that shape world politics today. It starts by introducing International Relations (IR) theory before turning to two broad themes that dominate IR: conflict and peace. Key issues covered include nuclear weapons, private military companies, humanitarian intervention and failed states. Students will also apply the themes of conflict and peace to a case study of the Northern Ireland conflict exploring the key political developments and the transition to a post-conflict settlement. This module will also include a workshop that examines the use of wall murals to articulate conflict / post-conflict identity. This module includes a day trip visit to Belfast where students will undertake a historical/political tour of the city taking in the wall murals and other key sites linked to the Northern Ireland conflict. Students taking this module may incur a small additional charge for the trip to Belfast.
Language of Instruction: English
Recommended US semester credits: 3
Internship for International Summer School
The internship module places a student with a local employer for a four week placement where they will undertake a project of benefit to the business. Internships will be usually available in the following sectors: sport, environment, political, charity/not for profit sector and marketing.
The placements will enable students to not only acquire valuable experience, but also to develop networking skills and some knowledge of the UK labor market. It will also develop student confidence in the workplace and build their employability skills. Employers include large and small to medium sized companies in both the public and private sectors. Students will have the opportunity to reflect upon their development and experience throughout the module.
There will be a mix of classroom teaching sessions, review days and on-line tutorials, however, the core aspect of the module will be a work placement. It is estimated that each internship will include about 140 contact hours and about 10 classroom hours through the four week period. Students are supported by a mentor based in their placement organization and by a designated tutor from the Careers and Employability Service.
Language of Instruction: English
Course Level: Lower Division
Course Level: Lower Division
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Monsters and Vampires: The Impact of British Gothic on Contemporary Popular Culture
From sparkly vampires to blockbuster monsters, gothic tropes appear to be all-pervasive
in contemporary culture. As Catherine Spooner claims in Contemporary Gothic (2006), like ‘a
malevolent virus, Gothic narratives have escaped the confines of literature and spread across
disciplinary boundaries to infect all kinds of media, from fashion and advertising to the way
contemporary events are constructed in mass culture’. What this course aims to do is to introduce
students to Gothic’s literary expression in the British nineteenth century, before exploring the many
ways in which this dark heritage continues to affect contemporary cultural production.
Focusing on three key texts from the nineteenth century, Frankenstein (1818), The Strange Case of
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) and Dracula (1897), this class will discuss their adaptation,
appropriation and influence on popular narratives such as those found in fiction, film, tv, fashion and
music video.
Language of Instruction: English
Course Level: Lower Division
Recommended US semester credits: 3
Course Level: Lower Division
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Sculpting Art
Sculpting Art provides a general introduction to contemporary art history, with examples
and inspiration drawn from the University of Stirling’s public art and sculpture collections.
The course is especially designed for students to explore sculptural representation from
figurative artworks at the end of the 20th century to the commencement of Modernism and
its relationship to new technologies and different forms of art representation.
Language of Instruction: English
Course Level: Lower Division
Recommended US semester credits: 3
Course Level: Lower Division
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Scottish History: The Jacobites
["The module aims to provide students with an understanding of the origins, main features and\nimpact of the Jacobite movement, while placing Scotland\u2019s experience of Jacobitism firmly within its\nwider British and European context. The themes we will examine include the Stuart monarchy in\ngeneral and James VII in particular","the nature of the multiple monarchy, looking at relations\nbetween Scotland, England and Ireland","Highlands and Lowlands","early modern warfare","and\ninternational diplomacy. The module seeks to deepen historical and transferable skills already\nacquired or to assist students coming to history as a discipline for the first time in acquiring such\nskills."]
Language of Instruction: English
Course Level: Lower Division
Recommended US semester credits: 3
Course Level: Lower Division
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Witchcraft and Belief in Early-Modern Scotland, 1563-1736
The module aims to provide students with a thorough understanding of the phenomena of
witchcraft belief and prosecution in Scotland between the sixteenth and eighteenth
centuries. The focus of the module will be mostly on social and cultural themes but an
understanding of the political, economic and religious context will be important.
Language of Instruction: English
Course Level: Lower Division
Recommended US semester credits: 3
Course Level: Lower Division
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Junkies and Jezebels: Scotland and Gender ISS9JJ
Recent advances in feminist and LGBT+ liberation movements have had a visible and global impact on culture, literature, politics, and commerce. This module examines gender and sexuality in a Scottish context. As binary understandings of gender and sexuality are increasingly shown to be outdated and outmoded, developments in our understanding of gender and sexuality are making headlines and becoming a regular part of our daily discourse in both our social and working lives. This course enables students to apply their knowledge of identity politics to a dynamic range of relevant texts.
The texts in this module examine the decline of the traditional, industrialist, ‘hard man’ masculinities in Scotland. Through an exploration of dynamic, contemporary and highly acclaimed texts, this course examines broken masculinities, resistant femininities, and resurgent Scottish LGBT+ fictions. A select range of relevant secondary sources will accompany this exploration of primary literature, introducing students to iconic theorists, as well as relevant contemporary critics examining Scottish literature from a gendered perspective.
There will be optional opportunities to submit creative work as an alternative to an essay assignment, enabling students to demonstrate an understanding of the stylistic and thematic aspects of the course as creative practitioners.
