- Ancient Egypt: An Introduction
- This course introduces participants to the rich and vibrant civilization of ancient Egypt. From royal pyramids, court artisans and powerful pharaohs, to grandiose temples, mysterious gods and foreign invasions, participants will experience the world of ancient Egypt, its highs and lows, and the rich tapestry of its culture. Who were the ancient Egyptians? Why did they create such monumental constructions and such magnificent works of art? The culture, history, art, architecture and religion of ancient Egypt has long captured the imagination of people across the world. Providing an overview of the ancient Egyptians, and combining archaeological, textual and pictorial evidence, this course will allow participants to delve into the world of ancient Egypt, to see how it developed and why it came to an end. As the weeks pass, we will read the words of ancient kings, priests, courtiers, and artisans, witness the great artistic triumphs from across 3,000 years of history, explore the beliefs of people from different ends of society's spectrum, and learn how they lived in a world that though familiar, was quite different from our own. Through guided reading, web pages, and interactive media, participants will experience ancient Egypt like never before.
- Ikram, S., Ancient Egypt, An Introduction (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2009)
- Ancient India: From Indus Valley to Rise of Buddhism
- South Asia includes the countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan; stretching between the mighty Himalayas in the north to the waters of the Indian Ocean in the south, this huge landmass is home to an ancient and diverse group of cultures. With very different landscapes, cultures, languages, scripts, musical traditions, dance forms, and distinctive artistic heritages, this region presents an incredible complexity that has attracted people’s interest from time immemorial. During the third millennium B.C., spacious cities, displaying advanced town planning, were built along the plains of the Indus River. The great cities of the Indus Valley flourished for more than a thousand years. Between 1800 and 1200 B.C. Indo-European people known as the Aryans settled in the region and formed the basis of the Vedic civilisations which eventually formed the basis of what Hinduism is today. This is also the birthplace of another major world religion that arose during the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. Propounded by Prince Siddhartha, Buddhism was a path of moderation that was open to all. This course has been designed to incorporate all these important periods of South Asia to develop historical consciousness about the ancient Indian civilization in the minds of the students and to impart knowledge about the region’s complex historical traditions.
- The Rise in Civilization in India and Pakistan / Allchin, Bridget and Raymond
- The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300 / Thapar, Romila
- Ancient Mesopotamia and the Sumerians
- Over five thousand years ago, on the fertile plains of Southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), the Sumerians founded one of the world’s first civilisations. One that lies at the root of our own urban, literate and globalised world. Here, in the land of Sumer, they developed the earliest known system of writing, built vast cities characterised by monumental architecture, established richly furnished temples to receive the blessing of their gods, formed armies to battle for control of land and water, and sought exotic materials from distant lands, along trade routes that stretched from Egypt in the west to Afghanistan in the east. Using a combination of archaeology and textual sources, along with videos that provide unique access to collections housed in the Ashmolean Museum, this course will provide you with an introduction to Ancient Mesopotamia and the Sumerians.
- Van De Mieroop, M., 2024 (4th edition) A History of the Ancient Near East: Ca. 3000-323 BC, Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell
- Architectural Conservation: History and Global Practice
- Climate change presents a great threat to our cultural heritage. But managing the historic environment can also help us prepare for and respond to change. Architectural conservation has a crucial role to play in our future, by helping us adapt our built environment to be in greater harmony with the natural environment. Those entrusted with the care of our old buildings are responsible for passing on the story of how we make our place in the world. Care for the historic built environment reflects broader cultural values. In the past, approaches varied from place to place. They depended on the local environment, for example on what materials were available. Global principles have emerged alongside these local traditions. These principles are still tied to social and environmental issues. That means architectural conservation practice has to account for complex issues and attitudes. When caring for an historic building, each case is unique. There are no right answers (although there are plenty of wrong answers!). Science can help us, but it can't make decisions for us. Together, we will cover the origins of the architectural conservation movement. We will frame practical approaches globally and in the UK within this movement. We will discuss the role of scientific understanding in shaping these developments. Case studies will cover the tutor's work at UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
- A History of Architectural Conservation / Jokilehto, J.
- Conservation of Historic Buildings / Feilden, B.
- Practical Building Conservation: Conservation Basics / McCaig, Iain
- Conservation of Historic Buildings (3rd ed) / Feilden, B.
- Curated Decay: Heritage Beyond Saving Glendenning / DeSilvey, C.
- Historical and Philosophical Issues in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage / Price, N.
- Artificial Intelligence Concepts: Introduction to Machine Learning
- artificial intelligence, n. The capacity of computers or other machines to exhibit or simulate intelligent behaviour; the field of study concerned with this. — Oxford English Dictionary. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already woven into the fabric of our lives, often in ways we barely notice. From government systems to global business, the ability of machines to sense, process, decide and learn is transforming how we live and work. But as AI evolves, so too do the ethical, social and strategic questions it raises. This Introduction to Machine Learning course explores the methods that power today’s AI systems. You’ll gain a clear grounding in key concepts that underpin Machine Learning, including supervised and unsupervised learning, neural networks, clustering and deep learning. We also explore how Machine Learning is being applied to areas such as natural language processing – and what this means for the future of the global economy. Designed for a broad audience, this course is ideal for professionals whose work intersects with AI, or for anyone looking to gain a deeper understanding of this fast-moving field – no prior experience required. This is part of a wider series exploring how AI is shaping our world, helping you speak the language of the future with confidence.
- Byzantine Constantinople
- Constantinople was the political and cultural capital of the Byzantine empire, the most long-lived empire in the history of the western civilisation, from 330 to 1453, and also the seat of one of the five patriarchates and the site of many ecumenical and local councils. This course will trace the development of the city, as well as the momentous events that took place in it, from the time of Emperor Constantine I to its fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Using contemporary texts and visual aids, the course will also examine the cultural, artistic and everyday life in the Byzantine capital from the fourth to the fifteenth century.
- HARRIS Jonathan Constantinople, Capital of Byzantium, 2011
- HERRIN Judith Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire, 2007
- MANGO Cyril (ed.) The Oxford History of Byzantium, 2002
- Classical Architecture: A Design Workshop
- Explore the history and variety of classical architecture through the ages, and discover how it is based on ancient principles that have evolved over centuries, up to the present day. The course includes an expert tour of classical buildings in Oxford, dissecting the way classical principles have been used in their design. You will have a chance to learn to draw some of the key assemblies of columns and beams that provide the aesthetic framework to all classical design, and well-known practitioners will explain how they have used these to create their own designs. You will also have the chance to try your hand under expert supervision and leave with your own designs.
- John Summerson The Classical Language of Architecture
- Quinlan Terry The Layman's' Guide to Classical Architecture
- Environmental Ethics: An Introduction
- There are many environmental problems today: pollution of land, sea and air; species loss; biodiversity loss as well as climate change. Philosophers have been considering these problems for many decades and environmental ethics is a growing discipline. But what is ethics? What is environmental ethics? What is nature and what are our duties towards the natural world? These are some of the questions we will be asking on this course as well as searching for a better understanding of ourselves and our situation today. Ethical theories will be applied to some major governmental policy decisions such as geoengineering and nuclear power. Are we on the right track for solving climate change or are there deeper concerns that we need to investigate? This is a foundational course for anyone concerned with environmental problems or wanting to pursue a career in environmental policy making.
- Environmental ethics / Boylan, Michael ed
- Silent spring / Carson, Rachel
- Ethics: the fundamentals / Driver, Julia
- Late light: the secret wonders of a disappearing world / Malay, Michael
- Practical ethics / Singer, Peter
- The ethics of climate change: an introduction / Williston, Byron
- Ethics with Aristotle
- Aristotle (384–322 BCE) continues to have a central and pivotal place in moral thinking. Not only is his ethical work the first attempt at a systematic theory, but it also sets the major themes for centuries to come. We study exemplary selections from the ‘Nicomachean Ethics’ (NE) in considerable depth, and so cover central themes in moral philosophy while also relating them to our own lives. In conversation, we think, for instance, about what is good and valuable, how to make wise choices, being courageous and just, how to deal with pleasure constructively, and making and keeping friends. In short, our theme is the good life according to Aristotle.
- Nicomachean Ethics / Aristotle
- Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction / Barnes, J.
- Aristotle’s Way / Hall, E.
- Aristotle’s Ethics / Kraut, R.
- Ethics: An Introduction
- In this introduction to ethics, the philosophy of morality, we shall be considering questions of both practice (is lying wrong? Must we keep our promises?) and theory (what makes an action wrong? Is it only human who worry about morality? How do we apply moral theory to society?). We shall examine four important ethical theories (Aristotle's virtue ethics, Kant's deontology, Hume's expressivism and Mill's utilitarianism) and we shall apply them to two practical questions: the rights of animals and euthanasia. There will be plenty of opportunity to engage in debate and to test your own moral theories.
- Shafer-Landau, Russ: (Ed); Ethical Theory: An Anthology Second Edition (Blackwell`s, Oxford, 2012, ISBN: 978-1-470-67160-3)
- Exploring the Universe
- How old is the Universe? How unusual is the Solar System? How do we know what stars are made of? How will it all end? Oxford astronomers Chris Lintott (BBC’s Sky at Night) and Robert Simpson (zooniverse.org) provide an overview of the last 13.7 billion years of cosmic evolution, and the future of the Universe, answering these questions and more. The course will take participants to the cutting edge of astrophysics. Covering cutting-edge ideas, techniques and discoveries in astrophysics, they aim to tell the scientific stories behind the beautiful pictures produced by the world’s largest telescopes.
- May, Moore, Lintott & Wakeford, Bang!! 2: The complete history of the universe (Welbeck, London, 2021)
- Fossils and Ancient Life
- What can fossils tell us about life on Earth? What were the first life forms like? How did they live and how did they die? We will consider all these questions, and more, as we work our way through fossils from each era of geological time. Fossils are our only way of knowing about past life and during the course we will find out how good this record is. We will discover what fossils can tell us about big 'Earth moments' as we explore mass extinctions. One topic of interest is what killed the dinosaurs, with a surprise at the end. We will work through how to identify fossils and how they inform us about ancient environments, evolution and extinctions. Fossils used for hands-on exploring will be selected from the tutor's large collection and include ammonites, trilobites, corals, graptolites, trace fossils plus many more. Many skills will be developed in handling and interpreting fossils in terms of 'form and function', and you may bring in your own fossils for a fun identification class activity.
- Doyle, P. Understanding fossils. An introduction to invertebrate palaeontology (Wiley. ISBN 0-471-96351-8)
- Eyers, J. All about fossils (2021, ISBN 978-1-904898-26-9)
- Sheldon, P Fossil Detectives. Field guide (2008, good value)
- Garden History: An Introduction
- The formation of gardens large or small depended on a combination of architecture, horticulture, philosophy, botany, archaeology, art and a very fertile imagination. This course will take a chronological approach to identify how gardens evolved over time from Roman gardens and their classical influences, through to the early 20th century. This will give you an opportunity to recognise the cyclical nature of garden designs over the centuries as people rebelled against the previous generation’s taste. Although in the latter part of the course we will be focusing on British gardens, the gardens on mainland Europe and their influence will be woven into the timeline to demonstrate how ideas travelled back and forth between countries and cultures. We will set the gardens, people, and places within their social, political, economic and cultural context in order to enhance the student’s understanding of how certain gardens came about and why. Who did they benefit? How were they used?
- Miles Hadfield A History of British Gardening (1979)
- Ambra Edwards The Story of the English Garden ( 2018)
- Attlee, Helena, Italian Gardens (2006)
- Bower, Patrick Gardens of the Roman World (2004)
- Penelope Hobhouse The Story of Gardening, (2004)
- Geology and Volcanoes
- With 40-50 continuing volcanic eruptions at any given time (https://volcano.si.edu), Earth is a dynamic planet. Some of our most visually striking and awe-inspiring landscapes are developed on volcanic rocks, so that we are drawn to holiday locations in places like the Canary Islands, Indonesia, Hawaii, Yellowstone National Park. These can also be the locations of devastating natural disasters, and the geological record contains evidence for even greater volcanic events than any experienced by human beings. What are the Earth’s internal forces causing volcanoes to erupt? Why do the products of volcanoes range from pumice fragments to flowing basalt lava, from volcanic bombs to Pelée's Hair? Why are some volcanoes more dangerous than others, and in what places should we fear pyroclastic flows, volcanic gases or tsunamis? Geology and Volcanoes seeks to answer these and other questions about the way Planet Earth works. The course is updated to include recent eruptions and developments in Earth and Planetary science, as well as the role of volcanoes in influencing climates and environments, now and in the geological past. Students who already know some geology will be able to extend their existing knowledge, and beginners will literally see a whole new world opening up before them. Bring your own questions, specimens for identification, or requests for particular volcanoes to be included in the course.
- Geology: An Introduction to the Science of Planet Earth
- Geology combines all the basic sciences in a broad-ranging discipline for studying the way Planet Earth works. We start with the origin of the Earth, its chemical composition and internal structure. Minerals are the building blocks of rocks – igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. Fossils and chemical signatures reveal that life existed on this planet from billions of years ago. Although we work on a very long timescale, some of the principles of geology are relatively new, eg plate tectonics and radiometric dating were unknown until the 20th century. Geology has never been more relevant than it is today, with mankind facing issues such as natural disasters, species diversity, climate change and the energy transition, indeed, a knowledge of geology could be the key to our survival. This is a hands-on course, which will include classroom time working with geological specimens. Students are encouraged to ask questions and initiate discussion. To introduce the concepts underlying geological science, the interpretation of geological evidence for the way the Earth is made, the processes that produce geological materials, features and environments, and the relevance of geology in understanding present day phenomena such as climate change. To introduce practical skills of observation, description and recognition of commonly occurring rocks, minerals, fossils, geological outcrops and structures, in the lab and in the field. To lay the foundations of geological science upon which more advanced geological study may be undertaken in the future; to provide a way-in to the subject, so that students may find out information for themselves.
- Gobekli Tepe: Exploring New Ideas and Evidence
- Situated in the foothills of the Taurus mountains in southeastern Anatolia (Türkiye), Göbekli Tepe (9,500-8,200 cal BCE) is one of the most important Neolithic settlements in western Asia. A UNESCO World Heritage site, it has gained international attention due to its monumental megalithic structures. More than 20 circular stone enclosures, complete with T-shaped limestone pillars carved with images of wild animals and anthropomorphic figures, have been discovered at the site since excavations began there in 1995. The recognition that these were built by hunter-gatherer communities has helped to overturn long held assumptions about the origins of agriculture, its causes and its consequences. This course will examine the archaeological evidence gathered over 30 years of investigations at Göbekli Tepe and explore, thematically, how new ideas and data from the site are once more re-writing prehistory.
- Prehistoric Western Asia / Akkermans, P.M.M.G.
- Göbekli Tepe, Turkey. A brief summary of research at a new World Heritage Site (2015–2019) / Lee Clare
- A Neolithic Site in Southeastern Anatolia / Schmidt, K.
- God: The Basics - Evil, Mystery and Religious Experience
- We begin by looking at some classic arguments for the existence of God. We then turn to the best-known argument against the existence of God - the problem of evil. Various classic attempts to show how observed evils can be squared with God's existence are examined, including theodicies and sceptical theism. We then consider religious experience and the thought that some people might reasonably believe in God even without any supporting argument or evidence. Can some people 'just know' God exists? Does the fact that religious belief can be explained naturalistically - perhaps by the cognitive science of religion - effectively explain away religious belief? We investigate the extent to which disagreement between religious believers should lead us to be sceptical about religious belief. The supposed clash between science and religion, and the threat posed by science to religion, is investigated. Finally we look at the Wittgensteinian suggestion that atheist critics of religious belief fail to understand what it is they are criticising, because they fail to understand how religious language is used.
- Believing Bullshit / Law, Stephen
- 'Scientism' / Law, Stephen
- Hegel to Heidegger
- After Kant's transcendental idealism heralded a new approach to philosophical thinking which considered the role of the subject in objective knowledge, a consciousness-centred view of the world emerged. With the backdrop of Enlightenment thought and the development of Romanticism, German philosophy embarked on an engaging project which would transform the way people thought about human nature, art, religion, history and political science. After Hegel's monumental contributions, German philosophy then found new ways to explore anthropology, psychology and scepticism – amongst other areas – before challenging assumptions about language, morality and even the concept of human nature itself. This course provides an accessible study of weighty philosophical concepts like, transcendental idealism, phenomenology, aesthetics, personalism and existentialism in this period of German thought.
- Bowie, A. German Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction
- Feuerbach, L. Principles of the Philosophy of the Future
- Feuerbach, L. The Essence of Christianity
- Fichte, J.G. Science of Knowledge
- Hegel, G.W.F. Phenomenology of Spirit
- Heidegger, M. Being and Time
- Marx, K. & Engels, F. The German Ideology
- Introduction to Bionanotechnology
- The Introduction to Bionanotechnology course introduces physical scientists, engineers and non-scientists to biological systems and terminology relevant to nanotechnology, and showcases current applications and new developments in bionanotechnology. It is an intense five-day course taught face-to-face in Oxford, providing an introduction to the exciting and emerging field of bionanotechnology. The first day of the course gives an introduction to cell biology providing an understanding of cellular components and how they may be used as a constituent of, or may interact with, bionanotechnologies. The following four days focus on - bioanalytical techniques; applied genomics and proteomics; nanoparticles, nanostructures and biomimetics; and the interaction of nanomaterials with biological systems. The Introduction to Bionanotechnology course will offer students the opportunity to gain knowledge and understanding of: How and why modern research is harnessing biological systems to further nanotechnological endeavour, how modern engineering is gaining guidance from natural systems that construct and control at the nanoscale, how general principles of structure and function within biological systems are used to construct functional devices within nanotechnology, the techniques that are available for characterising biological structures at the nanoscale, current applications and state of the art within bionanotechnology, and practical skills in cell culture and synthesis of nanoparticles
- Music Theory: An Introduction
- This online course will cover the basics of classical music theory – notation, rhythm, melody, harmony and form – relating theory to practice with examples from over three centuries of repertoire. Theory grows from practice. Each generation of composers 'breaks the rules' and so gives rise to modifications of musical theory. Nonetheless, at heart music theory is simply an attempt to explain our perceptions of music and to provide an efficient vocabulary for its discussion. Each theoretical concept will be discussed with both its technical and expressive implications in mind and we will look at the way in which theories have changed over the centuries. Whilst not aimed at a specific exam, the course will provide useful preparation for those taking Associated Board theory exams.
- The AB Guide to Music Theory Part 1 / Eric Taylor
- Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence
- We live in an information environment. Artificial Intelligence is now all around us and affects all aspects of our lives. It allows us to communicate with just about anybody on the planet, diagnoses illness very effectively, helps with fraud detection and largescale environmental analysis. It records our online habits and makes recommendations, and sometimes even writes school essays. This course sets out to provide an introduction to the philosophy of artificial intelligence and the philosophical issues that emerge out of the development of current and future AI systems. These developments produce a myriad of questions and concerns. In what sense is artificial intelligence a form of intelligence? Is acting as if intelligent the same as being intelligent? Are human brain processes essentially computations? Can a machine be conscious, self-aware, a person? Can we build AI and align it with our values and ethics? If so, what ethical system do we choose? Can computers achieve so-called singularity, namely a form of intelligence that far surpasses human intelligence? Does this moment pose an existential threat to humanity?
- Bringsjord, S. and N. S. Govindarajulu (2024). Artificial Intelligence in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Open access book: Advances in the Philosophy and AI (2024)
- Philosophy of Mind
- The philosophy of mind is one of the most exciting areas within philosophy. It is concerned with questions about the nature of mind and the relation between our minds and the physical world. This online course provides an introduction to philosophy of mind by introducing you to the mind-body problem, one of the most intractable problems in philosophy. Students will be guided through their reading of various classical and contemporary works on the mind-body problem and encouraged to think for themselves about the problems addressed. They will engage in various optional activities to stimulate personal reflection and will contribute to group discussions designed to create a supportive online community with the common task of acquiring an understanding. By the end of the course, students should feel confident of their own position on the mind-body problem – even if it is one of not having made up their mind!
- Chalmers, David J., (Editor), Philosophy of Mind: Classical and Contemporary Readings (OUP, New York, 2002) ISBN 019514581X
- Philosophy of Religion
- If you’re interested in delving into the philosophical issues and arguments surrounding the claim that there’s a God, then this is the course for you. Together, we shall look at what, if anything, it is that Jews, Christians and Muslims are agreeing about when they claim that there is a God; and we shall look at what, if any, prospects there are for rationally defending or attacking this claim. As a student, you will be helped to engage in various activities to stimulate personal reflection; be guided in your reading of some important philosophical texts; find challenge and support as you participate in group discussions; and – above all – be encouraged to think for yourself about the issues raised and arguments deployed. By the end of the course, you should feel more (justifiably) confident in the defensibility of your religious beliefs (or lack of them). The Concept of God: An introduction to the classical theistic concept of God as a being who is necessarily personal, transcendent, immanent, omnipotent, omniscient, eternal, perfectly free, perfectly good, and necessary; and non-essentially creator of the world and value; revealer of Himself; and offerer of everlasting life. A detailed discussion of each of these properties and the philosophical issues that they raise with a view to determining the overall coherence (or lack of it) and simplicity (or lack of it) of the classical theistic concept of God. Arguing for and against the existence of God: A discussion of whether or not belief or the absence of belief in such a God might be the sort of thing that does not rationally require argument and, if not, what the criteria for a good argument for or against such a God’s existence might be. A discussion of the main arguments for and against the existence of God: the Argument to Design; the Cosmological Argument; the Ontological Argument; the Argument from Religious Experience; and the Argument from Apparent Miracles. Conclusion: A discussion of the nature and role (if any) of faith and Pascal’s Wager.
- Mawson, T. J., Belief in God (OUP, Oxford, 2005) ISBN 0199284954
- Plants and Society
- Plants are all around us, yet we are mostly blind to their important roles on earth. Ecosystems, viewed as a society, include diverse, interconnected life forms. This course will help understand the challenges of the stationary life of plants, as well as their interactions with organisms, including other plants, animals, and microbes. Rules and choices made by plants to communicate with organisms, to thrive, and to defend themselves will be covered, in order to understand what it takes to live in a society. We will also explore how plants care for us through providing food and medicine, and understand how humans have influenced plants. This course will be of interest to those who have a curiosity about plant life and their purpose on earth.
- Project Risk Management
- This course gives you the tools to identify potential risks early, take preventative action and respond effectively when challenges arise, helping you stay on track and avoid costly setbacks. You’ll learn how to reduce the chance of risks becoming serious issues, and how to build recovery plans that limit their impact when they do. Using practical frameworks, explore how to embed risk awareness across every stage of a project, from planning through to delivery. By developing a proactive approach to risk, you can spot issues and respond decisively when things go off track. This course helps you build processes that improve project outcomes, strengthen stakeholder confidence and ultimately deliver a better return on investment for your project and wider organisation. The course includes: an overview of project risk management: why it matters and how it works, planning for risk management, identification of risks in resources, scope and schedule, taking advantage of opportunities: the positive side of chance events, information gathering for risk, how to assess, quantify and prioritise risks, strategies to respond to risk: reduction, mitigation and avoidance, managing and communicating risk information, and the human face of risk: why do people and projects get it wrong?
- Reality, Being and Existence: An Introduction to Metaphysics
- Metaphysics is the most general investigation into the nature of reality. It has been at the centre of philosophy since the beginning of the Western tradition in ancient Greece, and many of its concerns are the same as those of Plato and Aristotle. This course will introduce you to some of the traditional concerns. After a brief introduction to the nature of metaphysics, the course will focus on five central and traditional metaphysical questions: do we have free will? What is the nature of the causal relation - cause and effect - that binds our world together? What is the nature of time? How does something (for example, a person) change and remain the same thing? Does reality contain universal features as well as particular entities? Introduction: what is metaphysics? An introduction to the distinctive character of metaphysical questions: the history of the idea of metaphysics, understood as the most general and abstract inquiry into the nature of reality. Existence: what is existence? What is it to exist? People disagree about what exists; but how can we understand this disagreement? Are there things which do not exist? Universals and particulars: in addition to particular objects and events, our world seems to contain general or universal features of things, like their colours and their shapes. Is this an illusion or does the world really contain such features, known as 'universals'? Realism and idealism: does the world exist independently of our minds? Realism is the view that it does; idealism is the view that reality is mind-dependent. Are any features of the world mind-dependent? The freedom of the will: we think our actions and decisions are free, or up to us, but this idea seems to be in conflict with the apparent fact that everything which happens is determined by what happens before it (this is known as 'determinism'). Does determinism imply that free will is an illusion, or are free will and determinism really compatible after all? Cause and effect: what is it for one thing to cause another, or to make something happen? Is there more to cause and effect than the mere regularity of things happening after one another? If so, is causation a physical process, or is mental causation also possible? The nature of time and space: what are time and space? Is there no more to them than the temporal and spatial relations which hold between events and objects? Or should they rather be conceived as the 'containers' in which things exist and events occur? Are the past, present and future genuine aspects of reality, or are they merely 'subjective' features of our experience of time?
- Crane, Tim, & Farkas, Katalin, (Editors), Metaphysics: A Guide and Anthology (OUP, Oxford, 2004)
- Ritual and Religion in Prehistory
- How can we begin to understand the spiritual lives of people in the distant past? When do religious ideologies first appear on the human evolutionary timescale? How can we recognise and interpret ancient myth and ritual from the burial mounds, temples, art and artefacts left by our prehistoric ancestors? Using key concepts drawn from anthropology, these and many other questions will be examined, as we take a global view of the archaeological evidence for prehistoric rituals and religion. Religion is concerned with an intangible system of belief, whilst archaeology is the interpretation of the past from surviving material evidence, whether in the form of sites or objects. By taking examples from across the world and from different periods of prehistory, we shall examine ways in which tangible archaeological evidence demonstrates ritual activity and sacred tradition. We shall look at rituals of death such as cremation, mummification and cannibalism; shamanistic practices as shown in rock art from Kazakhstan to cave art in France and Spain: fertility cult figurines from Austria to Malta; masks and skulls in ancestor worship; Stonehenge in a ritual landscape; cosmology through the sun cult of Peru to a 7000 year old observatory in Germany. All this and more will be explored and illuminated through the archaeological evidence of past culture.
- Fagan, B., From Black Land to Fifth Sun: The Science of Sacred Sites (Little, Brown, 1999) ISBN 9780738201412
- Successful Change Management
- "There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things." – Niccolò Machiavelli. The challenges of change are well documented, and research suggests that up to two-thirds of all change initiatives fall short of their goals. Whether it's a restructure, a new system or a shift in working practices, most change programmes rely on the support and commitment of staff. This course shows how successful change can be achieved at individual, team and organisational levels. You’ll gain practical tools and skills to support change initiatives, build engagement, and act as a catalyst when needed. With a focus on real-world application, the course equips you to lead with lasting impact. The course investigates the main theories and underpinning principles and relates these to current changes in the commercial and public sectors. A wide range of tools are discussed and practised in relation to individual, group and organisational change. In particular, hard skills will be explored, including: strategic planning, systems thinking, gap analysis, force-field analysis, scenario planning, stakeholder mapping, options for change, surfacing problems, process consulting, organisational development, and the learning organisation questionnaire. It is essential to possess the practical techniques for managing change, yet the greatest challenges are often to be found with the people dimension. The soft skills of communication, negotiation, persuasion, assertiveness etc. combined with personal skills of motivation, endurance and resilience are all needed to overcome potential resistance and inertia.
- The Quantum Universe
- From Planck's quanta of light to Planck's star in quantum gravity and quanta of time, this course offers an introduction to the quantum universe. We will cover the development of the notion of quanta, from its origin as a solution to the ultraviolet catastrophe in the emission of radiation, to its ultimate consequence – the potential quantisation of space and time. Using a minimum amount of mathematical terminology, the course explores the revolutionary theory of quanta, its many successes, its various interpretations, some of its applications, and its problematic relation with the theory of relativity.
- A. Whitaker The New Quantum Age: From Bell's Theorem to Quantum Computers and Teleportation
- A.I.M. Rae Quantum Physics: Illusion or Reality
- C. Rovelli Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
- G. Gamow Thirty Years that Shook Physics
- Hay and Walters The New Quantum Universe
- J. Al-Khalili Quantum: A Guide for the Perplexed
- Rovelli, Carlo The Order of Time (Penguin Books, 2018)
- The Quest for a Unified Theory of the Four Fundamental Forces of Nature
- Newton’s second law put force at the centre of the mechanical view of the world. The two great theories of the twentieth century, the theory of relativity and quantum physics, each developed the concept of force in new, unexpected ways. Relativity views the force of gravity as a distortion of space-time, while at atomic level forces appear mediated by messenger particles. Einstein’s quest for the unification of the fundamental forces of nature is still being pursued today. The course overviews the historical evolution of the modern concept of force and focuses on the current theories of quantum gravity.
- Kraus, L.M, A Universe from Nothing (Simon & Schuster UK, 2012)
- Smolin, L, Three Roads to Quantum Gravity (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2000)
- Randall, L, Warped Passages. Unravelling the Universe’s Hidden Dimension (Harper Perennial 2005)
- Weinberg, S, Dreams of a Final Theory (Vintage, 1994)
- Theory of Knowledge
- The theory of knowledge is one of the most central areas of philosophy. During this online course, you will cover the key issues in epistemology while also learning to think for yourself and develop your own answers to the core questions in this area. The theory of knowledge is one of the most central areas of philosophy. In this online course students will cover the key questions in the theory of knowledge, such as: What is knowledge? Why is knowledge valuable to us? What are the sources of knowledge? Do we really have any knowledge? In examining these questions, students will also learn to think critically, independently and philosophically. In so doing, they will develop their own answers to the core questions in this area.
- Pritchard, D. H., What is This Thing Called Knowledge? Fourth edition (Routledge, London, 2018) ISBN 9781138225800 (the 3rd edition may also be used)
- Huemer, M., (ed.), Epistemology - Contemporary Readings, (London and New York, Routledge, 2002)
- Understanding Space and Time
- A non-mathematical overview of the current scientific understanding of space and time. Including an introduction to Einstein's theory of relativity, its consequences and applications. Understanding space and time is more exciting than ever, as scientists continue to detect gravitational signals from merging black holes in distant galaxies, and to debate new evidence concerning the rate of expansion of the universe and the existence of dark energy. Using the minimum amount of mathematics, this course offers a conceptually based introduction to the current scientific understanding of space and time, and a chance to learn about recent developments at the cosmic frontier.
- Kaku, Michio (2005). Einstein's cosmos: How Albert Einstein's vision transformed our understanding of space and time. W.W. Norton.
- Krauss, Lawrence (2012). A Universe from Nothing. Free Press.
- Rovelli, Carlo (2019). The Order of Time. Penguin.
- World Archaeology
- This course provides a global perspective on the origins and development of past societies across the world including the well-studied civilisations of Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, Mesoamerica, the Mediterranean, and the Indus Valley, empires and kingdoms of sub-Saharan Africa, chiefdoms societies of Polynesia, and many more. When and how did these societies emerge and how come some of them faded into the distant past? We explore a different geographical region every week, each time setting the scene with information on climate, the environment, and human migration patterns at the end of the Pleistocene era as the world emerged from the last glacial phase of the ice age. This period was characterised by melting ice sheets, warming temperatures and dramatic sea level rises. This was a critical phase of human history with precursors to agricultural societies emerging in some regions including in southwest Asia as exemplified by the enigmatic site of Göbekli Tepe, Turkey. At the start of the Holocene era 11,700 years ago the climate warmed significantly and we see clear evidence for the domestication of a range of plants and animals. After existing as small, mobile, hunter-foragers societies for millions of years, human agricultural societies emerged. We ask: when and where did they appear, did they emerge independently in different regions, how did agriculture spread, and what impact did it have upon people and society? The development of agriculture is a fundamental reason for why many societies began to aggregate into villages, towns and then cities. Agriculture enabled the production of large amounts of food, which could then be stored. People became sedentary. A food surplus enabled economic, cultural and technological innovations to occur, such as pottery production, large scale architecture and the development of irrigation. Hierarchically organised societies formed as management systems became more complex leading in some instances to state formation, territories and empires. As we explore the different geographical regions we encounter a range of belief systems, funerary practices, evidence of writing, languages, art, sophisticating trading networks, large-scale warfare, and societal collapse. World Archaeology is a fast-moving and inspiring subject that explores the richness of past human cultural diversity. The course will provide you with an array of information on the latest archaeological discoveries from around the world and on the newest scientific advances being applied in areas such as genetics, isotopes, radiometric dating, and satellite imagery analyses. However, many questions and mysteries still remain, which we will discuss each week. We also engage in themes such as the legacy of imperialism, colonialism, and slavery, the repatriation of human remains and material culture, environmental change, societal collapse, and consider how appreciation of our rich and diverse cultural past can be a source of hope for humanity in the future.
- Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice / Renfrew, Colin and Bahn, Paul
- The Human Past: World Prehistory & the Development of Human Societies / Scarre, Chris
apr 7 2026 ∞
aug 5 2026 +