BA (Hons) Liberal Arts Bachelor's degree at the University of Stirling

The value of heritage in society is widely recognised. It informs collective memory, identity, and sense of place, as well as supports social cohesion, democracy and sustainable development. Yet, heritage is also shaped and reshaped by society. Across historical and geographical contexts, heritage has been used to legitimise political power, fuel conflict and destruction, and pursue social justice. Above all, it is not just a reflection of the past, but a means to address contemporary challenges making it a resource for fashioning the future. In this module, you will critically explore the relationship between heritage and society in diverse arenas of societal activity. You will discuss key

This module will introduce you to the history, theory, and practice of museums: a key site of heritage management and interpretation. You'll approach the museum as a place of critical inquiry to consider not only what museums are, but also what political, social, and ethical work they do. Using critical museum theory and related perspectives, and drawing on varied case examples, you'll encounter the museum as idea, institution, collection of objects, media, and space. Your knowledge and understanding will be developed by focusing on topics such as: the changing traditions of museum collecting; politics of representation in display; the social history museum movement; museums in the digital a

This module is creatively oriented and practically run. You will develop your project management and technical skills, as well as your ability to translate creative ideas into objects of practical use in today's digital professional world. Opportunities will be created for you to develop transferrable skills to apply to your own area of interest or study. This will be done in a supported, studio-based environment with an emphasis on experimental development and play in order to generate creative ideas in response to a professional client-oriented brief. Much of the module content centers around visual communication and its use in various fields, with opportunities to branch into other forms

If you are new to production, this module is for you. It is an introductory module in which you will work in a group to create short factual features in both audio and video. The module introduces the technical, creative and organisational aspects of production, and gives you a grounding in professional practice which is developed in later production modules. Location/Method of Study Stirling, On Campus/On Campus, UK Module Objectives This module is designed for students who are new to practical audio and video work. The emphasis throughout will be on narrative and communicative aspects of production. Technical teaching will support students in achieving narrative goals.This module is a prer

The Habsburg, Ottoman, and Russian empires were the ailing giants of nineteenth-century Europe whose failure to modernise saw them collapse in cataclysms of war and revolution. Yet this is only part of the dramatic story. Their history shows how these huge states reinvented themselves in the era of nationalism, and reveals the dynamism that resulted from the clash of empire and nation. This module invites you to explore the multicultural and paradoxical worlds of these empires in the last century of their existence, but how you do so is up to you. Each week you choose from a wide selection of readings. For the first assignment you become expert on a nationalist movement of your choosing. For

The news industry has a significant impact on our lives. It is a multi-billion-pound global industry that helps set the political, social and cultural agenda. This practical module looks behind the scenes at how news organisations determine what is news, and how they then present it to readers. It looks at who the key players are and how they operate. In hands-on workshops you’ll have the opportunity to develop your news judgment, transferable skills in editing and design, and understand the expectations of different audiences. You'll be introduced to the basic principles of news management, news production, editing and design for a variety of media outlets such as newspapers and magazines.

This module offers you the opportunity to engage with oral history methodology. You will learn about its origins, development, debates, theory, and look at areas where oral history has changed our understanding of past events and periods in Scotland. You will also have the opportunity (in groups) to conduct an oral history interview and analyse the new source material that you have generated. Interviewees will be recruited by the module coordinator and interviews may be conducted online or in-person. You will collaborate with fellow students in the creation of oral history data and demonstrate how you could utilise the material to reach a wider, public audience. This module is strongly recom

On this module, you will explore the complexities of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news prevalent in contemporary society, and you will develop critical reading, information finding and assessing, and fact-checking skills essential for navigating complex information landscapes. It offers both a theoretical exploration of and critical engagement with the key issues and practical training in using different forms of AI and digital applications to identify and fact-check various types of digital content. Themes you will explore in this module include: Characteristics of the ‘age of disinformation’ The politics and ethics of the post-truth world Confirmation and other biases Critical

This module gives you the opportunity to develop your creative writing by providing an introduction to fiction, non-fiction/memoir and poetry. Creativity, research and editing are central to the module. In weekly seminars, you'll learn from the work of some of exemplary writers, including Seamus Heaney, Jean Rhys and Janice Galloway, as you are taken through the writing process and questions of technique, form and structure. In the weekly tutor-led workshops, you'll have the opportunity to develop your own creative practice in a range of forms and genres, focusing on memory, imagination and a sense of place. Location/Method of Study Stirling, On Campus/On Campus, UK Module Objectives The mod

This module provides an introduction to English and European literary writing spanning the early and later medieval periods. It also explores the legacy of medieval literature in the present day. The module begins with the Old English epic Beowulf and concludes with the reception of medieval literary themes and conventions in present-day culture. It will explore a representative selection of literary texts from Britain and Europe, from Old English riddles to Castilian epic. We will consider the dominant themes and genres of medieval literary writing, from the heroism of epic to the chivalry of romance and the humour, scandal and obscenity of the fabliau. We will also look at texts that resis

With the advent of Christianity in the Roman Empire, the Greco-Roman gods were banished and paganism outlawed in a process which began in the fourth and ended in the sixth century AD. But the gods always return. In this module you will explore the hidden but enduring power of the old gods in literature, music, and art from the fourth to the twenty-first centuries. Your journey will include: Philosophers summoning demons and going on astral journeys. Renaissance humanists who came to believe in what they studied. The crucial role of the gods in twentieth-century psychology. And much more! Drawing on the module convener's own current research, this module will be conducted in a series of two-h

Gender is one of our most obvious attributes, and it is usually easy to categorise someone as either male or female, and to make a set of assumptions about attitudes and behaviours based on this classification. But what seems like common sense is, to a considerable extent, the result of socially constructed expectation rather than objective fact. This is a theory-based module. It takes a closer look at gender representation across a range of media forms, including news, magazines, films and television programmes. Beginning with an overview of gender theory, you’ll then look at specific media examples of representations of femininity, masculinity and transidentities. Taught by experts who res

In this module you’ll work with professionally produced factual media from a range of sources across different genres and create edited sequences to different briefs. Each brief is specifically developed to not only build practical skills, but also to critically evaluate editing principles. You’ll be taught by a team with industry experience and you’ll use industry standard hardware and software. This module will give you a clear insight into the process of narrative editing techniques and addresses the principles and issues around workflow, so that you develop awareness of real-world practices. You’ll have lectures where a variety of films and documentaries are critically evaluated and disc

Social history focuses on society from the bottom up. In this module you’ll explore various aspects of the everyday life of people in Victorian British cities through a focus on surviving evidence from the time. You’ll explore topics including: health and housing issues; child labour and the expansion of state education; the social position of women; immigration and emigration; class divisions; the Victorian census, and how to use it to look at everyday lives. You will engage with the module topics by exploring original sources, including nineteenth century newspapers, census and hospital records. You will be guided through these primary sources by questions in weekly worksheets and via set

Eighteenth century Scotland witnessed significant changes – some of these were a result of the parliamentary union of 1707, others were a result of wider European and global factors. You’ll engage with key processes of the period: Jacobite rebellions, 'improvement', Enlightenment, and empire alongside other changes whether religious, socio-economic, or demographic. Topics you’ll explore include: Jacobitism; agricultural 'improvement'; enlightenment; socio-economic and demographic change; the highlands and isles; the church and religious dissent; Scots and the empire; the press and popular protest; urbanisation and industrialisation; wars and revolutions overseas. Scotland will not be viewed

This practice-based module gives learners an introduction to broadcast journalism, with the primary focus on radio. The module builds on transferable skills taught in the year two Writing for Journalists modules (JOUU9A3, JOUU9A4). You’ll explore topics including: the history and development of broadcast journalism; the implications of different media – print, television, radio and online on the practice of journalism; core writing skills for television and radio news, and podcasts; understanding broadcast news management – production and editing. You’ll acquire skills in preparing individual stories, packages and bulletins for broadcast to a variety of audiences, and presenting news. You’ll

While security has traditionally been understood as the security by states from military threats, this orthodox conceptualisation of security has increasingly been challenged from an empirical as well as theoretical perspective. Are military attacks the most pertinent threats we should focus on? What about insecurities which do not stop at any borders, like the climate catastrophe, pandemics or human trafficking? This module provides you with an overview of how we might want to think differently about security in the 21st century. It gives you the theoretical tools to critically engage with orthodox understandings of security and instead engages with postcolonial, feminist and other critical

International negotiation is of pressing importance in an increasingly conflictual world. Yet the study of international negotiation can often be overlooked within international relations despite negotiation making up much of the time and effort of inter-state interaction and diplomacy. In this module you will plug that knowledge gap by gaining a critical understanding of how international conflict and dispute is managed through the process, practice, and politics of international negotiation. You'll explore topics including: the players in international negotiations; negotiation stakes, moves and strategy; the phases and outcomes of international negotiations; the challenges of internationa

This module examines the transnational histories of some of the world’s major cities. You'll consider the ways in which the histories of these cities have been characterised by their relationships with other urban centres and how these cities have been ‘imagined’ through time This involves utilising transnational history and urban studies approaches to examine a variety of aspects of past city life, including political unrest; cultural exchange, foreign relations, imperialism, public health, trade and industrialisation. In this module, you will focus on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The aim of the module is summed up by the words of Rebecca Madgin and Nicolas Kenny, who write that

International politics is essential to understanding the world in which we live. Yet understanding international politics requires that you develop knowledge and insight into the different theoretical tools necessary to explain, predict and critique the world around us. On this module you will advance and hone your understanding of the different theoretical and analytical approaches used in the scholarship of international relations, including for example realism, liberalism, constructivism, feminism and critical theory. You will explore: the theoretical discourses and 'myths' that have shaped international relations as a discipline the assumptions and propositions that guide different theor

This module introduces you to the most important concepts, themes and approaches in the comparative study of politics. The module is taught thematically, and looks at a global range of case studies. The module offers you the opportunity to engage with important topics in the study of comparative politics from a global perspective, and to locate and contextualise these within wider debates and scholarship. You'll develop critical understanding of key approaches in comparative politics as well as learn about a wide range of states and societies. The module emphasises the connectivities between power, states and societies in a global context, with attention to both politics from above and below

The long eighteenth century ( c. 1660 to c. 1830) saw the birth of much of what defines us today. Yet, these were neither inevitable nor universally accepted developments. Throughout the period, arguments for and against these and many other ideas were articulated, challenged, and discussed through print and manuscript. This module gives you a unique opportunity to explore some of the most exciting intellectual debates in recent history through the books which made them and the technologies that brought them into being. With its focus on the textual and material culture of the long eighteenth century, major areas that the module will address include book history, editing (in theory and pract

Who decides what’s "proper" English? Do you write the way you talk? English is not one language, but many - shaped by colonization, migration and voices that refuse to be silenced. Understanding how language holds and resists power matters more than ever. In this module you’ll study how writers, poets, filmmakers and musicians challenge linguistic hierarchies and turn "non-standard" expression into innovative creative work. You'll examine: the politics of language standards and linguistic varieties creoles, colonial discourse, and postcoloniality the aesthetic effects of “non-standard” writing and performance case studies from the Caribbean and migrant London, including The Harder They Come

If you want to create, share, or analyse media content, you need to consider who is engaging with it, how and why. This module puts the audience in the spotlight and looks at different approaches to media use as a social phenomenon undergoing significant transformations. Understanding the relationship between producers, media texts, and audiences is essential for those creating, circulating, and consuming media. But what makes people into an identifiable audience, and how can we find out about their/our experience? In this module you’ll be looking at different ways of thinking about the audience and at how researchers have tried to find out what and how audiences of different kinds think and

This research-led module offers you an introduction to the philosophy of film and more recent screen philosophy developments. Taking a global perspective on the topic, you’ll be introduced to a broad range of screen productions which will be read alongside the work of global philosophers, landmark thinkers, and film-philosophers. Using specific case studies drawn from various national, regional and transnational contexts, will provide you with an opportunity to develop your critical understanding of media and philosophical concepts, while exploring topics such as the ontology and phenomenology of cinema; ethics and/as aesthetics, film as philosophy. The module will be of interest to you if y

This module is designed to prepare you for your Independent Research Project which will enable you to present findings in response to a question you’ll propose yourself in collaboration with the Research Project Module Coordinator and a supervisor. It will guide you through the various steps involved, including: understanding what a research project looks like; what is involved in undertaking independent research of the kind you choose for this project; what to consider in choosing a topic and approach; what we mean by ‘methodology’ and how to choose the most appropriate one for your project; how to use relevant library, electronic and archival resources in research; how to prepare and prese

This module gives you the opportunity to further develop your writing practice. You will produce your own original creative work, respond to feedback, and learn how provide constructive feedback to other student writers. You will also explore contemporary writing, and consider how your own work relates to it. Seminars will cover all aspects of the creative process, from initial idea to complete work. Classes will explore techniques appropriate to the types of writing being explored: point of view, imagery, form, characterisation, dialogue etc. The skills of drafting and editing will be central, as will an engagement with the work of your fellow students. Location/Method of Study Stirling, On

This module examines the very best of non-fiction writing through a detailed examination of classic and contemporary magazine journalism. Some of the finest writers started their careers by writing for magazines such as the New Yorker and Esquire. Studying these writers in detail will help you develop critical reflection skills that illuminate the craft, ethics and different styles adopted by classic and contemporary longform magazine journalists. The module covers writing on a wide range of different subjects from hard news stories about war and terrorism, immigration and true crime to colour pieces about adventures in the great outdoors, personal writing about grief and trauma and investig