All Courses

In this course, Jane Stevens-Crawshaw (Oxford Brookes University) explores the relationship between plague and public health during the renaissance in England. We start by looking at how public health functioned and developed in the renaissance....

In this course, Professor Miri Rubin (Queen Mary, University of London) explores the Black Death. Firstly, we look at what the Black Death was and where it came from. We then have a look at the social and economic effects of such a vast...

In this course, Professor Virginia Berridge (LSHTM) examines the history of the connection between smoking and lung cancer. We start by looking at when the connection was discovered and how this linked to the sweeping changes occurring in public...

In this course, Professor Vivian Nutton (University College London) looks at the life of the ancient doctor Galen of Pergamon. We start by looking at the early career of Galen. We then examine his later career when he served as physician to the...

In this course, Dr Ross Abbinnett (University of Birmingham) explores Karl Marx’s theory of society. In the first module, we consider Marx’s analysis of labour, its importance to humanity, and alienation from labour under capitalism. In the...

In this course, Professor Gayle Letherby (University of Plymouth) explores ideas and methods associated with feminist social research. In the first module, we consider feminist critiques of traditional sociological research. In the second, we look...

In this course, Dr David Scott (The Open University) explores key philosophical and sociological approaches to prisons, punishment and penology. In the first module, we introduce some key areas of interest within penology, looking especially at...

In this course, Professor Pat Thane (Birkbeck, University of London) explores family policy in Britain since the 1960s. In the first module, we set the context by thinking about some key features of family life prior to the 1960s. In the second,...

In this course, Professor Martyn Hammersley (The Open University) explores the concept of objectivity within sociology and social research. In the first module, we think about the development of the concept from the early twentieth century and...

In this course, Dr Ross Abbinnett (University of Birmingham) explores notions of modernity and postmodernity in sociological theory. In the first module, we consider the meaning of modernity and its characteristics. In the second, we look at...

In this course, Dr Nilima Gulrajani (Overseas Development Institute) explores global aid and its relationship to development. In the first module, we consider the emergence of the modern global aid system from mid-twentieth century. In the second,...

In this course, Professor Katie Willis (Royal Holloway, University of London) explores theories of global development. In the first module, we look at development as a contested concept, and at some of the ways it has been defined and measured. In...