Study & Intern in London

This course looks at the impact of the city on the craft of creative writing. It explores how various subjects like the river, urban spaces, solitude, ethnicity, or particular districts function in London narratives and examines the role of memory and experience in literary psychogeographic accounts of the metropolis. The course will provide a theoretical and practical platform to enable participants to develop an understanding of London and utilize the city as a character in their creative writing. Students will explore the urban landscapes and "write the city" for themselves.

The course will chart the development of British film during the period 1994-2012 through the critical study of key films, and will examine the way that these films both emerge from and transform the earlier British cinema tradition. Readings will focus on the critical reception of the films and the manner in which they have been absorbed into the canon. There will also be particular focus on the political and social context of the films.

The course is designed to introduce students both to canonical literary texts from Johnson to Conan Doyle and to contemporary representations of multi-cultural London. In the first half of the course we visit the places where famous literary projects were first conceived. In the second half of the course the class will be visited by an author or director working in contemporary London. This course takes its students on a historical tour of the capital with great writers and film-makers as our guides. We start with a boat trip from Westminster to Tower Bridge: a view of the city from the river on which it was built. Our first stop back on land is Samuel Johnson and the world of eighteenth century literary London. We look at some of the variety of Johnson’s writing and also visit the house in which he wrote his dictionary and the pub (The Cheshire Cheese) where he entertained his friends. We then move onto the Romantic poets and read poems about London by Blake, Wordsworth and Keats before visiting the Elgin Marbles at the British Museum. We then pass into the nineteenth century world of detective fiction and some of the stories of Sherlock Holmes. The second half of the course focuses on contemporary London and questions of class, race and culture. We read Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia and Zadie Smith’s NW and watch a series of films which show the changing face of London over the last fifty years.

This course addresses the development of the modern detective novel, British and American, from the late 19th the most popular forms of narrative, appealing to writers and readers with widely diverse interests and ideologies. It can offer intense action, intellectual challenge, access to criminal underworlds, political and social critique, and exploration of the psyche. The focus in this version of the course will be on cities (London and Los Angeles) as sites of criminal imagination, and on detectives as explorers of the city’s hidden connections. Whether or not they bring about “justice” will be an open question. Our approach will be broadly historical, from the British amateur sleuths of Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, through the American “hard-boiled” private eye, to the contemporary “police procedural” in television and film as well as fiction century into the 21st.

Through this course, students will study how theories, research, and current issues in the field of organizational behavior apply in the context of international workspaces. This course will focus on the international application of core management theories (and strategies), and will depend on a broad base of interdisciplinary research, from fields including psychology, sociology, economics, political science and anthropology. Students will be expected to increase their understanding of human behavior within the setting of a global work environment, and across a variety of historical, as well as current issues. Students will also be expected to reflect critically on how theoretical frameworks can be applied and developed within the organizational setting.

This course provides an integrative framework for understanding the business and legal challenges that are associated with effective workforce management around the world. As more and more companies try to leverage the benefits of a global labour market, it is critical to understand the challenges that managers must deal with as they try to coordinate work practices across country settings and prepare individuals for global assignments. Toward that end, we will examine how international labour markets compare in terms of labour costs, labour supply, workplace culture, and employment law. High-profile news events from developed and emerging economies will be used to illustrate the complex cultural and regulatory environment that multinational firms face in such areas as talent management, performance management, offshore outsourcing, downsizing and industrial relations. The last segment will focus on the individual and organizational factors that promote successful global assignments.

The focus of this course will be on key issues within operations that are of relevance in a firm’s ability to remain competitive in a global economy. Examples of companies collaborating across the globe will be used in the teaching and learning of SCM. We focus mainly on the operational and tactical aspects of managing the network of multiple facilities, but we will also investigate their strategic implications. Factors such as legal, ethical, operational, venture risk and reliability will be considered in addition to specialized topics in supply chain management within a global environment.

This course examines modern works of art from the late nineteenth century through to the present. The course begins by analyzing the ways in which the seeds of Modern Art were sown at the end of the nineteenth century, before moving on to work made during the twentieth century - particularly art produced in response to the First and Second World Wars; and culminates with reference to contemporary practice.

This course analyses the relationship between sexuality and London’s history since the late nineteenth century to the present day. As a Queer Studies course, a central theme will be how understandings of sexuality have changed over the last one hundred years. We will particularly consider how western identity terms, such as bisexual, gay, lesbian, straight and transgender are relatively recent inventions and are largely the creation of colonial trajectories and the late nineteenth century western medical gaze. But we will also acknowledge how the terms LGBTQ have been reclaimed in the twentieth century as a result of the American civil rights movements, LGBTQ movements, Women’s movements as well as anti-colonial struggles. Most importantly, we will ask what is distinctive about Queer Studies in the London context and we will readily engage with contemporary Queer life and culture in London via an interdisciplinary approach to sexuality; the latter approach is characteristic of Queer Studies.

This course will chart the representation of the occult in the city from the Early Modern period to the present day. Focusing particularly on the performance and presentation of occult and magical phenomena and its reception by the general public and social elites during specific time periods, the course will offer students the opportunity to understand why magic has fascinated us and continues to do so. Class study will be combined with site visits to venues such as the Society for Psychical Research or the British Magic Circle, and a live performance of the magical or ghostly in London.

Plays are written to be appreciated in performance, not only to be read; a play does not truly come to life until it appears on a stage. The course will introduce students to the current variety of theatre being produced in London. The course aims to provide multiple levels of theatre appreciation, and is therefore open to students who both have a background in theatre and those who have a general interest in expanding their knowledge.

Arts and culture are rapidly growing sectors of the economy in the UK and worldwide. This course will focus on the ways in which the Creative industries are structured, and how arts administrators successfully share creativity with the public and lever-age the commercial opportunities of creative production. Key topics to be explored will include the arts as a business; managing financial imperatives and the artistic process; promoting and presenting cultural products. Case studies will be drawn from a variety of fields such as film, digital media, gaming, theatre, museums, and publishing, and students will have the opportunity to engage directly with practitioners successfully working in various fields of arts and culture and those managing the interface between creativity and business in London. It is an industry that is growing year on year, but it can be a difficult market to navigate and capture economical value, as ‘cultural goods’ are less fixed, or less concrete than other measurable areas of ex-change.

Students will examine the history of the Creative Industries to understand the current environment in an historical context. They will focus specifically on the shifting creative industries in a digital world with the advent of social media, streaming services, revolutionary marketing techniques, crowd-sourcing, and audience creation. Students will explore key concepts and theories, but they will also explore the practical applications of the industries in action. They will gain a deeper understanding of the media they consume via interaction with professionals, venues, and event opportunities highlighted in this module. Throughout this course, students will be encouraged to explore their own interests of the Creative Industries. By bringing personal experience and interest into an analytical environment, this module will allow students to gain a deeper understanding of media artifacts, and provide them with the tools and skills to expand their understanding and engagement with their chosen sectors.

The notion of human rights has become central to global politics today. It is therefore not a single subject but a broad field of potential investigation: This semester seminar provides a multi-disciplinary introduction to the topic, critically examining the politics of human rights, their contentious nature, and uneven global implementation. The focus will be on practical issues and the contested politics of human rights in action through a range of topical case studies. Students will evaluate key debates about the politics and morality of human rights and analyze and explore the theoretical foundations of human rights concepts and topical issues relating to human rights with focus on British national and community perspectives. Students will be encouraged to examine critically the political character of human rights and their own views and assumptions about them, as well as consider the ways in which human rights values can impact on community and social cohesion and the influence of human rights in UK politics and society. By the end of the course, students will be able to demonstrate a fundamental understanding of human rights systems and issues in community and British contexts.

In the early twenty-first century, museums are becoming increasingly more relevant to all parts of society, exhibition displays are often controversial and politically charged. This course is an introduction to both British society, culture and museology. The course considers museums as reflections of the British psyche, unique cultural constructs that help us understand ‘Britishness’. We will also be looking at museums as institutions of “global” heritage in the context of a global city, with a unique British perspective. As an introduction to museology, the course will look at the development of the modern museum and its operation, as well as interrogate the different types of museums. We will look at the impact British history, society and politics have had on London museums, their creation and their day to day operations and audiences. Taking advantage of our location, we will do field work in eight different museums, from the famous and vast ‘global’ British Museum to the small and privately-owned Saatchi Gallery.

Students will analyze the ways in which imperialism and its legacy, as well as Britain’s global relationships have influenced museum development and how this gives rise to the politics of patrimony. We will look at questions of cultural appropriation and the political debate on repatriation versus protection. This debate has recently been energized by the depredations of IS on what many would call the global heritage of Iraq and Syria. We will also be looking at material culture and what it says about individuals and society. Students will examine the choices, ethics and political and social meanings of both creating material culture and collecting it, and the ethics of preservation and restoration. While the creation of material culture has specific psychological, social and often political meanings; collecting, preserving and displaying one particular object involves a very complex decision-making process which is influenced by the cultural values of the decision maker. We will examine, for example, the impact of the Classical period on British society in the past and present, its importance to class and education in Britain, and how this is reflected in museum collections. Students will also look at the complex decision making of conservators and restorers. These decisions have social and political impact, choosing to emphasize one period and use over another. The course will also look closely at decision makers and their role in the museum industry, the origins of museums from individuals to trade exhibitions and current museum professionals, as well as the impact museum audiences have on the work of museums. Students will also examine the impact of communities on museum development, on exhibition creation, how engaged museums are with their communities, and how the unique diversity of London is reflected (or not) in its museums.

Healthcare systems are having to respond to the number of competing challenges. The pressures of globalisation, aging populations, increasing patient demands, and the rising costs of research and medical treatments are forcing us to look more critically at how healthcare is delivered to devise changes for the future. Changes made to health systems are often based on economic and political rationale and with many countries currently experiencing significant changes to the way in which healthcare systems have historically been funded and delivered. This course will introduce students to the healthcare system in the UK and the context within which it operates. It will start by looking at the introduction of the National Health System (NHS) in 1948 and take students through the key changes that have taken place right up to the present day. Drawing on a series of cases studies, students will be able to compare the UK model of healthcare with the healthcare system in the USA.

This is an interdisciplinary course providing a unique opportunity to become directly involved in the realities of community engagement and grassroots activism and project work. It is designed to stimulate critical thought and reflection on the challenges and opportunities of community service and support students’ personal and professional development, as well as introducing students to topical debates about how best to manage and respond to the challenges of a diverse, unequal city. The course will explore the historical, sociological, and political context of community and service in the United Kingdom and theories and models of leadership, organisational behaviour, and management in the context of community work.

What is globalization? How is it transforming the world and everyday life, and why has it become so controversial? Who are the winners and losers in a globalizing world and what are the implications for our shared global future? How do developments in London relate to major shifts in the workings of the world over the last four decades? As a city with complex global connections, London has been enmeshed in deepening global social, political and ecological crises, as well as becoming an important arena of conflict over efforts to address them. This course critically explores these issues by examining the city’s complex relationship with the forces of globalization and the ways in which everyday life and experience in London, as well as its people, institutions, and organizations, have been shaped by—and are contributing to—global change. Emphasis will be placed on critically examining the effects of neoliberal globalization, the growing (though uneven) global dominance of projects promoting increasing freedoms for capital under the banners of “free markets” and “free trade.” This course also highlights a variety of collective challenges to these projects, some of which operate largely within the confines of London, others organized along trans-local and transnational lines. Their economic, political, cultural, and ecological aspects will be analyzed, examining the importance of class dynamics and their intersection with gender, ethnicity and other processes of hierarchical ordering. Theoretical and conceptual concerns will also be addressed, such as relations between the local and the global, the workings of power and contestation under neoliberal conditions, the interplay of space, class, and gender, and questions of responsibility within and beyond the limits of community and place.

This class combines theoretical analysis, case studies, and hands-on practice to understand and execute traditional and online communications strategies. The course will begin with a literature review of theories and principles relevant to the practice of strategic communication and social media practices including media effects, Internet effects, and uses and gratification theory. Second, cases studies will be utilized to investigate the effectiveness of messaging strategies employed by not-for-profit and commercial organizations as well as individual actors such as businesses, politicians, and influencers. Finally, students will work for a real-world client and their own portfolios to formulate an overarching communication strategy inclusive of recommendations for messaging strategies across all platforms (traditional messaging, website, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, press releases, e-blasts, and speeches).

This course will explore human knowledge of the solar system and of the night sky, as well as the growth of astronomy as a science. The development of astronomy in England has been influenced by many factors and represents a rich microcosm of the evolution of astronomy in the western world. British contributions to astronomy will be used to exemplify the progress and achievements of this field of science.

This course will explore human knowledge of the solar system and of the night sky, as well as the growth of astronomy as a science. The development of astronomy in England has been influenced by many factors and represents a rich microcosm of the evolution of astronomy in the western world. British contributions to astronomy will be used to exemplify the progress and achievements of this field of science.

This course explores the important concepts and perspectives for international business in the “age of coronavirus.” It examines the external and internal conditions that multinational enterprises must recognize, interpret, and steer to prosper and thrive. Globalization will be introduced and interpreted alongside the world’s systems, frameworks, structures, patterns, strategies, approaches, and channels for achieving organizational success in the global marketplace.  In addition to examining the established theory and application behind the management of political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological factors, the course will investigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on global commerce. Emerging concepts around crisis response management, black risk management, and preparedness will be covered for each topic. Students will be expected to increase your understanding of international business across all theoretical areas in the context of global events of the last 12 months.

The city has been an integral part of the filmmaker’s vocabulary since cinema’s genesis in the late 19th Century. The urban environment and the craft of film grew up together in the 20th Century. This course takes examples of city films from throughout that century and encourages you to investigate the urban contexts and subjectivities explored therein.

This course will run alongside Urban Scavenger, in which you will develop and make your own film within a taught theoretical framework. You will be strongly encouraged to bring ideas from one to the other, and to combine critical analysis with practical filmmaking.

This course taps into the zeitgeist surrounding women’s activism through an analysis of feminism as a relevant and globally-significant cultural and political movement, an investigation of the latest developments and resources in the field, and a global perspective which focuses on historical and contemporary campaigns and initiatives through London’s connections with the wider world. It also effectively utilizes the London cityscape, enabling you to apply classroom learning to field studies and first hand experiences.  The course will enable you to engage directly with London as a specific landscape in which feminism is embedded, examining the historical and on-going legacy of feminism in the city: how feminists have shaped and continue to influence the fabric of London, not only its physical infrastructure, but also its identity, reputation, and character. 

London has existed for more than two thousand years, and the ghosts of the recent and ancient past remain in its streets and its culture. This course aims to explore the deep funds of strangeness and otherness that permeate London’s places and spaces, through examining films and television series that show the city as a brimming reservoir of past and future shocks. Science fiction, horror, and noir/neo-gothic cinema and television from all eras will be explored with a particular emphasis on works that take London itself as a major part of their story. These might be disaster or alien invasion films that see the city as a site of destruction or devastation, horror films which render a familiar city frightening and strange, or noir explorations of London’s underbelly that expose sides of the city that are normally hidden. The course will both present an alternative history of London on film and provide you with rich possibilities for the analytic study of film and television. Horror and science fiction are notorious as vessels for the expression of both social and political anxieties, and the selection of films would

The year 2020 saw America and most of the world convulsed by two major events: the global health pandemic of the COVID-19 virus, which was worldwide in scope; and the spontaneous spread of protests for racial justice in America and many other countries triggered by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Both these events, coming as disrupting forces to the established political and economic order, underscore longstanding questions for political, economic and philosophical debate: Where should power and decision-making take place? Is human nature noble, but enchained by corrupted institutions or is it brutish and violent, requiring a social contract with an authority to safeguard the rights of all? If we accept the second proposition, who guards the guards? This course will explore historic, recent, and contemporary trends in the political authority invested in the nation-state and its agencies and contrast this with social and political forces expressing discontent with the status quo. 

For a portrayal of the variety and depth of human emotions, Shakespeare has never been equaled. In this course, a selection of plays will be studied in depth, with equal focus on the genres of comedy, history, and tragedy. Through visits to Shakespearean plays in performance, to the Globe theatre workshop, and through guest speakers, the plays will be examined not only textually but also as living plays that tell us as much about modern identity as the development of the early modern identity. Students examine the notion of Shakespeare as "timeless" to understand how vitally he moves from the concerns of his day to ours.

Gain an understanding of the social and cultural differences between Britain and the US. Students explore various aspects of British life including entertainment, sport, politics, religion, and social problems.

London is an important center for international popular culture from World War II to the present. This course compares British and American experiences of popular culture. Students draw on their previous educational and life experiences to examine the culture and history of the 2 countries. Topics of interest include oral cultures, popular and ethnic cultures, and social and religious movements.

The Global Internship Course (GIC) is a unique and innovative opportunity for students to combine their internship placement (and living abroad) experience with a weekly in-class educational and mentoring experience (session), which aims to develop students' personal and professional skills while earning academic credit. The GIC fits in with CAPA's philosophy and practice of Globally Networked Learning (GNL), whereby students can learn about the social and cultural context of their internship placement and the host region and country, as well as other GIC themes, through comparative global analysis. At times, this analysis will be facilitated through a selection of CAPA Master classes given by leading professionals from a diverse range of fields. Thus, the weekly discussion-based sessions with their active learning approach, gives students the opportunity to discuss and analyze theories and models of work, critical thinking and organizational behavior and management in a cross-cultural context.

A variety of teaching and learning activities will be used, for example: lecture, workshop, discussion, informal and formal presentations, and mock (recorded) interviews. The assessment mechanisms are all designed to support learning, using the internship and living abroad experience as a vehicle. Above all, the on-site CAPA sessions give students the opportunity to listen to individual experiences, compare and contrast activities with others, and consider the experience in terms of their personal and professional development - at the beginning we focus on self-reflection and at the end of this process we challenge each student to focus on self-projection. The 6-credit internship class has a specialized focus on the latter by engaging students in an internship/industry related research project to develop each student's connection between their internship and time abroad with possible postgraduate study and career opportunities. It is, therefore, our intention that students will treat these on-site sessions with the same dedication and professionalism that we expect the students to display at their internships. Students will undertake an intensive orientation session to help them prepare for and integrate into their placements. Additional resources and readings to aid students' personal and professional development will be provided.

Syllabus for Global Internship Course - 3 credits (PDF)

Syllabus for Global Internship Course - 6 credits (PDF)

Study the political systems and processes of the West European democracies. This course introduces students to the history, concepts, and structures of politics and government in Western Europe. Students will gain knowledge on the debates, disagreements, problems, and changes in Western European government and politics and will be able to think critically on these issues as well as defend their ideas on them.

This course will address the principal ethical issues facing print and broadcast journalism. It will consider the practical dilemmas reporters and editors have to deal with and relate them to a moral framework. The focus will be on the real-time arguments that arise almost daily in media coverage of matters of public controversy—crime, war, privacy, and the like. The course objectives are to learn how to evaluate the performance of the media and to help students develop their own ethical philosophy. Problems of regulation and codes of practice will also be examined. Students will be able to take advantage of London’s global importance as a media hub and the distinctive media culture of the UK through a program of case studies, visits, and guest lectures by practitioners.

This course will introduce students to the knowledge and skills required to create and implement integrated advertising and public relations activities. This course analyses the main forms of advertising and public relations techniques used by organizations to communicate with the various stakeholders of a business. It seeks to develop the theoretical constructs of the discipline and to develop analytical skills and managerial competencies that are needed to plan and control an integrated program of communications within an organization. Topics include consumer motivation and appeal, media structures and effectiveness, target audiences, print and broadcast production, budgeting, and promotion mix planning. Students are required to design, cost, and implement their own advertising campaign and to project the likely success rates of their efforts.

This course takes a sociocultural approach to contemporary issues of child development. Develop an understanding of life in the UK and explore how it shapes children’s development. Issues such as children’s early attachments, the development of the self, the emergence of consciousness, the role of play, and the origins of disturbing behavior are examined.

This course focuses on the development of one of the greatest of these global cities, London, from the 19th through to 21st Century and investigates the nature and implications of its "globality" for its built environment and social geography. Examine how the city has been transformed by the forces of industrialization, imperialism, and globalization and consider the ways in which London and its inhabitants have been shaped by their relationships with the rest of the world. Students gain insight into London’s changing identity as a world city, with a particular emphasis on comparing the city’s imperial, post-imperial, and transatlantic connections and the ways in which past and present, local and global intertwine in the capital.

Examine the theory and practice of corporate financial decision-making. This course focuses on corporate finance from an international perspective and allows the student to discover the financial challenges faced by businesses at an operational and strategic level.

Explore the international marketing strategies of European companies. Begin by examining why organizations wish to expand beyond national boundaries. By the end of the course, students can identify which markets to enter, methods of market entry, and management and control implications.

The objective of this course is to introduce the student to the theoretical analysis of international trade and commercial policy. Students look at the pure theory of international trade as exemplified by comparative advantage and gains from trade in the classical and neoclassical models and explore alternative explanations of trade and development. The theory of customs unions and modern-day explanations of preferential trading arrangements are explored, and some of the principal unresolved theoretical and practical problems of free trade are examined.

An understanding of the history of the UK is vital to make sense of current events. From the loss of Empire, to wars, through immigration—Britain’s history is a fascinating, and richly complex subject to study in country. This course examines how Britain has responded to political, economic, social, and cultural forces during the 20th Century and how it is developing in the 21st Century. Topics analyzed and discussed will include: changing perceptions about the role of the state; the decline of empire; the effect of 2 world wars; economic strategies; multiculturalism, and gender. Using interdisciplinary examinations of social, economic, and political history, the course will evaluate how the lives of ordinary British people have changed during the past century.

This course develops an in-depth understanding of democratic citizenship, identity, gender, and religion among young Muslims in London’s East End. It first examines the foundations of participatory democracy and their adaptation to an increasingly de-territorialized world. The course then illustrates the subsequent conflicts with an examination of Muslim migrant communities’ confrontation with Western democratic polities. We consider a range of explanations for sociopolitical alienation and introduce the concept of Apartism. Comparisons will be drawn with Muslim communities and identity in the US, in the light of events and attitudes in the 21st Century.

Global Identity: Connecting Your International Experience with Your Future is an optional 1-credit online course that helps you process your international experience and apply what you've learned upon your return.  Global Identity gives you the opportunity to work individually with a trained cultural mentor, helping you articulate your newly acquired skills for future professional opportunities, and differentiating you from your peers.

This course is offered at no additional cost on programs six weeks or longer. There are several sections offered including: Honors, College of Liberal Arts, and Leadership Minor focused versions of the course. Here is a link to additional Global Identity Course Information for details on how to request registration, deadlines and grade basis.