School of Social Science and Humanities

• Womanhood through the Lens of Female Novelists in Burma (Fem & Lit)

  10 weeks Ran once

  Reads the work of Burma's women novelists to explore how womanhood has been written and lived: family, work, love, politics and the changing position of women across the twentieth century.

• Introduction to Social Science

  12 weeks Ran 2 times

  General ideas about social science and its concepts and disciplines: the disciplinary approach, sociology in everyday life, cultural understanding through an anthropological lens, social psychology, political science, political economy, development and basic research skills.

• Positive Psychology

  6 weeks Ran once

  The study of happiness, optimism, subjective wellbeing and personal growth: emotions, wellbeing across nations, eudaimonia, optimism and hope, resilience and post-traumatic growth, values and goals, positive interventions and applying positive psychology.

• Heritage For Peace

  3 weeks Ran once

  How cultural heritage can be a resource for peace: protecting heritage in conflict, shared heritage as a bridge between communities, and the role of memory in reconciliation.

• The Socaility of Feelings

  12 weeks Ran once

  How do people interact with feelings, and how do feelings spread from one person to another? The course explores anthropological and social approaches to feelings and offers feminist perspectives on feelings as both an outcome and a vehicle of social life, struggle and change.

• Psychology for Everyday Use

  6 weeks Ran 3 times

  Informs students on the various subjects within psychology and their applications in life, work and society: Western perspectives and decolonising psychological theory, personality, clinical, organisational, business, forensic, educational, social, health and neuropsychology, ethics and new hypotheses for psychology in Myanmar.

• Philosophy as Anti-Leviathanism

  3 weeks

  A three-week philosophical argument against the Leviathan: reading political philosophy on state power and sovereignty, and the thinkers who resist the absolute state.

• Basic Creative writing (English writing)

  10 weeks Ran once

  A ten-week workshop in writing creatively in English: poems, stories and personal essays, with weekly writing, reading and feedback.

• Applied Art in Everyday Psychology

  6 weeks Ran once

  Uses art making as a window into everyday psychology: expression, emotion, stress and self-understanding through simple creative exercises.

• Burma during the Cold War: A history

  12 weeks Ran once

  Burma's history through the Cold War: independence, parliamentary democracy, the 1962 coup and the Ne Win era, and how the global contest between the superpowers shaped the country.

• Introduction to Gastronomy [Sociocultural Influences on Food Patterns and Choices]

  6 weeks Ran once

  Food as culture: the social and cultural influences on what people eat, food patterns and choices in Myanmar and elsewhere, and what cuisine tells us about identity and change.

• Land and Environmental Justice

  12 weeks Ran once

  A twelve-week study of land and environmental justice: land rights and dispossession, extractive industries, environmental harm and the movements that resist it, with Myanmar cases.

• Language in Society

  8 weeks Ran once

  An introduction to sociolinguistics: language and identity, dialect and standard, multilingualism, language policy and the politics of language in Myanmar.

• Introduction to Ethical and Moral Reasoning

  8 weeks Ran 2 times

  The main approaches to ethical reasoning, from consequences and duties to virtue and care, applied to real dilemmas in personal, professional and political life.

• Emotions/Master your emotions

  3 weeks Ran 3 times

  A short practical course on understanding and managing emotions: what emotions are for, recognising them, regulating them and using them well in relationships and work.

• Introduction to International Relations

  6 weeks Ran 3 times

  An introduction to international relations: the state system, theories of IR, international organisations and the current issues shaping world politics.

• 21st Century World Order and Global Governance

  6 weeks Ran once

  The structure of today's world order: great power competition, international institutions, global governance of trade, climate and security, and where Myanmar sits within it.

• Power, Participation and Democracy

  4 weeks Ran once

  How key political institutions and processes operate in modern democracies: how power is distributed, what determines political participation and how democratic ideals are realised, covering constitutions, executives, legislatures, parties, elections, interest groups and multi-level government.

• Introduction to Dialogue Processes

  3 weeks Ran once

  The design and facilitation of dialogue: principles, formats, the facilitator's role and the use of dialogue in divided communities and political transitions.

• Comparative politics

  6 weeks Ran once

  The comparative study of political systems: regimes, institutions, parties and political change, using comparison to understand why countries differ and what that means for Myanmar.

• Geopolitics

  6 weeks Ran once

  Geography and power in international politics: territory, resources, strategic location and the geopolitical rivalries that shape Asia and Myanmar's place in it.

• Political Ideas and Ideologies

  6 weeks Ran once

  The major political ideologies, from liberalism and conservatism to socialism, nationalism and feminism: their core ideas, history and relevance to political debate today.

• Anthropology of Social Movement

  6 weeks Ran once

  How anthropologists study social movements: organisation, identity, protest repertoires and everyday resistance, with cases from Myanmar and beyond.

The Movement Institute

• Introduction to Governance Essentials

  6 weeks Ran 2 times

  The essentials of governance: accountability, transparency, rule of law and participation, and how they apply to public institutions, civil society and community organisations.

• Economics for Policy Making

  6 weeks Ran 2 times

  The economics that policy makers need: markets and market failure, public finance, cost-benefit thinking and reading economic evidence when designing policy.

• Introduction to Gender Studies

  6 weeks Ran 2 times

  An introduction to gender studies: sex and gender, patriarchy, feminist theory, gender in Myanmar society and the tools for analysing gender in everyday life.

• Introduction to Environmental Studies

  5 weeks Ran 2 times

  An interdisciplinary introduction to environmental studies: ecosystems, pollution, climate change, environmental policy and the environmental challenges facing Myanmar.

• Community Solid Waste Management

  6 weeks Ran once

  Managing solid waste at community level: waste streams, reduction and recycling, composting, collection systems and organising a community waste programme.

• Understanding Gender Based Violence

  6 weeks Ran once

  The forms, causes and consequences of gender-based violence, the frameworks for prevention and response, and the support available to survivors in Myanmar.

• Environmental Economics

  8 weeks Ran once

  The economics of the environment: externalities, valuing nature, pollution control, resource management and the policy instruments used to protect the environment.

• Essential Political Theories

  8 weeks Ran once

  The essential theories of politics: the state, power, legitimacy, justice and freedom, through the thinkers who defined them and the debates they still provoke.

• Environmental Quality Management

  6 weeks

  Managing air, water and soil quality: monitoring, standards, assessment and the management systems used by governments and organisations.

• Gender Mainstreaming

  6 weeks Ran once

  How to bring gender into policy and programme design: gender analysis, gender-responsive planning and budgeting, and institutionalising gender equality in organisations.

• Globalisation & Governance

  7 weeks Ran once

  Globalisation and its governance: global markets, international institutions, transnational problems and the question of who governs a globalised world.

• Queer theory

  6 weeks

  An introduction to queer theory: sexuality, identity and power, the key thinkers and texts, and queer perspectives on Myanmar society.

• Introduction: Exploring Feminism and Feminist Issues

  8 weeks

  An eight-week exploration of feminism: its history and waves, key debates, and contemporary feminist issues in Myanmar and the wider world.

• Water and Wastewater Treatment Technology

  6 weeks

  The technology of treating water and wastewater: sources and contaminants, treatment processes, small-scale and community systems and water quality monitoring.

• Revolution Course

  8 weeks

  The study of revolutions: their causes, dynamics and outcomes, comparative cases from history and the lessons for Myanmar's own revolutionary moment.

• Marine Ecotourism

  8 weeks

  Ecotourism in coastal and marine environments: principles, planning, community benefit and conservation, with reference to Myanmar's coast and islands.

• Understanding Masculnities

  6 weeks

  The study of masculinities: how ideas of manhood are constructed, their effects on men, women and society, and the possibilities for change.

• Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation Biology Course

  6 weeks Ran once

  The science of ecology, biodiversity and conservation: ecosystems, species and habitats, threats to biodiversity and the strategies used to conserve it in Myanmar.

• Climate Change and Sustainable Tourism

  8 weeks Ran once

  How climate change affects tourism and how tourism can be made sustainable: impacts, adaptation, low-carbon travel and community-based tourism.

• Transnational Governance

  6 weeks Ran 2 times

  Governance beyond the state: transnational institutions, networks and norms, and how issues from migration to the environment are governed across borders.

• Applied Essential Political Ideologies

  4 weeks

  Applies the essential political ideologies to current questions: how liberal, socialist, nationalist, conservative and feminist ideas play out in real political choices today.