Law LLB

Studying Law at NCH will give you a high quality legal education delivered by established academics with the aim of encouraging individual development and intellectual ability.

The law programme aims to instill in each student an analytical approach to legal problems, clear thinking and the ability to develop coherent arguments and defend them.

The Law LLB is a Qualifying Law Degree recognised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board of England and Wales. If you decide not to deveop a legal career the knowledge and skills you have acquired are readily transferable to other fields of employment including government, politics, finance and business.

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Dr Tola Amodu, Convenor & Senior Lecturer in Law
Dr Tola Amodu, Convenor & Senior Lecturer in Law
Your NCH Studies will include:
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Current Students

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Pacome F

Law LLB with Economics

Call me Pacs. I'm Vice President of the NCH SU. Raised in North London, studied at St Ignatius College. I support the best club in England: ARSENAL!

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Anthony D

Law LLB with English

Anthony talks about the Michaelmas lecture series with Professor Lawrence Krauss, which combined with Professor Richard Dawkins’ lecture series forms the Science Literacy module that all students at NCH study in their first year.

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Bobby S

Law LLB & English

I can be indecisive at the best of times. Even as I write this sentence, Earl Grey is squabbling with Lord Twining in the ‘preferred teabag’…

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Syllabus

You study a total of 19 modules in the NCH undergraduate curriculum
The Law LLB accounts for 12 modules.

This is the LLB degree in its traditional three-stage format. It provides you with a solid grounding in the concepts and frameworks of the English legal system, focusing on those core components necessary to helping you to "think like a lawyer".

The LLB helps you to develop an understanding of the values and ideas within the legal system as a means to acquire the skills necessary to act effectively as professionals. The focus on the core substantive elements of legal reasoning will therefore be accompanied by a strong emphasis on critical thinking, research and communication skills. You will study a total of twelve modules.

In your first year

You will study four modules.

Common Law Reasoning & Institutions

This comprehensive introduction to the English legal system seeks to convey what is distinctive about the common law approach as a legal methodology and as it reflects the history and politics of England and Wales. It examines the sources of law, the civil and criminal court structures and the role of judges and the jury. A running concern of the course is the question of fairness: the impact of the Human Rights Act on the criminal justice system and the issues of access to justice in the civil courts. This course is also vital in initiating you into the process of legal research and the final examination has a compulsory section on research activities carried out during the year.

Criminal Law

This module examines general principles of criminal liability, a range of fatal and non-fatal offences against the person and selected offences against property. Attempts to commit offences, secondary liability and defences also form part of the University of London criminal law curriculum. Criminal law consists of a highly developed body of precisely formulated legal rules but as criminal conduct is subject to punishment it thus engages with broad issues of morality and policy. Understanding the tension between certainty in the law and social adaptation affecting the development of criminal law will take you beyond the basic stage of understanding the substantive rules of criminal law.

Elements of the Law of Contract

Contracts are the legal basis of all commercial transactions. This module covers core topics – including formation of contracts, capacity to contract and privity, performance and breach of contract and remedies for breach of contract. The emphasis is on understanding the key underlying principles of English law. This is very much a case law subject, with judicial precedents stretching back nearly 400 years in some instances (but more usually of nineteenth and twentieth century origin) and a small number of statutory provisions, as well as the impact of EU law. An understanding of what factors judges may, or must, take into account when exercising their discretion is crucial.

Public Law

The UK constitution is famously ‘unwritten’ and thus contrasts with other constitutional models. Analysing key issues of sovereignty and the division of powers between legislature, executive and administration, one key question is how far the UK lives up to classic doctrine. Equally, membership of the European Union, and the Human Rights Act 1998, affect the overall picture of the relation between citizen and the state. To fully engage with this subject, you need to take an interest in current affairs and debates about what is involved in constitutional issues and reforms.

In your second year

You will study four further modules:

Land Law*

Much of the work of solicitors turns around land law in the form of conveyancing (buying and selling dwellings or commercial enterprises) or the relations between landlords and tenants. Here the central principles of English law are portrayed, including the necessary historical context, as many of the basic concepts were established in social conditions very different from today. Land law centres on the concept of the nature and quantum of the various interests that can exist in land, the principles governing the creation, transfer and extinction of these interests and the extent that those interests are enforceable against third parties.

Law of Tort*

The law of tort concerns the civil liability for the wrongful infliction of injury by one person upon another. The characteristic claim in tort is for monetary compensation or damages. There is no single principle of liability, which makes tort law complex; also there are other sources of monetary compensation for personal injuries (such as unemployment/social security payments, private insurance, criminal injuries compensation schemes, etc.) as well as the fact that the same harms may be pursued through the criminal justice system.

Negligence is a key topic and other topics include: interference with economic interest; trespass; defamation; vicarious liability as well as defences and remedies, and sources of future development including EU law.

Civil & Criminal Procedure

Focused on the substantive issues and values that underpin Civil and criminal procedure, the module is divided equally between Civil and criminal procedure. You will be expected to compare and contrast Civil and criminal procedure and will need to have a good working knowledge of the court system and the way in which civil and criminal justice is organised and dispensed. Specific topics include: civil process before trial, commencement of proceedings, jurisdiction, responding to a claim, case management, summary disposals and trials, remedies and criminal procedure, police powers and bail, commencement of proceedings, pleas and plea bargaining, ID and other evidence and sentencing.

EU Law*

The European Union (EU) is a relatively new legal system that combines characteristics of international law and national legal systems. EU institutions and law-making powers are examined as well as the key questions of the impact of EU law on national law and its overall consequences for a) business enterprises and b) individuals. As EU law is highly responsive to economic and social changes, legal rules and judicial decisions are studied in their wider context. The subject will appeal to students who enjoyed studying Public law or who have an interest in public affairs, politics, economics or international relations.

 

In your third year

You will take two remaining compulsory modules:

Law of Trusts*

A part of Equity law, the law of trusts deals with the rules and principles governing the creation and operation of trusts – a particular method of holding property that developed historically primarily to preserve family wealth, particularly by minimising liability to taxation. The syllabus focuses on three broad areas: 1) the requirements for establishing a valid trust (including express private trusts; charitable trusts; implied and resulting trusts; constructive trusts); 2) the powers and obligations of trustees under a valid trust (including appointment, retirement and removal of trustees); 3) the remedies available when trustees act improperly.

Jurisprudence & Legal Theory*

This module provides a grounding in the nature of jurisprudence: methodology, analysis, theory and the idea of definition, the relevance of language and ideology.

And your choice of two modules from the list below.

Company Law

This area of law is fast moving with frequent legislative change due to pressures for reform from the UK Department of Trade and Industry and from the EU with its policy of harmonising the company law of its member states. The syllabus centres on the way law regulates companies and the facilities company law offers, such as limited liability and transferability of shares, as well as the corresponding burdens (duties of disclosure, compliance with statutory procedures and common law duties) and the dynamics of the often tense relationship between shareholders and management. A vital course for anyone intending to operate in the commercial field; you will benefit from knowledge of Contract, Tort, Trusts and Public law.

Labour Law

Labour law has key consequences both for individuals in their job settings and the operation of the labour market in general. The module begins with matters that may be pursued by individuals, covering contracts of employment, unfair dismissal, redundancy, equal pay, and sex and race discrimination. (Understanding of contract law and a willingness to grapple with EU law is important here.) The second part deals with ‘collective’ labour law: the protection of the worker re trade union membership and activities; the status and organisation of trade unions; trade union recognition; the legal regulation of collective bargaining and the law relating to trade disputes. This module will appeal to students interested in industrial relations and their historical and political contexts.

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property is a rapidly expanding body of law that has come into increasing domestic and international prominence. Involving both artistic and scientific concerns, intellectual property underpins a wide variety of everyday activities for individual consumers – hence in turn its immense economic and industrial significance. The law of intellectual property rights seeks a difficult balance between rewarding the right owner and the needs of society to gain access to scientific, technological or cultural benefits. It includes copyright, patent and trade-mark law. The course examines the range of different domestic and international legal categories involved in regulating this form of intangible property, and pays specific attention to the ways in which English law, lacking any discrete law of unfair competition, frequently relies on 'press-ganging' a range of independent rights (such as confidentiality) to serve that purpose.

Dissertation

The Dissertation module option offers final-year students the opportunity to undertake in-depth legal/sociolegal research. Students design their own research question – and submit a research proposal online – on a topic they have not previously (or concurrently) studied in depth. The Dissertation option will be examined a) by electronic submission of a 10,000 word Dissertation and b) a short final examination. The Dissertation is a module in its own right and it may be used to complete the Laws Skills Portfolio.

*These modules are required for the Qualifying Law Degree.

Depending upon staffing and faculty availability, modules may be subject to change. All programme structures are subject to confirmation in the 2013-2014 Programme Regulations to be published by the University of London. University of London International Programmes syllabus reproduced with permission.

Learning

How will I be taught?

Treating every student as an individual is central to the College's ethos. You will have unparalled access to highly qualified and experienced academic staff who are friendly, responsive and committed to helping you to achieve your academic, personal and professional potential. Studying the Law LLB, you'll enjoy a varied but integrated range of teaching and learning styles throughout the College's dymanic programme of teaching including:

Lectures

You study two modules in Law concurrently in each of the Michaelmas and Hilary terms for a total of four modules in each academic year. Our highly qualified lecturers have teaching experience and research interests in the relevant subject area.

One-to-one tutorials

In your one-to-one tutorial your tutor will engage critically with you, entering into your individual point of view and working with you to clarify, challenge, defend and develop your arguments and ideas. You will prepare an essay of up to 2,000 words for every one-to-one tutorial related to one of the degree modules you are studying during that term. Your essay will be the basis of your discussion with your tutor. This form of intellectual engagement is considered to be the gold standard for identifying and drawing out a student’s potential.

Small group tutorials

In small group tutorials, you and a small group of students will meet with your tutor to discuss one of the themes of the module. You will be required to read in preparation for each of your group tutorials and you will also prepare and present an argument for a certain number of them. These will be an opportunity for you to discuss and debate with your tutor and your fellow students, and to give and receive both praise and constructive criticism.

Classes

Law classes are interactive lectures that take place in smaller groups of students. These are led by a lecturer and provide the opportunity for students to ask questions.

Seminars

Law seminars take the form of small group discussions with a lecturer. You will prepare assignments for every seminar and will regularly submit a written presentation or make individual or group oral presentations in your seminars. The aim of your Law seminar is to give you an opportunity to develop your writing skills, your understanding, and your ability to argue coherently. Seminars also enable lecturers to assess your progress and clarify difficult aspects. You will discuss your reports with your lecturers at Collections during the last week of each term.

Assessment

Formative assessment is based mainly on your seminar presentations, your essays, your answers to problematic questions or discussion pieces. The marks awarded by NCH academic staff are for guidance only and will not contribute to your degree classification. Your written submissions provide the opportunity for feedback from your lecturers to help you to develop your analytical and writing skills ahead of formally assessed essays and examinations. This is an opportunity to try out different ideas and approaches without the pressure of being ‘examined’. Formative assessment is also provided through computer marked assignments.

At the end of term, you will have a Collection in which you will receive verbal feedback from all of the Law lecturers who have been teaching you.

Summative assessment is provided in each subject by a three-hour unseen written paper examination (plus 15 minutes reading time) examined by the University of London. The exceptions to this are: Common Law Reasoning and Institutions and the Laws Dissertation optional course (Year 3) and the Laws Skills Portfolio.

You will study the University of London syllabus, and your examinations will be set and marked by the University. On successful completion of the course, you will be awarded a University of London degree. The LLB requires you to pass all of the examinations for each part or stage in a single examination sitting. If you failed one or more of the examinations in a part or stage, you would be required to take all the examinations for that part or stage again. You can sit the examinations a maximum of four times.

In order to be awarded an honours degree, you are required to have been examined in, and to have completed to the satisfaction of the University of London, twelve full modules or the equivalent.

A Skills Portfolio must be submitted to the University of London in the student’s third year to satisfy the requirements for obtaining a Qualifying Law Degree.

If you plan to use your degree to pursue a career as a solicitor or barrister in a different jurisdiction (other than England and Wales), you need to check the rules for that jurisdiction, especially required modules and other points, such as the maximum number of times that you can sit the examinations. It will be your responsibility to meet these requirements, so you should check with the regulator in the jurisdiction where you hope to qualify as a lawyer before you apply.

Faculty

Professor Adrian Zuckerman

Visting Professor

Adrian is Professor of Civil Procedure at Oxford University, a position he combines with teaching the LLM Civil and Public Litigation course for University College London and King’s College London.

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Dr Tola Amodu

BA (Anglia Ruskin) LLM (Cantab), PhD (LSE), Convenor & Senior Lecturer

Tola holds a PhD from the University of London, having studied at the London School of Economics (LSE), where she wrote a thesis exploring the history of planning agreements as regulatory instruments in England and Wales.

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Professor Roger Halson

LLB (Newcastle), M.Litt (Oxon), Solicitors Finals (Nottingham Law School), Professor of Contract Law

Roger has been Professor of Contract and Commercial Law at the University of Leeds since 2002, prior to which he was the HK Bevan Professor of Law at the University of Hull. He served as Head of the School of Law at Leeds from 2007-10.

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Professor G R Sullivan

LLB (Wales), LLM (London), Professor of Criminal Law

Robert is Emeritus Professor of Law at University College London. Previously he was Barber Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Birmingham and Professor of Law at the University of Durham.

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Professor Barbara McDonald

BA (Syd), LLB (Syd), LLM (Lond), Visiting Professor

Barbara is a Professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Sydney where she teaches in the areas of Torts, Torts and Contracts, Advanced Obligations and Remedies, and Legal Reasoning and Common Law Systems.

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Geoffrey Robertson QC

BA, LLB (Syd), BCL (Oxon), Visiting Professor

Geoffrey has had a distinguished career as a trial counsel and UN appellant judge. He has appeared in landmark cases in media law, and argued hundreds of death sentence appeals.

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Entry Requirements

What do I need to get in?

The College is flexible and admissions tutors look beyond grades, using written work samples, references, personal statements and interviews to assess each applicant’s potential to flourish in its rigorous academic environment.

As a very general guide for students applying for the Law LLB, the College typically seeks one of the following:

• AAA at A-level - undertaking an Extended Project may be an advantage
• 36 points (including core points) in the IB Diploma, with sixes at Higher Level
• D3D3D3 in Pre-U
• AAABB in Scottish Highers

We can also assess most other comparable international qualifications.

To enrol for the University of London degree, you will have to produce evidence that you meet the University of London entrance requirements. In practice the College’s entrance requirements exceed these requirements in nearly every case so this is not usually an issue.

Choose your contextual course

You study a total of 19 modules in the NCH undergraduate curriculum
Your contextual course comprises 4 additional modules.

In addition to your degree studies, you will study four modules in another degree subject as part of the College’s broader liberal arts curriculum leading to the dual award of the Law LLB (Hons) and the NCH Diploma.


Students of the Law LLB can choose from modules in one of Art History, Classical Studies, Economics, English, History, Philosophy, Politics & International Relations or Psychology.


These modules contextualise your learning in your degree subject and are of particular interest to students whose interests and talents span different subject areas and issues, those who have curious questioning minds and a thirst for knowledge.

 

 

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Syllabus

The study of Art History is an essential component in the exploration of any society – art functions as a mirror of the social and physical environment and is one of the best ways of understanding society’s aims and ambitions. 

John Ruskin put it best when he said: ‘Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts—the book of their deeds, the book of their words, and the book of their art. Not one of these books can be understood unless we read the two others; but of the three the only quite trustworthy one is the last’.

The Art History contextual course includes four modules. The parameters have been set as widely as possible, from Europe to India, and over a time span that extends from antiquity to the modern period. The study will range across a variety of media from architecture to painting, sculpture, ceramics, metalwork and textiles.

Studying Art History trains you to look closely at buildings and objects, to analyse their physical dimensions and to seek out and understand the historical contexts in which they were made. The range of material used to explore the narrative of a work of art starts with the object itself but also relies on documentary and archaeological evidence.

In your first year

You will study two modules.

The Art & Architecture of the Islamic World

We will survey the full sweep of Islamic history from its beginnings in the 7th century up to 1900. The geographical range is similarly broad but concentrates on the core regions of the Islamic world, including al-Andalus and Sicily but excluding South East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Where appropriate lectures will focus on the artistic output of a single dynasty as this approach gives a clearer understanding of the historical and geographical context. Students will also look at the development of a medium across a span of time; this type of investigation will be supported by museum visits and handling sessions.

The Grand Tour & the Discovery of Art, Antiquity & Architecture

This module presents the evolution of European art and architecture in the broadest historical context, beginning with the ancient world, through its decline and gradual revival, Renaissance and Enlightenment, to the scientific and speculative interpretations of Champollion and Sigmund Freud. By way of conclusion we shall discuss topics such as Afro-Centrism and Orientalism, dealing with authors such as Edward Said, Martin Bernal and Jan Assmann. The connecting theme throughout will be the Grand Tour, its origins, its art-focussed climax in the 18th century, and its spread beyond Europe thereafter.

In your second year

You will study two further modules.

The Art & Architecture of Byzantium

The Eastern Roman Empire, widely-known as ‘the Byzantine Empire,’ was one of the longest-living state formations in world history. Beginning in AD 330 with the move of the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople and ending with the capture of the latter city by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, Byzantine history extends over eleven centuries and covers a region stretching as far east as Iraq and as far west as Spain. Throughout the ‘middle ages,’ Constantinople was the ultimate city, its name evoking grandeur; the manuscripts, enamels and silks of Byzantine workshops represented the highest degree of refinement; in modern French, ‘c’est Byzance’ (‘it is Byzantium’) denotes anything endowed with superlative magnificence. However, this artistic legacy remained shrouded in prejudice for centuries and only began to be systematically studied at the end of the nineteenth century.

Byzantine studies today represent one of the fastest-growing fields of scholarship in the humanities, with research conducted in dozens of languages across the globe. This course aims to provide a comprehensive survey of the architecture and other material culture of the Byzantine Empire, adopting a roughly chronological sequence. The examples will range from country chapels painted with enigmatic images to manuscripts created for emperors, claimed by kings and enshrined in museums. The objects will be examined in their historical and cultural context, as products of the complex and fascinating societies which developed during the millennial history of ‘Byzantium.’ A general bibliography of historical, art historical and archaeological works as well as specific bibliographies for the topics covered in each lecture will be provided. Visual material for each lecture will be prepared as a multimedia presentation and will be provided to the students as a revision tool. Assessment will be made through an essay and a slide test.

Modern Architecture: Global versus Regional

This is an introductory survey of modern architecture, which will investigate some of the competing positions or claims that have been made about its global and/or local significance. It will look at key buildings and projects from the late nineteenth century to the present, with a view to raising questions about the expectations for or pursuit of internationalism on the one hand, versus more vernacular or locally inflected approaches to design on the other. The term architecture will be foregrounded as a Western one, which has served to demarcate architecture as a form of art from building for more utilitarian ends, and indeed to demarcate European architecture from other kinds of building elsewhere in the world. The term modern will likewise be problematized, due to how it sets up a dichotomy of progressive and international versus static and traditional, and troubles attempts to adopt a more global approach to the study of architectural history.

The European and North American canon (i.e., from the ‘international style’ through to ‘critical regionalism’) will form the spine of this module, but efforts will be made throughout toward a more comparative history. In addition to covering some of the more canonical material, the relationship between the center and the periphery will be explored through special topics, which may include the architecture of world’s fairs, the idea of a ‘tropical modernism,’ diplomatic buildings like the United Nations Headquarters, Japanese Metabolism, and the pavilions of international art festivals. From the outset, you will begin to develop a sound basis for reading plans, elevations and photographic documents, as well as thinking critically about the built environment more generally.

Depending upon staffing and faculty availability, modules may be subject to change.

Faculty

Dr Melanie Gibson

BA (Oxon), MA, PhD (SOAS), Visiting Professor & Convenor for Art History

Melanie has a BA in Arabic from St Anne’s College, Oxford. She took her MA and PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Since 2006 she has been director and tutor of the Islamic module of the Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art at SOAS.

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Professor Edward Chaney

BA (Hons) (Reading), MPhil, PhD (London), Laurea di Dottore (Pisa), FSA, FRHistS, Professor of Art History

Edward Chaney is the Professor of Fine and Decorative Arts at Southampton Solent University and founding Chair of the History of Collecting Research Centre. He has a 1st class honours degree in the History of Art from Reading University and  an MPhil and PhD from the Warburg Institute, University of London.

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Dr George Manginis

BA (Athens), MA, PhD (London)

Originally from Greece, George took his BA in Archaeology at the University of Athens. He then moved to London where he completed his MA and PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Since 2001 George has taught Theory of Art History and Archaeology, Ottoman Architecture and Chinese Ceramics and is currently a SOAS Senior Teaching Fellow on Early Islamic Art and Architecture. In summer 2013 he is going to Princeton University on a Stanley J. Seeger Fellowship.

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Dr Joel Robinson

BA (Alberta), MA (Western Ontario), PhD (Essex)

Joel is an historian of architectural culture, visual art and landscape in the modern and contemporary periods. He holds a BA Honors (1995) in Art History from the University of Alberta in Edmonton (Canada), and an MA in Art History (1997) from the University of Western Ontario in London (Canada), where he began his teaching career. After practising freelance journalism for a while, he returned to an academic vocation, earning a PhD in Art History from the University of Essex in 2007.

Read Full Biography

Entry Requirements

What do I need to get in?

The College is flexible and admissions tutors look beyond grades, using written work samples, references, personal statements and interviews to assess each applicant’s potential to flourish in its rigorous academic environment.

As a very general guide for students applying for the Law LLB, the College typically seeks one of the following:

• AAA at A-level - undertaking an Extended Project may be an advantage
• 36 points (including core points) in the IB Diploma, with sixes at Higher Level
• D3D3D3 in Pre-U
• AAABB in Scottish Highers

We can also assess most other comparable international qualifications.

To enrol for the University of London degree, you will have to produce evidence that you meet the University of London entrance requirements. In practice the College’s entrance requirements exceed these requirements in nearly every case so this is not usually an issue.

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Syllabus

In keeping with the ancient model of education in the humanities, Classical Studies offers a varied but integrated course that connects in stimulating ways with NCH degree subjects. If you choose English as your degree subject, Classical Studies will deepen your acquaintance with literary forms and their diverse uses. For students of History, becoming familiar with the classical period can provide the most instructive of models, and of contrasts too. And in the study both of philosophy and of political thought, investigation of the pervasive classical influences can by truly illuminating.

In any liberal education, the paradigms of the classical world are implicitly present. Formal study of the Greek and Roman authors, though it introduces us to a world in various ways remote and strange, has also something of the character of self-discovery.In your first year

In your second year

You will study four half modules.

Early Greek Philosophy

Further details for this module will be available in summer 2013.

Greek Historians

Further details for this module will be published in summer 2013

Greek Poetry

Further details for this module will be published in summer 2013

Plato

Further details for this module will be published in summer 2013

In your second year

You will study four further half modules.

Later Ancient Philosophy

Further details for this module will be available in summer 2013.

Roman History & Oratory

Further details for this module will be published in summer 2013

Latin Literature

Further details for this module will be published in summer 2013

The Classical Legacy

Further details for this module will be published in summer 2013

Depending upon staffing and faculty availability, modules may be subject to change. 

Faculty

Dr David Mitchell

BA, MA, DPhil (Oxon) MSc (LSE), Senior Lecturer

David obtained a double first in Literae Humaniores at Oxford and went on to complete a DPhil there on problems of rationality in epistemology and ethics. He has taught philosophy at the University of Cambridge and the University of London.

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Professor A C Grayling

MA, DPhil (Oxon), FRSL, FRSA

Anthony is Master of New College of the Humanities, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. Until 2011 he was Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. 

Read Full Biography

Entry Requirements

What do I need to get in?

The College is flexible and admissions tutors look beyond grades, using written work samples, references, personal statements and interviews to assess each applicant’s potential to flourish in its rigorous academic environment.

As a very general guide for students applying for the Law LLB, the College typically seeks one of the following:

• AAA at A-level - undertaking an Extended Project may be an advantage
• 36 points (including core points) in the IB Diploma, with sixes at Higher Level
• D3D3D3 in Pre-U
• AAABB in Scottish Highers

We can also assess most other comparable international qualifications.

To enrol for the University of London degree, you will have to produce evidence that you meet the University of London entrance requirements. In practice the College’s entrance requirements exceed these requirements in nearly every case so this is not usually an issue.

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Syllabus

Economics is the study of incentives. A basic grounding in Economics gives you a framework to think about how decisions are made in society. Terms like opportunity cost, the public good, or cost-benefit analysis are widespread, but how do these concepts contribute to modern political and economic decision-making?

A Contextual course in Economics does not require prior study of Mathematics or Economics, nor will you be asked to complete quantitative assessments. Contextual Economics at NCH is based on learning the basics of the analytical methods used in the field of Economics, and thinking about the key issues in the economic decisions made by individuals, firms and governments toward economic development. The inclusion of International Development in the Contextual course enables you to study regions of interest to you.

To complete Economics as a contextual component of your NCH Diploma, you are required to take four modules: two in your first year and two in your second year.

In your first year

You will take two modules.

Introduction to International Development

This module provides you with an interdisciplinary introduction to the ideas, historical processes and events, policy debates and practical interventions that are shaping the economic, social and political direction of international development today.

Introduction to Economics: Macroeconomics

This module is designed to introduce you to the fundamentals of economic analysis and reasoning.

In your second year

You will take two further modules:

Introduction to Economics: Macroeconomics

Details of this module will be added shortly.

Introduction to International Development 2

Details of this module will be added shortly.

 

Depending upon staffing and faculty availability, not all modules will necessarily be available in all years. All programme structures are subject to confirmation in the 2013-2014 Programme Regulations to be published by the University of London. University of London International Programmes syllabus reproduced with permission.

Learning

If you study Economics as a contextual course, you will participate in 20 lectures and will write one essay and one term paper each module.

Your lectures will be with students studying Economics for their undergraduate degree as well as your fellow students studying the module as their contextual course.

Your grades for your Economics modules will contribute to your grade for the award of the NCH Diploma.

Faculty

Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta

BSc (Delhi), BA, MA, PhD (Cantab), FBA, FAAAS

Sir Partha was named a Knight Bachelor in the Queen's 2002 Birthday Honours List for services to economics. Sir Partha has the rare distinction of being a Fellow of both the British Academy and the Royal Society and a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences.

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Professor Niall Ferguson

BA, MA, DPhil (Oxon), Visiting Professor

Niall is an expert in Financial and Economic History, as well as Imperial History. Niall’s work as an academic and commentator and broadcaster has inspired debate and discussion throughout his career

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Dr Marianna Koli

BSc, MSc, PhD (University of Manchester), Convenor & Senior Lecturer

Marianna joined the College from the University of Birmingham, where she was a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Economics, lecturing in Development Economics, Statistics and Quantitative Methods.

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Dr Jungyoon Lee

BA (Cantab), MSc, MRes, PhD (LSE), Lecturer

Jungyoon received her PhD in Economics and MSc Econometrics and Mathematical Economics with distinction from the London School of Economics. Prior to that, she obtained her BA in Economics from the University of Cambridge where she was awarded the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Award by the Faculty of Economics. 

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Dr Georgios Zouros

BSc, MSc (Lond), PhD (LSE), Lecturer

Georgios joins the College from the London School of Economics where he was a Teaching Fellow lecturing in Quantitative Methods, Operational Research Methods and Logic. He taught Mathematics for Economics at the LSE between 2000 and 2012 both at graduate and undergraduate levels.

Read Full Biography

Entry Requirements

What do I need to get in?

The College is flexible and admissions tutors look beyond grades, using written work samples, references, personal statements and interviews to assess each applicant’s potential to flourish in its rigorous academic environment.

As a very general guide for students applying for the Law LLB, the College typically seeks one of the following:

• AAA at A-level - undertaking an Extended Project may be an advantage
• 36 points (including core points) in the IB Diploma, with sixes at Higher Level
• D3D3D3 in Pre-U
• AAABB in Scottish Highers

We can also assess most other comparable international qualifications.

To enrol for the University of London degree, you will have to produce evidence that you meet the University of London entrance requirements. In practice the College’s entrance requirements exceed these requirements in nearly every case so this is not usually an issue.

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Syllabus

Literature concerns every aspect of human life. Therefore its study complements work in all other arts and humanities subjects. Your feel for historical period can be improved by reading its literature; philosophical ideas can be held in suspension in an aesthetic structure; your analysis of case law can be improved by an understanding of the structures of narrative; the economic and political behaviour of humans is often represented and reflected upon by literary writers; the peculiar capacities and limitations of verbal art are underlined by its comparison with visual and sonic art; the peculiar capacities and limitations of the English language can be best appreciated by its comparison with other living languages; literature in English bears the marks of its influence by Classical literature; creative writers frequently show great penetration of human psychology and religious experience.

Literary criticism demands and develops skills in close reading, including the identification of rhetorical, obfuscatory, and contradictory uses of language, which will enhance the accuracy and penetration of your reading of any kind of text. Reading English as your contextual subject broadens and deepens your culture, and makes you simultaneously a more demanding and more appreciative reader and auditor of the English language in use.

To complete the English course as a contextual component of your NCH Diploma, you will be required to take four modules: two in your first year and two in your second year.

In your first year

You will study two modules.

Explorations in Literature

This module introduces a wide range of works from the literary canon, from ancient Greek texts in translation to the contemporary, covering the major genres, and embodying significant interventions or influences in literary history. The emphasis is on reading primary texts voraciously and discovering, or rediscovering, diverse writers and cultures, so that students can make informed choices from more specialized modules later in their programme. Not being limited to a period, genre or single approach, the course cultivates difference and chronological sweep; it aims to challenge and surprise, as rewarding ‘exploration’ should.

Renaissance Comedy: Shakespeare & Jonson

This module provides you with an introduction to the works of Shakespeare and Jonson within the genre of ‘comedy’, and seeks to draw attention to the principles of classification which enable these plays to be seen as forming a group.

Starting with the hypothesis that the plays themselves may be problematic for such formulations, the course will examine the cultural specificity of the term ‘comedy’, and the extent to which these plays are part of a process which redefined the role of drama in Elizabethan/Jacobean society. The plays will be treated primarily as literary texts but you will be encouraged to consider the possibilities for interpretation which a ‘stage-centred’ critical approach produces.

The plays will be placed in the context of a new dramatic practice which arose within a London of competing commercial and political interests, and you will be required to grasp an overview of the forces shaping the creative production of Shakespeare and Jonson. The demands of the market for which the dramatists were producing, the operation of patronage, the expectations of theatre audiences, and the role of censorship will be considered, and the course will attempt to read through the plays to find the ‘marks’ of these influences.

In your second year

You will study two further modules.

Augustans & Romantics

This module draws together two periods of English literary history that have traditionally been seen in strong contrast; an antithesis which was frequently underscored by critical manifestoes issued during the eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. The module explores what appear to be the important distinctions, but also considers continuities that may exist between the two periods.

Victorians

This module considers a range of textual forms typical of the Victorian period, with reference to poetry, fiction and drama in the nineteenth century. The module will develop your understanding of change and continuity in the literary culture of the period, provide a context for the application of a wide range of critical approaches to the literature of the period, and enable you to handle with confidence a range of terms used in contemporary readings of Victorian literature such as ‘realism’, ‘naturalism’, and ‘Darwinism’.

 

Depending upon staffing and faculty availability, modules may be subject to change.  All programme structures are subject to confirmation in the 2013-2014 Programme Regulations to be published by the University of London. University of London International Programmes syllabus reproduced with permission.

Learning

If you study English as a contextual course, you will participate in 20 lectures and will write one essay and one term paper for each module.

Your lectures will be with students studying English for their undergraduate degree as well as your colleagues studying the module as their contextual course.

Your grades for your English modules will contribute to your grade for the award of the NCH Diploma.

Faculty

Professor Sir Christopher Ricks

BA, MA, BLitt (Oxon), FBA, Visiting Professor

Sir Christopher is Warren Professor of the Humanities, and Co-Director of the Editorial Institute, at Boston University, having formerly been professor of English at the University of Bristol and at Cambridge.

Read Full Biography

Dr. Catherine Brown

BA (Cantab), MSc, MA (Lond), PhD (Cantab), Convenor & Senior Lecturer

Catherine studied English under J H Prynne at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. She moved out into academic and practical politics, lived in New York and Moscow and learned Russian and Spanish, before returning to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge for her PhD.

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Dr Charlotte Grant

BA (Cantab), MA (Courtauld Institute), PhD (Cantab), Senior Lecturer in English

Charlotte has a BA (first class honours) and a PhD in English from Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and an MA in Art History from the Courtauld Institute.

Read Full Biography

Dr Daniel Swift

BA (Oxon), PhD (Columbia University, NY), Senior Lecturer in English

Daniel has a BA (first class honours) from Oxford University and a PhD from Columbia University in New York. He is the author of Bomber County (Hamish Hamilton, 2010) and Shakespeare's Common Prayers (Oxford University Press, 2012).

Read Full Biography

Howard Jacobson

BA (Cantab), Visiting Professor

Best known for his 2010 Man Booker winning novel The Finkler Question, Howard will lecture and meet students informally at NCH to discuss literature and writing.

Read Full Biography

Entry Requirements

What do I need to get in?

The College is flexible and admissions tutors look beyond grades, using written work samples, references, personal statements and interviews to assess each applicant’s potential to flourish in its rigorous academic environment.

As a very general guide for students applying for the Law LLB, the College typically seeks one of the following:

• AAA at A-level - undertaking an Extended Project may be an advantage
• 36 points (including core points) in the IB Diploma, with sixes at Higher Level
• D3D3D3 in Pre-U
• AAABB in Scottish Highers

We can also assess most other comparable international qualifications.

To enrol for the University of London degree, you will have to produce evidence that you meet the University of London entrance requirements. In practice the College’s entrance requirements exceed these requirements in nearly every case so this is not usually an issue.

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Syllabus

The study of history is one of the most life-enriching pursuits in academia.  History is the sum of human experience and the study of the human condition, of the great highs that humanity has achieved and of the great lows to which we have stooped. Studying history can take you from the lofty exploits of the Roman Empire to the bloody battles of the Crusades or from the intellectual endeavours of the Enlightenment to the civil rights movement in 1960s America. It is an endlessly fascinating subject that demands analytical rigour, precision of thought, the capacity for empathy and the ability to communicate clearly; skills that mean it also prepares you well for the world of work beyond your degree.

History is particularly suited as a contextual subject with all the other degree subjects available at NCH. In each case, the study of History will set the scene for your degree studies, and introduce you to a way of using evidence and analyzing events that will enhance your understanding and prove, we believe, engaging, absorbing and enjoyable.

To complete the History course as a contextual component of your NCH Diploma, you will take four modules: two in your first year and two in your second year.

In your first year

In your first year, you study two full modules.

The Rich Tapestry of Life: A Social & Cultural History of Europe, c. 1500-1780

This module covers a period of great change, crisis and excitement in the history of Europe, and approaches it through the ways these changes affected ordinary people’s lives, by examining the social and cultural history of the period. Topics will include patriarchy, masculinity, violence, poverty, plague, protest, magic and honour. We examine the seismic shift of the Reformation, the discovery of new worlds and the persecution of witches. The module will direct you to some of the most exciting writing in the recent historiography of early modern Europe and draws on material from both Continental Europe and England.

Republics, Kings & People: The Foundations of Modern Political Culture

This module investigates the origins of our ideas about human rights and duties, revolution and democracy, consent and liberty, and the good life. A number of key writings are studied, ranging from Plato and Aristotle in the ancient world to Machiavelli, More, Hobbes and Locke, through to Rousseau in the Enlightenment. Analysis of the development of fundamental ideas about politics and society sharpens the mind and throws light upon the present from the perspective of the past.

In your second year

British history, 1485-1649

This module covers an exciting period of English political and religious history, stretching from the accession of Henry VII at the Battle of Bosworth to the execution of Charles I. This tumultuous period saw the establishment of the Tudor and Stuart dynasties, the creation of the Church of England, dramatic threats against England from abroad and the execution of four queens and one king.

The principal themes considered are the political changes wrought by the successive dynasties of Tudors and Stuarts, and the opposition they aroused; the coming of the Reformation; the accession of James VI of Scotland to the English throne and its consequences; and the origins, outbreak and course of the civil war, concluding with the execution of the king and the abolition of the House of Lords. The course focuses mostly on England in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but broadens to include Scotland after the Union of the Crowns in 1603, and Wales and Ireland are also discussed where relevant.

Twentieth-Century World History

The module introduces the study of non-Western history. Its broad sweep can be considered in two parts. The first examines the major political developments that took place in different parts of Asia during the twentieth century, focusing on China, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Asia, exploring the impact of imperialism, nationalism, decolonisation, and independence in order to understand the resurgence of Asian nations by the end of the 1990s.

The second part looks at the history of the non-Western twentieth-century world from the vantage point of developments in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. From empire-building to revolution in the Middle East, or from intersections between politics and race in Southern Africa, to radical movements and US intervention in Latin America, much of what it explores complements the first part of the course by making sense of political developments in other continents where the long term trends were both similar but, in some ways, noticeably different.

 

Depending upon staffing and faculty availability, modules may be subject to change. All programme structures are subject to confirmation in the 2013-2014 Programme Regulations to be published by the University of London. University of London International Programmes syllabus reproduced with permission.

Learning

If you study History as a contextual course, you will participate in 20 lectures and will write one essay and one term paper for each module.

Your lectures will be with students studying History for their undergraduate degree as well as fellow students studying the module as their contextual course.

Your grades for your History modules will contribute to your grade for the award of the NCH Diploma.

Faculty

Professor Sir David Cannadine

FBA, FRSL, FRHistS, Visiting Professor

Sir David is an eminent historian and noted commentator and broadcaster on British life, especially the British Monarchy.

Read Full Biography

Professor Niall Ferguson

BA, MA, DPhil (Oxon), Visiting Professor

Niall is an expert in Financial and Economic History, as well as Imperial History. Niall’s work as an academic and commentator and broadcaster has inspired debate and discussion throughout his career

Read Full Biography

Dr Suzannah Lipscomb

MA, MSt, DPhil (Oxon), FRHistS, Subject Convenor and Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History

Suzannah is an historian, author, broadcaster and award-winning academic. She has a double first in BA History and a distinction in her MSt in Historical Research from Lincoln College, Oxford and DPhil in History from Balliol College, Oxford.

Read Full Biography

Dr Hannah Dawson

MA, MPhil, PhD (Cantab), FRHistS, Senior Lecturer in the History of Ideas

Hannah was educated at the University of Cambridge, where she graduated with a double first in History, went on to take the MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History, and received her PhD for her thesis on John Locke and the problem of language in seventeenth century philosophy.

Read Full Biography

Dr Lars Kjaer

BA, MPhil, PhD (Cantab), Lecturer in Medieval History

Lars obtained his BA in History and Social Anthropology from Aarhus University, Denmark, in 2007. That year he moved to Cambridge, where he completed an MPhil in medieval history.

Read Full Biography

Entry Requirements

What do I need to get in?

The College is flexible and admissions tutors look beyond grades, using written work samples, references, personal statements and interviews to assess each applicant’s potential to flourish in its rigorous academic environment.

As a very general guide for students applying for the Law LLB, the College typically seeks one of the following:

• AAA at A-level - undertaking an Extended Project may be an advantage
• 36 points (including core points) in the IB Diploma, with sixes at Higher Level
• D3D3D3 in Pre-U
• AAABB in Scottish Highers

We can also assess most other comparable international qualifications.

To enrol for the University of London degree, you will have to produce evidence that you meet the University of London entrance requirements. In practice the College’s entrance requirements exceed these requirements in nearly every case so this is not usually an issue.

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Syllabus

The study of philosophy draws you into conversation with some of the most searching, creative and influential thinkers of the past two-and-a-half thousand years. What is reality? What is justice? What is beauty? What is the relationship between the mind and the world? In considering these questions you will be asked not only to interpret, but also to participate, to analyze and assess the ideas and arguments of others and to formulate and defend your own. This will demand rigour and imagination from you, and the course will develop your clarity, depth and independence of thought.

Philosophical questions arise at the limits of other disciplines, so philosophy is connected in myriad ways with other subjects at the College. It is hoped that you will take opportunities to discover and explore such connections not only in lectures and tutorials but also informally with faculty and with each other.

To complete the Philosophy course as a contextual component of your NCH Diploma, you will take four modules: two in your first year and two in your second year.

In your first year

You will take the following two modules:

Introduction to Philosophy

In this course, you will be introduced to the methods and content of philosophy by considering, at an elementary level and in a carefully guided way, some of the central problems that arise within the subject. Included here will be: free-will, determinism and responsibility, personal identity, the relation of the mind to the body, the nature of knowledge, the ideal of equality, issues raised by portrayals of tragedy, the reality of qualities, and our understanding of moral dilemmas.

Ethics: Historical Perspectives

Ethics: Historical Perspectives focuses on the history of moral philosophy, including a study of the works of Plato, Aristotle, Hume, Kant and Mill. This historical background prepares the way for the second of the ethics modules, which deals with contemporary perspectives. However, the views discussed in this course are not of merely historical interest. Conceptions of morality that are now widely shared were in large part shaped by these thinkers.

In your second year

You will take the following two modules:

Epistemology

Epistemology is sometimes known as the theory of knowledge and, as this name suggests, it is a philosophical enquiry into knowledge. The questions it seeks to answer are: What is knowledge? How do we get it? Are the means we employ to get it defensible? These questions prompt a number of debates. One concerns the conditions that have to be satisfied for it to be true that someone knows something. Enquiry into this problem shows that we need to understand belief and its relation to knowledge; and that we have to be clear about the nature of any justification we have for our knowledge claims. Another debate concerns the adequacy of our ways of getting knowledge. We typically employ reason and perception in this task, but the challenge of scepticism shows that the uses we make of them involve a number of serious difficulties. A satisfactory account of knowledge has to address all these matters.

Modern Philosophy: Descartes, Locke, Berkeley & Hume

This module provides a study of the main works of Descartes, Locke, Berkeley and Hume. In particular, it studies the epistemological and metaphysical views of these philosophers. The philosophers Locke, Berkeley and Hume are generally reckoned to be the main representatives of the empiricist tradition, whereas Descartes is seen as one of the forerunners of the rationalist school. However, the work of the empiricists can be seen as a reaction,in part, to Descartes and rationalism generally, so this first subject in modern philosophy begins with Descartes. The label 'modern' is intended as a contrast to 'ancient', (i.e. Plato, the Pre-Socratics and Aristotle, among others). It is generally understood as covering the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, a period in which there was a decisive break with ancient philosophy.

Depending upon staffing and faculty availability, modules may be subject to change. All programme structures are subject to confirmation in the 2013-2014 Programme Regulations to be published by the University of London. University of London International Programmes syllabus reproduced with permission.

Learning

If you study Philosophy as a contextual course, you will participate in 20 hours of lectures and write one essay and one term paper for each of your four modules.

Your lectures will be with students studying Philosophy for their undergraduate degree as well as colleagues studying the module as their contextual course.

You will also attend group seminars twice a term and discuss your essays independently with your tutors.

Your grades for your Philosophy modules will contribute to your grade for the NCH Diploma.

Faculty

Professor A C Grayling

MA, DPhil (Oxon), FRSL, FRSA

Anthony is Master of New College of the Humanities, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. Until 2011 he was Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. 

Read Full Biography

Professor Simon Blackburn

BA, MA, PhD (Cantab)

Simon is one of the country's leading philosophers, well known for his efforts to make philosophy accessible to a wider public. He is well regarded as a proponent of a distinctive approach to ethics and a defender of neo-Humean views on a variety of topics.

Read Full Biography

Professor Daniel C Dennett

BA (Harvard), D.Phil (Oxon)

Daniel is University Professor and Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, and Co-Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He has held visiting positions at Harvard University, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Oxford, the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, and the London School of Economics.

Read Full Biography

Professor Steven Pinker

BA (McGill), DPhil (Harvard)

Steven was born in Canada and took his BA in Psychology at McGill University before moving to the US to study for a PhD in Experimental Psychology at Harvard. He has subsequently taught at MIT, Harvard and Stanford.

Read Full Biography

Professor Ken Gemes

BA (Syd), PhD (Pittsburgh)

Ken was a professor of philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London from 2000 to 2011 and previously taught at Yale University for eleven years. He has a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh.

Read Full Biography

Dr Naomi Goulder

BA, MA (Cantab) PhD (Lond), Convenor & Senior Lecturer

Naomi received a double first in philosophy from the University of Cambridge, studied with a Henry Fellowship in the philosophy department at Harvard, and completed her doctoral degree with an AHRC award at Birkbeck College, University of London.

Read Full Biography

Dr David Mitchell

BA, MA, DPhil (Oxon) MSc (LSE), Senior Lecturer

David obtained a double first in Literae Humaniores at Oxford and went on to complete a DPhil there on problems of rationality in epistemology and ethics. He has taught philosophy at the University of Cambridge and the University of London.

Read Full Biography

Professor Rebecca Goldstein

BA (Columbia), PhD (Princeton), Visiting Professor

Rebecca is both a philosopher and a novelist. She received her PhD in Philosophy from Princeton University and has taught philosophy at Barnard College, Rutgers, and Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

Read Full Biography

Professor Christopher Peacocke

BA, B.Phil, D.Phil (Oxon), Visiting Professor

Christopher is a Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University and Richard Wollheim Professor of Philosophy at University College London, where he teaches in the summer term each year. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Read Full Biography

Entry Requirements

What do I need to get in?

The College is flexible and admissions tutors look beyond grades, using written work samples, references, personal statements and interviews to assess each applicant’s potential to flourish in its rigorous academic environment.

As a very general guide for students applying for the Law LLB, the College typically seeks one of the following:

• AAA at A-level - undertaking an Extended Project may be an advantage
• 36 points (including core points) in the IB Diploma, with sixes at Higher Level
• D3D3D3 in Pre-U
• AAABB in Scottish Highers

We can also assess most other comparable international qualifications.

To enrol for the University of London degree, you will have to produce evidence that you meet the University of London entrance requirements. In practice the College’s entrance requirements exceed these requirements in nearly every case so this is not usually an issue.

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Syllabus

To complete the Politics & International Relations course as a contextual component of your NCH Diploma, you will take four modules: two in your first year and two in your second year.

In your first year

The modules that you will study in your first year if you choose Politics as a contextual course will be announced in 2013.

 

In your second year

The modules that you will study in your first year if you choose Politics as a contextual course will be announced in 2013.

 

Depending upon staffing and faculty availability, modules may be subject to change. All programme structures are subject to confirmation in the 2013-2014 Programme Regulations to be published by the University of London. University of London International Programmes syllabus reproduced with permission.

Learning

If you study Politics & International Relations as a contextual course, you will participate in 20 lectures and write one essay and one term paper for each of your four modules.

Your lectures will be with students studying International Relations for their undergraduate degree as well as fellow students studying the module as their contextual course.

Your grades for your Politics & International Relations modules will contribute to your grade for the NCH Diploma.

Faculty

Professor Vernon Bogdanor CBE

BA, MA (Oxon), FBA, Visiting Professor

Vernon is Research Professor at the Institute of Contemporary History, King's College, London. He was formerly for many years Professor of Government at Oxford University.

Read Full Biography

Dr Diana Bozhilova

BA (Hons), PhD (KCL), Convenor & Lecturer in Politics & International Relations

Diana Bozhilova was awarded a first class honours degree with distinction in European Studies/German at King’s College London. She then completed her PhD in the Europeanization of Justice and Home Affairs and Industrial Policy reform in CEE.

Read Full Biography

Dr Marianna Koli

BSc, MSc, PhD (University of Manchester), Convenor & Senior Lecturer

Marianna joined the College from the University of Birmingham, where she was a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Economics, lecturing in Development Economics, Statistics and Quantitative Methods.

Read Full Biography

Entry Requirements

What do I need to get in?

The College is flexible and admissions tutors look beyond grades, using written work samples, references, personal statements and interviews to assess each applicant’s potential to flourish in its rigorous academic environment.

As a very general guide for students applying for the Law LLB, the College typically seeks one of the following:

• AAA at A-level - undertaking an Extended Project may be an advantage
• 36 points (including core points) in the IB Diploma, with sixes at Higher Level
• D3D3D3 in Pre-U
• AAABB in Scottish Highers

We can also assess most other comparable international qualifications.

To enrol for the University of London degree, you will have to produce evidence that you meet the University of London entrance requirements. In practice the College’s entrance requirements exceed these requirements in nearly every case so this is not usually an issue.

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Syllabus

You study a total of 19 modules in the NCH undergraduate curriculum
All students study Applied Ethics, Logic & Critical Thinking and Science Literacy.

All students at the College study three compulsory core modules in addition to their other undergraduate studies. The core modules are Applied Ethics, Logic & Critical Thinking, and Science Literacy. Your studies in these modules will contribute to your grade for the NCH Diploma which is awarded alongside your degree.

Applied Ethics

The aim of this module is to introduce you to the principal theories of ethics including their historical and conceptual foundations, and to explore their application to important questions in private and public life. The module covers:

  • Theories of ethics
  • Problems and debates in business ethics
  • Environmental ethics

  • Medical ethics
  • Public ethics

  • Civil liberties and human rights

  • The nature of the good and the good life

Professor A C Grayling, Professor Peter Singer and Dr Naomi Goulder teach the Applied Ethics module through participative lectures.

Logic & Critical Thinking

The aim of this module is to introduce the methods and principles of good reasoning.  It develops your ability to identify truth-preserving patterns of argument, evaluate evidence, and effectively communicate ideas. It covers:

  • Concepts and techniques of formal logic
  • The tropes of informal logic
  • Critical thinking

Professor A C Grayling and Professor Ken Gemes teach the Logic & Critical Thinking module through participative lectures.

Science Literacy

The aim of this module is for you to develop an intelligent insight into central areas of science, principally cosmology, fundamental physics and quantum theory, evolutionary biology, genetics and human evolution.  The module is designed for non-scientists, requiring minimal mathematical skills. It covers:

  • Cosmology
  • Evolution
  • Physics
  • Social Science

Professor Lawrence M Krauss and Professor Richard Dawkins teach this module through participative lectures. In Michaelmas 2012 Professor Lawrence M. Krauss delivered seven lectures on the topic "Big Bang: Life, the Universe and Everything" as part of the Science Literacy module. Professor Richard Dawkins FRS will deliver four lectures in Michaelmas term as part of the Science Literacy module.

Entry Requirements

What do I need to get in?

The College is flexible and admissions tutors look beyond grades, using written work samples, references, personal statements and interviews to assess each applicant’s potential to flourish in its rigorous academic environment.

As a very general guide for students applying for the Law LLB, the College typically seeks one of the following:

• AAA at A-level - undertaking an Extended Project may be an advantage
• 36 points (including core points) in the IB Diploma, with sixes at Higher Level
• D3D3D3 in Pre-U
• AAABB in Scottish Highers

We can also assess most other comparable international qualifications.

To enrol for the University of London degree, you will have to produce evidence that you meet the University of London entrance requirements. In practice the College’s entrance requirements exceed these requirements in nearly every case so this is not usually an issue.

Faculty

Professor A C Grayling

MA, DPhil (Oxon), FRSL, FRSA

Anthony is Master of New College of the Humanities, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. Until 2011 he was Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. 

Read Full Biography

Professor Ken Gemes

BA (Syd), PhD (Pittsburgh)

Ken was a professor of philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London from 2000 to 2011 and previously taught at Yale University for eleven years. He has a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh.

Read Full Biography

Professor Lawrence Krauss

BSc (Carleton), D.Phil (MIT), Visiting Professor

Lawrence was born in New York but raised in Canada. Lawrence took undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and Physics from Carleton University and a PhD from MIT. He taught at Yale before moving on to Case Western and Arizona State Universities.

Read Full Biography

Professor Peter Singer

BA, MA, (Melbourne), B.Phil (Oxon), Visiting Professor

Peter was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1946, and educated at the University of Melbourne and the University of Oxford. He has taught at the University of Oxford, La Trobe University and Monash University. Since 1999 he has been Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. From 2005, he has also held the part-time position of Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne, in the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics.

Read Full Biography

Professor Richard Dawkins

BA, MA, D.Phil (Oxon), FRS, FRSL

A prize-winning evolutionary biologist, Richard is one of Britain’s best-known academics and was the inaugural Professor for Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. His 1976 work, The Selfish Gene, advocated the gene-centred view of evolution, which now dominates Darwinian theory. His other books on evolution include The Blind Watchmaker, Climbing Mount Improbable, The Ancestor's Tale and The Greatest Show on Earth.

Read Full Biography

Professor Simon May

Visiting Professor

Simon is Visiting Professor of Philosophy at King’s College, London and at Birkbeck College, London. His interests lie in ethics, German idealism - especially the philosophy of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Heidegger – and philosophy of the emotions. He is also a devotee of the aphoristic form.

Read Full Biography
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Syllabus

You study a total of 19 modules in the NCH undergraduate curriculum
In addition, you follow the College's Professional Programme.

Every student participates in the College's Professional Programme which forms part of the NCH Diploma.

The Professional Programme is designed to prepare you for the world of work and aims to give you a head start and a competitive edge in finding enjoyable and rewarding work after graduation. We intend it to be stimulating and enjoyable as well as useful.

Part of the course is project based, and in addition there will be guest lecturers from both the business sector and public service. The Convenor for the Professional Programme is Matthew Batstone.

The combination of teaching by practitioners, with a one-on-one and small group focus and its development as a result of close collaboration with industry, makes this programme unique in the UK.

The course is taught through seminars, projects and assignments in all three years. It includes topics such as:

  • Writing and presenting
  • Negotiation
  • Financial literacy
  • Working in teams
  • Marketing
  • Research methods
  • Entrepreneurship and innovation
  • Core principles of strategy, planning, decision-making
  • Statistics
  • Technology and the world of work
  • Project Management

 

Entry Requirements

What do I need to get in?

The College is flexible and admissions tutors look beyond grades, using written work samples, references, personal statements and interviews to assess each applicant’s potential to flourish in its rigorous academic environment.

As a very general guide for students applying for the Law LLB, the College typically seeks one of the following:

• AAA at A-level - undertaking an Extended Project may be an advantage
• 36 points (including core points) in the IB Diploma, with sixes at Higher Level
• D3D3D3 in Pre-U
• AAABB in Scottish Highers

We can also assess most other comparable international qualifications.

To enrol for the University of London degree, you will have to produce evidence that you meet the University of London entrance requirements. In practice the College’s entrance requirements exceed these requirements in nearly every case so this is not usually an issue.

Faculty

Matthew Batstone

MA (Cantab), MBA (INSEAD) Convenor, Professional Programme

Matthew Batstone was educated at Cambridge University where he earned a MA in English Literature, and at INSEAD where he graduated with an MBA with distinction.

Read Full Biography

Swatee Jasoria

BSc, MA (Sheffield), Juris Doctor (Rutgers Law School, NJ)

Born in India, Swatee grew up in the UK and Hong Kong. She studied at the University of Sheffield, where she attained a BSc in Genetics, and then a MA in Biotechnology, Law & Ethics. After completing her MA, Swatee moved to the USA and completed her Juris Doctor at Rutgers University School of Law – Newark, New Jersey.

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Syllabus

You study a total of 19 modules in the NCH undergraduate curriculum
In addition to your 19 modules, you attend the College's Professorial Programme.

Throughout each academic year the College’s visiting professors deliver a wide variety of lectures. Some of these form the Core Courses for the NCH Diploma (and are compulsory); some are subject-specific, but open to all; and some are of general interest to all students.

From the 2013 academic year, the College expects to offer 110 professorial lectures in each academic year. Professorial lectures are scheduled in such a way that no other lecture or tutorial clashes with them. To make the most of your time at College, you are encouraged to attend as many of these lectures as possible.

Click on the names below to see a selection of the professorial lectures delivered in the 2012/13 academic year.

Professor A C Grayling

Logic & Critical Thinking half module

  • Five lectures on Concepts of Logic
  • Five lectures on Critical Reasoning

Professor Simon Blackburn

Lecture series: Eight lectures on Truth, Beauty and Goodness

Professor Sir David Cannadine

  • The Monarchy and Britain, 1945-97

Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta

Economics

  • Trust
  • Incentives for Keeping Agreements I
  • Incentives for Keeping Agreements II
  • Incentives for Keeping Agreements III
  • Social Preferences
  • Normative Economics

Professor Daniel C Dennett

Science Literacy

  • The Installation of Cultural Software
  • The Virtual Machines of Consciousness
  • How Active Symbols Create Intelligence Designers
  • Turning two views of consciousness into one: is it possible? (with Professor Nicholas Humphrey)

Professor Richard Dawkins

Science Literacy

  • Evolution for Non-scientists I
  • Science Literacy Evolution for Non-scientists II
  • Science Literacy Evolution for Non-scientists III
  • Science Literacy Evolution for Non-scientists IV

Professor Ronald Dworkin

Legal, moral and political philosophy:

  • Colloquium with Professor T M Scanlon
  • Colloquium with Professor John Taseoulis
  • Colloquium with Professor Jeremy Waldron
  • Colloquium with Lord Sumption OBE
  • Colloquium with US Supreme Court Justice Breyer

Professor Niall Ferguson

  • New approaches to the History of Western Civilisation

Professor Ken Gemes

Logic & Critical Thinking

  • Why Value Truth?
  • What Separates Science from Non-Science 1: Causation and Explanation
  • What Separates Science from Non-Science II: Inductivism and Hypothetico-Deductivism
  • What Separates Science from Non-Science III: Falsificationism
  • Observation and Objectivity
  • Scientific Realism
  • Constructive Empiricism
  • Quantum Mechanics and Causality
  • Bayesian Confirmation Theory I: Probability Calculus
  • Bayesian Confirmation Theory II: Applications

Professor Rebecca Goldstein

Philosophy & Literature

  • Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems in the Context of Epistemology
  • Socrates Must Die: The Ethos of the Extraordinary and the Birth of Philosophy
  • Spinoza’s Mind
  • Philosophy and the Novel

Howard Jacobson

Creative Writing

  • My Writing Life

Professor Lawrence M Krauss

From the Big Bang to Eternity: Life, The Universe & Everything 

  • A Tour of the Universe
  • Cosmic Connections
  • The Secret Life of Physicists
  • Energy & the Universe: The Big Bang, Dark Matter, & the Geometry of Space I
  • Energy & the Universe: The Big Bang, Dark Matter, & the Geometry of Space II
  • The Origin of the Elements & the Origin of the Earth
  • Life on Earth, Past, Present, & Miserable Future

Professor Simon May

  • What is Love? 

Professor Barbara McDonald

  • Common Law I
  • Common Law II

Professor Steven Pinker

Science Literacy

  • The human brain I
  • The human brain II
  • The human brain III
  • The human brain IV

Professor Sir Christopher Ricks

English Literature

  • A Matter of Principles
  • Shakespeare, King Lear 
  • The Charge of Misogyny: Donne, as well as T.S. Eliot and Bob Dylan
  • And Measure Still for Measure 

Dr Anthony Seldon

  • Thatcher in History 

Professor Peter Singer

  • Utilitarianism: A Sidgwickian Defence
  • Ethics and Living Ethically 

Professor Adrian Zuckerman

Law

  • The English Legal System and the Common Law Tradition 
  • Trial by stealth - a democratic deficit 
  • Human Rights in Civil and Criminal Procedure
  • The Civil Justice Process
  • The Political Economy of Justice - The Legal Aid Dilemma
  • The English Disease: Access to Court Blighted by High and Unpredictable Cost
  • The Implications of the Voluntary Nature of Contracts
  • On Contracts

Entry Requirements

What do I need to get in?

The College is flexible and admissions tutors look beyond grades, using written work samples, references, personal statements and interviews to assess each applicant’s potential to flourish in its rigorous academic environment.

As a very general guide for students applying for the Law LLB, the College typically seeks one of the following:

• AAA at A-level - undertaking an Extended Project may be an advantage
• 36 points (including core points) in the IB Diploma, with sixes at Higher Level
• D3D3D3 in Pre-U
• AAABB in Scottish Highers

We can also assess most other comparable international qualifications.

To enrol for the University of London degree, you will have to produce evidence that you meet the University of London entrance requirements. In practice the College’s entrance requirements exceed these requirements in nearly every case so this is not usually an issue.