Law

Reading law is an anthropological adventure. We excavate past and present societies' histories, cultures, and aspirations, seeking to discover what role law plays in shaping the way things are. But our adventure does not end there. Next, we place the law within the context of society to explore the role law can play in making the world as we want it to be, the ideologies and mindsets behind how people envision laws, and whether these shape the legal realities in society. Some of the questions are abstract: what is right and what is wrong, and who decides? While others are more concrete: do people have a right to university education, and if so, who should pay for it?

Each question will elicit a variety of answers. And that is the point. Reading law is not only about studying texts that have already been written but also about developing the skills needed to craft future laws and, perhaps more importantly, future societies.

In this taster, you will learn a little about the different theoretical perspectives of law. We will also discuss how laws shape what we think is right and wrong and how these categories change over time and space. Finally, we will examine modern developments' role in reshaping Britain's legal regime.

Philosophy

Do children have a right to be loved? According to many international declarations of the rights of children, the answer is: yes, children do have a right to be loved. But what is this right based on? And what does it entail? In this session, you will learn about the philosophy of rights, including such questions as what a right is, what kind of rights there are, and when someone does (or does not) have a right. You will also reflect on the nature of love, including but not limited to parental love for children. You will explore and attempt to answer the question of whether love (as distinct from, e.g., care, support, respect, etc.) is even the kind of thing that anyone can ever have a right to. We will approach these questions with a mixture of class discussions and interactive tasks.

Education

Education has the power to change lives – through teaching, coaching, training, and through work in local and global communities. Studying education means thinking critically about teaching, learning, curriculum and assessment practices, considering how these are experienced in classrooms and other learning environments, as well as examining the broader social, cultural, political and historical contexts that produce those practices and norms. This taster session will encourage participants to challenge 'taken for granted' assumptions about education by exploring its relationship to social inequalities. We will think about patterns of educational achievement, consider some theoretical tools to help explain those, and examine the extent to which education can be an instrument for social mobility.

Politics

The session will focus on issues in the ethics and political theory of climate change. We will look at topics such as whether it is ethical to use carbon offsets to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and how future generations should be represented in democratic decision making about climate change.

Sociology