Social Justice & Community Engagement

This interdisciplinary course with a sociological focus will present a unique opportunity in which students will become directly involved in the realities of community engagement and grassroots politics through community service placements. Students will engage in critical thought and reflection on urban inequalities in London while examining the historical, sociological, and political context of community service and social, economic, and political exclusion in the UK. Students will explore three key interrelated themes: urban life, super-diversity, and welfare and exclusion. This course is 6 credits.

This course will enable students to engage directly with London as a specific landscape in which feminism is embedded, examining the historical and ongoing legacy of feminism in the city: how feminists have shaped and continue to influence the fabric of London, not only its physical infrastructure, but also its identity, reputation, and character. Topics include women’s writing, sexuality, consumerism, class dynamics, campaigns for political rights and representation, fashion and style, imperialism and its legacies, feminism and popular culture, Black & Asian feminisms, and the impact of social media upon feminist activism and discourse. This course taps into the zeitgeist surrounding women’s activism and utilizes the London cityscape enabling students to apply classroom learning to their field studies and their own experiences.

The Global Internship Course is designed to be completed alongside an internship placement, allowing students to earn academic credit. Students will attend weekly, discussion-led sessions that include educational support and mentoring in a classroom environment; develop personal and professional skills, learn to contextualize their internship experience socially and culturally, and employ the use of Globally Networked Learning technology to conduct a comparative global analysis with other CAPA students. At times, this analysis will be facilitated through CAPA Masterclasses led by professionals in a diverse range of fields.

The Global Internship Course is designed to be completed alongside an internship placement, allowing students to earn academic credit. Students will attend weekly, discussion-led sessions that include educational support and mentoring in a classroom environment; develop personal and professional skills, learn to contextualize their internship experience socially and culturally, and employ the use of Globally Networked Learning technology to conduct a comparative global analysis with other CAPA students. At times, this analysis will be facilitated through CAPA Masterclasses led by professionals in a diverse range of fields.

This intensive seminar provides a multi-disciplinary introduction to human rights, a topic central to today’s global politics. Students will explore the theoretical foundations and history of human rights concepts and issues from global, local, and regional perspectives, and the philosophies underpinning them; develop an understanding of the frameworks of human rights law; critically examine the politics of human rights, their contentious nature, and uneven global implementation; analyze a variety of case studies and related practical issues; and evaluate key debates about the politics and morality of human rights.

This course will examine how complex, multiethnic diversity shapes and defines our understanding of modern Britain, through a specific focus on Muslim communities in London and the nature of their interactions with wider society. Students will analyze the ways in which imperialism and its legacy, as well as Britain's global relationships, have influenced political policies and social attitudes toward multiculturalism and Muslim groups in particular; explore London’s spaces of diaspora identity, including Southall and Spitalfields; and develop an understanding of contemporary race relations in Britain.

This course will introduce the impact of globalization on London, one of the world's most significant global cities, in comparative context. Students will examine London’s changing identity as a world city with a particular emphasis on comparing the city's imperial, postcolonial, and transatlantic connections, and the ways in which past and present, local and global intertwine in the capital. Students will combine classroom work with experiential learning, centred on field studies to areas such as Brixton, Spitalfields, Southbank, and the Olympic sites in East London.

This course will focus on the structures of creative industries, and how arts administrators successfully share creativity with the public and leverage the commercial opportunities of creative production. Students will explore such topics as the arts as a business, managing financial imperatives and the artistic process, and promoting and presenting cultural products; examine case studies from a variety of fields such as film, digital media, gaming, theater, museums, and publishing; and engage directly with practitioners successfully working in fields of arts and culture, and those managing the interface between creativity and business in London.

This course will explore how Britain has responded to political, social, and cultural forces during the 20th century. Students will develop a deeper understanding of life in Britain today by examining such topics as changing perceptions about the role of the state; the decline of empire; the effect of two world wars; economic strategies; the development of multiculturalism; and the role of women, with an emphasis on how the lives of ordinary British people have changed during the last century.

This course will investigate the aims and principles of developmental psychology as a scientific discipline, and describe the methods used to obtain knowledge about children and their development. Students will explore issues such as children's early attachments, the development of the self, the emergence of consciousness, and the role of play; develop an understanding of the role of education and child care practices and policies in the UK in shaping children's development; and examine childhood from historical, global, socio-cultural, and policy perspectives.

This interdisciplinary course with a sociological focus will present a unique opportunity in which students will become directly involved in the realities of community engagement and grassroots politics through community service placements. Students will engage in critical thought and reflection on urban inequalities in London while examining the historical, sociological, and political context of community service and social, economic, and political exclusion in the UK. Students will explore three key interrelated themes: urban life, super-diversity, and welfare and exclusion. This course is 6 credits.

This course will chart the development of British film from 1994-2012, a period of confidence and success mirrored by a major structural and financial reorganization in the industry. Students will critically analyze key films and how they both emerge from and transform earlier British cinema tradition; develop an understanding of important British genres and film-making tropes; explore the ways in which British films reflect and respond to contemporary social and political conditions and events; and develop an awareness of specific ways in which UK and US film differs.

This course will explore the topics of advertising and marketing in Britain. Students will develop an understanding of the ways in which advertising is effectively planned to achieve the objectives set in the overall marketing plan, with reference to London as a global center for creative and production excellence; and conduct a comparative analysis of British advertising methods and styles. A complete syllabus will be available soon.

This course will address the development of the modern detective novel—British and American—from the late 19th century into the 21st century. Students will focus on cities as sites of criminal imagination, and on detectives as explorers of the city’s hidden connections; develop an understanding of the concept of the detective story and why crime fiction is one of the most popular forms of narrative; and explore specific connections between detective fiction and the urban environment, social dynamics, and the writers’ attitudes to such topics as diversity and ethnicity.

This course will address principle ethical issues facing journalism, advertising, entertainment media, and online content. Students will examine the moral obligations of the producers as well as the responsibilities borne by consumers; develop an understanding of applicable ethical principles and philosophies; apply these to present day cases in the media through case studies; and critically engage with content in order to analyze ethical issues present in the production and consumption of media on an individual and societal level.

This course will explore the transformation of contemporary Europe by the European Union and competing political visions for the EU’s future. Students will investigate the impact of immigration and attitudes towards migrants, European ‘enlargement’, and the cultural politics of identity; examine Europe’s relationship with others outside the European region, the legacy of conflict between member states, and challenges offered by globalization to contemporary understandings of ‘Europe’; analyze a variety of case studies; and develop an understanding of globalization and the impact of diversity on the social dynamics of an urban environment such as London.

This course will enable students to engage directly with London as a specific landscape in which feminism is embedded, examining the historical and ongoing legacy of feminism in the city: how feminists have shaped and continue to influence the fabric of London, not only its physical infrastructure, but also its identity, reputation, and character. Topics include women’s writing, sexuality, consumerism, class dynamics, campaigns for political rights and representation, fashion and style, imperialism and its legacies, feminism and popular culture, Black & Asian feminisms, and the impact of social media upon feminist activism and discourse. This course taps into the zeitgeist surrounding women’s activism and utilizes the London cityscape enabling students to apply classroom learning to their field studies and their own experiences.

The Global Internship Course is designed to be completed alongside an internship placement, allowing students to earn academic credit. Students will attend weekly, discussion-led sessions that include educational support and mentoring in a classroom environment; develop personal and professional skills, learn to contextualize their internship experience socially and culturally, and employ the use of Globally Networked Learning technology to conduct a comparative global analysis with other CAPA students. At times, this analysis will be facilitated through CAPA Masterclasses led by professionals in a diverse range of fields.

The Global Internship Course is designed to be completed alongside an internship placement, allowing students to earn academic credit. Students will attend weekly, discussion-led sessions that include educational support and mentoring in a classroom environment; develop personal and professional skills, learn to contextualize their internship experience socially and culturally, and employ the use of Globally Networked Learning technology to conduct a comparative global analysis with other CAPA students. At times, this analysis will be facilitated through CAPA Masterclasses led by professionals in a diverse range of fields.

This intensive seminar provides a multi-disciplinary introduction to human rights, a topic central to today’s global politics. Students will explore the theoretical foundations and history of human rights concepts and issues from global, local, and regional perspectives, and the philosophies underpinning them; develop an understanding of the frameworks of human rights law; critically examine the politics of human rights, their contentious nature, and uneven global implementation; analyze a variety of case studies and related practical issues; and evaluate key debates about the politics and morality of human rights.

This course will provide students with an integrative framework for understanding the challenges associated with effective workforce management on a global scale. Students will compare international labor markets in terms of labor costs, labor supply, workplace culture, and employment law; and analyze high-profile news events from both developed and emerging economies that illustrate the cultural and regulatory complexities that multinational firms face in such areas as talent management, performance management, offshore outsourcing, downsizing, and industrial relations.

This course, based on interdisciplinary research, will examine how theories, research, and current issues in the field of organizational behavior apply in the context of the international workplace. Students will focus on the international application of core management theories and strategies; develop an understanding of human behavior within the setting of a global work environment, and across a variety of historical and current issues; reflect critically on how theoretical frameworks can be applied and developed within the organizational setting; and collaborate with CAPA Sydney students through CAPA’s Globally Networked Learning (GNL) technology.

This course will examine key economic issues in the global business environment. Students will develop an understanding of how global businesses are impacted by real world developments in economics, politics, and finance; and explore such topics as globalization, country differences, cross-border trade and investment (both goods and services and capital and labor), the global finance architecture, and competing in a global marketplace, as well as two underlying themes evident throughout the module: contemporary context and localized content of the material.

This course will explore the topic of international finance and the fact that, in a globally integrated world, it has become imperative to trade, invest, and conduct business operations internationally. Students will analyze opportunities and risks associated with international finance; acquire knowledge of theoretical concepts of finance and their adaptation to the international context; develop an understanding of historical perspectives and foundations of international finance, foreign exchange markets, exposure management, and financial management of a multinational firm; and investigate the impact of current economic and political developments on international finance.

This course will explore terms, concepts, and theories of marketing in the international context, as well as its scope and challenges. Students will examine the ways in which global dimensions technology, research, capital, investment, and production impact marketing, distribution, and communication networks; gain insight into the increasingly interdependent global economic and physical environment and its impact on international marketing; analyze current international marketing issues and their implications; and develop an understanding of how companies develop strategic plans that are competitive to survive and succeed in global markets.

This course will examine how complex, multiethnic diversity shapes and defines our understanding of modern Britain, through a specific focus on Muslim communities in London and the nature of their interactions with wider society. Students will analyze the ways in which imperialism and its legacy, as well as Britain's global relationships, have influenced political policies and social attitudes toward multiculturalism and Muslim groups in particular; explore London’s spaces of diaspora identity, including Southall and Spitalfields; and develop an understanding of contemporary race relations in Britain.

This course will introduce London across history, literature, and film through canonical literary texts from Samuel Johnson to Arthur Conan Doyle, and to contemporary representations of multicultural London from Hanif Kureishi to Zadie Smith. Students will read both literary and filmic texts; take a historical tour of London through the eyes of great writers and filmmakers; and examine questions of race and culture in contemporary London as represented through literature and film. It is hoped that Hanif Kureishi and Stephen Frears will visit the class.

This course will focus on issues within operations of relevance in a firm’s ability to remain competitive in a global economy. Students will analyze examples of companies collaborating across the globe; develop an understanding of the operational and tactical aspects of managing a network of multiple facilities; investigate their strategic implications; consider legal, ethical, operational, venture risk, and reliability factors; and examine such topics as outsourcing and offshoring, information technology in operations, designing and managing global supply chains, managing inventory and global logistics, and sustainability.

This course will examine modern works of art from the late 19th century through to the present. Students will analyze the development of modern art, particularly in response to World Wars I and II, through to contemporary practice; experience a diverse range of works on display in London; investigate attitudes and ideas in modern art; explore the effect of historical events, sociological changes, and advances in technology on the art world; gain an appreciation of a variety of materials and techniques; and develop an understanding of the global art market.

This course will explore theories of popular culture from the British Isles, from 1945 through to the present day. Students will compare British and American experiences of popular culture, the differences, similarities, and cross-influences; examine countercultures and subcultures in Britain; explore their connections to music and political movements; develop an understanding of cultures that are based on ethnicity and sexuality, as well as concerns around diversity and related hate crime; and visit urban environments that will help contextualize these subcultures both historically and politically.

This course will explore a selection of Shakespeare’s plays to uncover his style and craft within the genres of comedy, history, and tragedy. Students will engage in Shakespeare's timelessness and learn to appreciate how vitally his ideas, themes, and concepts move from the concerns of his day to our own; develop skills of paraphrasing and textual analysis; analyze the relationship between plays; and examine the structure of different dramatic genres. Students will pay $70 for this course upon arrival in London, which pays for theater tickets.

This course will explore the theory and practice of strategic communication and its implementation through social media platforms. Students will explore traditional and online communication strategies; review theories and principles of strategic communication and social media practices; investigate the effectiveness of messaging strategies employed by individuals and influencers, not-for-profits, and commercial organizations; and work for a real-world client to formulate an overarching communication strategy, inclusive of recommendations for messaging strategies across all platforms.

This course will place students at the heart of the experience of theater. Students will engage with the key ideas underpinning the creation of theatricality, and attend a range of different performances and tours of specific theater spaces. They will explore such topics as the qualities, conditions, and boundaries of drama, audience engagement, philosophical issues raised by the theatrical experience, the origins of theater, the changing roles of performers and spectators over time, and the theater's prospects in the 21st century. Students will pay $70 for this course upon arrival in London, which pays for theater tickets.

This multidisciplinary course will examine images, values, symbols, and individuals by which Britain represents itself as a means to understanding this nation. Students will investigate the ways in which modern Britain and British identities have been imagined, constructed, and experienced at home and internationally; engage directly with the heritage industry and contemporary British culture; and interpret the legacy of Britain’s past upon the ways in which the contemporary nation and British identities are structured in the 21st century.

This course will chart the representation of the occult in the city from the Early Modern period to the present day. Students will focus particularly on the performance and presentation of the occult and magical phenomena and its reception by the general public and social elites during specific time periods; develop an understanding of why magic has long been a subject of fascination; visit sites such as the Society for Psychical Research or the British Magic Circle; and attend a live performance of the magical or ghostly in London. Students will pay $40 for this course upon arrival in London, which pays for theater tickets.

This course will introduce creative writing in relation to the city and the particular challenges of writing about place. Students will examine how various subjects such as the river, urban spaces, solitude, ethnicity, particular boroughs, and characters (both fictional and real) function in London narratives; develop an understanding of the role of memory and experience in literary psycho-geographical accounts of the metropolis; utilize their observations of London to practice creative writing; and investigate the potential of place within the narrative of various genres.