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Are you interested in helping young people study English? This module will introduce you to teaching creative writing in secondary schools by providing training in effective classroom management and guidance on designing lesson plans for studying fiction and poetry. With a fellow student on the course, you will go on a placement in a secondary school in Southampton where you will help pupils develop their creativity and their knowledge of literary culture. Throughout the module, you will be encouraged to reflect on the critical and practical problems you encounter teaching, and to consider how the National Curriculum supports creativity in the classroom.

Are you interested in helping young people study English? This module will introduce you to teaching creative writing in secondary schools by providing training in effective classroom management and guidance on designing lesson plans for studying fiction and poetry. With a fellow student on the course, you will go on a placement in a secondary school in Southampton where you will help pupils develop their creativity and their knowledge of literary culture. Throughout the module, you will be encouraged to reflect on the critical and practical problems you encounter teaching, and to consider how the National Curriculum supports creativity in the classroom.

The module will start by defining the concept of data analytics and demonstrating the processes in three steps: data pre-processing, data mining and post-processing. Next, we will zoom into the data mining step and distinguish three types of data mining: descriptive/diagnostic data analytics (e.g. clustering, association rules), predictive data analytics (e.g. regression and classification), and prescriptive data analytics. The module will then illustrate how machine learning models can be successfully used to develop different application areas with a focus on retail credit risk. The theoretical concepts will be illustrated using real-life application cases and the relevant software.

This module is structured in two parts: the foundations of data analytics and its applications in credit risk assessment. In the first part, students will be introduced to the core concepts and workflow of data analytics, with a focus on data pre-processing and data mining techniques. Key analytical methods covered include linear regression, classification techniques (such as logistic regression and decision trees), and clustering approaches (including K-means and hierarchical clustering). Essential modelling techniques—such as model selection, regularisation, and cross-validation—will also be explored to ensure robust and interpretable analysis. All practical work will be conducted using the Python programming language. The second part focuses on the application of these techniques to credit risk assessment, particularly in the context of retail credit scoring. It covers data preparation techniques such as cleaning, visualisation, standardisation, binning, and Weight of Evidence (WOE) transformation. Students will learn how to develop and evaluate credit scorecards, and how to measure and compare model performance using appropriate metrics. Ethical and sustainability considerations, such as fairness in model outcomes, will also be addressed. Real-world datasets and case studies will provide practical context throughout.

The module will start by defining the concept of data analytics and demonstrating the processes in three steps: data pre-processing, data mining and post-processing. Next, we will zoom into the data mining step and distinguish three types of data mining: descriptive/diagnostic data analytics (e.g. clustering, association rules), predictive data analytics (e.g. regression and classification), and prescriptive data analytics. The module will then illustrate how machine learning models can be successfully used to develop different application areas with a focus on retail credit risk. The theoretical concepts will be illustrated using real-life application cases and the relevant software.

We often take it for granted that one job of the state is to catch and punish murderers, thieves, and fraudsters. But we shouldn’t take this for granted. Criminal punishment is one of the worse things the state is allowed to do to us, as it intentionally creates suffering and deprives people of their liberty. What, if anything, can justify such a practice? Many different justifications have been offered by philosophers and legal theorists. Some claim punishment justified because of its consequences, some on the grounds that criminals should get their just deserts. Others have claimed punishment is justified because of the message it communicates to the criminal or to wider society. Do any of these justifications work, or should the practice be abolished? And if the practice of criminal punishment is justified, what are the principles that determine who should get punished, and for what? Should we only punish those who cause harm, or is it justified to also punish those who merely attempt or conspire to commit crimes? Should we only punish people who harm others deliberately, or is it also legitimate to punish those who do so unawares? This module will look at questions like these, drawing on a combination of both philosophy and criminal law theory.

We often take it for granted that one job of the state is to catch and punish murderers, thieves, and fraudsters. But we shouldn’t take this for granted. Criminal punishment is one of the worse things the state is allowed to do to us, as it intentionally creates suffering and deprives people of their liberty. What, if anything, can justify such a practice? Many different justifications have been offered by philosophers and legal theorists. Some claim punishment justified because of its consequences, some on the grounds that criminals should get their just deserts. Others have claimed punishment is justified because of the message it communicates to the criminal or to wider society. Do any of these justifications work, or should the practice be abolished? And if the practice of criminal punishment is justified, what are the principles that determine who should get punished, and for what? Should we only punish those who cause harm, or is it justified to also punish those who merely attempt or conspire to commit crimes? Should we only punish people who harm others deliberately, or is it also legitimate to punish those who do so unawares? This module will look at questions like these, drawing on a combination of both philosophy and criminal law theory.

We often take it for granted that one job of the state is to catch and punish murderers, thieves, and fraudsters. But we shouldn’t take this for granted. Criminal punishment is one of the worse things the state is allowed to do to us, as it intentionally creates suffering and deprives people of their liberty. What, if anything, can justify such a practice? Many different justifications have been offered by philosophers and legal theorists. Some claim punishment justified because of its consequences, some on the grounds that criminals should get their just deserts. Others have claimed punishment is justified because of the message it communicates to the criminal or to wider society. Do any of these justifications work, or should the practice be abolished? And if the practice of criminal punishment is justified, what are the principles that determine who should get punished, and for what? Should we only punish those who cause harm, or is it justified to also punish those who merely attempt or conspire to commit crimes? Should we only punish people who harm others deliberately, or is it also legitimate to punish those who do so unawares? This module will look at questions like these, drawing on a combination of both philosophy and criminal law theory.

We often take it for granted that one job of the state is to catch and punish murderers, thieves, and fraudsters. But we shouldn’t take this for granted. Criminal punishment is one of the worse things the state is allowed to do to us, as it intentionally creates suffering and deprives people of their liberty. What, if anything, can justify such a practice? Many different justifications have been offered by philosophers and legal theorists. Some claim punishment justified because of its consequences, some on the grounds that criminals should get their just deserts. Others have claimed punishment is justified because of the message it communicates to the criminal or to wider society. Do any of these justifications work, or should the practice be abolished? And if the practice of criminal punishment is justified, what are the principles that determine who should get punished, and for what? Should we only punish those who cause harm, or is it justified to also punish those who merely attempt or conspire to commit crimes? Should we only punish people who harm others deliberately, or is it also legitimate to punish those who do so unawares? This module will look at questions like these, drawing on a combination of both philosophy and criminal law theory.

This course will span the period c.1688-c.1840, beginning with the reforms of the criminal code introduced following the Glorious Revolution, known as the ‘Bloody Code’, and concluding in the mid-nineteenth century with the introduction of the police force under Peel and the first acts removing capital punishment from felonies. You will be asked to consider both the nature and incidence of crime and whether historians’ research confirms contemporary perceptions of the lawlessness of society. You will be asked to address whether a poor man’s [and woman’s] system of justice operated in the eighteenth century or whether the criminal law solely acted as the ‘ideology’ of the ruling classes. You will be introduced to a wide range of sources for examining the history of crime and punishment, both qualitative and quantitative. A variety of legal material will be drawn upon; indictment and deposition records from Quarter Sessions, Assize Circuits, the Kings Bench and the very rich Old Bailey Sessions Papers and Newgate Calendar. Alongside this the writings of contemporaries such as Defoe, Fielding, Smollett will be considered. Criminal biographies, judges’ notebooks, newspapers, canting dictionaries and satirical images also provide interesting and informative sources.