QSX416 British Masculinity On Screen: James Bond and Sherlock Holmes (Fall, Spring)

Sherlock Holmes and James Bond instantly evoke particular ideas about British masculinity: an uncannily intuitive intellectual not averse to bouts of cocaine use, and the suave, globe-trotting spy with a license to kill. 2015 marked the release of Spectre, the 24th iteration of the most successful film franchise in cinema history. Likewise, Conan Doyle’s creation is in rude health, having been the recent subject of a high-profile exhibition at the Museum of London, and the centre of two successful contemporary television adaptations, BBC’s Sherlock, and CBS’s Elementary. Just as Baker Street remains a perennial tourist attraction for Sherlockians, so too has London’s tourist industry embraced an army of fans eager to retrace the footsteps of the latest — and controversially blond — Bond, Daniel Craig. This course investigates what on-screen adaptations of Sherlock Holmes and James Bond have to say about the construction of British masculinity. Providing close readings of key examples of Sherlock and Bond adaptations, we will explore issues of gender and sexuality, class, race, ethnicity and nationhood in the construction of hegemonic and “other” British masculinity on screen. In tandem, we will explore the ever-changing places that Sherlock and Bond occupy in British film and television culture.

This course may also be registered as FIL/WGS 416, and counts towards the Film and Screen Studies track for SU English and Textual Studies majors.

QSX400.1 Sex, Gender and the City (Spring) CANCELLED Fall 2026

This course offers students a critical overview of the contested terms “sex”, “gender” and “sexuality” through the framework of the City. This course will explore some of the ways in which cities and the inhabitants have been historically sexed, gendered, and sexualized. Traversing “the private” and “the public,” the temporal and spatial, and the individual and the social, this course will explore the centrality of these themes in London and British history.

Meets with SOC/WGS 400.1.

Limited enrollment; Sociology majors may take more than one Sociology (SOC) course, all others limited to one SOC course (including SOC cross-listing) during the semester.

PSY474 Forensic Psychology: Crime and Violence (Fall, Spring)

Psychological aspects of the criminal justice system. Case examples illustrating theory and practice of forensic issues in criminal investigation and courtroom procedures. This course introduces topics of interest to psychologists, members of the legal profession and those in law enforcement. Psychology plays an important role in the understanding of many aspects of criminal actions and their aftermath. This course will explore how psychologists work with the legal system. The primary focus will be research into criminal psychology. Topics such as terrorism, influential factors for jury decision making, competency to stand trial, pathways towards criminal behaviour and others will be covered during the semester.

Prereq: PSY 205 or 209 or equivalent intro psychology course. PSY 274 recommended.

PSY400.1 Conflict, Trauma and Collective Memory (Spring)

Responding to the 100-year anniversary of the First World War, this course looks at what that conflict and others have taught psychologists about conflict, trauma and collective memory. The First World War is now recognised as having had a profound impact on the psychological understanding of trauma. The course is divided into three parts. Part One studies the political and social context of the start of the 20th century and the build-up to the Great War itself, through an examination of social identity and the process of conflict. Part Two analyses the history of trauma and the role of WWI and particularly the war in the trenches of Europe, which brought psychology into the understanding of the impact of conflict on the mind. Part Three considers the effects on memory and the place of anniversaries and commemorations, exploring the shifting and conflicting schema presented in this anniversary period 2014–19. The course includes several field trips around London to museums and sites.

Prereq: PSY 205/209 or equivalent introductory psychology course.

Limited enrollment: Psychology majors may take more than one Psychology (PSY) course, all others limited to one PSY course during the semester.

PSY382 Health Psychology (Spring)

This course examines how social, behavioural, and cultural factors influence physical and mental health conditions and local and global contexts. It is also designed to promote cultural competence in diagnosis, treatment, and research strategies. In the context of this course, culture encompasses race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religion, sexual orientation, sexual identity, gender, age, and disability. Information about the background of many cultural groups will be provided. Students will learn how culture influences human behaviour and the conceptualisation of health and psychopathology, with a focus on current, controversial topics. They will also examine the ways their understandings of health and well-being shape, and are shaped by, the healthcare system, their own values, and their assumptions.

Prereq: PSY 205 or 209 or an equivalent introduction to psychology course

Limited enrollment: Psychology majors may take more than one Psychology (PSY) course, all others limited to one PSY course during the semester.

PSC350.1 America: A Foreign Perspective (Spring)

How have foreign observers understood the United States and how have Americans understood their place in the world? This class will explore these questions through a series of case studies which consider the relationship between the United States and other nations—including friends, neighbours, enemies and opponents. This course aims to lead students away from their “comfort” zone and encourage them to think critically about American national identity and American influence in world politics. We will dissect, excavate, and critique leading myths which the United States perpetuates about itself. We will also consider how foreign observers, both friendly and unsympathetic, have viewed the United States. The best students will come to consider not only what the world thinks of the United States, but what can’t most Americans see about America?

Prior study in political science (an intro PSC course) is recommended.

Most semesters, registration limited (including minors) to only one Political Science class (PSC prefix and courses cross-listed with PSC) except for Political Science majors. Check the current semester’s Schedule of Classes for more information.

PSC315 Politics and Media: Mass Persuasion (Fall, Spring)

This course investigates the power of news journalism to persuade audiences and shape public perception. It is designed especially for the study abroad context, examining global news as a form of mass persuasion about international politics, more than domestic politics or election campaigns. Understanding mass persuasion requires delving into the psychology of mass audiences and national cultures, and even into our own minds. It also requires looking critically at the industries and technologies of news journalism as vehicles for mass persuasion, and analysing global news reporting to expose the most typical persuasive techniques used in shaping political views and values. Three categories comprise the main units of this course:

The minds of news consumers,
The industries of news production, and
The texts of news reporting.

Global political topics covered range from conflict and security, to development and inequality, and humanitarian aid and human rights. This course will likely raise many questions for students about their political identity and values, and how deeply they may be bound up with ideas about nation and national identity. Fundamentally, this is a course on political epistemology—how we know what we think we know about international politics and the part one’s nation plays in it. Like travelling abroad, much of the work involves consistently putting oneself in the position of “the other,” examining one’s own assumptions from the outside looking in. This shifting of position, as we will see, also poses a challenge to the very notion of “objectivity,” the supposed gold-standard of professional journalism. Is there a universal definition of what it means to be “objective”?

MUI408 Music Industry Practicum: The Global Workplace (Fall, Spring)

Open only to Music Industry majors and minors who have committed to an internship by the published deadline. This course is designed to guide students’ professional development during experience in the London workforce. Participation in the course will equip students with the practical skills needed to thrive in a globalised world of work—as well as the theoretical background and critical thinking abilities necessary to reflect on their position in that interconnected system.

This course must be taken for a letter grade. Internship placements typically require a commitment of two days per week. Students initially registered for BPS400 and update their registration following the Add Deadline once abroad.

Prereq: MUI 205 and MUI 206

Course Restriction: Open only to music industry majors and minors who have committed to an internship by the published deadline.

HST474 A History of London in Eleven Objects (Fall, Spring)

This course is an object-led study of the history of London through some of London’s most important art. Examining a selection of nine paintings, one sculpture set and one building, this course will introduce students to a variety of ways in which objects tell their stories and, by extension, what those objects say about the history of the city where they are housed. Each week, students will learn about an artist and their context in class, while also tracing the history of a specific object in London up to the present day. While London has had its share of world-class artists and architects, many of the works studied in this course were not made in London. How did London accumulate these objects? Why were they brought or made here? Most importantly, what do these objects tell us about the history of London as the world’s most global city?

This course may also be registered under HOA 474.

Most semesters, registration limited (including minors) to only one History of Art class (HOA prefix and courses cross-listed with HOA) except for art history majors. Check the current semester’s Schedule of Classes for more information.

CRS300.2 Performance Live: London (Fall, Spring)

Performance Live: London invites you to question what ‘performance’ might be and to become more aware of yourself as a spectator in all your experiences of viewing, listening, and sensing. The course helps you develop methods for thinking and feeling a performance, starting with your expectation of it, through the moments of experiencing it, and finally in the afterglow of its happening. Examining the work of artists in fields such as music, theatre, dance, and interdisciplinary art forms, we will question and apply models of critical response, comparing and contrasting how they work with different types of performance. The aim is to help you build an analytical vocabulary for the discussion of performance, finding different and diverse ways to communicate your reflections, as both a member of a collective audience and as an individual spectating subject. Weekly attendance at musical events is required.

Course note: Some seats may be reserved for Drama students, Bandier Program students, and Music Industry majors.

This course has an associated course fee. See the London Course Fees page for more information.