Globalisation is one of the most far-reaching and widely discussed phenomena of modern times. It affects all our lives, and has an impact on all areas of study. The globalisation course will give students an overview of the main theories regarding globalisation, and they will consider how it influences their own countries, their academic subjects and the world at large.

By taking this course, students will be able to develop their English in a genuine academic setting, and they will practice the key skills of reading academic texts, researching and writing essays, listening to lectures, discussing theory and giving academic presentations. They will also develop vital study skills such as evaluating the strengths of competing arguments and discussing their project proposal in tutorial with the supervisor.

The intention of this introductory unit is to provide students with some of the basic tools available in interpreting the kinds of images that surround us in our everyday life. As such, it is relevant and adaptable to many of the disciplines students will go on to study in both the humanities and social sciences. The course will have both a practical and a theoretical approach.

For example, students will be asked to examine advertisements such as those advertising women’s perfume, and to consider what ‘myths’ they represent in terms of power relations in western culture. Students will also be actively encouraged to bring in and discuss advertisements and images from their own culture to consider the connotations of such images. The concept of ‘myths’ relates to the theoretical work of Roland Barthes, a key and influential thinker on the science of signs and systems of representation. Further texts will be drawn from the work of the well-known cultural theorist, Stuart Hall.

This course is offered as an option in the Media, Culture and Society pathway in the Autumn term. It introduces themes and approaches that are fundamental to studies in media. The central content is received through the auditing of first year Media and Communications lectures. As students will have to attend and understand lectures on their undergraduate degree programmes, this course enables students to audit a real undergraduate lecture course and supports this with structured pre-reading and feedback classes. This is so that students can learn to get the most out of their lectures, and so the content is properly contextualised and students prepared. The lecture content is applicable to studies beyond the media and introduces students to a range of approaches to analysing various texts. As an integrated skills course, it allows students to make practical use of the skills developed in the Academic Speaking and Listening and Reading and Writing courses.

This course explores London as a diverse and vibrant capital of the arts. Students will be introduced to a range of musical, theatrical and visual art activities taking place in well-known institutions, as well as in smaller alternative venues. Visits to events in the city are put in context in follow-up discussions.

This course, jointly offered by the Politics and the History Departments, is an examination of the continued salience of nationalism and the nation-state form in the modern world. In the 18th and 19th C, many thinkers expected the nation-state to be superseded by more ‘universal’ forms of political organisation. As recent history demonstrates, however, that expectation has been dramatically falsified. Indeed, the nation and nationalism, once exclusively European phenomenon, became globalised in the course of the 19th and 20th C.

Through a series of case studies which introduce students to a variety of nationalisms, this course asks why that was so. What are the distinctive features of nationalism, and why has it proved so resilient and so adaptable to different circumstances? Are the nationalisms of the non-Western world repetitions of an original template, or are they fundamentally different?

This is a multi-disciplinary course that examines key issues in relation to migration in the 21st century. You will begin to consider the reasons why people migrate and the impact of movement on their language and cultural identities and life courses. You will have the opportunity to explore issues of power, status and equality in relation to the migratory experience and develop critical engagement with concepts related to identity, 'race', class and gender. Throughout the course, reference will be made to contemporary research and you will be encouraged to reflect on your own experiences in relation to theoretical frameworks.

This course aims to introduce computer programming to foundation year students with no prior knowledge of programming. The course aims to provide students with the necessary background to use a computer to develop and execute simple software programs in a manner that will prepare them for the programming courses in the first year of a Computing degree programme.

This course aims to provide basic problem-solving strategies relevant to compute programming, by controlling the definition and use of algorithms to control data and achieve a task.

This course is designed to be taught concurrently with the Foundations of Computer Programming course to students with little or know experience with computer programming. It complements the bottom-up tendency of the syntax based Programming course by providing a top-down view of programming. It is expected that this will increase students’ interest in and understanding of algorithms, and clarity and efficiency when programming, which are fundamental when pursuing a career in Computing.

The purpose of this course is to equip students with the mathematical tools and understanding that will be essential to the study of Computing at degree level. It's aimed at students with little or no recent experience of mathematics.

The course aims to familiarize students with the fundamentals of arithmetic, algebra, logic, series, symbolic manipulation, equation solving (linear, quadratic and simultaneous), functions, co-ordinate geometry, trigonometry, matrices, and probability. It will also introduce to algorithms with reference to simple sorting, packing and searching methods. While studying students will gain an appreciation of fundamental aspects of mathematical representation, modelling and programming.

This course is specifically for those who are interested in design and can demonstrate through a portfolio a range of skills and knowledge associated with some form of post 16 arts and design education or appropriate work experience. This course introduces students to different design disciplines and their different definitions. In term one, Students will undertake a series of design briefs that will enable them to acquire knowledge and skills appropriate to different forms of design: 2D, graphics/typography/photography, 3D, product/furniture/craft/textile, 4D and web/video.

This course will introduce students to a series of methods and techniques that will enable them to realise their ideas. They will be guided through a number of exercises that will include sketching, drawing (Various types), paper modelling, wire modelling, foam modelling and proto-typing.

This course is designed to run concurrently with the What is Design? course. Over the duration of the course students will have to keep a sketchbook and a reflective journal. The Journal will be an ongoing (predominantly text based) diary to record/capture their thoughts and processes occurring during the projects, workshops, crits, trips, exhibitions and feedback sessions. It will be an important piece of assessment evidence that is submitted at every tutorial and project hand in. This document must be written in English and allow students to develop a design/creative vocabulary. The Sketchbook will be a more visual record of their research and design process and will contain drawings sketches images/photographs modelling etc relating to the set projects and the students developing body of work.

The course covers the key aspects of writing an essay. These include features of academic style, the planning process, structuring an argument, summarising, paraphrasing techniques, referencing, avoiding plagiarism, and drafting and editing. Emphasis is given to the logic underlying Western academic writing conventions, rather than simply looking at the procedural aspects. This is supported by work on the main areas of English grammar, with a particular focus on improving grammatical range and accuracy in students’ writing.

Reading skills are also developed. Textual analysis enables students to learn about cohesion, extend their vocabulary, read for gist and specific information, infer meaning, as well as develop summary skills. The texts generally focus on a background to Western thought and culture, taking into account ancient Greeks and Romans, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the influence of modernity, feminism and Marxism. There is an emphasis on how to use reading in writing: to learn from other writers’ style and using their points as evidence for students’ arguments.

To enhance listening skills, the course makes use of a wide range of texts, drawing firstly on commercially produced EAP materials to help students acquire the skills of listening for gist and specific information and taking useful notes. Later, the course moves on recordings from Goldsmiths library as well as BBC radio shows. Students are exposed to a range of challenging and interesting recordings related to the arts, current affairs, media, education and aspects of British culture. Many of the recordings are relevant to subjects studied at Goldsmiths, for example race and ethnicity, representation, identity and culture. Where possible, the recordings are exploited for vocabulary development.

To develop speaking skills, students will have to research and give seminar presentations and lead the class through discussion of their chosen topic. They will receive input on effective seminar techniques and functional language. There is also ongoing feedback on their presentations.