Arts and Social Sciences
If you are coming to study any of the subjects in Arts and Social Sciences, you’ll be enrolled onto the Arts and Social Sciences T2G course. This will mean you’ll be completing your T2G course with other students from similar subject backgrounds, and you’ll get to pick from a range of electives that cover the broad range of Arts and Social Sciences subjects taught at UofG.
The T2G Arts and Social Sciences course will allow you to take part in large lectures that cover some of the core elements of working, researching and studying in our subjects.
In your electives, you’ll be able to select two courses that most interest you. In other words, you’ll be able to create the course that’s most suited to what you want to study. You’re free to pick any of the available electives – it doesn’t matter what you’re going onto study. Pick whatever you want to look at!
Your T2G course will then have three parts: a core module, two electives, and one assignment. Your core module will run on Mondays and Fridays; your electives will run on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays of each week.
T2G Core Module
Your T2G core module will provide you with the introduction to studying and working at the University. Through lectures and asynchronous (access any time) materials, you’ll be introduced to things like the ways in which markers assess and grade your work, what your subjects will be looking for in your assessments, the underlying principles of research and investigation at university (including how to conduct critical evaluation and analysis in our subjects), how to deal with procrastination and perfectionism, and how to approach your academic writing.
All Arts and Social Sciences students on T2G will complete the core module. Think of the core module as the guide to how to study for and take part in our electives and in your degree!
Elective choices
More courses to be confirmed!
T2G Elective: History of Argument
Have you ever had an imaginary argument with your Nemesis in the shower or come up with the perfect response to a point after the debate has finished? This elective will teach you some of the ways in which we build up effective, powerful arguments. We’ll do this by looking at Classical and modern models of rhetoric, and then applying these models to various important texts through time.
You’ll get the opportunity to learn about topics ranging from the American Declaration of Independence and the Indians of All Tribes Proclamation at Alcatraz in San Francisco to one of the most important books on gender/sex relations and how modern politicians frame arguments to win/lose points (think: Donald Trump and Boris Johnson).
Argumentation is all around us and is an art form. This elective will allow you to learn from the best – and go on to debate and argue with the best!
Elective tutor: Dr Andrew Struan
Andrew is the Head of Student Learning Development (SLD). Andrew manages the SLD team in the development of academic literacies for all students. Andrew is also the Programme Co-ordinator for the largest course of any university in the UK, the Academic Writing Skills Programme. Andrew’s research is in political history; he looks at the ways in which language and political debate shape our conceptions of ideas/peoples/practices, and how this changes over time. Andrew has spoken and published widely on student learning, student writing and British politics. His PhD was in networks of political knowledge at the time of the American Revolution.
T2G Elective: Why Do We Write Like That? Understanding Academic Writing in Your Discipline
This practical course will introduce you to popular methods of corpus analysis (text analysis on a large scale), which you will use to identify features of academic writing that are common in your subject area. You will learn how to use practical tools and methods of text analysis, and build a ‘style guide’ for writing in your discipline.
Elective tutor: Dr Elina Koristashevskaya
Elina is Deputy Head of SLD, managing the team of Effective Learning Advisers and GTAs who work with students in the Colleges of Arts, Social Sciences, and all UG and PGT International students at the University of Glasgow. Her teaching expertise is in academic writing, assessment and feedback practice, and technology enhanced learning. Her academic background is in English Language and Linguistics, and her research interests include experimental methods in the Humanities, computer-assisted analysis of texts, and corpus stylistics.
T2G Elective: ‘The Medium is the Message’: An Introduction to Critical Media Studies
Beginning with Marshall McLuhan’s pivotal proposition that ‘the medium is the message’ – that is, the medium (mode/platform/style of delivery) of any message is just as important (if not more so!) than the content of the message and requires just as much critical attention – this elective introduces the key tenets of media studies.
In the current context, where we are constantly bombarded by information from various sources and with differing agendas, it perhaps more important than ever that we are sceptical about the content we consume and recognise the role the medium plays in how we consume it.
Regardless of which subject you study, being able to critically analyse content across a range of sources is one of the primary intended learning outcomes of University education.
Elective tutor: Dr Stuart Purcell
Stuart Purcell is the Effective Learning Adviser for the College of Arts, working in SLD. He currently lectures on most degrees across the College of Arts, focusing in particular on critical research. His PhD is in English Literature and Media Studies at the University, with his thesis addressing (very) contemporary literary practice and Twitter as ‘a future’ of the novel. He has published and presented internationally on literature, media studies, and experimental methods in the Humanities.
T2G Elective: The Power of Language
How does the language we use hold the power to change the way we see the world? Does talking about cancer as a ‘battle’ impact our experience of the disease? How can a scientific article manifest as click-bait in the media? What has Ancient Greece got to do with how world leaders respond to the pandemic? Does it matter if a Jaffa Cake is a cake or a biscuit? These are just some of the important questions we will be tackling during this course. We will be considering the power of language across five key areas – Science, Health, Politics, News Media, and Law – and in each class we will consider a different aspect of English Language & Linguistics in these spheres, for example, examining the impact of metaphors on discussions of ‘Health’. After taking this course, you will begin to think twice about the language you encounter daily and become more aware of the influence that even a single word can have. While it can be difficult to resist the pervasive pull of language, this course will enable you to encounter language from a deeper perspective and interrogate how, why, and where we use the power of language.
Course tutor: Amber Hinde
Amber is a PhD researcher in English Language & Linguistics, exploring the rhetoric of health and wellness in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Britain. Amber spend lots of her time in archives getting excited about old bread advertisements and menus for vegetarian restaurants. Alongside her research, she works with students as one of the Effective Learning Advisers for International Students within SLD. When she's not busy researching and teaching, she's usually lost in a good book or on a long walk with her Japanese Shiba Inu puppy, who is aptly named Meeko after the cheeky raccoon in Pocahontas!
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T2G Elective: Discarding the 'Dark Ages'
The ' Dark Ages' are frequently referenced as source material in the modern day: from film and TV (both historical and fantasy) to political rhetoric. But how accurate is our understanding of the period? In this elective, you will meet four figures from the medieval period and discuss some of the key issues their lives embodied - power, conflict, belief, and gender. You will gain a sense of the true breadth and complexity of the middle ages, learn how to critically analyse historical sources, and think about the relationship between Western history and contemporary culture.
Jennifer is the Writing Adviser for postgraduate researchers at the University of Glasgow, working with PhD students from across all disciplines. Her PhD is in early medieval history. Her research focuses on religious change in late sixth and early seventh century Francia, reassessing documentary and archaeological evidence, and employing alternative theoretical models to understand how and why religious beliefs and behaviour changed.
Joanna is the Researcher Development Manager, overseeing the skills programme for PhD students at the University of Glasgow. Joanna came to Glasgow as an undergraduate and decided she never wanted to leave, ultimately staying for her doctoral research. Her PhD examined what was valued, normative, and recognisable in the visionary landscape of women in twelfth-century England, using Christina of Markyate as a case study.
T2G Elective: History of Argument
This course will task us with answering the question of what is the United States of America?
We'll look at how the United States was founded, its core principles as a nation (if they exist), its view of itself, and how the concept of 'America' has been created since the time of the American Revolution in 1776.
Elective tutor: Dr Andrew Struan
Andrew is the Head of Student Learning Development (SLD). Andrew manages the SLD team in the development of academic literacies for all students. Andrew is also the Programme Co-ordinator for the largest course of any university in the UK, the Academic Writing Skills Programme. Andrew’s research is in political history; he looks at the ways in which language and political debate shape our conceptions of ideas/peoples/practices, and how this changes over time. Andrew has spoken and published widely on student learning, student writing and British politics. His PhD was in networks of political knowledge at the time of the American Revolution.