The course introduces you to the United States common-law system, its courts and basic procedural and substantive law. It will include analyzing and 'briefing' landmark decisions made by the US Supreme Court in various areas of the substantive law. You will analyse and discuss these decisions, also in terms of legal language, synthesize the legal rules and rationales laid down in them. You will be asked to present a case or a legal argument orally in class, which will be graded. You will also be asked to work with other students in preparing for graded Moot Court sessions by developing legal arguments using case law read throughout the course. 

International travel, work, study, music, film, and internet surfing increasingly bring many of us into frequent contact with the enormous diversity of English-language usage from around the world. This course attempts to provide a basic introduction to some of the most well-known or important of these global varieties and the colonial history from which they have emerged. Following clarification of some fundamental distinctions in terms of categorizing dialects, accents, and pidgins, each week we will focus on a particular sort of English. Literary readings, film excerpts, songs, and authentic audio recordings will be employed to give us a foothold towards understanding a small sample of the kinds of contemporary English, including Indian, Nigerian, South African, Irish, Scottish, Australian, African-American (Ebonics), Spanglish, Chinglish, New Yorkese, Multicultural London English, Jamaican Patwa and Rastafarian Dread Talk. Although we will not have enough time to deeply explore all of the permutations within each of these broad speech communities, their main traits, historical backgrounds, and socio-political importance will be highlighted. The overriding goal will not be to view these representatives of the total spectrum of English as inferior ‘deviations’ from so-called standard English usage but rather to demonstrate their inherent beauty and functionality, while also recognizing the valuable contributions that they make towards keeping world English ever-changing and vibrant. Rudimentary terminology borrowed from linguistics will be used to conceptually frame the course, but no specialist knowledge is required, though students of linguistics are of course welcome. Participants will be required to do a brief presentation and paper.

This course provides instruction and practice in critical reading, critical thinking, and critical writing. We will analyze and interpret academic texts, using the texts as evidence or as an argument to be responded to critically. We will also discuss the appropriate conventions in English grammar and style. This course is intended for students of all disciplines; topics will vary depending on the interests of the students.

Preparation for UNIcert® IV oral exam and listening/writing papers The UK left the EU on 31st January 2020. At the beginning of the course we will be examining what led to this momentous event from cultural, economic, historical, legal, political and social perspectives and how the UK might develop in future outside the EU. The remaining topics will be negotiated between course tutor and participants and will probably include: modern film, literature and music, the class system and social inequalities, youth culture, politics, humour, LGBT+ rights and culture, the mass media, and developments in British English: The award of a Leistungsnachweis will be on the basis of active and regular participation, giving a presentation and leading a short discussion on a topic from the course as well as final tests in listening and writing. There will be regular opportunities to prepare for the final tests (listening to radio and TV current affairs programmes, debates, lectures and panel discussions as well as writing a practice essay under examination conditions). Both the in-course practice and final tests will help prepare candidates for the relevant papers in the UNIcert® IV examination.