Family law touches all of our lives at some point. It covers the legal regulation of family life, including the extent to which family life should be seen as a private matter and to which different types of family are treated differently for example marital, non-marital and same-sex relationships and families. It considers the extent to which English family law is based on the Judaeo-Christian tradition and how easily it accommodates family patterns from different ethnic and faith traditions. This is examined both in relation to domestic law and the recognition of overseas marriages and divorces. As well as examining the substantive rules governing the aspects of family life that deal with the regulation of adult relationship formation and breakdown, this module also examines the difficulties that the law has in balancing the need for clear and objective rules to govern behaviour with the need to take the variety of individual circumstances into account. This has led to considerable use of judicial discretion and the strengths and weaknesses of this approach are considered during the module. Ownership and occupation of the family home are explored to draw out the differences between analyses of houses as homes or property. Although there is some overlap with material studied in the property law modules, the focus in this module is quite different – examining the assumptions behind and the social effects of different approaches.
This module will explore the methodological and theoretical approaches to fan studies. We will address questions of fan production, race, gender and sexuality, the dialogue between fans and media industries, and the mainstreaming of fandoms. The module will take an international approach, paying attention to global technologies, transnational movements, and national specific limitations.
Fantasy film and fiction spans a wide range of texts, from Gothic 'classics' and feminist fairy tales, to Utopian literature and musicals. Analysing fantasy texts alongside psychoanalytic and cultural theories will enable you to engage with questions concerning the body, sexual identity and genre. To enhance your interdisciplinary skills working in literature and film we will draw on theories of the gaze, the uncanny, abjection and identification. NOTE: this module includes study of some modern horror films. Students may find some of the images from these films upsetting, and should be aware of the course content in advance.
On this module you will acquire knowledge of how to build, grow and communicate fashion brands through digital and traditional marketing and branding strategies, in a global and cultural context. You will develop knowledge and understanding of the key marketing and branding principles and academic theories that will enable you to gain advanced understanding of marketing and branding strategies, including sustainability marketing. You will explore fashion brand innovative communication strategies and campaign development, and the role of digital media and technology in amplifying sustainable fashion communication efforts.
Fashion Communication: Digital Futures module, a comprehensive exploration into the intersection of design, creativity, technology and communication within the dynamic world of the fashion and lifestyle industries. This module is designed to equip you with creative and practical, industry-standard software skills, advanced communication techniques and a deep understanding of relevant supporting theories. On completion of this module, you will be suitably prepared for any creative challenges that you will encounter through the rest of your time at university and beyond. The skills learnt and creative approaches learnt here will serve as a foundation to your future studies within the Fashion Marketing and Management programme.
In this module, you will examine key insights and trends in the fashion industry, enhancing your understanding of marketing and branding roles and the necessary skills for success in fashion marketing and branding. You will learn about fashion consumer behaviour, exploring psychological, sociological, and behavioural approaches to fashion consumption. Through a range of industry and academic speakers you will learn about the most up to date industry practices with particular reference to fashion consumer and industry insights. You will critically examine contemporary marketing and branding strategies in the fashion industry through case studies. You will have the opportunity to reflect on and develop your professional career within the creative industries.
Fashion Communities & Consumers explores the evolution of fashion & lifestyle industries in response to critical changes and attitudes driven by environmental, technological, economic, and social factors. Expanding on level 4’s ‘The Future Consumer’, this unit will build a more detailed and sophisticated understanding of brands, consumers and communities’ ability to co-create and collaborate. You will draw on social theory and psychology to explore the idea of communities, with a focus on the need for fashion and lifestyle industries to align with personal, cultural, and social values of these groups and reframe meaning beyond consumption to thrive. This unit will also discuss the use of fashion narratives, image ideation and construction that help to foster brand identity while integrating transparency and ethical considerations.
In this module you will engage with Fashion Design and its fundamental relationship with materials and textiles. You will experiment and explore colour, fibre, construction, process and finish through a creative lens of the wants and needs of a considered audience (customer/market) and the broader environmental impact of fabric and garment production. Developing and embedding learning from Foundations of Fashion and Embedding Context into Practice in semester 1 you will enhance and deepen your use of context and research, design, material development and presentation skills.
Within this module you will be challenged to utilise your growing creative skills and analytical thinking in order identify key critical issues and responses for the evolving retail landscape. As part of this module, you will consider the future role of fashion retailing and its place in the effective distribution of fashion/lifestyle products to the consumer. A key part of your focus is understanding both instore and online consumption environments, changing trends and new emergent technologies. You will develop your investigative and critical approaches as you explore this rapidly evolving landscape. Among other areas of focus will be the retail industries response to consumer disability, neuro-divergence and wellbeing, disruptive theory and challenges, frictionless trading, and experiential retail. Overall, you will consider the future evolution of fashion environments and their impact on society and consumer behaviour.
This Module introduces a range of debates, theory and practice informing future fashion. It will provide you with the contextual platform needed to develop challenging and creative fashion design, relevant to a future context. You will draw upon lectures, seminars and personal research to explore and identify developing areas of sustainable, technological, social and ethical practice to embed into your own personal design process. Hands-on skills-based workshops, creative design and industry insight sessions will support the practical creation of a considered original garment which draws upon the context, research and practical applications gained through this module.
Aimed to support the journey towards becoming a confident and skilled fashion designer equipped with industry knowledge this module is supported by live design projects, interaction with practicing experts and market intelligence from our industry partners to mirror real world experiences. Through critical reflection, design development and experimentation, you will develop a keen awareness and discipline in fashion design practice, hone your ideas, techniques and confidence to prepare for your professional journey. Set projects immerse you in industry practices, providing valuable insights for future career planning or a Year in Employment.
This module engages you in learning about Fashion Management by experiencing a collaborative project brief set-in conjunction with a fashion company and is designed to enhance your digital and employability and skills. The module equips you to discuss problem-based solutions confidently and professionally, adopting collaborative experimental approaches and creative responses to fashion management issues. Working to an industry based project brief is essential to develop new insights to address shared challenges within the diverse fashion world, related to employability, style, and social inclusion while meeting sustainability agendas. Some training on Adobe creative suite provided in the early part of the module.
This module delivers a broad understanding and appreciation of fashion, luxury, and lifestyle industries, developing your knowledge in contemporary and historical contexts. By studying critical eras, events, influences and media that have impacted the current fashion landscape, this module will provide you with essential knowledge to underpin your wider programme of study. It will introduce you to how to reflect on the work of others and a greater understanding of the language used to communicate identities, ideologies and values. This module will also support the development of your critical and writing skills for university by teaching you key skills in primary/secondary research, academic referencing, critical thinking and evaluation.
We are all familiar with fictions from Romeo and Juliet to Jaws, from The Hobbit to Harry Potter. Despite this familiarity, the nature of fiction and of our engagement with it appears puzzling. On the one hand, fictional characters do not exist. On the other hand, we can think and talk about them. Indeed, it seems we can make true claims about them, e.g. that Romeo is the son of Montague. But how can that be true, if it is also true that there is no such person as Romeo? It is as puzzling that we appear to feel for fictional characters. We might weep for Juliet when she finds Romeo dead, even though we know that no one has really died. The aim of this module is to explore what fiction is, what our relationship with fiction involves, and whether we engage with fictions outside of the realm of art and literature, for example, when talking about morality or possibility.
Each student undertakes an investigation which includes both practical and theoretical components. The theory component will consist of a critical review of the literature relating to the proposed experimental component of the project. The fieldwork is related to the appropriate degree programme. Each student is assigned to an appropriate supervisor who will advise on and direct the project and the preparation of a written report. The aim of this module is to allow students to carry out an extensive field-based project on a special topic related to his/her main area of study, and to complete a literature survey on a topic related to this area of research.
Over the last four hundred years progress in understanding the physical world (theoretical physics) has gone hand in hand with progress in the mathematical sciences, so much so that the terms applied mathematics and theoretical physics have come to be almost coterminous. Vector calculus is one of the main mathematical tools to study the world around us. Many physical quantities are described by vector or scalar fields. Examples include not only velocities and forces (particularly useful in fluid mechanics), but also particle displacements (useful in solid mechanics), and electric and magnetic fields (electromagnetism). In this module we use the vector calculus as a tool to understand some basic theories in theoretical physics. We also introduce tensors and the tensor calculus. Tensors extend the idea of a vector. A tensor is a multi-index array (e.g. a matrix) with well-defined transformation rules under coordinate transformations. This module applies vector calculus in fluid mechanics and electromagnetism. We concentrate on fluids which do not have any resistance to flow (inviscid fluid flow) and electromagnetiism in vaccum. The mathematical models we discuss all involve solutions of equations including vector derivatives (i.e. div, grad and curl and their tensor generalisations). A particularly interesting feature of our development is the close mathematical similarity between equations from different branches of theoretical physics.
