back to school

In case anyone's just dying to find out my workload for this semester, here it is:

I'm sticking with the two options for my course as they seemed pretty interesting, although a few of my coursemates are taking options outside of the programme.
Idea of Race
In this course we consider the historical development of the idea of race from the late-nineteenth century to the present. Our emphasis is on race as an intellectual and scientific concept rather than the sociological phenomenon of "racism" - though the latter is of course implicit throughout [....]
We begin the course by considering the resurgence of interest in race and biological difference today: this refers to issues such as the human genome project, the question of innate intelligence, and includes problems like multi-culturalism in contemporary Britain. Such problems are put into their historical context through consideration of a range of themes, including social Darwinism and eugenics, sterilisation and IQ testing, empire, and gender. The course concludes with the scientific attack on the meaning of race that emerged in the post-war era, and with a consideration of the challenges of `multi-culturalism’ in contemporary Britain.

Transnational Migration and Diaspora
This course focuses on the cultural dimensions of transnationalism and diaspora. The emphasis is on lived experience and the everyday geographies of migration in the postcolonial world.
With reference to historical and contemporary examples, students on this course will critically explore:
• theoretical and empirical research on transnational migration and diaspora.
• the multiple and complex relationships between migration and belonging.
• the ways in which diasporic and transnational identities are practiced, performed and represented in everyday spaces.
• the meaning and practice of home in the mobile context.
• the wider implications of migration on cultural identities, including debates around cosmopolitanism and multiculturalism.