Open units are units which are outside of a student's subject discipline(s) that are available in many undergraduate programmes (subject to space and timetabling constraints). Typically these units are interdisciplinary and do not have any pre- or co-requisites. Single honours undergraduate students are normally able to choose up to 20 credit points of open units.
The University has developed a number of thematic, interdisciplinary "Bristol Futures" open units which deal with issues and themes of current importance. Details of these units are available here including video trailers for some of the units. Specific details about each unit is available below. The Bristol Futures optional units are:
City Futures: Migration, Citizenship, and Planetary Change
Creative Futures: Tools for Changing the World
Decolonise the Future!
Science of Happiness
Sustainable Development
Understanding global problems using data: inequality, climate change and the economy
The open units scheme also includes the University Wide Language Programme units. Details of these are available here as well as specific information about each unit below.
It is possible that open units appearing on this list will be unavailable if capacity has been taken up by students taking it as an optional unit.
What do the teaching blocks (TB) mean?
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| AVDASI 1 - Aerospace Vehicle Systems Introduction | AENG10001 | 10 |
| Academic Listening and Speaking | LANG10007 | 10 |
| Academic Reading and Writing | LANG10008 | 10 |
| Advanced English Language Studies | LANG14011 | 20 |
| Analysis in Management | EFIM10003 | 20 |
| Approaches to Poetry | ENGL10026 | 20 |
| Approaches to Shakespeare | ENGL10027 | 20 |
| Approaches to the study of Political Science | POLI11104 | 20 |
| Arts Students Count | AFAC10004 | 20 |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| Big Ideas in Science | CHEM10001 | 20 |
| Biology 1A: Diversity of Life | BIOL11000 | 40 |
| Biology 1B: Life Processes | BIOL12000 | 40 |
| Brazilian Portuguese for General Purposes Level 1 Grade 1 | LANG10005 | 20 |
| British Prehistory | ARCH12011 | 20 |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| Children in Society I: An introduction | SOWK10001 | 20 |
| Children in Society II: Children and Contemporary Society | SOWK10002 | 20 |
| Classics of European Cinema | MODL10010 | 20 |
| Comedy | CLAS12370 | 20 |
| Comparative Government and Politics: An Introduction | POLI11103 | 20 |
| Comparative World Archaeology | ARCH10003 | 20 |
| Comparative and International Social Policy | SPOL10014 | 20 |
| Contemporary Ethics | THRS10044 | 20 |
| Contemporary European Cinema | MODL10009 | 20 |
| Contemporary Russia through the Media | RUSS10034 | 20 |
| Contemporary Writing | ENGL10016 | 20 |
| Convincing stories? Numbers as evidence in the social sciences | UNIV10002 | 20 |
| Core Physics I:Mechanics and Matter | PHYS10006 | 20 |
| Critical Reasoning | PHIL10030 | 10 |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| Doing Social Research | SOCI10005 | 20 |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| Education, Schooling and Diversity | SPOL10015 | 20 |
| Engineering Physics | EMAT10005 | 20 |
| English for Academic Purposes - Part 1 (Science and Engineering) | LANG10002 | 10 |
| English for Academic Purposes - Part 2 (Science and Engineering) | LANG10003 | 10 |
| Environment Earth | EASC10004 | 20 |
| Environmental Geoscience 1 | EASC10002 | 40 |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| French for General Purposes Level 1 Grade 2 (post GCSE) | LANG12022 | 20 |
| French for General Purposes Level 1 Grade 3 (post A'Level) | LANG13022 | 20 |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| Galaxies and the Universe | PHYS11500 | 20 |
| Geology 1 | EASC10001 | 40 |
| German for General Purposes Level 1 Grade 2 (post GCSE) | LANG12023 | 20 |
| German for General Purposes Level 1 Grade 1 (ab-initio) | LANG11043 | 20 |
| German for General Purposes Level 1 Grade 3 (post A'Level) | LANG13023 | 20 |
| Ghosts, Death and the Afterlife | THRS11055 | 20 |
| Globalisation and Development | ECON10053 | 20 |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| Homeric Society | CLAS12343 | 20 |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| Japanese for General Purposes (ab-initio) | LANG11046 | 20 |
| Journeying: Discovering the World, Creating Ourselves | GEOG16002 | 20 |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| Key Social Thinkers | SOCI10006 | 20 |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| Language (Advanced) | MODL10014 | 40 |
| Language for General Purposes (Ab-initio Mandarin Chinese) | LANG11047 | 20 |
| Language for General Purposes - French Level 1, Grade 1 | LANG11042 | 20 |
| Living Religions | THRS10028 | 20 |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| Marx's Political Writings | PHIL10018 | 10 |
| Mathematics 1A20 | MATH11004 | 20 |
| Mathematics 1EM | MATH10600 | 40 |
| Modern Italy | ITAL10029 | 20 |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| Pagan Religions of the Roman Empire | CLAS17003 | 20 |
| Performance Forms and Analysis | DRAM11004 | 20 |
| Philosophical Text 3: Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics | PHIL10008 | 10 |
| Philosophical Texts 1: Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion | PHIL10003 | 10 |
| Philosophical Texts: Plato | PHIL10024 | 10 |
| Planet Earth | EASC10003 | 20 |
| Political Concepts | POLI11101 | 20 |
| Principles of Economics | EFIM10050 | 20 |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| Religious and Cultural Change in India: from Indus to Islam | THRS10033 | 20 |
| Romano-British Archaeology | ARCH10009 | 20 |
| Russian for General Purposes Level 1 Grade 1 | LANG10006 | 20 |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| Segregation and inequality in the UK (measurement and debate) | SPOL10017 | 20 |
| Social Identities and Divisions | SOCI10007 | 20 |
| Social Policy and the Welfare State: Historical Perspectives | SPOL10011 | 20 |
| Social Policy and the Welfare State: Key Concepts and Contemporary Ideas | SPOL10013 | 20 |
| Social Policy and the Welfare State: Theoretical Perspectives | SPOL10012 | 20 |
| Spanish for General Purposes Level 1 Grade 1 (ab-initio) | LANG11045 | 20 |
| Spanish for General Purposes Level 1 Grade 2 (post GCSE) | LANG12025 | 20 |
| Spanish for General Purposes Level 1 Grade 3 (post A'Level) | LANG13025 | 20 |
| Stars and Planets 106 | PHYS10600 | 20 |
| Sustainable Development | UNIV10001 | 20 |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| Texts in Modern Political Philosophy | PHIL10027 | 10 |
| The Foundations of Buddhist Thought and Practice | THRS10045 | 20 |
| The Religious World of Dante | THRS10050 | 20 |
| The Thought of John Calvin | THRS10048 | 20 |
| Thinking Sociologically | SOCI10004 | 20 |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Other Top | ||
| Well-being and Society | ARCH10008 | 20 |
| World in Crisis? | GEOG16001 | 20 |
