Coursework Topics for Students

We are glad to share with you the following list of topics that you can use as a starting point for your coursework project. We have accompanied each topic with a brief overview of the issue and provided questions for further research. Besides, you can use these English coursework ideas as a basis for other academic papers like essays, research papers, or even theses! We have divided all topics into the following categories: art, economics, management, MBA, and sociology.

Art Coursework Topics

For this type of coursework we propose you to choose one of the paintings (or any piece of art) you love and critically evaluate it. Provide a description of what you see. Analyze how the work was organized and explore the history of its creation if available. Interpret the author’s meaning and what the author tried to say with creating this masterpiece. Come up with the conclusion on whether the work is successful.

• Art of Ancient Egypt (Funerary mask of Tutankhamen, Great Sphinx, Palette of Narmer, Queen Nefertiti, etc.).
• Art of the Near East (Stele of Hammurabi, Royal Standard of Ur, Head of a Man (known as an Akkadian Ruler), Stele of Naram-Sin, etc.)
• Early Christian Byzantine Art (Dura Europos, Sarcophagus of Junius, Bassus Justinian and his Attendants, Harbaville Triptych, etc.)
• Early Medieval Art in Europe and Romanesque Art (Chi Ro Iota, page from the Book of Kells, purse cover from Sutton Hoo, The Last Judgment, Tympanum at Autumn by Gislebertus Cathedral complex, Pisa, etc.)

If you want to discuss particular moments in the history of art, you may like the following topics:

• Art of primitive society.

Primitive art geographically covers all continents except Antarctica. It is still preserved in some nations living in remote corners of the planet. Most of the oldest paintings were found in Europe (from Spain to the Urals). Humans still can see wall painting and the evidence of human activity. People of that time believed in magic: they believed that with the help of pictures and other images you can influence the outcome of hunting.

• Female images in Egyptian art.

Pharaohs prepared for the afterlife in advance. In addition to building the tombs, they paid great attention to adornment and decorations. Especially popular were ceiling and wall paintings. The drawings depicted the earthly life of the human and possible afterlife. Painting in Egypt has its own peculiarities, and we propose you to find out more information about the female images in Egyptian art. How are the lives of women within ancient Egyptian culture revealed through artifacts and art? Describe objects tied to specific female identities. What do their features suggest about the roles and characteristics of specific women in history, or more broadly about women within Egyptian culture?

Economics Coursework Topics

This section relates both to economic and business topics. Some topics may require calculations and field study.

• Identify and analyze price discrimination on a particular market.

Tell about the forms of price discrimination. Tell about the main peculiarities of financial discrimination and principles. Describe the conditions for the business needed for engaging in price discrimination. Identify several forms of price discrimination in the consumer market. Can price discrimination lead to efficient prices? Can price discrimination provoke an open (or shut) market? What is the effect of price discrimination on output? How does price discrimination affect competition on the market? Support your coursework with examples to demonstrate each form of price discrimination. Use case studies from particular companies.

• Analyze the effect of the currency exchange rate on a particular market.

Any country uses currency in its economic activity. Its purchases and sales are made according to the exchange rate, which is constantly changing. Exchange rates have a significant impact on foreign trade of various countries, affecting the price ratio of exports and imports, causing a change in the domestic economic situation, as well as affecting the competitiveness of firms and the profits of enterprises. For this coursework you can choose a particular market (e.g. tourism and hospitality) and analyze the impact of exchange rates. Define the key exchange rate trends and how exchange rates matter. Analyze several case studies that identify the performance of a particular company involved in the tourism business. You can also explain how the currency exchange rate can be used as a tool of strategic analysis.

• What is “green energy”? How does renewable energy influence economics?

When we talk about green energy, we mean renewable energy. It is about the use of geothermal energy, bioenergy, hydroelectric power, wind, solar, ocean power, and other natural sources as alternative energy solutions. All these sources are renewable by natural means. In this coursework you can discuss the peculiarities of renewable energy economics. Renewable energy sources are environmentally friendly; they do not lead to the additional warming of the planet. What are the most effective renewable energy sources? Think about the issues of intermittency, capital intensity, energy conservation, potential for energy efficiency, energy subsidies, and environmental externalizations. Provide political and ideological points of view.

• Analyze the economic perspective of cloud computing.

Today, any business, from a flower shop to aircraft manufacturing, can be serviced by a certain set of cloud services. Cloud computing is a distributed data processing technology in which shared computer resources, software, and data are provided to users on demand in the form of internet services. In this coursework example, we propose you to conduct research on the use of cloud computing and its benefits for economics. What is the practical use of cloud computing and its practical implementation on enterprises? Who are the most popular consumers of this kind of service? What types of services does cloud computing provide? What are the legal issues connected with cloud computing?

• Effect of pensions on the US economy.

In the US, every citizen is responsible for his or her own pension. What is the situation with public pension funds? Do public employee pensions stimulate the economy? Make an overview of retirement options accompanied with worked practical examples. Additionally, make some commentary about the benefits and drawbacks of utilizing the pension program. Include calculations to provide a comprehensive discussion on the subject and clearly prove your point of view. Also, you can touch the economics of retirement and its history in the US.

Management Coursework Topics

In this section we have gathered topics connected to management and leadership. Some topics can be related to marketing and sociology. Some topics may be used in a general context or applied to a particular company.

• Brand management: Trust for international brands.

The modern situation on the retail market forces companies to implement and apply various instruments that help develop new clients. Branding is one of the most powerful tools to get the customer’s trust to a particular company. The diversity of business and product areas leads to great competition in various markets. This makes branding more complex and more meaningful in terms of the company’s success. Companies that start their activity in the international market face a wide range of problems, as the international market has its own rules and principles. In this coursework topic, you can concentrate on one company and analyze its branding strategy.

• Purchasing management and its impact on company performance.

In this coursework topic example, you can discuss the role of purchasing managers in the company’s performance. Also, you can choose one company and make a case study related to your topic. You can evaluate the efficiency of purchasing management and make recommendations for improvements. What are the most common problems purchasing managers face? What is the best way to organize a purchasing plan? How to choose the best purchasing type? How to collaborate with suppliers? How to manage electronic marketplaces? How should the purchasing department be organized? How to optimize the purchasing operations in inbound logistics and basic logistics operations?

• Sourcing strategy for a particular company.

If the company wants to achieve the desired results and objectives, owners and managers should think attentively about the sourcing strategy. Sourcing activities constantly need to be reevaluated and analyzed. A good sourcing strategy helps the company achieve substantial cost savings and reach other sourcing aims. With strategic sourcing, the company will increase profit, manage supply risks, improve sustainability, and get more value out of procurement. Pick one company and analyze or model a sourcing strategy. Analyze the supply market and current sourcing processes, evaluate the methods for strategic sourcing, and define the peculiarities of methods selection.

• Drug testing in the workplace.

Solving the problems of alcohol and drugs in the company can become an ethical dilemma for managers and employees. The employer will need to keep the balance between people who have problems with alcohol and drugs and the duty to properly manage financial resources and protect the safety of other employees. In this coursework assignment, you can discuss the situations where drug testing is needed for the particular workplace. What test strategies should be applied? What methods are the most appropriate for the particular company? What ethical issues may arise in the process? What actions should be taken if the test will be positive?

• Product life cycle management strategy for a specific company.

Each product goes through certain stages of the life cycle. Analysis of the general nature of the life cycle of the product is a very important moment in the development of the company’s strategy for the product it produces. Having correctly determined at which stage the company’s product is located, managers can build an effective strategy for its development, determine the priority goals and objectives, price, advertising, and sales plan. For this topic you can select a specific company that has many product items for sale (i.e. food products, cleaning products, and personal care products). What marketing strategy is more preferable for the current stage of the life cycle? What are the peculiarities of the current stage?

MBA Coursework Examples: Topic Ideas

All topics presented below may also be used for other disciplines, such as management or economics. You can discuss the topic in general or apply to a particular organization or business.

• Refurbishing a hotel.

A high level of competition in the hotel industry requires timely modernization of buildings and service improvements. The more innovative ideas and fresh solutions the owner uses, the higher will be the influx of customers and position in the hotel ranking, both locally and internationally. In this topic we propose you to define the peculiarities of planning and controlling the hotel refurbishment. You can pick a certain hotel and describe the process on the example. What methods of achieving integration should be used? How to choose a refurbishment contractor? What are the peculiarities of this type of building?

• Decision making in business.

Describe the effect of decision support and business intelligence towards the quality of decision making. Decision making is a fundamental process and one of the main functions of managing various structures, including business. A characteristic feature of any situation related to decision making is the presence of a large number of options for action, from which it is necessary to choose the best solution. What is the psychological approach in decision making? What are the main methods of decision making? What are the main stages of decision making? What mistakes are traditionally made by people who make decisions in business? Find several case studies about decision making and analyze them.

• Implementing a risk management program.

If we will start answering the question on what the risk is for the organization, management, and quality system, we will get several answers. But in general, risk is a potential danger. Risk management is a tool that helps organizations predict, reduce, or lower possible negative consequences. Describe the types of enterprise risks and risk management steps. Choose one case study of a particular project or organization and create a risk management program based on the current data. You will need to identify the country-specific risk, select a risk management framework, tell about benefits and impacts of the program, and come up with a successful way of integrating strategy and human resources.

• Business and positive effect on society. Corporate social responsibility.

Often, under the term of corporate social responsibility, people mean only charity. But in fact, this term is more extensive. Corporate social responsibility aims at creating a business that considers the interest of society. In this coursework topic example, we propose you to discuss the external format of social responsibility. This includes compliance with protecting the environment and saving resources, charity, protecting cultural heritage, and promoting the initiatives of the authorities in the development of the territories where the company’s offices are located. Critically discuss and present a plan on how organizations can contribute to the betterment of society through elevating the health and well-being of those who live in it. What role can organizations play in positively affecting the physical, psychological, social, and financial health of individuals, groups, communities, countries, regions, or global society?

• Development of business ethics in particular company.

Business ethics is a complex web of generally accepted laws and values. It is about responsibility, honesty, respect, objectivity, and legality. Business ethics is based on respecting not only the company’s interests, but also the interests of partners, customers, colleagues, and employees. Choose a certain company and find several ethics-related problems (ongoing or contemporary) which impacts one or several of the company’s stakeholders. Describe the problems and propose several recommendations on how to solve these problems. It will be beneficial to refer to the best world practices (case studies and stories of success). Consider how these decisions will affect the company efficiency and other stakeholders of the company.

Sociology Coursework Topics

In this section we have chosen various social issues from various parts of the world. Some topics are more general, but can be discussed within a particular country or region.

• The Hikikomori phenomenon as a social issue.

Hikikomori are adolescents and adults that have isolated themselves from the outer world, have no contacts with other people and society (except family members), and don’t work or study. For the past several years, hikikomori among young people have become a social problem in Japan. Some regional administrations are conducting their own research to find out the situation with hikikomori in their region. For your coursework assignment, consider the latest publications on this problem. What are the background issues of hikikomori? What are the signs of hikikomori? Why has this problem appeared? Why do people choose this way of life? How to help people that have become hikikomori? How does the Japanese mentality and behavior influence this social issue?

• Child labor concerns for companies in the fashion industry.

In many modern countries, child labor is considered as a relic of the past. But many countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa still use child labor, and it is especially popular in the fashion industry. Many adolescents work in inappropriate conditions and have no possibility to study. Children usually are forced to work because of extreme poverty. What are the forms of child labor? What are the negative consequences of child labor? How to avoid problems with child labor? At what age should a child be allowed to work? What kind of jobs can be suitable for a child? Why may straightforward actions for eliminating child labor be ineffective?

• Social issues in Chinese cities and villages.

While China demonstrates high economic rates, the situation in the social sector becomes critical. For today, the most urgent social problems are: a decrease in income of the population, extreme social stratification, a high level of poverty, gender imbalance, increased crime, unemployment problems, contradictions in medicine and education, corruption, high rates of migration from villages to cities, and mass protest actions. In this coursework assignment, you can pick one or several social issues and analyze the possibilities of its solution. Consider the peculiarities of Chinese culture and society. As an addition, you can relate to the similar situations in other countries that successfully overcame this issue.

• The impact of ethnicity on socialization.

Ethnicity can be described as belonging to a historically based group of people that have the same mindset, national self-consciousness, and stable cultural features. The representatives of a particular ethnicity are aware of their unity and difference from other entities. The ethnicity of people has biological and socio-cultural peculiarities that influence the socialization of such people. For this coursework you can analyze existing publications on social issues connected with ethnicity and race. You can concentrate on a particular phenomenon and propose ways of overcoming this issue. You can choose issues from a particular region, or in general. Consider world experience and case studies to give a complete picture of the issue.

• Social media as the mirror of society.

Social media is a constantly updated platform that has a massive amount of information about modern social life. Social media is sensitive to all changes in the world and reacts to any change very quickly. The rapidly evolving media space provides unprecedented communication opportunities compared to previous historical stages. Why has social media spread in popularity so quickly? What are the positive and negative impacts of social media on society? What psychological problems do people face? How can manipulation in social media be avoided?

Our topics can also be applied for A-level English language coursework ideas. If you have already read our guide on how to write a coursework, but still cannot understand how to do a coursework assignment, don’t be upset! All you need is a couple of well-written examples that will show you what coursework assignments look like. On our website you can find helpful guides, coursework examples, topic ideas, and much more! If you need history coursework ideas, check our other topic lists which contain historical topics. Choose the topic, conduct the research, and write the coursework paper. We wish you luck!