FASS4904: Accessibility and Inclusion in Creative Industries

• Terms Taught: Lent/Summer
• US Credits: 5
• ECTS Credits: 10
• Pre-requisites: None

FASS5001: Employability, Purpose and Social Impact (Discovery module)

• Terms Taught: Lent/Summer
• US Credits: 5
• ECTS Credits: 10
• Pre-requisites: None

Course Description

This module aims to:

• Increase confidence in engaging with opportunities with social value and in meaningfully contributing to communities, organisations or student-led initiatives with purpose.
• Support personal understanding and reflection on making meaningful contributions to organisations and communities.
• Contribute to students developing graduate attributes, specifically in relation to global citizenship and employability. Students will gain practical experience in an area of interest and learn how to reflect upon and articulate the benefits and value of the experiences they have engaged with.

Educational Aims

Upon successful completion of this module, you will be able to...

1. Demonstrate increased confidence in managing professional development by effectively accessing and utilising resources to engage with a range of opportunities
2. Apply established models of reflective learning to engage in structured self-reflection and evaluate personal learning and development.
3. Reflect on and articulate how engagement with the module and its activities has supported increased awareness of values, preferences, strengths and knowledge, enhancing personal and professional growth and employability.
4. Evaluate individual actions contributing to social impact in roles such as volunteering, fundraising, or raising awareness.
5. Analyse and reflect on the effects of others' actions based on community development and sustainability and demonstrate an informed awareness of policy and responsible practice in these contexts.

Outline Syllabus

The core part of the module will involve students, individually or in a small group engaging in one of the following self-driven activities (15 hrs minimum):

• Identifying, organising and completing a volunteering activity or
• Organising and completing a fundraising activity, or
• Identifying, designing and carrying out an activity that is intended to raise awareness of particular social or cultural issues.
• Undertaking paid work that is values-driven at its core. This could be through an existing part time role or similar.

Students who already engage in regular paid work (with social impact) or volunteering or who have volunteered for sustained periods of time during years 1 and 2 can use the learning gained from this activity for the purpose of this module.

Students will be supported in this activity through five workshops (2-3 hrs each), including input from module leaders on:

• Good work: Understanding your values, preferences and strengths and finding or creating opportunities with social value.
• Reflective learning/action learning (theories, models).
• What impact can I have? Tools and techniques for considering organisations, communities and personal impact.
• Recognising and articulating the value of your experience.
• Group reflection on action: sharing stories of personal impact.

Assessment Proportions

A dedicated Moodle site will include information, advice and guidance on volunteering, fundraising and awareness-raising as well as highlighting potential opportunities available via FHASS, the Careers Service and local and national schemes. Students will also be invited to attend the Volunteering Fair at the start of the year.

The module will be delivered in the following ways:

• Workshops: introducing key concepts of reflective practice, social responsibility, community engagement and the development of employability skills.
• Reflective learning activities to help students link their volunteering experiences to personal and professional development.
• Case studies, peer discussions and frameworks to explore the impact and social value of their activity and giving students the opportunity to discuss social responsibility and community engagement from a range of perspectives (working within a decolonial perspective).
• Assessment guidance and information to assist students in evidencing their learning through reflective assignments and portfolios.

The workshop will include individual and group activities to help students:

• Discuss their ideas and plans
• Organise aspects of their planned work/volunteering/fundraising/awareness raising
• Group/individual activities to engage in reflection on their learning: values, skills and attitudes developed through their volunteering/fundraising/awareness raising activities
• Work on practical outputs to articulate values, skills and experiences
• Opportunities for students to seek advice on assessment (portfolio) and to work on elements of their portfolio.

The assessment for this module is an individual Professional Project Portfolio. This portfolio allows students to document and reflect on the entire experience—from consideration of opportunities to meaningfully contributing—while critically evaluating the challenges and insights gained. The portfolio may include a range of materials (e.g., planning tools, research evidence, reflective writing, stakeholder feedback, value articulation and impact evaluation), enabling students to articulate the relevance and value of their experience in relation to future professional ambitions.

Formative feedback is provided through peer review, workshop tasks, and tutor input. Rubrics are introduced early to promote clarity and reduce barriers to assessment. The module lays the foundation for confident professional communication and helps students begin to locate themselves within wider professional contexts.

FASS5002: Global Challenges and Collaborative Solutions (Discovery module)

• Terms Taught: Lent/Summer
• US Credits: 5
• ECTS Credits: 10
• Pre-requisites: None

Course Description

This module equips students with versatile and transferable skills in applied problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and project management. Working in diverse teams, students will develop their ability to navigate complexity, work across disciplines, and co-create solutions to real-world issues. Through hands-on, exploratory learning, students will engage with complex global challenges—often referred to as "wicked problems"—drawing on multiple knowledge systems and ethical perspectives. The module creates an environment where students critically and creatively address pressing global concerns while preparing for future professional and civic roles.

Educational Aims

Upon successful completion of this module students will be able to…

1. Recognise the complexity and interdisciplinary nature of wicked problems and global challenges.
2. Apply systems thinking and project management methodologies to design potential responses to these challenges.
3. Communicate ideas effectively through appropriate media for a range of audiences.
4. Reflect using common modules of reflective learning on the module experience, evaluating the development of skills relevant to professional environments.

Outline Syllabus

This module introduces students to the concept of Global Challenges – or ‘wicked problems’—complex, interconnected global challenges such as climate change, inequality, and migration that resist straightforward solutions. Through case studies, interactive activities, and real-world engagement, students examine the ethical, epistemological, and political dimensions of these issues, developing systems thinking and interdisciplinary insights.

The module begins with self-reflection and team formation, using frameworks such as Belbin team roles to help students identify their strengths and understand group dynamics. Students are equipped with practical tools for collaboration, including design thinking, systems thinking, strategic planning, and anticipating unintended consequences—skills essential for navigating complexity in both academic and professional contexts.

A core feature is interdisciplinary teamwork, where students co-develop thoughtful, context-sensitive responses to real-world challenges. These projects are informed by interactions with external contributors during a ‘World Café’ event, encouraging the integration of diverse perspectives and sector-based insights.

Assessment Proportions

This module is grounded in experiential, student-centred learning, aligning with the wider Discovery programme’s emphasis on inquiry-led, collaborative, and reflective approaches. Learning activities are designed to immerse students in real-world complexity, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary team engagement, critical thinking, and practical problem-solving.

Teaching is delivered through a blend off facilitated workshops, team-based project work, and engagement with external contributors. Workshops on communication and storytelling support students in presenting their ideas persuasively across a range of formats, fostering clarity, creativity, and audience awareness. Assessment will be an individual portfolio, enabling students to evaluate their learning, and articulate the relevance of their experience to future collaborative and professional environments.

Throughout the module, students are encouraged to reflect on their own learning journey, group dynamics, and evolving understanding of global challenges. Formative feedback is provided through peer review, workshop tasks, and tutor input. Rubrics will be introduced early to promote clarity and reduce barriers to assessment. The module lays the foundation for confident professional communication and helps students begin to position themselves within wider professional and global contexts.

Assessment is through an individual Professional Project Portfolio, which enables students to evaluate their development over the course of the module. Drawing on their experiences, students will critically reflect on their contributions to the project, learning processes, and the wider a relevance of the skills and insights they have gained. This format allows for a high degree of flexibility and encourages students to articulate the relevance of their work to future professional, and global contexts.

The portfolio may include a range of outputs such as:

• Systems maps or stakeholder analysis,
• Team role reflection,
• Communication tools to present their ‘solution’ to the problem (e.g. posters, infographics, podcast or short videos),
• Reflections on a skills mapping exercise articulating how the student has further developed professional skills through the module.

This allows for flexibility within the portfolio while giving students the opportunity to produce evidence of skills aligned with their future career paths. The emphasis on real-world challenges through collaborative solutions encourages our students to frame their learning to build a portfolio they can discuss with employers or include in job or placement applications.

By combining applied learning with reflective assessment, the module supports students in becoming independent, socially responsible, and professionally adaptable learners.

FASS5004: Taking an Idea and Making it Happen (Discovery module)

• Terms Taught: Lent/Summer
• US Credits: 5
• ECTS Credits: 10
• Pre-requisites: None

Course Description

This module aims to empower students to transform a personal or social idea into a defined, deliverable project. It encourages creative ideation, contextual awareness, and practical development of outputs to help turn their idea into a reality. The module fosters innovation, resilience, and engagement, supporting students in realising tangible outcomes that could have lasting impact beyond the academic environment.

Educational Aims

Upon successful completion of this module students will be able to…

1. Generate and develop innovative ideas informed by user needs and contextual research.
2. Apply design tools and planning strategies to define and structure a viable project.
3. Reflect using common models of reflective learning on ethical, social, and personal considerations related to project development and delivery.
4. Effectively communicate and present their project to a target audience using appropriate media and storytelling techniques.

Outline Syllabus

This module guides students through the process of turning an initial idea into a tangible and deliverable output. It begins by asking: Where do ideas come from, and how can they respond meaningfully to real-world contexts? Students are introduced to ideation tools to support creative thinking and concept generation. The early weeks explore how ideas intersect with social, cultural, and environmental needs, encouraging students to reflect on the impact and relevance of their work.

Core themes include user-centred design, community engagement, sustainability, and ethical practice. Students learn to ask: Who are my stakeholders? What are their needs? and How can my project provide value? These questions frame the research and validation phase, where students undertake contextual research and stakeholder mapping to refine their ideas.

The development phase equips students with practical tools to structure their ideas, and the planning and resourcing sessions cover project timelines, budgeting, and productivity tools. The module also explores how to communicate a vision effectively, introducing storytelling and pitching techniques to help students present their work with confidence.

Throughout the module, students consider challenges such as risk, failure, and resilience. Ethical considerations and wellbeing are embedded to encourage responsible and sustainable approaches. The module culminates in a final presentation or showcase, supported by a reflective process. Emphasis is placed on learning by doing and providing a safe space for students to test out their ideas.

Assessment Proportions

This module adopts a practice-based, student-led approach that aligns closely with the Discovery programme’s emphasis on experiential, reflective, and inclusive learning. Teaching is delivered through interactive lectures, activities, and guided independent study, providing a structured yet flexible environment in which students can develop, test, and refine their ideas.

The learning strategy encourages students to take ownership of their projects, with tutors acting as facilitators. Students are encouraged to work iteratively, developing and re-evaluating their ideas through feedback, peer learning, and consideration of real-world application.

To encourage students to develop transferable professional skills, the module emphasises critical reflection, communication & ethical awareness. Key themes such as risk, wellbeing, and engagement are embedded into the teaching to prepare students for professional environments.

The assessment for this module is an individual Professional Project Portfolio. This portfolio allows students to document and reflect on the entire project lifecycle—from initial concept to output—while critically evaluating the challenges and insights gained. The portfolio may include a range of materials (e.g., planning tools, research evidence, reflective writing, stakeholder feedback, and final delivery), enabling students to articulate the relevance of their experience in relation to future creative, or professional ambitions and provide them with concrete outputs that can be utilised in future job searches, and entrepreneurial ventures.

Formative feedback is provided through workshop tasks, and tutor input. Rubrics are introduced early to promote clarity and reduce barriers to assessment. The module lays the foundation for confident project development and helps students begin to locate themselves and their ideas within wider professional contexts.

FASS5904: Sustainable Practice

• Terms Taught: Michaelmas
• US Credits: 5
• ECTS Credits: 10
• Pre-requisites: None

FASS6002: Queer Futures (Discovery module)

• Terms Taught: Michaelmas
• US Credits: 5
• ECTS Credits: 10
• Pre-requisites: None

Course Description

This module aims to…

• Introduce students to a wide range of approaches to non-normative genders, sexualities, bodies and identities from around the world.
• Provide students with a platform for exploring intermedial expressions of queerness across global cultures, including philosophy, spirituality, theory, literature, film, visual art, performance, and other forms.
• Allow students to present their ideas and research in a variety of different forms and to a variety of different audiences.

Educational Aims

Upon successful completion of this module students will be able to…

1. Critically appraise how diverse individual and collaborative learning experiences have shaped your personal development and could be relevant for diverse audiences.
2. Identify and assess understandings of queerness and of non-normative genders, sexualities, bodies and identities from diverse global texts and artefacts.
3. Critically engage with theories, cultural understandings, and methodologies relating to queerness and of non-normative genders, sexualities, bodies and identities.
4. Reflect upon futures and opportunities for challenging and transforming current social structures and realities.
5. Articulate ideas in a number of ways to a range of audiences, working both individually and in collaboration with others.

Outline Syllabus

This module introduces students to wide-ranging, global approaches to understandings of queerness and to non-normative bodies, sexualities, genders, and identities around the world. The module explores and critically engages with contemporary queer theories and cultural texts (including literature, film and television, visual art, performance, and many other genres), exploring how cultures, movements, and communities across the world have challenged bodily ‘norms’, countered violences and inequalities, given expression to their experiences and lives, and imagined alternative futures.

Indicative topics explored on the module might include:

• Global theories of queerness and of non-normative genders, sexualities, bodies and identities
• Cultural and artistic expressions of queerness from around the world, including in literature, film and television, visual art, performance, and many other genres.
• Decolonization and queerness: decolonial approaches to queerness and queer approaches to decolonialization
• Queerness and futurity: how have cultural imagingings of the future, such as Science Fiction, connected queerness with alternative worlds and futures?
• Queerness and wellbeing: LGBTQIA+ health, queer care futures, and the Queer Medical Humanities Network at Lancaster
• Queerness, science and technology
• Queerness, beliefs, and religions around the world
• Queer approaches to ecology environmental crisis
• Histories, presents and futures of queer activism and LGBTQIA+ rights

The module does not present ‘queer futures’ as a conclusion or fixed site of knowledge but as an open space that students will explore and co-create throughout the module. The module thus asks: how do diverse cultures from around the world resist, challenge, or re-imagine hegemonic conceptions of gender, sexuality, embodiment and identity? How do understandings of queerness or of non-normative lives from across the world allow for the imagining of alternative modes of being in the future?

Assessment Proportions

This module invites students to work both individually and in teams. In this way, the module encourages students to develop their own individual research directions whilst also sharing their discoveries with others and fostering collaborative and interdisciplinary skills and working. Students will experiment and work with a variety of literatures, media, and practices.

The module first asks students to develop a ‘pitch’ in which they articulate their own research interests and ambitions. This ‘pitch’ will be the vehicle through which students collect themselves into interdisciplinary groups based on shared aims and ambitions for the group project.

The module will taught via weekly 2-hour workshops. In addition to this, there will be a fortnightly 1-hour online session. This session will be used students to share ideas across seminar groups and will also be used for group formations for the final project.

This module will comprise of a reflective portfolio that includes two modes of interlinked assessments

1. Pitch Package (individual)

• Students will be able to do this assessment in a range of modes (written/podcast/artworks/performance/video essay/animation/vlog/ etc.)
• Each of their contributions and responses will be uploaded to a shared platform and begin to form a “map of queer perspectives”

2. Final Project (interdisciplinary group)

• Students will work in interdisciplinary teams of 4-5 to present a vision of how contemporary understandings of queerness or non-normative sexualities, genders, and bodies might shape alternative future contexts, working in relation to set texts from the module.
• Students present their project work at a final poster showcase. Students in each group will take on different roles within the project team and collaborate on a range of outputs within the shared project.

FASS6003: People Power and Collective Action (Discovery module)

• Terms Taught: Michaelmas
• US Credits: 5
• ECTS Credits: 10
• Pre-requisites: None

Course Description

This module aims to:

• Use case studies and an interdisciplinary lens to critically examine contemporary issues in ways that centre collaboration with(in) communities.
• Support community-driven collaboration and participation, in an era of polarisation, to enable us to address some of the challenges of our time.
• Bridge theory, practice and policy on concepts like power, race, gender, class, affect and justice by exploring examples of political protest, hearing from guest speakers and local community group leaders, and participating in a mock citizens' assembly.
• Use a range of thematic workshops that focus on diverse global contexts, to equip students to work in a variety of sectors including government bodies, voluntary (NGOs and charities), education, arts, culture, heritage, and the legal and private sector.

Educational Aims

Upon successful completion of this module students will be able to:

1. Critically appraise how diverse individual and collaborative learning experiences have shaped your personal development and could be relevant for diverse audiences.
2. Understand the power structures that operate within communities and society.
3. Evaluate both formal and informal sources of influence and authority in global and local contexts.
4. Differentiate across questions of leadership, representation, and accountability.
5. Design ways to centre marginalised voices and address power imbalances.
6. Apply practical skills in community assessment, stakeholder mapping, engagement and coalition building.

Outline Syllabus

Interdisciplinarity, transnationality and diversity are at the core of this module. The connecting thread that links all the case studies, concepts and themes is the exploration of how social movements and community activism facilitate cultural, socio-political and/or legal change. This is done by examining both formal and informal sources of influence and interrogating how marginalised voices are represented and power imbalances are addressed. While conceptual approaches and cultural contexts will reflect the module leads’ area of expertise, the module will endeavour to cover distinct geopolitical regions and theoretical frameworks, engaging with current global challenges. Examples of specific topics, based on conveners’ expertise, include: how community in Lancaster, United Kingdom and in the Global North have been shaped by legacies of colonialism, racism, slavery and empire; feminist backlash against sexual violence and femicide, and reproductive rights’ movements across Europe and Latin America; faith-based community action, interfaith and intercultural dialogue, and intercommunity mobilisation and capacity building; and democratic participation processes, including citizen-led and state-led approaches from across the Global South and North.

In the last few weeks of the module, the students will use the information gained in preceding weeks to deliberate on a timely topic using a mock citizens’ assembly format. The topic will be crowdsourced from the students towards the start of the module providing an opportunity for collective action. Students will also be supported with inputs from a participatory and deliberative democracy practitioner to increase their understanding of the application of citizens’ assemblies and practice the different elements of the assembly.

Assessment Proportions

Teaching and learning will be provided through a combination of weekly two-hour workshops, which will examine specific case studies from a range of global contexts. This workshop format supports understanding key concepts and applying practical skills. This will complement students’ independent study, group collaboration, and online asynchronous activities.

Taking common barriers to learning into account, flexibility is integrated into the assessment, in terms of the format of their individual reflective account, which can be delivered through a written summary or creative output (such as podcast and presentation).

The final reflective portfolio will include up to three components, for example:

• Stakeholder analysis on an issue of students’ choice including recommendations for 2 to 3 collective actions that communities can take in a community brief. Each person creates a brief based on the group discussions.
• Group documentation of the mock citizens’ assembly; groups of 5-8 students for deliberation and plenary sessions.
• Reflection on their engagement with module activities. The reflection will also critique their experience of types of people power and links to collective action via a reflection, written or through a creative output (presentation/podcast).

FASS6004: Confronting the Climate Crisis (Discovery module)

• Terms Taught: Michaelmas
• US Credits: 5
• ECTS Credits: 10
• Pre-requisites: None

Course Description

This module aims to:

• Bring together a range of perspectives - historical, political, literary, philosophical and legal - to explore the nature and severity of the effects of the climate crisis on environments, humans and the more-than-human.
• Foster interdisciplinary dialogue on issues related to the climate crisis.
• Expose students to unfamiliar disciplinary perspectives and approaches as well as invite them to critically reflect on their own disciplinary background with the aim of creating an environment of knowledge co-creation in which students take an active role.
• Integrate different scales of understanding and encourage students to reflect on their own immediate contexts in relation to larger systems of exploitation and environmental transformation.

Educational Aims

Upon successful completion of this module students will be able to…

1. Critically appraise how diverse individual and collaborative learning experiences have shaped your personal development and could be relevant for diverse audiences
2. Engage with a range of disciplinary perspectives, including your own, and bring these perspectives into dialogue with each other to contribute to the creation of knowledge
3. Critically evaluate the role of place and agency in relation to the conditions of environmental deterioration
4. Identify and assess the implications of different understandings of the human and non-human realms and relationships.
5. Demonstrate a critical awareness of the connectedness of social justice and global inequality in relation to climate and environmental transformation
6. Engage with a plurality of diverse voices and sources of knowledge.

Outline Syllabus

This module will explore a range of disciplinary perspectives on the climate crisis, drawing on expertise from across the university. Each week, we will explore different themes, perspectives and case studies through which the causes and challenges of the climate crisis can be understood. Indicative topics that you will explore will include: the human and non-human, eco-philosophy and justice, crisis narratives, decolonial perspectives on the climate crisis and the anthropocene and planetary thinking. We will also critically evaluate the habits, narratives and arguments that have prevented, and continue to prevent, pragmatic changes to stem environmental deterioration and destruction. Why do we, as a species, seem so incapable of change in the face of climate catastrophe? You will encounter a range of methods and perspectives, from international relations, politics, philosophy, literature and history, and engage with different formats: scholarly texts, activist literature, documentary, graphic novels and film. You will also be encouraged to engage with the implications of environmental transformation locally, nationally and globally and reflect on your own agency and capacity to intervene.

Assessment Proportions

This module will be divided in different blocks of two and three weeks in which a single theme will be explored to aid coherences and integration between different approaches.

The primary delivery mode of this module will be workshops. Each year, bespoke, short, lectures will be recorded and made available on moodle to introduce new topics, formats and methods that may be unfamiliar to some students in a multi-disciplinary cohort. The workshops will encourage evidence-based discussion, respectful interaction, peer engagement and reflection.

The module’s learning, teaching and assessment will actively promote opportunities to consider structural inequalities at different scales. The climate crisis offers the chance to encourage students to critically reflect on the implications of individual, group, social, national and global actions, agency and narration.

The summative assessment of the module is a reflective portfolio, which contains two components as well as formative activities feeding into it.

The first formative activity for the module will be submitted in the first workshop. This short, focussed piece of reflective writing will allow students to formulate their own preliminary ideas about climate crisis and to share those ideas with their tutor and peers. This will allow them to land in the workshop as a safe space of discussion and co-creation.

The second formative activity and first component of the reflective portfolio will be a group project that will invite students to develop and scale their reflections as a place-based, practice-based project, drawing on concepts from across the module. The formative group activity will be a workshop presentation of a preliminary iteration and plans for the group project. This will inform part of the reflective portfolio, which may take varied forms (such as exhibition, podcast, videos, policy intervention, ArcGIS StoryMap (free version), StoryMapJS, decolonial fabulation, critical countermap). The composition of groups will be designed to integrate different disciplinary specialisms and students will be encouraged to draw and to reflect upon their disciplinary knowledge and differences. Students will be provided with written guidance suggesting appropriate timeframes for discussing and settling their topics and formats and outlining the expectations that should have of each other as group participants.

The second component of the reflective portfolio will be an individual written assessment. The students will be encouraged to journal during their collaborative group work, reflect on their own learning journey and draw on these notes when finalising their assessment. The reflective piece should include a reflection on the ways in which their own disciplinary background informed their work for the group project.

FASS6903: Festival of the Future

• Terms Taught: Lent/Summer
• US Credits: 5
• ECTS Credits: 10
• Pre-requisites: None

LAGC4000: Languages and Global Cultures Now

• Terms Taught: Lent/Summer
• US Credits: 5
• ECTS Credits: 10
• Pre-requisites: None

LAGC5000: Planetary Histories

• Terms Taught: Michaelmas
• US Credits: 5
• ECTS Credits: 10
• Pre-requisites: None