This module gives you an up-to-date understanding of what AI is and the role it is likely to play in our lives in the future. We'll explore the following questions:
You are invited to creatively explore the possible consequences of AI in the near-, medium-, and long-term future, and to think about how we can ensure that it has a beneficial role to play in our lives.
The module has three key elements:
You will learn how to examine one topic from a variety of angles, thinking about how issues from one area (e.g., computer science) can alter and effect issues from other areas (e.g., politics or art).
Stories are essential companions. We use them to make sense of our lives and the world. We meet them everywhere: in film and television, books and magazines, social media feeds, news, podcasts, and the stories we tell each other.
Stories shape how we engage with the world. Their influence is powerful and not always positive. They can inspire us to live well in a global society, and they can also divide us and create mistrust.
In this interdisciplinary Ruskin Module, you examine whether and how stories can change the world, for better or worse. You engage with impactful storytelling across formats, academic disciplines, and case studies. You take up narrative scholar Ken Plummer’s challenge to tell “better stories for a better world for all.”
On this module we will:
You will practise and develop:
Numbers and data are everywhere, but how often do we stop to think about how they are used, or misused, to tell stories? This module explores the power and pitfalls of data-driven storytelling through four key themes: Context, Data, Narrative and Design. Through these themes we'll investigate areas such as language, colour, numbers, emotion and bias and how they influence data-driven storytelling.
The module has three key elements:
During this module you will develop a range of skills of use in your course and future careers. These include critical thinking, reflective writing, principles of design, assessment literacy, data literacy, graphicacy, team working, story-boarding and creating presentations for a variety of different audiences.
Animals are generally considered to be beings, that are sentient meaning that they have feelings, but they also contribute to the world's economy. How can we balance these two ideas? Why do we recognise animals as sentient beings? How do the relationships we develop with animals impact their treatment? How do animals contribute to the economy? How do we recognise the rights of animals and the rights of animal owners and what actions can we take to support this? How has human intervention impacted on ecosystems? How can individuals influence change with respect to how animals are viewed and used? These questions will all be explored in this module.
The module has three key elements:
In this module you'll develop digital fluency and critical evaluation skills, you will learn about creating logical and well-reasoned arguments that will be of use in all your academic work, you will have opportunity to transform how you see the world especially the balance ethical and economic perspectives when considering how we use animals. These skills will not only be of value in the rest of your studies but are also invaluable for employment. You'll consider the impact of other disciplines as well as your own to prepare you for the workplace.
We all eat, but how much do we really know about our food, where it comes from, and what shapes our choices? Food connects to power, inequality, and the environment. In this module, you’ll explore these connections and ask a big question: how can we balance food waste with food insecurity around the world?
You’ll draw on ideas from philosophy, sociology, law, politics, history, psychology, health, and social sciences. This isn’t just about theory; this is about reflecting on your own habits and perspectives, and learning from others. Together, we’ll tackle a challenge that matters globally and locally.
This is a distance-learning module. Each week you’ll:
Weekly tutorials (one hour) give you space to talk through your thinking with others.
You’ll look at themes such as:
Expect case studies, debates, and talks from local and national food projects. You’ll also upload examples like food packaging and nutritional information and share your thoughts and experiences.
We know food can be a sensitive topic, so if you’re living with a food-related disorder, ARU’s Wellbeing Hub is here to support you.
In a world so full of pressures and distractions, it can be difficult to feel a strong connection to the natural environment around us.
This module gives you the opportunity to develop your creative writing and journalling techniques as a way of actively exploring and documenting your relationship to nature, and to consider how such engagement can make a difference to our own psychological health, as well as to the future of the planet.
The body of work you create will expressively communicate your values, ideas and personal perspective while developing key interdisciplinary skills, as well as broadening your awareness of edgelands and other less well-known aspects of the environment.
The module has three key elements:
This problem solving Ruskin Module gives you the guidance and support to respond to today’s environmental challenges.
You'll explore how science, law, government policy, and economic decision-making shape environmental protection at national, European, and international levels. Together, we will look at issues such as biodiversity loss, water security, climate change, and food production, and the real challenges these problems create.
Throughout the module, you will work on a live brief. You will plan and design environmental solutions for stakeholders, working alongside students from different courses and learning from academic and professional perspectives. You'll examine environmental law, compare different ways of understanding environmental problems, and practise balancing evidence, values, and conflicting interests.
By working collaboratively, you will build your employability, deepen your understanding of sustainability, and gain experience of how environmental choices are shaped by many perspectives. Sustainability here is understood broadly, including resilience, cooperation, and improving outcomes for both people and the natural environment.
The module has two key elements:
Through this module you will develop:
You'll also build a strong understanding of environmental issues that matter to professionals, helping you feel more confident when moving into employment or further study. The skills you develop are transferable and valued across a wide range of careers.
Technology does not evolve on its own; it exists in a constant feedback loop with human behaviour, cultural values, and social structures. We might view this as a predictable cycle where technology reshapes our habits, and we modify tools to fit our new reality.
But viewing this process as inevitable is a form of limited, siloed thinking that reduces us to accepting our assumed future.
This module challenges that reductionist approach by using the practice of Speculative Design and Design Fiction to show you have power to interrupt this loop. You will create story-worlds and fictional artifacts that visualise a new future and investigate the ultimate wicked question: Is technology changing us, or are we changing technology?
You'll use Science and Technology Studies (STS) to build a Network Map of your chosen innovation, showing the social groups that shaped it. Next, you will apply a Design perspective to project the implications of this technology into the future by creating a “Design Fiction” (short story and fictional artefacts set in a story-world).
You'll learn about Interdisciplinary Synthesis by integrating STS and Design approaches to show novel perspectives that a single, siloed approach would miss. By using speculation, you will learn to map trajectories from the present to build plausible future scenarios. Finally, you'll use critical metacognition to reflect on your own assumptions and bias and uncover how you can improve.
We have lived through the global COVID-19 pandemic and seen its impact on health, society and the economy. This module asks: What can we learn from these experiences to create a more sustainable and united global community?
Pandemics show us that solving complex global challenges requires collaboration and an interdisciplinary approach. We will explore how communities connect and share resources to design meaningful interventions that improve health and wellbeing. Together, we will consider the causes of outbreaks, the inequalities highlighted by the pandemic and the role each of us plays in shaping a fairer future.
You will:
By the end of the module, you will strengthen your ability to:
This Ruskin Module invites you to take a fresh look at sustainability and how your understanding of it has developed over time.
You'll explore how sustainability is shaped by education, lived experience, and different disciplines. Through discussion and reflection, you will examine social, economic, environmental, political, scientific, and psychological perspectives, and how these influence the choices people and organisations make.
You'll also question how global frameworks, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, are used to shape ideas of progress and fairness. Throughout the module, you will connect these debates to your own values, experiences, and future plans.
Teaching takes place online, with weekly sessions on Wednesday evenings from 6-7pm (UK time).
You'll take part in three main strands of activity:
Sessions are discussion based and interactive. You will be invited to listen, contribute, and build ideas with others, with clear guidance on what is expected and how activities link to assessment.
Through this module, you'll develop:
These skills are transferable and valued across a wide range of academic, professional, and civic settings.
The future often feels uncertain and overwhelming, but what if we could use imagination to think differently? This module invites you to explore possibilities for the future through creative and collaborative approaches. We will cover topics such as climate change, technology and the role of creativity and the arts in shaping society. Through gaining insight from students from other disciplines, and sharing knowledge of your own, and through involving friends and family outside the module, you will create a realistic yet aspirational vision of the future that draws on diverse ideas and perspectives.
You'll:
The module focuses on two core skills:
You'll also develop critical reflection and research skills through a small-scale project involving friends and family.
Risk shapes everything: how medicines are developed, how cities grow, how technologies launch, and how art pushes boundaries. But what counts as a “risk” depends on who you ask.
This module does not give you a neat definition. Instead, it invites you to explore risk as an open question: What is risk, how do different fields make sense of it, and what is the risk of not taking a risk?
You'll look at how scientists, designers, nurses, engineers, policymakers, entrepreneurs and artists each think about risk and uncertainty. You will choose a wicked problem that matters to you (the UN Sustainable Development Goals are a great starting point) and use it as your testbed for thinking.
Across the trimester, you will build your own Risk Exploration Template, a personalised way of evaluating risk informed by academic ideas, case studies, guest speakers and your own reflections. By the end, you will be able to say not just what you think about risk, but how your attitude has shifted and why.
By the end of the module, you will have developed:
These skills are valuable whether you’re heading towards healthcare, business, design, policy, science, creative industries – or are still figuring it out.
To what extent are we comfortable with artificial intelligence being involved in the things that we create and consume? Are some uses more acceptable than others, and if so, why? Do these responses reflect concerns about quality and convenience, or do they point to deeper expectations about the role of human creativity, judgement, responsibility, and presence?
These questions become particularly important when we consider emotional meaning and human involvement. Can AI-generated music, images, or writing affect us in the same way as work created by people? Does the level of human input, guidance, or oversight matter to how we value a piece, and would our response change if we discovered that AI played a significant role in its creation? Does legitimacy come solely from the outcome, or is it shaped by how decisions are made and who is included in the process?
The module draws on perspectives from the creative arts, psychology, law, business, media, technology, and related fields to explore how AI is being integrated into different domains and how expectations of appropriate human involvement vary across them. Students from across the university bring their own disciplinary, professional, and personal viewpoints into these discussions, enriching collective understanding and highlighting how different forms of knowledge shape where we draw boundaries around AI use.
The module also considers emerging industry expectations around AI literacy, skills, and judgement, alongside our personal values and comfort levels as creators, professionals, and audiences. We reflect not only on how we choose to use AI in our own work, but also on how we respond to AI-generated material produced by others.
Throughout the module, we return to a set of core questions:
We will investigate AI in action, with student perspectives at the heart of the discussion. Each week, we look closely at examples from creative photography, art, music, literature, and social media, and unpack how AI is being used or could be employed, how it changes the work, and how we respond to it as creators and consumers.This includes listening to AI assisted or AI generated music, and examining photography, literature, visual, and written work produced or supported by AI tools. You'll analyse these examples and reflect on how they make you feel, what you value, and where you personally draw boundaries around authorship and authenticity. These personal judgements are then discussed and compared with wider cultural and professional expectations.
We will also experiment, where possible, with freely available tools to support discussion and shared exploration, with an emphasis on reflection, critique, and collective discovery. Alongside this, we consider the ecological implications involved with AI. These activities are designed to support both assessments by giving you practical experience of engaging with AI supported creative work and developing informed, reflective responses to it.
You'll learn to analyse AI generated material with a critical and informed eye, not simply asking whether something is AI made, but what that means in practice for originality, intent, and audience expectations. This includes considering copyright and intellectual property issues, and how these shape how AI supported work is understood and valued.
You'll build confidence in discussing emerging technologies across different sectors, and in making connections between creative, technical, and ethical considerations. A key part of the module is developing reflective skills: examining your own reactions to AI, exploring the assumptions that shape them, and articulating how your perspective relates to wider cultural, academic, and professional debates.
You will learn to form and express a reasoned position on the role of AI in creative, academic, or professional lives, and to engage thoughtfully and respectfully with the views of others.