Aims

Social inequality affects our culture, our politics, our economies, our bodies and our planet. To understand these intersecting manifestations of inequality, we should not think only as literary critics, economists, sociologists, historians or political theorists. Instead we should consider how these different disciplinary perspectives (and many more) might be brought together to expand our understanding of social justice.

This module allows you to develop this interdisciplinary approach to social justice. You will engage with three linked global challenges - the climate emergency, gender and sex-based inequality, and poverty - from a range of disciplinary perspectives from across the humanities and social sciences. Students from all subject areas can take this module with no prior knowledge or study. Lectures will provide you with an introduction to each week's conceptual framework and in two-hour seminars you will engage with your peers' different disciplinary responses as you develop your own interdisciplinary approach.

Outline Of Syllabus

The module will provide an overview of different approaches to Social Justice, and different theoretical frameworks of Justice before exploring 3 key themes with case studies and texts.

Themes:

Climate Justice
Gender, Sexuality and Justice
Poverty and Criminal Justice

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Each week students will be introduced to a different disciplinary perspective on social justice in a lecture. From these lectures and related assigned reading, students are asked to reflect on interdisciplinary understandings of social justice topics. The module foregrounds collaborative learning through peer dialogue so weekly two-hour seminars will provide a space to build upon independent learning and lecture content through structured engagement with their peers' diverse disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Students on this module will develop their own bespoke interdisciplinary perspectives on contemporary global challenges. To facilitate this individual growth, students will complete a series of short reflective activities. Together these will constitute a portfolio that documents their development towards interdisciplinarity. This will both facilitate and assess intended knowledge and skills outcomes that relate to developing both an interdisciplinary critical apparatus through peer dialogue as well as a conceptual understanding of global challenges and social justice.

The final assessment on the module asks students to exercise their newly developed interdisciplinary skills and knowledge in a critical essay. This serves to facilitate a final substantial engagement with academic literature on interdisciplinarity and social justice. It also assesses the extent to which students meet intended learning and skills outcomes that relate to the application of these new interdisciplinary skills and knowledge in the context of contemporary global challenges.