View Specification DocumentGrief Literacy: Interdisciplinary Perspectives DUMF5175
- Academic Session: 2026-27
- School: School of Social and Environmental Sustainability
- Credits: 10
- Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
- Typically Offered: Repeated in Semesters 1 and 2
- Available to Visiting Students: No
- Taught Wholly by Distance Learning: Yes
- Collaborative Online International Learning: No
- Curriculum For Life: No
Short Description
This course offers an interdisciplinary exploration of grief and bereavement, integrating psychological, cultural, and sociological perspectives to deepen understanding of how individuals and societies respond to loss. This micro-credential will provide learners with the tools to critically engage with theories of grief while reflecting on their own personal and professional experiences. As global awareness of bereavement-related needs grows, especially in healthcare and community settings, this course equips learners to navigate the complex realities of grief with insight, empathy, and applied knowledge.
Timetable
■ 10 weeks, fully online and can be accessed asynchronously by students. This timeline is similar to other micro credentials offered by the University of Glasgow.
■ There will be 4 live seminar hours (1 hour each) each semester.
Requirements of Entry
An undergraduate degree or equivalent professional and/or industry experience
Excluded Courses
None
Co-requisites
None
Assessment
A reflective journal of 2000 words due at the end of Week 10 (100%). The students will be offered two opportunities to submit their journals at Week 4 and Week 8 for formative feedback.
Students will use course materials to critically reflect on all of the following interdisciplinary issues in light of their professional and or personal experience, including: 1) the key disciplinary and historical differences in theories and models of grief [ILO1], 2) how these theories and models may be applied in specific examples [ILO2], and 3) to consider how these different theories and models shape our understanding and social responses to bereavement, grief, and loss [ILO3] .
Feedback via: Comments section on Moodle platform; live seminars; one-to-one Zoom appointments by arrangement; offer to comment on earlier drafts of assessments.
Course Aims
The aims of this course are to:
■ Introduce learners to the different ways in which grief, bereavement, and mourning can be understood within key psychological, sociological, cultural, philosophical, and spiritual perspectives.
■ Introduce learners to the history and development of key grief models and contemporary practices of bereavement support, including their underlying principles and modes of operation.
■ Integrate learners' reflective and critical analytic capacities to form an interdisciplinary understanding of grief and bereavement.
Intended Learning Outcomes of Course
By the end of this course students will be able to:
■ Explain the key theories, models, and concepts related to loss, grief, and bereavement through an interdisciplinary perspective that includes psychological, sociological, cultural, philosophical, spiritual and medical dimensions.
■ Evaluate different theoretical frameworks and approaches to understanding and addressing grief and bereavement, as well as their applicability in specific contexts, including historically.
■ Construct a reflective appreciation of the multiple dimensions of the subject matter through constructing an interdisciplinary perspective on bereavement, grief, and loss.