Course Catalogue

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This course introduces students from all disciplines to how film, media and screen cultures shape our understanding of contemporary societal challenges. Using the rapidly evolving screen landscape - including film, television, streaming, gaming and digital platforms - as a lens, students explore issues such as climate crisis, inequality, digital power, labour precarity and cultural representation.

Through global case studies, guest talks and practical workshops, students examine how screen media operates across different contexts, with examples from the UK, Rwanda, India and China. Working collaboratively, they develop critical, creative and analytical skills while designing a screen-based project that responds to a real-world challenge.

No prior knowledge of film or media is required. The course fosters interdisciplinary dialogue and highlights how screen media intersects with law, politics, technology and community life, encouraging students to imagine media futures aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

1 x 2hr seminar per week over 10 weeks.  

Level 7 +

None

None

Collaborative pitch (1,500 words) - 60% (group mark)

Reflective essay (1,000 words) - 40% (individual mark)

This course aims to:

■ Enable students to explore major contemporary societal challenges - such as inequality, sustainability, digital transformation and labour precarity - through the lens of film, media and screen culture.

■ Develop students' critical and analytical skills to examine how screen practices, policies and industries shape public understanding, cultural narratives and social change.

■ Introduce students to diverse experiences of creative work and cultural production, highlighting how screen media operates as both a cultural system and a site of social negotiation.

■ Encourage students to reflect on the ethical, political and structural dimensions of media-making, including issues of power, representation and working conditions.

■ Support students to consider their own roles as creative thinkers, collaborators and citizens, and how screen media can be used responsibly to address real-world challenges.

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

■ Demonstrate critical understanding of how film, media and global screen cultures shape public understanding of culture, identity and key societal challenges through creative production and circulation.

■ Analyse and evaluate contemporary societal challenges and opportunities as they play out across the screen ecosystem, including sustainability, digital transformation, diversity, entrepreneurship and labour precarity.

■ Apply interdisciplinary perspectives from the arts, humanities, social sciences and business to examine how screen practices intersect with wider societal systems such as equity, law, technology and environmental change.

■ Collaborate effectively in diverse, cross-disciplinary teams to design, plan and communicate a feasible screen-based initiative that responds to a clearly defined real-world challenge.

■ Exercise creativity, leadership and problem-solving to generate and articulate innovative ideas for more inclusive, ethical and sustainable screen futures.

■ Reflect critically on personal learning and skills development, identifying how communication, research, leadership and cross-cultural collaboration contribute to employability, social responsibility and future professional pathways.