Liberal Arts 1A: Introduction to Public Humanities: Arts-Based Inquiry for Social Justice LIBARTS1001

  • Academic Session: 2025-26
  • School: School of Modern Languages and Cultures
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 1 (SCQF level 7)
  • Typically Offered: Semester 1
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No
  • Curriculum For Life: No

Short Description

This introductory course explores the role of humanities in public life, examining how literature, history, philosophy, and the arts engage communities and inform social justice issues. Students will combine theoretical exploration with hands-on practice, learning how humanistic approaches address contemporary social challenges and foster collaboration. The course emphasizes multimodal artefacts, incorporating various media, as tools for exploring social justice issues through arts-based inquiry, encouraging reflection, public engagement, and evaluation of activist approaches.

Timetable

Class format: A combination of seminars and workshops.
Duration: 20 classes x 1hr as scheduled on MyCampus - Tuesday 1pm-2pm and Thursday 1pm-2pm

Requirements of Entry

None

Excluded Courses

None

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

Commentary or curatorial note (based on multimodal project) - 1500 words (group work) - 60%

Reflective essay - 1000 words (individual) - 40%

Course Aims

The course aims to:

■ Critically examine how social justice theory illuminates learners' understanding of practice through the lens of public humanities;

■ Analyse the ways in which arts and cultural practices, including multimodal artefacts, mediate social justice issues ;

■ Apply humanistic perspectives to real-world social challenges, fostering collaboration and engagement through project-based arts inquiry

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

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

■ Apply humanities theories to social justice issues;

■ Examine how multimodal creative expressions (such as poetry, films, photography, vlogs, graffiti, handmade crafts) contribute to the discourse around social justice issues (such as racism, classism, and gender discrimination);

■ Create and present collaborative art-based projects that utilise creative expression to encourage critical dialogue, foster student engagement and community involvement within the context of public humanities;

■ Evaluate the impact of their multimodal art project through critical reflection.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.