MyGlasgow Students

'Languages, Utopia and the Construction of Knowledge' at a glance: 

This course is available in Semester 1. Course code: MODLANG1007. Credits: 20.  

What will I learn from this course?  

This course explores the connections between languages, communication and the production of knowledge, with a focus on how constructed languages can achieve UN sustainability goals (especially UNSG 17, 10, 16, 3).

Students learn about languages designed to:

• Build global partnerships, reduce inequalities and promote universal peace (such as Esperanto)
• Explore constructed languages as a therapeutic tool for healthy lives and well-being (Bliss symbols or Toki Pona)
• Act as narrative devices in fantasy fiction (e.g. Tolkien and TV series such as Star Trek or Game of Thrones)
• Question the ill-defined boundaries between constructed languages and revitalised languages (e.g. Cornish or Nynorsk)
• Reflect critically on the ethical implication raised by the recent status of English as a hypercentral language and experiment with applications of AI to constructed languages.

This course aims to: 

• Research how language can achieve UN sustainability goals 17, 10, 16, 3
• Strengthening students’ ability to work in a team environment
• Encourage students to act on peer feedback and to provide constructive feedback to others
• Increase students’ employability by honing their skills indifferent typesof communication (i.e. podcasts, reflective commentary) 

How will I be assessed on this course? 

The first summative assessment will be a 10-12 minute group podcast in which students will work with their peers to explore in what way constructed languages can contribute to a UN sustainability goal. They will not be evaluated on the technical aspects of the podcast. 

In the second summative assessment they will comment on how receiving and offering peer feedback helped them to improve the podcast. 

There will be several formative assessments designed to scaffold students’ learning and enable them to receive feedback throughout the course. 

The course ILOs are:

• ILO 1: Appreciate how language can be used to achieve UN sustainability goals 17, 10, 16, 3 
• ILO 2: Engage in teamwork, negotiate and delegate tasks 
• ILO 3: Research on a specific topic on the nature of communication and translate research findings in a way suited for general audiences 
• ILO 4: Address feedback and provide constructive feedback to others 
• ILO 5: Reflect critically on their learning process and skills acquisition 

What unique learning experiences will I have on this course? 

This is a co-taught course involving weekly 2 hours collaborative classes, workshops and hands-on sessions. 

In the first section, the course convener will introduce the theoretical framework of the course and the way in which constructed languages relate to real-word problems such as peace- making, reducing inequalities (including gender inequality), enabling the development of infrastructures, improving access to science and technology, enabling well-being. 

Following sessions will be led by staff specialising in modern languages, linguistics, philosophy, fantasy fiction, computing science, each exploring the topic from the perspective of their disciplines in relation to the UN sustainability goals. 

Hands-on activities include a programming section and a workshop in which students will experiment with building a fragment of an invented language and its relation to a UNSB.  

Who are the course leaders? 

Dr Elisa Segnini is leading this course.

'Our University: Past, Present, World-Changing Futures' at a glance: 

This course is available in Semester 1. Course code: HIST1031. Credits: 20. 

What will I learn from this course?  

This course aims to provide undergraduate students from a wide range of subject specialisms with the opportunity to: 

• Engage with the university’s past to consider its place today and in the future across themes such as the global community, gender, slavery, war, the city, and societal change

• Develop an awareness of the contribution their own and other disciplines have made to the city and wider society 

• Consider how the university’s historical actions should contribute to how it approaches contemporary challenges 

• Explore the university’s development through the centuries through its buildings, graduates and records 

• Develop core skills of historical analysis and public history presentation to create and communicate through biographical and archival object materials the university’s current and past societal engagement. 

• Reflect on their role as students and in the future as graduates both within and beyond the university through that historical engagement. 

How will I be assessed on this course? 

A biographical study of a historical university graduate suitable for a public facing university website with a written reflection on process of development.

An exhibit of a university archival or architectural artefact suitable for a public facing university website developed in groups.

Each class has a one-hour workshop in which students will work in small groups in shorter, more informal versions of the two main assessments. The Course Convenor will feedback to each group and to the class each work on their work.  

The course ILOs are:  

• ILO 1: Critically assess the University and its students past societal engagement to reflect on their current and future purposes. 
• ILO 2: Collect and analyse historical data to develop disruptive narratives of the past. 
• ILO 3: Situate themselves within the University’s history to reflect on and develop their future intentions. 
• ILO 4: Communicate and present heritage materials to non-specialist audiences, cognisant of current Public History practices 

What unique learning experiences will I have on this course? 

This course offers various opportunities to walk around and explore locations:

• A one hour walk around, University 21st Century Buildings 
• A two hour walk around, High Street 
• A two hour walk around Main Gilmorehill Campus 

There are 20 class hours in 10 x two-hour sessions, spit into lecture in the first half and workshop in the second half.

Additionally, there are 4 hours of preparatory reading per class (40 hours total)

Who are the course leaders? 

Stephen Marritt is leading this course.

'Playing The World: Understanding Real-Life Challenges Through Interactive Games (C4L)' at a glance: 

This course is available in Semester 2. Course code: SOCIO1022. Credits: 20.

What will I learn from this course?  

This course is about getting you to engage with a range of real-world challenges by playing, analysing and reflecting on games (mostly modern board games, but we might try some other media as well, if possible) which represent them.

At the end of course you’ll have a rich source of materials you can show future employers to demonstrate your understanding of real-world challenges, and that you understand how complex systems work. Students from all Colleges in the University are welcome.

The course therefore aims to:

• Teach you about real-world problems (especially those in the UN Sustainable Development Goals), and how they can be considered complex systems which can be explored by interacting with them through games.
• To give you the opportunity to experience games which explore real-world systems, and to develop your understanding of all these elements as a result.
• To get you to reflect on your game experiences and understand what you can learn from them about both the challenges in them.

How will I be assessed on this course? 

There will be one assessment, a portfolio, made up of several components that the students can complete in any order, but all of which must be present.

The formative assessment for the course would allow students to submit one of the key elements outlined in the summative (portfolio) for review at around week 6 of the course. This allows students to get some feedback as well as making progress on their portfolio 

The course ILOs are:

• ILO 1: Understand real-world systems through engagement with interactive games which represent them  
• ILO 2: Reflect experiences of those games through the lens of game design theory 
• ILO 3: Interpret the representations of games and communicate how they improve (or not) our understandings of real-world systems 

What unique learning experiences will I have on this course? 

You will learn how we can explore real-world challenges such as health and wellbeing, climate action and building industry, and infrastructure as complex systems, and how games about these areas give interactive experiences which allow you to both explore and analyse them. You’ll construct a portfolio which will give you the chance to develop your skills by bringing together your understanding of real-world challenges with your reflections of the games you play in class

Contact time:

• Introductory lecture and final workshop (2 hours each) 
• 4 x 3 hours game workshops (12 hours) 

Preparatory Work:

• Course readings and other game-based materials (30 hours) 
• Viewing of 'let's play' videos for each game (8 hours) 
• Writing of portfolio work before each game workshop (1-2 hours each; 8 hours overall) 
• Writing of portfolio material after workshops (10 hours each; 40 hours overall) 
• Compilation, redrafting of portfolio for submission (100 hours) 

Who are the course leaders?

Ian Greener is leading this course.

'Screen Futures: Media-Making for a Changing World’ at a glance: 

This course is available in Semesters 1 & 2. Course Code: FTV1012. Credits: 20.

What will I learn from this course?  

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 understanding of how screen media shapes public narratives, cultural identities and social change across different global contexts. 
• Provide students with analytical and creative tools to examine how media practices, policies and industries intersect with wider social, political and economic systems. 
• Foster collaborative, interdisciplinary learning that encourages students to design screen-based responses to real-world challenges. 
• Encourage students to reflect on ethical, cultural and structural dimensions of media-making, including questions of power, representation and responsibility. 
• Support students in recognising their own roles as creative thinkers, collaborators and citizens and in applying their skills to future academic, professional and civic contexts. 

How will I be assessed on this course? 

For the Group Assessment, students work in small, interdisciplinary teams to design and deliver a screen-based project pitch responding to a specific societal challenge aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (e.g. climate action, cultural inclusion, digital equity, labour precarity). The assessment mirrors professional creative practice while foregrounding film as a method of engagement, not simply industry training. Formative feedback is provided during Weeks 7–9 through structured workshops. 

For the Individual Assessment, students complete an individual reflective portfolio (1,000 words) evaluating their learning, collaboration and skills development.

The Reflection explicitly links project work to societal engagement, employability and future pathways. 

Formative assessments are embedded throughout and include: 

1. Mid-course Skills Reflection (Week 5): A short written or audio reflectionidentifyingemerging skills and areas for development. 
2. Project Development Workshops (Weeks 7–9): Teams present project ideas for peer,tutorand practitioner feedback. 

These activities feed directly into summative assessments and support iterative learning. 

The course ILOs are:

• ILO 1: 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. 
• ILO 2: 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. 
• ILO 3: 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.
• ILO 4: 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. 
• ILO 5: Exercise creativity, leadership and problem-solving to generate and articulate innovative ideas for more inclusive, ethical and sustainable screen futures. 
• ILO 6: 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. 

What unique learning experiences will I have on this course? 

Students will explore how film, media and screen cultures shape public debate and social change. 

They will examine challenges such as sustainability, inequality, digital power and creative labour, learning how screen media can be used as a tool for ethical and inclusive intervention. 

Learning is participatory and interdisciplinary, combining global case studies with creative workshops. Students develop confidence in collaboration, leadership and communication while reflecting on how their skills translate to employability and citizenship 

Who are the course leaders? 

Justine Atkinson is leading this course. 

'Intercultural Literacies' at a glance:

This course is available in Semester 2, 2026. Course code: LIBARTS1002. Credits: 20

What will I learn from this course?  

 In this course, you will learn about how people navigate and deal with intercultural situations, in other words, situations where there are people present from multiple different cultures. We will discuss this in relation to situations that are quite typical, such as being an exchange or international student, being a tourist, or being an international migrant.

While these all suggest culture at a national level, we will discuss what culture might mean on a more general level, asking how it might relate to concepts like class, ethnicity, religion and gender.

Taking this wider understanding of culture, we will explore how we can communicate better with diverse audiences. 

How will I be assessed on this course?

 What unique learning experiences will I have on this course?

This course is the only undergraduate course at Glasgow to focus on how developing intercultural skills across the curriculum. These are important skills in many disciplines, as culture affects how people act in many situations and being aware of cultural specificity and difference will allow you to understand better how people are engaging with communicative acts in everyday life settings, from websites to medical consultations and beyond. 

The use of fictional examples will differ from standard practices in literature and film studies as the class discussion will focus on how they approach or represent intercultural situations and use them as a source of reflection linked to your own and your peers’ experiences.  

Our focus on the interview and reflecting on the interview as one method of assessment means that you will learn this useful skill which can be applied in many disciplines, but is not always taught as a research methodology. 

Who is the course leader?

Dr Maddie Chalmers is leading this course.