MyGlasgow Students

What is Health & Communities?

The Health and Communities theme invites students to explore how wellbeing, resilience, and global challenges shape the lives of individuals and societies. These courses empower students to understand health not just as an individual concern, but as a shared, community‑driven responsibility.

Below, you can find a sample list of C4L courses within the Health & Communities theme. Please note that they are subject to change. The finalised list of courses and details (including course descriptions, assessment and timetabling information) will be available ahead of enrolment opening in August 2026. Keep an eye on this page for more information!

Global Health Disruptors

Using the framework of Health in all Policies, this course aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills to be able to connect with the field of global health. Students will explore complex global issues through a multidisciplinary lens.

Life Lab: The Art and Science of Thriving

Life Lab is an evidence-based course grounded in research from Psychology and Neuroscience. It is designed to equip students with durable skills and the mindset and capabilities to navigate uncertainty and change. The course disrupts passive learning through active experimentation and utilizes the Life Design approach (experimentation, reframing, prototyping). Students develop self-awareness via a reflection portfolio and apply learning by designing a student success intervention that addresses sustainability and well-being within the university community.

Making sense of problem substance use in Scotland

'Making sense of problem substance use in Scotland' at a glance:

This course is available in Semester 2, 2026. Course code: MED1020. Credits: 10.

Teaching begins in the week commencing Monday the 16th of February and ends the week commencing Monday the 23rd of March. This course can be taken alongside 'Does Scotland need human rights? Mobilising for change with civil society', another 10 credit C4L course running in Semester 2.

What will I learn from this course?

Substance use is a complex, ‘wicked’ problem that disproportionately affects Scotland, reflected in the high rates of alcohol and/or drug related deaths, and wider ranging impacts on health and wellbeing. However, alcohol and/or drug use is an integral part of Scottish culture, and responses to tackling associated harms must balance a person’s right to enjoy life, with their right to health and wellbeing. Responses to reducing the harms resulting from problem substance use (PSU) span across disciplinary boundaries – including health, law, education, economics, engineering, and beyond.  

In this course, you will explore the different ways that substance use can be understood and how PSU affects individuals, families, communities, and societies. You will be supported to reflect on your relationship to substance use, and the connection it may have with your disciplinary ‘home’ (e.g. geography, history, engineering). Through collaborative working, you will develop skills in communicating complex issues with compassion.

How will I be assessed on this course?

The course ILOs are assessed in the following ways: 

 

Group Presentation 

Info Sheet 

Reflection 

ILO1: Demonstrate how problem substance use is understood from different perspectives. 

X 

X 

 

ILO2: Explain, to a variety of different audiences, key issues associated with problem substance use. 

X 

X 

 

ILO3: Reflect on their relationship to substance use on a personal and professional level. 

 

 

X 

Specific details on assessment: 

Sequence 

Assessment Type 

Group/ Individual 

Weighting 

Formative 

Discussion about plans for the vlog or podcast. Occurs in Week 3.

Feedback type 

  • Oral: each group will get 1:1 time with one of the course leads / facilitators to refine their plan 
  • Written: general pointers relating to the entire cohort will be shared on Moodle 

Group 

N/A 

Summative 

Podcast / Vlog – Submitted at end of course. Students will work in groups of 4-5. Presentation should be collaboratively curated, but not all members need to have a speaking part. No longer than 10 minutes (pro-rata for smaller groups, approx. 2 mins per person). [ILO 1, ILO2] 

The podcast or vlog must be accompanied by a one-page document containing the following information: 

  • Agreed rules established. 
  • Contribution statement (template will be provided, but will mirror expectations in publishing such as CRediT). 

 Feedback will be provided on Moodle and will focus on ‘feeding forward’ – highlighting skills and avenues for growth as students progress in their disciplines.  

Group – can accommodate individual for accessibility reasons 

20% 

Summative 
  • Portfolio. Submitted at end of course.
  • Information Sheet –  this assessment asks students to present a distilled, accessible version of a substance use issue in Scotland. The sheet must be evidence based and written for a general audience. It could be awareness raising (i.e., about rise in HIV through needle sharing), or could be intervention focused (i.e., about Naloxone). It cannot be on the same area as the group presentation. 1000w maximum. [ILO 1, ILO2] 
  • Personal reflection – the second part of the portfolio asks students to think about what their ‘home’ discipline could contribute to understanding substance use and working towards reducing harm to any group. For example, engineers may wish to think about physical infrastructure; psychologists may think about the support that could be provided to families; arts students may wish to think about how art forms could raise awareness of issues. This will be shaped by their work throughout the course, and the assessment process. 500w maximum. [ILO 3] 

Individual 

80% 

  1. 40% 
  1. 40% 

What unique learning experiences will I have on this course?

Currently, there are no courses at an undergraduate level focusing on substance use – therefore you will be engaging with an under-explored area within the University of Glasgow curriculum. The teaching team on this course have experience in teaching and researching on substance use and mental health and will be joined throughout the course by guest experts to help enhance your learning. Given the close links to  (situated within the , and a link to the local community) and the Substance Use in HE project, there will be additional opportunities to get involved with emerging work in the university around substance use and how to actively promote safety and wellbeing. We hope where appropriate, student outputs can be displayed in the Clarice Pears Building – open to the wider UofG staff, UofG student community, and the public. There may be the opportunity for students who are passionate about this issue to put their learning into practice and join our intern team. 

In addition, students will have the option of undertaking training on overdose prevention, intervention, and Naloxone – a medication that can temporarily reverse the side-effects of an opiate overdose to provide time to seek professional, medical help.

Who is the course leader?

Dr Sharon Greenwood & Prof Julie Lanlan-Martin are leading this course.

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