Arts, Humanities and the Lifecycle 1 - Issues and Ideas

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 4
• Convenor: Dr Grace Halden
• Assessment: an annotated portfolio and 1000-word accompanying text (50%) and a creative response and 1000-word critical reflection (50%)

In this module we investigate how the arts and humanities engage with the human lifecycle from before the cradle to beyond the grave, illuminating how we come into the world and what happens when we leave it, and allowing insight into various life-stages in between. You will be introduced to a variety of cultural objects from across different cultures, helping you to understand how the lifecycle can be imagined differently across distinct cultural, historical and geographical contexts. You will also be given the tools to analyse different kinds of texts and objects and the critical frameworks in which to explore how they might impact our understanding of the real social worlds we inhabit and the challenges we face in them.

Indicative syllabus

• Reproduction
• Childhood
• Adolescence
• Adulthood
• Mothering
• Fathering
• Ageing
• Death
• Transplantation

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• understand how cultural objects can engage with and illuminate the human lifecycle
• demonstrate an awareness of the ways in which the human lifecycle can be imagined differently across historical, geographical and cultural contexts
• analyse different kinds of cultural object using appropriate critical and analytic tools
• show knowledge of critical frameworks in which to understand the relationship between cultural objects and the contexts in which they are produced and read.