Modules about health, performance and wellbeing

The module encourages you to reflect upon your sense of self and self-knowledge. This will involve considering concepts of personal identity and equality from a range of perspectives, including psychological, sociological, environmental, political and historical viewpoints.

We'll look at the attributes we have, for example age, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic identity, disability, and how these describe us, but also how these lead to labels and stereotypes. We'll also look at the stereotypical perceptions we hold of others.



What previous students say

"…it has continuously been the highlight of my week. It’s a brilliantly delivered chance to properly express myself."
"This module works well for those who want to take a deeper look into themselves, and who are in touch with their emotions."

What will I do in this module?

The module has three key elements:

  1. The chance to take part in activities, to find out more about who you are.
  2. The chance to engage in discussions in a safe and supportive environment about issues you feel passionately about.
  3. The chance to express yourself creatively and talk about where you feel you fit in the world in a non-judgemental environment.

What skills will I develop?

  • Self-compassion
  • Confidence
  • Self-awareness
  • Critical and reflective thinking

You'll also contemplate different forms of information, and realise and challenge stereotypes. You may even discover skills you never knew you had!

The aim of this module is to prepare students on professional courses to join a professional workplace. This module will equip you with the necessary knowledge and awareness of good practice with clients, while collaborating effectively across professional disciplines to maximise patient outcomes and safety. It will also develop the legal knowledge and professional skills required to practice ethically and responsibly with a range of patient types, both individually and as part of a team.

This module is compulsory for students on the following courses:

  • MOptom Optometry
  • Bsc Dispensing Optician

This module focusses on professional practice in healthcare and draws heavily on examples in this field.  It is recommended for students who are registered with, or will be registered with upon graduation, a relevant professional body such as the GMC, GOC, HCPC etc.’

What will I do in this module?
Throughout this module, you will engage in cross-professional dialogue, learning to navigate and discuss the intricate differences and similarities in legal and ethical frameworks with peers from various professional backgrounds. You will gain a deeper understanding of why client safety is paramount in decision-making, ensuring the well-being of those you serve and yourself. You will develop the skills to communicate proficiently and professionally with colleagues across disciplines, clients, and their families and equip yourself with the knowledge to protect children and vulnerable individuals, understanding the safeguarding processes integral to professional practice.

What skills will I develop?

You will develop self-awareness around professional communication, critical evaluation of interdisciplinary teams, written communication and academic skills, ability to reflect and research skills. 

This module invites you to consider whether the twenty-first century is witnessing the gradual formation and evolution of a worldwide culture of the arts, and to ask how and why we should protect the diversity of that culture.

You will consider the future and sustainability of local, ethnic, national, and supranational artistic cultures. You will consider the culture of peoples displaced from their homeland and examine artistic practices that result from the merging or converging of cultures. You will examine online culture and consider whether it serves to promote or to limit diversity. You will investigate the economics of culture and ask if the arts can sustain themselves or if they need funding at a local, national or global level. Ultimately, students will be invited to consider what it might mean to think of themselves as global citizens and as co-creators and guardians of a diverse and flourishing future worldwide culture.

What will I do in this module?

  • You will learn about artistic practices from all around the world.
  • You will acquire theoretical insights regarding Online Culture, the Economics of Culture, Diaspora, and Hybrid Cultures.
  • You will prepare a group presentation, working with students from different backgrounds, and will prepare an individual essay.

What skills will I develop?

You will develop the skills of critical thinking, analytical thinking, and reflection, as well as consultation, collaboration and the skills needed to deliver a group presentation. You will also develop your facility to understand unfamiliar cultural environments.

In this module, you will explore the role of the body in protest actions and performance-based activism. You will examine both practical and theoretical perspectives on how bodily gestures, movements, and performances have been used to gain visibility and bring about social change. The module will provide a historical and contemporary understanding of protest performances from the 20th and 21st centuries, focusing on how resistance movements have mobilised the body as a tool for activism.

What will I do in this module?

Throughout this module you'll:

  1. investigate key historical and contemporary protest movements that have used the body as a site of resistance
  2. analyse case studies of performance-based activism from different social and political contexts
  3. participate in discussions and critical reflections on how physical interventions shape modes of protest
  4. engage in practical workshops where you will experiment with actions and gestures used in protest.

What skills will I develop?

By the end of the module, you will enhance your:

  • critical thinking – analysing protest movements and performance strategies
  • collaboration and teamwork – working effectively with peers in group tasks
  • leadership skills – taking initiative in discussions and practical exercises
  • creativity – developing original protest concepts through performance
  • wellbeing awareness – understanding the emotional and physical impact of activism
  • lateral intelligence – making connections between historical events, theory, and practice.

This Ruskin Module explores the question of what it means to be happy, through the interdisciplinary lenses of different disciplines including history, philosophy, language, arts, education and positive psychology, which will be taught by experts in their field. Focussing on happiness and wellbeing helps create an environment in which we can be resilient, creative, more focussed on others and more likely to engage in community and social initiatives which have public benefit. It also promotes stronger community and relationship bonds, as well as a positive and constructive approach.

What will I do in this module?

In this module you’ll investigate how the study of happiness might be directly relevant to your own and others lives, and how it can help us rethink what really matters. This may be different for each of us, and at the same time there will be common themes. You’ll not only enhance your academic and professional knowledge of happiness and wellbeing, their causes and outcomes, and how they are viewed through the lens of different disciplines, but also develop your individual social and cultural capital by building relationships and working with students and staff on other courses and disciplines. The module’s broad curriculum encourages critical thinking, rich discussion and creative problem-solving, allowing you to engage with real-world challenges and devise innovative solutions. This holistic approach aims to nurture the whole person, encouraging personal and professional growth, as well as a sense of individual and collective purpose.

What skills will I develop?

This course aims to equip you with the knowledge and skills to make a meaningful contribution to your communities and the world at large. This may be through gaining a deeper knowledge and understanding of happiness and what it means, through the application of this knowledge and understanding, and also through the development of ideas to put into practice after the course has finished.

In a globalised world, an understanding of language with its nuances, complexities and cultural underpinning is vital for successful communication.

This module explores language and all its different forms on both a societal and a personal level examining areas such as language and emotion, language and personal identity, and language and power.

Language is a function that underpins so much of our daily life and interaction with others, but how often do we reflect on it and all its intricacies and possibilities? This module offers you the opportunity to do just that.



What previous students say

"The Ruskin Module for me was absolutely brilliant, because it was so collaborative. It was a brilliant way to learn from students and listening to everyone's opinions was amazing. Being able to work together with other students ... has really broadened my mind and improved my critical thinking."

What will I do in this module?

The module has three key elements:

  1. You'll explore and examine your own relationship and perception of language in ways that you may not have considered before.
  2. In groups, we'll carry out activities and discussions that will investigate our attitudes and sensitivity to our own language and those of others, including minority and dying languages.
  3. We'll also analyse our reactions to aspects of language such as accent, vocabulary and societal groupings.

What skills will I develop?

  • Creativity
  • Critical and reflective thinking
  • Applying knowledge to individual disciplines and circumstances
  • Collaboration and teamwork