Postgraduate Course: Aftershock: Trauma and Recovery in an Unequal Society (fusion online) (EFIE11358)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh Futures Institute |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This multi-disciplinary course takes its lead from trauma specialist clinical psychologist Mathias Schwannauer, and documentary director Amy Hardie, and examines the psychological background to how the characters in the documentary were able to build personal coping structures through therapeutic techniques.
It fits EFI's commitment to pursue knowledge and understanding that supports the navigation of complex futures by combining multi-disciplinarity across film and psychology, providing students with new tools for collaborative and individual reflection. Sharing cutting edge research in trauma recovery, and exclusive clips from Hardie's new documentary following the young couple as they explore different therapeutic modalities, this course allows intimate access to our evolving understanding of the role of trauma on the brain and body, and the paths to resilience. |
| Course description |
The course will provide a theoretical framework based on empirical evidence showing how the experience of trauma on both an individual and societal level contributes to the emergence and maintenance of mental health difficulties. The course will give theoretical and clinical insights into how individuals experience traumatic and disrupting life events and how they can start to repair these ruptures. Two thirds of people who have mental ill health have a trauma background. We will further reflect on how wider structural and contextual vulnerabilities in our local and global societies contribute to this.
Using this conceptual framework we will examine the lived experience of the two individuals captured in the documentary Love & Trouble. Two twenty year olds get married with high expectations and hidden pasts. As those pasts catch up with them, their mental health falls apart. Only when the young wife decides to overturn her reference points and wider societal expectations, is she able to make the conceptual shift 'that suffering is not a given', and learn that how you think about what has happened to you can open the way to new understanding, new behaviour, new mental habits.
Trauma work can be seen as about layers of narratives - levels of re-enactment and unincorporated narratives, and the self-told story of the trauma can change by the end of treatment. This changed story then becomes something that can be shared, going from an uncontrollable visceral experience to a narrative that can be described.
We invite students in this course to analyse and interrogate the role of the 'engaged observer' through the shared documentary screenings. There is space in this course to reflect how a narrative of resilience can contribute to our broader understanding of trauma and how it shapes society.
Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) - Online Fusion Course Delivery Information:
The Edinburgh Futures Institute will teach this course in a way that enables online and on-campus students to study together. This approach (our 'fusion' teaching model) offers students flexible and inclusive ways to study, and the ability to choose whether to be on-campus or online at the level of the individual course. It also opens up ways for diverse groups of students to study together regardless of geographical location. To enable this, the course will use technologies to record and live-stream student and staff participation during their teaching and learning activities. Students should note that their interactions may be recorded and live-streamed. There will, however, be options to control whether or not your video and audio are enabled.
As part of your course, you will need access to a personal computing device. Unless otherwise stated activities will be web browser based and as a minimum we recommend a device with a physical keyboard and screen that can access the internet.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 10 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 3,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 12,
Online Activities 12,
Formative Assessment Hours 1,
Other Study Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
68 )
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| Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) |
Other Study: External Speakers - 2
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Summative Assessment:
The course will be assessed by means of the following assessment components:
1) Multimedia Board / Artefact [OR] Blog Post (100%)
Students will be given a choice to create either a multimedia board / artefact, such as a storyboard, or hand drawn graphics or slide show, or a blog post (word count 2000 words) to create a case study showing how they integrate trauma narratives to an understanding of societal resilience within a social context of their choice, such as art, education, policy, etc. |
| Feedback |
Formative Assessment:
Students will be invited to make use of the asynchronous online discussion board which will be open for the duration of the course and monitored by academic staff, providing group and staff feedback on their intended submission. They will be invited to produce part of either their multi-media project or their blog post.
Formative feedback is prepared during the pre-intensive week two with peer group feedback on this production, followed after a short time by feedback by the academic staff, and further group feedback during peer review and discussion.
Summative Assessment:
Students will receive detailed written feedback on the summative assessments in week five after their submission of their artefact: multimedia or blog post. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critically appraise models of trauma in terms of societal and personal impact and consequences, and relevance to and utility in applied settings.
- Critically examine existing definitions and models of resilience and coping.
- Critically consider how individual adaptation to traumatic histories and events can facilitate a more constructive societal understanding of our psychological and cultural vulnerability and strength.
- Ability to apply their knowledge and understanding in a case study outlining an applied model of resilience within a social context of their choice, such as the arts, education, policy, etc.
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Reading List
Filmography:
The feature documentary Love & Trouble will be screened during the Intensive Week.
Two short films by FilmMedicine students will be discussed:
- Jiayi Zhang Last Piano Piece 2022 https://vimeo.com/802894447
- Matt Warlow It'll be Fine, Probably 2023 https://youtu.be/c5zZpwaGTWQ
Essential Reading:
Altmaier, E. M. (2019c) 'Resilience', in Promoting Positive Processes After Trauma. Elsevier, pp. 55-64. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-811975-4.00005-8.
Baba, R. El and Colucci, E. (2018) 'Post-traumatic stress disorders, depression, and anxiety in unaccompanied refugee minors exposed to war-related trauma: a systematic review', International Journal of Culture and Mental Health, 11(2), pp. 194-207. doi: 10.1080/17542863.2017.1355929.
Backhans, M. C. and Hemmingsson, T. (2012) 'Unemployment and mental health-who is (not) affected?', European Journal of Public Health, 22(3), pp. 429-433. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckr059.
Recommended Reading:
Barter, C. and Stanley, N. (2016) 'Inter-personal violence and abuse in adolescent intimate relationships: mental health impact and implications for practice', International Review of Psychiatry, 28(5), pp. 485-503. doi: 10.1080/09540261.2016.1215295.
Bonanno, G. A. (2004) 'Loss, Trauma, and Human Resilience: Have We Underestimated the Human Capacity to Thrive After Extremely Aversive Events?', American Psychologist, 59(1), pp. 20-28. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.59.1.20.
Bryant, R. A. (2019) 'Post-traumatic stress disorder: a state-of-the-art review of evidence and challenges', World Psychiatry, 18(3), pp. 259-269. doi: 10.1002/wps.20656.
Elderton, A., Berry, A. and Chan, C. (2017) 'A Systematic Review of Posttraumatic Growth in Survivors of Interpersonal Violence in Adulthood', Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 18(2), pp. 223-236. doi: 10.1177/1524838015611672.
Further Reading:
Masiero, M. et al. (2020) 'From Individual To Social Trauma: Sources Of Everyday Trauma In Italy, The US And UK During The Covid-19 Pandemic', Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 21(5), pp. 513-519. doi: 10.1080/15299732.2020.1787296
McFARLANE, A. C. (2010) 'The long-term costs of traumatic stress: intertwined physical and psychological consequences', World Psychiatry, 9(1), pp. 3-10. doi: 10.1002/j.2051-5545.2010.tb00254.x.
McLaughlin, K. A. and Lambert, H. K. (2017) 'Child trauma exposure and psychopathology: mechanisms of risk and resilience', Current Opinion in Psychology, 14, pp. 29-34. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2016.10.004.
Pitman, R. K. (2013) 'A Brief Nosological History of PTSD', Journal of Traumatic Stress Disorders & Treatment, 02(01). doi: 10.4172/2324-8947.1000101. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Throughout this course, students will gain the following graduate attributes, personal and professional skills:
Knowledge and Understanding:
- A critical understanding of a range of specialised theories, concepts and principles.
- Extensive, detailed and critical knowledge and understanding in one or more specialisms, much of which is at, or informed by, developments at the forefront.
Applied Knowledge, Skills and Understanding:
- In applying a range of standard and specialised research and/or equivalent instruments and techniques of enquiry.
- In planning and executing a project of research, investigation or development.
- In demonstrating originality and/or creativity, including in practice.
Generic Cognitive Skills:
- Apply critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis to forefront issues, or issues that are informed by forefront developments in the subject/discipline/sector.
- Critically review, consolidate and extend knowledge, skills, practices and thinking in a subject/discipline/sector.
Communication, ICT and Numeracy Skills:
- Communicate, using appropriate methods, to a range of audiences with different levels of knowledge/expertise.
- Communicate with peers, more senior colleagues and specialists.
Autonomy, Accountability and Working with Others:
- Exercise substantial autonomy and initiative in professional and equivalent activities.
- Take responsibility for own work and/or significant responsibility for the work of others.
- Take significant responsibility for a range of resources. |
| Keywords | Trauma,Resilience,Combat Trauma,Child Sexual Abuse,PTSD,Mental Health,EFI,Level 11,PG |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Amy Hardie
Tel: (0131 6)51 5871
Email: a.hardie@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Lawrence East
Tel:
Email: Lawrence.East@ed.ac.uk |
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