Postgraduate Course: House on Fire: On Being Human (fusion on-site) (EFIE11416)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh Futures Institute |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This dynamic course celebrates the Humanities by exploring transformation, collaboration, and the essence of being human. Through five immersive units, students engage in critical thinking-in-practice, creating tangible assets and contributing to an evolving online gallery-repository. Co-curated with students, each cohort builds on the legacy of the previous, addressing emergent challenges and collaborating with the creative industries and policymakers for meaningful impact. |
| Course description |
Celebrating the Humanities, this course explores transformation, collaboration, and the essence of being human. Through five immersive units, students engage in critical thinking-in-practice, creating tangible assets and contributing to an evolving online gallery-repository. Co-curated with students, each cohort builds on the legacy of the previous, addressing emergent challenges. The course encourages collaboration with the creative industries and policymakers, providing real-world insights and opportunities for meaningful impact.
From its first edition - Four Freedoms: Exploring Speech, Worship, Want, and Fear in the Emergent Now - House on Fire (HOF) challenges students to analyse the human condition and tackle contemporary crises head-on. Each subsequent iteration will focus on a different urgent theme, chosen collaboratively with students to ensure relevance. This approach fosters critical thinking and proactive engagement with pressing issues. Students will engage in hands-on activities and collaborative projects, fostering a deep connection with the material and each other, and preparing them to make meaningful contributions to society.
Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) - On-Site 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 be aware that:
- Classrooms used in this course will have additional technology in place: students might not be able to sit in areas away from microphones or outside the field of view of all cameras.
- Unless the lecturer or tutor indicates otherwise you should assume the session is being recorded.
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 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 20 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 3,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 12,
Fieldwork Hours 3,
Online Activities 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
78 )
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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 components:
1) Group Work (50%)
Students will complete both:
a) Open House Activity (e.g. Coordination, Installation, Hosting, Promotion, TED-style Talk, Socials).
b) Post House Lab Group Report (5 slides, 500 words).
These assessments can be completed on-campus, remotely, synchronously, or asynchronously.
2) Individual Work (50%)
Students will complete one of the following:
a) Multimedia Output (500 words, 3 mins).
b) Next HOF - Development Proposal (1000 words).
c) Next Top Ten - Books Proposal (1000 words).
Assessment of Group Work:
Group work will be assessed based on a combination of peer evaluations, instructor evaluations, and the quality of the final deliverables. Clear rubrics will be provided to ensure transparency and fairness in the assessment process.
Schedule:
- Students form teams by the end of Week 1 and commit to coursework options by the end of Week 2.
- Open House Pilot and Post House Lab take place in Week 5.
- Individual submissions are due by the end of Week 6, one week after the completion of the course. |
| Feedback |
The course will employ a comprehensive assessment and feedback strategy designed to support student learning and development throughout the course. This includes both formative and summative elements, ensuring that students receive timely and constructive feedback to guide their progress.
Pre-intensive and Intensive Period:
Pre-intensives and intensive periods will offer real-time feedback from peers and instructors, enabling students to adjust their approaches and continuously improve their work. These interactive sessions provide immediate feedback to help students refine their projects. Additionally, these labs offer opportunities for formative feedback, where students receive verbal and written input on their initial plans.
Open House Pilot and Post House Lab:
Input and participation to the Open House Pilot and Post House Lab form the summative part of the assessment. Students will receive detailed feedback on their contributions (50% Groupwork, 50% Individual submission), including the quality of their presentations, the effectiveness of their communication, and their ability to engage others.
Asynchronous Participation:
Thought has been given to ensure that participation remotely and asynchronously is equal. This includes providing interactive online platforms, discussion forums, and opportunities for asynchronous students to contribute to assessed activities. All sessions will be recorded, allowing asynchronous students to participate and contribute at their own convenience. This flexibility ensures that students in different time zones or with varying schedules can still engage with the course material and meet the learning outcomes.
Customised Feedback:
The assessments provide a number of alternatives to accommodate different learning styles and circumstances. Additionally, more customised assessment options may be developed to meet special requirements, ensuring inclusivity and accessibility for all students. This approach ensures that both synchronous and asynchronous students have a comprehensive and engaging learning experience, with ample opportunities to participate and succeed in the course.
Peer and Instructor Evaluations:
Group work will be assessed based on a combination of peer evaluations, instructor evaluations, and the quality of the final deliverables. Clear rubrics will be provided to ensure transparency and fairness in the assessment process. This multi-faceted approach to feedback ensures that students receive diverse perspectives on their work, helping them to develop a well-rounded understanding of their strengths and areas for improvement.
This feedback strategy is designed to support student learning and development, providing them with the guidance and support they need to succeed in the course. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critical Analysis and Innovative Problem Solving: Critically analyse and interpret narratives, understanding their impact on societal change and human behaviour. Apply these insights creatively to develop innovative solutions to contemporary and future societal challenges.
- Effective Communication and Public Engagement: Enhance communication skills, both written and oral, through dynamic lectures, interactive workshops, and collaborative projects. Design public-facing activities within EFI, effectively engaging with diverse audiences and fostering community involvement.
- Collaborative Leadership and Interdisciplinary Teamwork: Gain experience in working collaboratively with peers and external partners from various fields. Develop leadership skills and the ability to manage and contribute to interdisciplinary teams effectively, preparing for diverse professional environments.
- Global Perspective and Lifelong Learning: Cultivate a global perspective, understanding the importance of narratives in different cultural and societal contexts. Commit to continuous learning and professional development, adapting to changing circumstances and emerging challenges.
- Digital Content Creation and Durable Materials Production: Produce durable materials for online publication, including group work, video essays, and contributions to the course's social media and website. Create high-quality digital content that reaches a broad audience within EFI and has a lasting impact.
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Reading List
Indicative Reading List:
Essential Reading:
The course features a dynamic reading list, including Top Ten, Recommended, and Further Readings. The Top Ten Titles change annually, reflecting the most relevant works from the year preceding the course.
Each cohort selects the Top Ten for the next, ensuring the readings address pressing global issues and ignite new thinking-in-practice. This evolving selection process keeps the content fresh and engaging, while empowering students to decide the course's intellectual trajectory.
Top Ten Titles:
Haidt, Jonathan. 2024. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness. New York: Penguin Press.
Harari, Yuval Noah. 2024. Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI. New York: Random House.
Khan, Salman. 2024. Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education (and Why That's a Good Thing). New York: Penguin Random House.
McWilliams, David. 2024. Money: A Story of Humanity. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Ritchie, Hannah. 2024. Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
Rus, Daniela, and Gregory Mone. 2024. The Heart and the Chip: Our Bright Future with Robots. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Schaake, Marietje. 2024. The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Schlanger, Zoë. 2024. The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth. New York: HarperCollins.
Schmidt, Eric, Henry A. Kissinger, and Craig Mundie. 2024. Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
Susskind, Daniel. 2024. Growth: A Reckoning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Recommended Reading:
Bauer, Frank, Yoon-Ha Kim, Sabine Marienberg, and Wolfgang Schäffner (eds). 2024.
Toward a New Culture of the Material. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter.
Clark, Nigel, and Bronislaw Szerszynski. 2020. Planetary Social Thought: The Anthropocene Challenge to the Social Sciences. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Colwell, Chip. 2023. So Much Stuff: How Humans Discovered Tools, Invented Meaning, and Made More of Everything. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Dartnell, Lewis. 2020. Being Human: How Our Biology Shaped World History. London: Bodley Head.
Farrier, David. 2020. Footprints: In Search of Future Fossils. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Ferrando, Francesca. 2023. The Art of Being Posthuman: Who are We in the 21st Century? Cambridge: Polity.
Graeber, David, and David Wengrow. 2021. The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity. London: Allen Lane.
Lawtoo, Nidesh. 2024. Mimetic Posthumanism: Homo Mimeticus 2.0 in Art, Philosophy and Technics. Boston: Brill.
Puchner, Martin. 2024. Culture: The Story of Us, From Cave Art to K-Pop. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Schlickman, Emily, and Brett Milligan. 2023. Design by Fire: Resistance, Co-Creation and Retreat in the Pyrocene. London: Routledge.
Stroeken, Koen. 2024. Simplex Society: How to Humanize. Cham: Springer Nature.
Vallor, Shannon. 2024. The AI Mirror: How to Reclaim Our Humanity in an Age of Machine Thinking. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Further Reading:
Escobar, Arturo. 2018. Designs for the Pluriverse: Radical Interdependence, Autonomy, and the Making of Worlds. Durham: Duke University Press.
Fry, Tony. 2012. Becoming Human by Design. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
González-Ruibal, Alfredo. 2018. An Archaeology of the Contemporary Era. London: Routledge.
Norvath, Christina, and Juliet Carpenter, eds. 2020. Co-Creation in Theory and Practice: Exploring Creativity in the Global North and South. Bristol: Bristol University Press.
Jacobs, Naomi, and Rachel Cooper. 2024. Living in Digital Worlds: Designing the Digital Public Space. London: Routledge.
Kargin, Fatma, Dorothée King, and Selena Savic (eds). 2024. Teaching Artistic Strategies: Playing with Materiality, Aesthetics and Ambiguity. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag.
Manzini, Ezio. 2015. Design, When Everybody Designs: An Introduction to Design for Social Innovation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Rill, Bryan R., and Matti M. Hämäläinen. 2018. The Art of Co-Creation: A Guidebook for Practitioners. Singapore: Springer.
Shiach, Morag, and Tarek Virani, eds. 2016. Cultural Policy, Innovation and the Creative Economy: Creative Collaborations. London: Palgrave Macmillan. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
The course aims to equip graduates with a diverse set of skills and attributes that will enable them to make meaningful contributions to their fields and society. These attributes include:
1) Critical Thinker: Graduates will develop the ability to critically analyse and interpret narratives, understanding their impact on societal change and human behaviour. They will be skilled in evaluating complex ideas and theories related to narrative and mimesis.
2) Innovative Problem Solver: Graduates will be equipped with the skills to apply narrative and mimesis concepts to real-world challenges. They will demonstrate creativity and innovation in developing solutions that address contemporary and future societal issues.
3) Effective Communicator: Graduates will enhance their communication skills, both written and oral, through dynamic lectures, interactive workshops, and collaborative projects. They will be adept at articulating complex ideas clearly and persuasively to diverse audiences.
4) Collaborative Leader: Graduates will gain experience in working collaboratively with peers and external partners from various fields. They will develop leadership skills and the ability to manage and contribute to interdisciplinary teams effectively.
5) Globally Engaged: Graduates will have a global perspective, understanding the importance of narratives in different cultural and societal contexts. They will benefit from opportunities for mobility and traineeships, including international placements, preparing them to work in diverse environments.
6) Lifelong Learner: Graduates will cultivate a commitment to continuous learning and professional development. They will be prepared to adapt to changing circumstances and emerging challenges, leveraging their knowledge of narrative and mimesis to drive positive change.
7) Public Engagement Specialist: Graduates will develop the skills to engage with diverse audiences within EFI, communicate complex ideas effectively, and create impactful activities that foster community involvement and awareness.
8) Digital Content Creator: Graduates will be proficient in producing group work, video essays, and contributing to the social media and website of the course. They will gain experience in creating high-quality digital content, ensuring their work reaches a broad audience within EFI and has a lasting impact. |
| Keywords | Humanity,Agency,Choice,Transformation,Innovation,Impact,Just Futures,Cultural Well-Being |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Federica Pedriali
Tel: (0131 6)50 3642
Email: F.Pedriali@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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