Students step outside their subjects to broaden their education
Undergraduates from various disciplines throughout the University can now study a module outside their specialist area from a list of exciting and diverse topics. For 2013-14 the options include: A Search for Life in the Cosmos, Global Health and Understanding Modern China. These modules give students the chance to broaden their education, pursue an interest and gain useful skills for life and employability after graduation.
Humanities at Southampton are playing a major part in the University of Southampton’s Curriculum Innovation Project.
On offer from Humanities are thought-provoking modules in subjects including: Intercultural Communication in a Global World, Digital Humanities; Critical Thinking in the Information Age and a summer archaeology field school at Portus, the ancient port of Rome. Students can also learn a new language; choices include Arabic, Russian, Japanese and Latin as well as the more familiar European languages.
Many undergraduates have been quick to seize the opportunity. Flo Broderick, fourth year BA Language and Contemporary Europe student signed up for Living and Working on the Web. “I decided to take this module because of how important online identity has become in the process of finding employment,” she says. “In terms of finding a graduate job, I will definitely have an advantage because of the importance of digital technologies in recruitment processes now. I also think that taking something different (or arguably out of my comfort zone) will also portray further qualities to potential employers.”
Flo and her fellow Modern Languages students Nicola Urguhart, Anna Clancy-Stride and Francesca Caicedo made a video as part of their module, outlining what they learned from the module. Flo has now secured a job for Telefonica in Madrid and is sure her experience in learning how to live and work on the web played an important part in her success.