UN823: Philosophical and Theoretical Issues in Higher Learning

Level: Masters

Credits: 15

Convenor: Martin Gough

Entry requirements: You should normally have completed, or been exempted from, both core modules: UN819 An Introduction to Learning, Teaching and the Academic Environment and UN820 Critical Perspectives on Academic Practice.

Module outline: The main purpose of this module is to provide students with a guided space to consider in depth some of the most conceptually and theoretically fundamental questions bearing upon higher education and upon higher levels of learning. Examining the context of practice through philosophical and social theoretical lenses will provide the programme participants with additional tools to address concrete problems in their practice. 

Questions and topics will fall respectively under the following themes:

  • The Problem of Definition and how it may enlighten understanding of key concepts in the academic context
  • Questions of Value, including metaethical versus normative levels of theorising and how they may shed light on problems and institutional requirements, such as the research ethics industry and the professions
  • Boundaries in Higher Knowledge and Learning, including between sectors, between forms of knowledge, between disciplines, and between non-knowing and discovery
  • Personal and Academic Identity.

These themes are indicative rather than exclusive and participants will be invited to propose their own questions and topics for exploration.

Assessment: A 3,000 – 4,000 word scholarly argument-based essay through which you will address in depth a topic or problematic question arising from the themes of the module, selected in negotiation with the module convenor, and addressing implications for practice.   Full details will be given in the module guide.