This first-year module will inspire you to build a meaningful philosophy of life. As an interdisciplinary module within the fields of Psychoanalytic and Psychosocial Studies, Childhood Studies, therapeutic and clinical practice, Happiness Studies, the Sociology of Health and Medical Humanities, it will enable you to reflect on what we think we need to be happy and what a good and meaningful life entails for individuals and societies. You will also be encouraged to explore how small changes in our ways of thinking may help us to live better lives. A key question for this module is how we can find space for happiness, wellness, and mindfulness in a globalised world shaped by climate crises, war and violence, pandemics, oppression and inequality and the biopolitical organisation of our lives. Through reflective activities and class discussions you will be encouraged to use theoretical ideas to research your own lives, your established ways of thinking and your current perspective on life. As such, the module will motivate you to invest in developing an individual philosophy of life, and reflect on how a pragmatic and realistically optimistic outlook for life can be pursued, both at an individual, as well as a social level.

How can we use psychoanalytic theory to understand film, literature and television? What is culture and can it contribute to our understanding of psychoanalysis itself? Examine work by Freud and Jung, as well as more contemporary perspectives, through the lens popular culture.

What do you know about depth psychology? How do psychoanalysis and analytical psychology provide new understanding of society, culture and politics? Build your knowledge about depth psychology - psychological thinking that introduces the concept of a deep unconscious. Understand Freud’s theories and their significance in social and cultural analysis.

What do you know about depth psychology? How do psychoanalysis and analytical psychology provide new understanding of society, culture and politics? Build your knowledge about depth psychology - psychological thinking that introduces the concept of a deep unconscious. Understand Jung’s theories and their significance in social and cultural analysis.