Course Details in 2026/27 Session

Module Title	LI Our Digital World
School	Eng, Drama, & Creative Studies
Department	English Literature
Module Code	09 39969
Module Lead	Dr Rosie Graham
Level	Intermediate Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-10 hours Seminar-20 hours Guided independent study-170 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	How can we make sense of our digital present? What led us here? And what will the future of digital culture look like across the globe? Our Digital World invites you to think about past, present and future versions of digital cultures in everyday life, print, and on screen. We will explore the role played by authors, theorists, filmmakers, and videogame developers, alongside social media companies, artificial intelligence, and software developers, in co-creating the media landscape we live within. This module will introduce you to the ways you might read and critique the digital world around you: from interactive storytelling to social media, and consider big global issues, from the impacts of AI to the environmental impact of big tech. We will also address how digital culture impacts people differently around the world. This includes an exploration of the interplay between the digital world and topics such as race, gender, social and economic inequality, disability, and other real-world societal factors. This module provides a range of skills and experiences to enable you to understand and critique our increasingly digital world.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the key debates, terms and concepts used to describe digital cultures and innovations, through close reading of individual works. Illustrate knowledge and understanding of appropriate critical and theoretical approaches to the study of digital topics, which may include AI, global communications, environmental impact, technology and work, and virtual reality demonstrating a clear sense of historical development and understanding of specific movements and approaches. Critically analyse contemporary experiences of digital cultures and the place of new technologies in everyday life through comparison with fictional and non-fictional accounts introduced on the module. Construct original arguments that develop from and relate to existing academic research on digital cultures.
Assessment
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: 3,500 word essay, or 15 minute recorded presentation/video essay as an alternative assessment option (100%) Reassessment: Failed component only 3,500 word essay, or 15-minute recorded presentation/video essay as an alternative assessment option (100%)
Other
Reading List