Description

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere — Carl Sagan

What is imagination? What different forms can it take? Can we measure it? Assess it? When and how do you use your imagination? Do different disciplines engage and treat imagination differently? Is imagination important in academic studies, the working world, or life? What would it be like to not have an imagination? How could you get others to manifest their imaginative and creative thinking?

This module is designed to enable you to make connections between the 'imaginative' thinking and practice deployed within your own and other disciplines and to autonomously explore and develop your own theory of applied imagination. By engaging in inter- and transdisciplinary learning, the module will:

• Support you in developing a theoretical understanding of imagination and imaginative thinking;
• Explore the relationship between imagination and creativity;
• Enable you to articulate and reflect upon your own imaginative practices and those of others;
• Consider what the role of the imagination is within learning and knowledge;
• Give you the chance to apply what you learn in a practical way and devise the form your assessment will take;
• Invite you to explore how what you have learned might be applied beyond the classroom and university life.

The imagination is an essential tool of the mind, a fundamental way of thinking, an indispensable means of becoming and remaining human — Ursula K. Le Guin

Indicative Structure

The module will consist of ten two hour sessions from across the University's departments. Each week will be split between a subject-specialist led session and an hour in which the students and module leader will work with the week's set stimulus to develop student ideas. This latter part will embody an interdisciplinary emphasis and use IATL's Open-Space Learning alongside reflection and discussion.

Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create — Maria Montessori

 

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk — Thomas Edison

'Imagine - Lennon Wall' by Paul Bowman (https://www.flickr.com/photos/bowmanpics/5316260136/)